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Another Dead Fbv Express Mkii


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While I was able to update my Spider IV amp successfully, it seemed the update firmware for the FBV Express MKII is somewhat buggy. Somebody had mentioned that the issue starts happening once you access the Spider Edit w/ the pedal and amp connected then to the computer. If only I read the previous topic about updating the firmware of the pedal, I wouldn't update my pedal in the first place.

 

http://line6.com/supportarchivenew/thread/69830

 

Just like with the experienced of another user, I'm having the same now. I even tried to re-installed the fw thrice and re-calibrated the pedal but no joy. I'm using Cat 5 cable and have a cable tester. Cable has no issue.

 

Here's the excerpt description from previous user that Im having too.

 

first things worked fine.  These two communicated, my cables are all good no problem.  Then I decided to upgrade the firmware and try to use Spider Edit.  That was the begining of the end.

Using a new Sony Vaio Win 7 laptop, the firmware update went fine for both the amp and FBV.  I could read settings from the AMP and edit in Spider Edit.

But, as soon as I disconnected the FBV from the PC it stopped working.  I got funny sounds and the FBV was useless, then amp acted odd too.  At this point I factory reset the amp (hold "A" and powerup).  The amp is now working fine.

The FBV was still dead, just flashing LEDS.  I could not calibrate.  It would not talk to the amp or pc.  Finally after much random powering up and cable in/out I managed to get into calibrate mode and then it would work again with the amp.  Encouraged, I was dumb enough to plug it into the PC again.  BAM, back to dead flashing LED mode.

Atthis point the FBV is not recognized by the PC and not controlling the amp at all.  It just flashes its LEDs.  If I click the wah/vol button the flashing stops, but still dead.

http://line6.com/supportarchivenew/thread/69830;

this thread was in 2011.

I'm using an HP Elitebook w/ Win7 OS. Now, what I'm thinking I need a computer w/ an XP OS and will try to revert the updated FW back to the 1.00 version the original factory version. Hope it will work. But the question is, where can I find a PC now that has windows XP?

Line6 should have posted a disclaimer to users along w/ the new Fw update about its issue. They haven't replied yet on the ticket i raised almost a week ago.

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It's definitely a bug, and it lasts from many years.

I had exactly the same issue, open several tickets and solved nothing. There's something on the old forums, too much irritating to search.

Line6 support kept saying to reflash the firmware, and it seemed that my 'DOESN'T CONNECT TO ANYTHING' has not been clear enough.

Hope for you your hardware is new and you can have it replaced, otherwise you can simply throw it away. They ask me the same money to fix it or to buy a new unit (I live in Italy).

 

By the way, it's NOT a Windows issue, I get exactly the same with OSx.

 

Very very poor support for this piece of hardware, and very poor firmware.

 

Sorry

 

 

 

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I hope I could do that @fflbrgst, but I bought the pedal used in Ebay. Line 6 has responded to my ticket and they suggested to contact our local dealer here in the Philippines for repair which I thought has nothing to do w/ issue since it was not purchased from them. On the other end, I'm considering of getting a FBV shortboard. But once I got, I wouldn't risk upgrading it as long it's working on my amp.

 

-What I told line 6 support was, was it my fault that I updated the old working firmware of my FBV to a new firmware that made my pedal a veggie?

 

Last night, I was able to flush out the latest firmware on the pedal and reverted to 1.00v. But then again, the pedal is still acting weird and even distorts my amp on clean setting. I hint the memory or EPROM got corrupted during the fw updgrade the first time I did it.

 

-If there's already an issue report from their archive, why not caution users (a disclaimer note) about the firmware update? 

 

-Lastly, two weeks ago I also updated my Spider IV's firmware to 2.0. Before, I was satisfied w/ the patches i created on the amp. Despite sounding digital i can still hear the warmness on my amp. This was the reason why I'm thinking of getting the short board. But as soon as I updated the firmware to 2.0 (along w/ the FBV pedal), boom! The sound became gritty and harsh. Last night, I reverted back to 1.04, less effects. I couldn't help but smile again. The amp's warmth went back. In my opinion, Line 6 should take things slowly in chasing after HD sound which is already digital. To my ear, what we guitarists want is a sound that cuts, clear enough (not too clear), warm.

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I got a reply from Line6 rep. He said that this was not a known issue. Well, IMO it was an abandoned issue that could have been fix by putting a disclaimer. How could it be the fault of a Line6 customer (me) who downloaded the what seemed to be functional firmware yet made my FBV express now a veggie? My pedal is out of warranty. I should have been contented w/ the basic function of my pedal. DISCLAIMER is the magic word. 

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