Community: Message List - Trying to install my FBV Express MKII

Re: Trying to install my FBV Express MKII

support@line6.com — Mon, 23 May 2011 01:24:01 GMT

Ok.. so I got my driver updated for variax USB use, (the substitution for MIDI software conversion to USB I have concluded) I have been able to update my Spider Edit program to the latest version 1.03, I have version 1.40 Monkey. I cannot update my Flash Memory for my Spider IV. I have been patient for 8 hours. I purchased the item in March, just got my pedal about 2 weeks ago, registered it today. The Monkey program doesnt recognize that I registered my Spider IV back on mar 3! It sees that my pedal is registered. I'm going to look for a O instead of a 0 on the back and re register it... for a second time.

Re: Trying to install my FBV Express MKII

support@line6.com — Sun, 22 May 2011 21:05:36 GMT

Thanks man I was having the same problem with monkey not recognizing my device and there not being the device even listed (FBV Express MKII) in the drop down list. I had read all the manuals, had problems with cables. Unplug the ethernet cable. after 4 hours.. .333 seconds. Monkey ran. I just wanted to comment, I found my problem faster using Google search than by searching keywords on your website. It brought me here...

Re: RE: Trying to install my FBV Express MKII

support@line6.com — Mon, 05 Apr 2010 19:30:11 GMT

Hi Terry

You don't remember Vista 64 bit and the complete lack of support from companies like M-Audio (Avid) for their audio interfaces for about 18 months after launch (and they weren't the worst) then? LOL

I can't say whether your Dell machine is affected by USB issues with music related hardware/apps, but there were reports about 18 months ago (as I recall) about certain Dell models being a real pain to get to work with certain audio interfaces reliably (see Sound on Sound site for archived articles - it was in the PC Notes section), so there might be a link, and the fact that you swapped to a USB PCI card kind of supports that as a possibility. There is a strong probablility IMO that your Dell's front USB sockets

Most people I think will assume that if their computer was working fine before purchasing the FBV (and mine seemed to be just fine), and then it wouldn't install, that there is somehow something wrong with the Line 6 product, which would be a shame.

Yeah - I take that on board. I see this quite a lot with some of my clients who do their best to try and tell me the full history of a problem and what they were doing when it happened, which is great, but they do tend to make assumptions about what's caused it and 90% of the time those assumptions are incorrect when the problem has been fully investigated.

Backups like the one on your Home Server are great for ensuring your data integrity is preserved, but an occasional snapshot backup using Ghost or something similar is invaluable when you need to recover the whole OS without having to trawl back through version history in the Server's backup. Windows SBS 2008 has quite a neat backup system too

Glad you got it working

Nick

Re: RE: Trying to install my FBV Express MKII

support@line6.com — Mon, 05 Apr 2010 17:41:32 GMT

Nick, thank you for your very well writen and thoughtful response. I think you nailed it.

I did get mine working by moving it from an internal port to a PCI/USB card, but I'll add some data for anyone else struggling with this problem. My machine is a Dell Inspiron 530. It has a clean install of Windows 7 Ultimate 32 bit. As for other hardware, I'm using an external Mbox interface with Pro Tools, an HP Printer and a newer Microsoft webcam (which was't installed) so there really wasn't anything exotic installed.

I also have a Windows Home Server (which I love!) that backs it up every night, but there was no way to know when my configuration got messed up as far as the FBV was concerned. I know other people have reloaded the OS, and still have problems installing the FBV, and other people have moved to PCI/USB cards and still weren't able to get the driver installed. It seems strange to me that on three sets of ports it reported that the driver couldn't be found, and then on the other it found it and installed it just fine.

Line 6 has been slow to support Windows 7, in my opinion, and maybe I was a little quick to blame them for this problem. I don't recall any other device having a problem like this in my history. Is it a Dell/Microsoft/Me configuration problem or a Line 6 driver problem? I don't know, but I'm not alone and I just hope that a reliable work around can be found so that when it happens to others they can fix the problem. Most people I think will assume that if their computer was working fine before purchasing the FBV (and mine seemed to be just fine), and then it wouldn't install, that there is somehow something wrong with the Line 6 product, which would be a shame. Now that all my Line 6 gear is updated and working with Windows 7 (32 bit at least) I really do love it.

Thanks again for your time and willingness to help!

Terry

Re: RE: Trying to install my FBV Express MKII

support@line6.com — Mon, 05 Apr 2010 05:57:28 GMT

With Vista and Windows 7, the drivers *should* install automatically for the FBV MkII pedals. On a normally configured system this definitely works with no issues. Some PC manufacturers supply laptops and PC's with a pre-installed OS etc... that *may* have a few modified (i.e. - non-standard) versions of Windows system files which replace the plain vanilla ones that come with a standard Windows installation disc and these *may* interfere with the installation of the FBV Shortboard. This kind of scenario is not the fault of Microsoft or Line 6.

If you have a driver conflict because of some other hardware on your system, which to all intents and purposes is unique because just by order of the fact that you as an individual are the user will have made some minor or possibly major customisations to your system by connecting various other peripherals etc... it is impossible for anyone providing remote support to be able to 100% guarantee to resolve your very specific issue for you. But thankfully some issues crop up repeatedly and mostly by a bit of intelligent guesswork and lateral thinking most issues are solvable, but unfortunately not all.

Alternatively, some PC manufacturers use third party hardware to provide things like USB functionality and this choice of chips and other hardware is usually based on cost to the manufacturer and sometimes manufacturers do cheat a little when providing 6, 8 or 10 (or so) USB ports because they may only use one or two actual USB controllers and split the function with an on-board USB hub or two which can cause problems. Unfortunately the world still has a problem - because there are so many third party manufacturers making so-called 'compatible' hardware for the PC market very cheaply and unfortunately not everything turns out to be quite as 'compatible' as the manufacturers would have you believe. Even some big brand computer manufacturers get caught occasionally and may use a controller chip that isn't quite what it should be. Again this is not the fault of Line 6, but rather the manufacturer of the PC. I am not a lover of Apple computers or the way their operating systems work, nor their (sometimes) lack of backward compatibility BUT one thing I do like about Apple is that they don't allow just any old third party manufactured parts anywhere near their core computer units and they don't allow anyone else to build Apple clone computers, and this way the potential for problems is limited.

However, you are using Windows XP and not Windows 7 or Vista. XP requires that you take a more 'manual' approach to install the drivers for your Shortboard as indicated in this document: http://line6.com/data/l/0a060072179794aa19127cf329/application/pdf/FBV%20MkII%20Series%20Controller%20Advanced%20User%20Guide%20(Rev%20B)%20-%20English.pdf in section 1-5 (Connecting FBV MkII to Your Computer). Follow the instructions in the manual (link provided above) and the driver should be automatically detected as a "USB Audio Device" and this is what Windows XP Device Manager will show it as. The USB Audio drivers are part of a standard Windows XP installation and will be in one of the sub-folders inside the Windows folder - usually \system32\drivers or \system32\drivercache or even in \system32 itself and Windows should automatically detect the correct driver from those available and install your hardware. If you have followed the installation instructions to the letter in the file referenced in the link above and your problem persists, you may have a faulty FBV Express MkII pedal OR you may be one of the (very) unlucky few who have non compatible hardware in your PC (this is pretty unlikely in my opinion though and the problem is more likley I think to be because you may be using a manufacturer's customised Windows installation disc (Recovery CD) with everything pre-installed including a number of unwanted and fairly useless programs as they usually supply).

When installing an operating system clean, it is always better to work from an original genuine Microsoft Windows OEM or Retail CD/DVD and to install the necessary drivers for on-board audio, network, graphics etc... downloaded from the manufacturer's Web site. This way, you minimise the chances of getting a manufacturer modified non-standard .DLL or .SYS file involved. Once you have got your system the way you want it and before it gets cluttered up with junk, you should create a full backup image on a bootable CD/DVD (i.e. - make your own recovery CD/DVD set) that will allow you to reinstall to the level your PC is currently at, at the time you made the recovery set - and provided your system continues to run OK as you add more software etc..., you should periodically create updated recovery CD/DVD sets.

When working with PC based computer systems, those built by the bigger mainstream manufacturers tend to be more consistent and reliable than a lot of budget self-built systems which aren often very good, but equally often this type of system can be very flaky. I work professionally in IT Consultancy and Management for small and medium businesses and I always recommend HP or Dell systems for desktops and servers on the basis that they just work and they keep on working. For laptops: again HP, Dell, Toshiba, Sony and sometimes Acer. I do build my own machines for my own purposes such as recording etc... and although I do like AMD based systems in terms of what you get for your money, and over the years I've built a lot of computers for myself, friends, my previous employers and the odd client here and there, I have to say that with AMD systems there's nearly always been a bit of additional tweaking to get them to run nicely and to play nicely with dedicated audio hardware and software - if there's any kind of stability issue, Cubase will find it whereas microsoft Word probably won't. These days I always use Intel based motherboards and Intel processors as well as quality branded RAM and that way I don't get too many issues. Sorry - that was a bit off-topic, but hopefully useful for reference.

I appreciate I have indicated that you follow the instructions in the manual again Sorry, but the instructions in the manual are the ones that work - definitely. If following them to the letter hasn't worked for you and it sounds like you have already tried every which way with your system to get the drivers to load, you either have a faulty FBV Express MkII which you already appear to have ruled out or you may have another more serious issue with your computer which may be hardware related in some way.

Can you post the specific specifications of the computer (make, model or if self-built: motherboard, CPU, graphics, RAM, make and model of any PCI or PCI Express cards etc....) you are trying to install to and whether you reinstalled Windows from an OEM or retail disc or whether you reinstalled from a recovery disc set supplied by the manufacturer? Are you overclocking your system? - some peripherals don't like it. I can't remember whether you said, but have you disabled on-board sound? Does your on-board audio use a Realtek HD audio driver? Could this be conflicting? I've seen some odd issues in the past with this.

Nick

Re: RE: Trying to install my FBV Express MKII

support@line6.com — Mon, 05 Apr 2010 05:25:43 GMT

I've tried every USB Port on the box, front, back and hubs and no luck as yet. I removed every other USB device (other than the mouse and keyboard)...still for the same error .

Re: RE: Trying to install my FBV Express MKII

support@line6.com — Mon, 05 Apr 2010 04:44:59 GMT

Scott - Thank you! I was plugged into a front USB connection, and it said the driver was not found. I moved it to the USB hub, and it still said the driver wasn't found. I moved it to a rear USB port, and it said the driver wasn't found. Since I already had a PCI/USB card installed, I unplugged a printer and moved the FBV to that USB port - and it found the driver and installed. Amazing. I don't understand WHY that worked, but it did and so I'm in business now.

In another thread I had found an account about how a Logitec camera driver was keeping a MIDI driver from installing, but the specifics didn't apply to my situation. Something's going on with several people who are having driver issues with FBV. I'm glad I got mine working - thank you for your suggestion to check all the USB ports.

Terry

Re: RE: Trying to install my FBV Express MKII

support@line6.com — Mon, 05 Apr 2010 01:11:39 GMT

Same issues! I'm running Xp SP2, but it didin't work whe I had SP3 either. I DID re-isntall the OS, but it didn't help.

Where are the driver's for this freakin' thing?.

Re: RE: Trying to install my FBV Express MKII

support@line6.com — Mon, 05 Apr 2010 00:51:34 GMT

Can I ask what specific manufacture / model computer this is?

Have you updated the BIOS?

Checked BIOS settings?

Are you using Front / back USB ports? f

Any thoughts of installing an additional internal USB port card?

Run under an Administartive account?

Re: RE: Trying to install my FBV Express MKII

support@line6.com — Mon, 05 Apr 2010 00:34:36 GMT

I moved my FBV to another machine running Windows 7, and it was able to see the device and install a driver for it. I was then able to install Monkey and update the firmware on the FBV and on my Spider IV 75, which was one of the reasons I bought the FBV, but I still can't get it to work on the original computer which is where I really need it to work. The driver for the FBV is not being found or installed for some reason. Surely this is a Line 6 issue, right? On another thread I saw that someone got it working by reinstalling the OS, but no way am I going there for this.

Line 6 - any ideas for getting my machine to properly install the FBV?

Thanks,

Terry