JGeoghagan

I was one of the people who had this problem in the past. It was resolved by sending back to Line 6 for repairs. Nothing else I found online helped. 

That picture is almost identical to mine. I was shocked that the metal shaft broke. I am very interested if this can be a self service repair given that the L6 repair center is presently closed.

I posted a similar question recently but got no replies. The knob became harder and harder to turn and eventually broke off. Anyone else have this problem?

My Phones knob has been getting harder to turn and is now completely stuck. 
Has this happened to anyone else?

Suggestions?

I had this problem when I first tried to update to 2.0. I never received a satisfactory response other than it was a significant error message. Ultimately I had to send the Helix back to Line 6 and they replaced the motherboard. I think a power surge at church may have contributed to the problem.

Open a support ticket ASAP. They will instruct you through all the usual steps, many of which you have probably already done. If that doesn't work under their direction they will have you send it back to them. That is what I had to do.

I had similar issues for some time and eventually could get nothing to work. Had to send it bak to L6 and they told me they had to put in a new motherboard. Everything is good now. Turnaround time was a week.

I posted some threads about the same thing. I tried everything suggested on these forums and eventually opened aground ticket with L6. They asked me to try many things I had already tried. It eventually got stuck with the same problem you describe. I sent it back to L6 two days ago by UPS. Hope yours works itself out but after two weeks of nightly tinkering I was never able to make it work. Makes me nervous about future updates even though my previous ones updated without difficulty.

I don't know if this will be any help to you but if any of the firmware versions you are rolling back to will allow you to get into the Helix long enough you can use the Excel sheet I created in the following post to identify which preset is failing and fix it. Of course, if you do manage to get past the firmware upgrade process I would immediately do the FS 9&10 preset to get rid of all the presets including those that are causing the failure. As always, make sure you first uninstall all Helix software and then install the version of the Helix application that has the Updater, Firmware, and Editor that matches the firmware version you are trying to roll back to.  You have probably already tried that as you said you followed the instructions to the letter but I thought I would mention it just in case.

http://line6.com/support/topic/20454-grid-for-getting-rid-of-the-preset-rebuild-messages-on-boot-in-latest-firmware-1120/?p=154331

 

 

You can also use the FS 11&12 reset combination to delete the current preset, perhaps that might get you closer to a successful update.  If the "Rebuilding #..." message changes then rinse and repeat until hopefully the Helix boots normally. Good luck with this!

http://helixhelp.com/pmwiki.php?n=Main.ResetOptions

I have been rolling back the versions and deleting the others as you suggest, although I must admit I am always a little concerned that I could be off on that process. I will definitely copy the spreadsheet. Thanks. On the times that the helix does show the first preset on the screen, I can't change and get to one of the frozen ones before everything locks up.

What happens if you boot it up now holding down 9 and 10 footswitches? Or fi that doesn't help 5 and 6.

 

Or with 5 and 6?

 

 

5 & 6 Global reset

7 & 8 Reset setlists to factory, Keep IRs

8 & 9 Reset setlists to factory, Clear IRs

9 & 10 Reset setlists to factory, Global reset, Clear IRs

10 & 11 Upgrades existing presets to latest format

11 & 12 Clear current preset

5 & 12 Clear setlists, clear IRs, Return system settings to default

6 & 12 Safe boot mode

Safe boot mode doesn't exist for me at this point. The others will tell me what they are going to do, such as reset, clear, etc, but the screen never moves past this even if left for over an hour.

Is your unit by chance the Helix Rack?  I have Rack, and didn't realize the reset procedures are different, so I was losing my mind when using the footswitches on Helix Control weren't actually resetting or rebuilding anything after an update.  If you have the floorboard version then feel free to ignore me and I hope you find a fix/get helped soon.

 

 

Helix Rack

Since the rack doesn't have footswitches, you'll instead hold down a combination of the 6 encoders that are below the main LCD screen as you're booting up.

 

ENC2 & ENC3 - reset globals

ENC3 & ENC4 - restore stock presets and setlists

ENC4 & ENC5 - restore stock presets, setlists, and IRs

ENC5 & ENC6 - reset globals and restore presets, setlists, and IRs (entire factory restore)

ENC1 & ENC3 - rebuild all presets

ENC1 & ENC5 - clear all presets, setlists, and IRs

ENC1 & ENC6 - will enter Update Mode (This feature is only available on firmware v1.06.5 and higher)

No, I have the Helix floor, but thanks for trying to help.

CS is now saying I need to ship it back. Hopefully the turnaround will be short.

Thanks for all the suggestions.

I have been unable to update to FW 2.01 and have essentially bricked my Helix. For the past 10 days I have tried everything I could research on this forum as well as following the update instructions to the letter. On three occasions the upgrade has reached the rebuilding presets phase only to get stuck on a certain number (two different presets over three attempts).  I tried rolling back the FW and starting over, which held the most promise, but all to no avail. I frequently had to enter update mode by pressing FS 6 and 12 while powering up.

My frustration is that once I decided to place a trouble ticket, I outlined all the issues and then listed the things I had tried. The first response seemed almost canned and simply asked me to repeat processes I had already tried. I did as they asked, and of course I still have a nonfunctioning unit.

I then tried to roll back to the FW it shipped with, which I thought was FW 1.06. I got this in January as a late Christmas present. At this point I discovered that the FS 6 and 12 reset only works with FW 1.06.5 and later. Oops. Even when the device powers on and shows the first preset page, it doesn't function and further attempts to update lead through endless cycles of frozen screens.

After updating my trouble ticket with this information, they asked me to change USB cables and ports and again use the update mode (FS 6 and 12). I lost my cool at that point since update mode is not available to me with FW 1.06 and I have told them twice that I performed this process many times and it still doesn't work.

I fear that there is a physical problem with my Helix or all my attempts to update have corrupted it. All my previous updates went smoothly on the first try.

Years of phone calls with CS reps for other companies have conditioned me to expect the usual remedies such as power cycling, unplugging, updating drivers, etc. Most of the posts here rave about the great CS L6 has given so I was very disappointed in my experience.

BTW, I love my Helix and just want it functioning again. I suspect karma is catching up to me because if I read this post from someone else, I would assume they just weren't doing it right. At this point, I'll take the blame. I just need a fix.

I was able to roll back to 1.12 and then tried to update to 2.01 again. At present, it says 2.01 but stays in the boot screen with just Helix and the spinning helix logo. The Helix software can not recognize it in that state. Maybe I can go back to 1.12, then do a factory reset and then try again. Unfortunately, the CS answer to my trouble call was basically Level 1 tech support information. They advised me to go into update mode and try again. I guess they didn't really read my trouble ticket because I have already tried that several times. In fact, I think the only way to roll back the FW is to go through update mode. I suppose this is like any other tech support situation where you go through the basic stuff on several levels before you get to a real person who starts thinking about the problem and not just spitting out canned solutions, or they just tell you to ship it to them. That's why I am seeking help on this forum as well.

Which "Factory reset" would you suggest? FS 9 and 10 while booting, or another one? At this point I almost wish there was some pinhole reset button that could send it back to the original factory settings and I would just update from there. I only have a few imported presets and they are all saved on my laptop so I don't care if I lose anything at this point.

Unfortunately, to do this, I will have to get it back to a point where something actually works, maybe trying to revert back to 1.12 again. When I turn it on now it stays stuck in the boot screen and there is :-28 in the upper left hand corner. It never moves beyond this.

One point that I just discovered. The Flash Memory option only appears if you do not pick Helix in the second box. I have accidentally tried to Get Download on the Flash Memory a few times. It is a much smaller file and then I get an error that says no application can run it. I then go back and get the much larger FW update file and things download appropriately. I'm not sure what the purpose of the Flash Memory download is.

That being said, I still can not update to 2.01. Despite following the instructions and have successfully updated previous FW versions on the first try in the past, I consistently get a nonfunctioning unit at this point. I can reboot in update mode and roll back the FW to earlier versions. I was on 1.12 and this appears to function. Trying to update always gets stuck at the point the presets should start to rebuild. Once it appeared to work properly but then stayed stuck at rebuilding preset 97. Using a late 2013 MBP with OS X El Cap 10.11.6.

I fear this is Karma. I consider myself extremely computer literate and rarely have trouble with devices. In the past, when I have read posts by people having problems, I automatically assume they are simply doing something wrong. Furthermore, I am sure if I was sitting next to them, I could easily diagnose and love the problem. Now I appear to be paying for that arrogance.

Just opened a trouble ticket with L6.

Thanks. I am certain that I have done this several times and still it is not functioning. Once, it rebuilt the presets and everything seemed good but I could not import old presets. I assumed this was due to the lack of resetting. When I tried this, everything crashed again. I have even deleted all the programs from my computer and gone back several versions and reinstalled and still no luck.

After downloading and updating, the presets will not rebuild. If I reboot, I get an initial screen that has :-28 in the upper left hand corner. Any ideas?

I've had more problems with this update than any others. It took several tries and the presets would not rebuild. This finally happened and then I tried to do the reset process and it never finishes this step. Help.

It could have been cell phones or wireless mics. There were a few nearby. I surely hope it's that simple because I don't want to have to send it back. Unfortunately that likely means it won't make a return to church. I plan to just play at home for awhile and see if it happens again.

No. Phantom power was off. Also, these were very brief but very loud episodes as opposed to a constant hum or static.

Anybody, Bueller...

I guess I will just go old school at church until I have updated and played many hours at home without this happening again. If it does I will have to send back to Lone 6!for repairs.

Tonight at church in the middle of a song there were three short and very loud static reports through the whole system. Loud enough that we all had to jerk out our IEMs. During a break we unplugged everything except some headphones. There wasn't even a guitar plugged in. The device still made the sound every few minutes. Then everything froze. Rebooting fixed temporarily and then it happened again. I am still on FW 1.1.

Any ideas?

I am using Helix at church and home. I have always used a TC Electronic Polytune for tuning but was hoping to ditch this and just use the Helix. I also have other MFX units to include an Digitech IPB-10, a Boss GT-100, and I use Amplitube frequently on my Macbook Pro for home practice with headphones.

I notice that the tuners on all the above units and software are all a little sharp compared to the Polytune. To my ears, the Polytune has always sounded more in tune with other instruments or tracks. However, I am concerned that three MFX units and a software modeler can not all be wrong.

Anyone else have tuner accuracy questions or any ideas.

Jay