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trying to update my Helix LT - bricked it!


sinlimo
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Just got a brand new Helix LT and wanted to upgrade it to the latest and greatest. I downloaded the latest driver, updater, and the 2.21 Installer.

 

Whenever I run the Installer, I get the following message:

 

Firmware Update Failed

An error has ocurred. Please try again.

Please follow these steps when updating your Line 6 Product.

1. Turn the power switch off, then back on.

2. Ensure the USB cable is connected directly to your computer and not to a hub or peripheral such as a keyboard or mouse.

3. Click 'Continue' and attempt the update again.

 

Of course I follow those steps and get the same results. 

 

Now the Helix doesn't even boot - it shows some glitchy blinky logo on the screen with the message "Boot failure Entered Update Mode!"

 

There's also a red -3 in the upper left corner.

 

Any advice??? (I'm running a Win 7 machine and followed the steps to update)

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Try powering on the Helix while holding down footswitches 6 and 12. This puts the unit into update mode. After it powers on, open the updater. If it doesn't work the first time try it again.

 

You might also try a different USB port on the computer.

 

When I first got my LT I had some issues getting the computer to recognize it. I didn't have the same update issues you are experiencing, but I had to try 3 different computers to get it updated.  After that everything worked fine with the original computer.

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Something else you might check.  Under Device Manager expand the Universal Serial Bus controllers and under the devices listed go into properties. If the USB device(usually the USB Hub) has a "Power Management" tab, take the check out of "Allow the computer to turn off this device to save power" 

 

I didn't have to do this to update my Helix, but I have done this to solve issues with other problematic USB devices.

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I had the same problem. After some troubleshooting, this is what worked for me after the 2.21 update failed and bricked my Helix which was still at 1.0.2.

 

LIne6 updater showed the version of my Helix as 2.21 in the hardware list, but the update failed about 20% in. After several attempts from my laptop, I tried applying the update again on a desktop computer with varying USB ports with no luck. A factory reset boot pressing 9 + 10 did nothing. I tried applying the next incremental update of 1.06.5. Still no luck.
 
When I troubleshoot, I normally only try one variance at a time. However, I was finally able to get the update to take. I'm not sure if step 1 or 2 actually fixed it, but this is what I did thanks to this post.
 
1. I booted the Helix holding down 6 + 12. This didn't seem very promising because all I got was a completely blank screen.
 
2. I then tried applying the very first 2.0 update. The screen then started to show a lot of pixel noise looking like a shattered phone screen. However, the update worked! It rebooted and was back to life.
 
3. I performed the factory reset booting up with 9 + 10.
 
4. I repeated steps 2 + 3 using 2.21 with success.
 
I haven't had time to actually play through the unit yet after being updated, but at least everything seems fine now.
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It's interesting that the OP says he got it working with a Win10 computer as that is also what I finally had success with.

 

The original computer was a Win7 laptop that had not been kept up to date (with Windows Updates). I had been using the laptop with my HD500 for years with no issue. After I got the Helix updated with my wifes windows 10 computer I upgraded the original laptop with a clean install of windows 10 and it's working fine. I've done 2 updates and use the Editor almost problem free.

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  • 1 year later...

Yes!  It WAS the USB cable!  I changed it for my printer cable and the updates loaded correctly.  However, just in case I installed the firmware in sequential order.  I didn't want to take the chance on it corrupting again.   After I did that, I had no problems.

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