datacommando

Another good rule in computing is: “always work on a copy” - you did make a backup, didn’t you?

True, I also have lots of multi FX and digital outboard, but some computers/systems crash more or less often than others and who knows why? It’s the nature of the technology, I would guess. You have posted that your Helix suffered a random “Freeze” event. That’s not such a big issue and a restart should fix that. The time to worry is if your unit starts to freeze on a regular basis. If that happens it should be reported as a serious bug. You don’t want to have that happen during a gig. If it happens while editing then I would regard that as acceptable because you’re inside the units brain poking around with the zeros and ones. As for what causes a “badly formatted preset”, your guess is as good as mine. There could be millions of reasons why. In the early days of computing there was an acronym “GIGO”.

Well, if your Helix freezes, simply restart - that would be normal for anything digital, because sometimes they just get stuck. The “Failed to load preset” message could be due to a badly formatted preset or a simple glitch. Helix is a computer.

Hi Sascha, Have a look at this thread from way back and see if you are experiencing the same “problem”. It maybe just the limitation set by the model. https://line6.com/support/topic/31876-250-elephant-man-delay-time-issue/ Hope this helps/makes sense.

Hi, This is now normal behaviour for Apple Mac Operating Systems - you have just encountered the “Gatekeeper” which is built into the OS to protect you from malware. Rather than go through typing out the process of getting past this situation, I will give you a link to Apple’s own page on how to deal with this stuff. https://support.apple.com/en-gb/HT202491 Hope this helps/makes sense.

Hi, This has cropped up previously in another thread and rather than type out everything again, here’s a link. Hope this helps.

Hi, As you have a box fresh unit that you have given a test drive, I guess that you will have no custom presets to backup. Therefore, you can go ahead and update straight to 2.82 using the Updater that you installed along with HX Edit 2.82. Make sure that HX Edit is not running when you start to update. In fact don’t have anything on the USB that may interfere with the installation. As mentioned in the release notes - about half way through the process you may encounter the “Boot Failure” message, simply click OK and continue. The post from “phil_m” in answer to FunnyUser’s post may be worth a read also. Have fun.

Shame that this information wasn’t put into the pinned thread, along with all the other firmware update posts. It would have made it easier to spot for a newbie poster, such as brother Thomas, above. In fact it would have made it easier for many more Helix users, both old and new.

I thought we had already passed the Event Horizon? ;-(

Hi, Just seen your post about "extereme latency". I have to say that is not some something that I have ever a problem with a with and I have been using my Helix Floor unit to record with since late 2015. I'm using the Helix for both USB input and output and I don't detect any latency because Helix is essential suppliying harware monitoring. I also take a DI dry guitar signal from USB 7 which then allows me to re-amp the track if I wish. What seems to be strange to me is, even thought you are using a second device for audio out, you say detect the delay from the Helix before it hits the input meters in Logic. That's really odd. I could understand this happening if it was due to the audio being monitored from the audio out on the second device. I cant understand why you simply don't remove the second interface and try Helix as a straight in and out option. If you don't detect that percieved latency you mention then obviously the issue is elsewhere. You probably have a very good reason to have a second audio interface patched in but I think that is simply making things too complicated. Having typed all this, I have only now realised that you stated "The Logic audio input device is HELIX Audio" and the output device is another intreface". I understand from that statement that you did not create an "Aggregate Device" using the Apple Audio MIDI Setup which would allow you to combine the Helix 8in 8out USB audio with whatever ins and outs your other device has available. This could be where things are getting screwed up. I repeat - First simply try hooking up the Helix on it's own to determine if that is a problem. If that works (and it should) then you need to delve deeper and check out the second device. It would be a help to know what the "other device" is and what advantages do you think it will give you by having it patched in. You obviously think it's necessary.

Tye FYI, Nowhere in the installation notes does it mention Line 6 Monkey. Monkey is not, and never has been needed to update Helix or HX products. Furthermore, when going through the update process, the instructions are clear about not having any other applications running that may interfere with USB communication - especially HX Edit or any other Line 6 software that is not part of the upgrade. Hope this clarifies some of the issues that you were experiencing. Good to know that you have managed to rectify the situation.

THIS IS NORMAL. DO NOT FREAK OUT... etc. This section of the update notes are are aimed at anyone updating from v2.71 or earlier. If you are already using v2.80 or 2.81, then your update should “go without a hitch”, as you noted that yours did. Although, you didn’t mention which version of the firmware you were upgrading from. If it was earlier than 2.80 then it is important and even though it is there in the notes, in big black block capitals, many, many people did “freak out” with cries of “firmware bricked my Helix” and all the usual “user error” nonsense through simply disregarding or not bothering to read the notes correctly. The comment about “Turn off or disconnect any connected Helix or HX hardware”, is probably to avoid driver installation issues, as noted by Peter in his post, above. It’s also probably a Line 6 “get out of jail free” card, because there is bound to be somebody, somewhere who will scream - “firmware bricked my Helix!” - There’s always has been and always will be one!

Hi, Glad to hear that you are getting to grips with flying your Helix, but I feel I have to point out that you have raised your point about the issues you are having by posting in two separate threads. Consequently and FYI any replies with suggestions to help you are becoming “cross-threaded. This has been a Public Service Announcement ;-)

O.K. I did mention the minor error in the notes, and that’s kinda trivial, but my real point was the news of the 2.82 release wasn’t posted along with all the others in the “Sticky Thread” near the top of these pages. If it’s in there it’s a lot more visible to readers, than having to scroll through the whole batch of other posts. I nearly missed it myself. My other point was (and I appreciate that nobody can be in two places simultaneously), that the news seemed to be out on BookFace before it hit here. As I understand there are quite a few members on here who would rather have nothing to do with FB and avoid it like the plague. Because the news wasn’t in the usual Pinned Thread it was very easy to miss it. I know that even though this is listed as a Line 6 discussion group you rarely encounter their presence. You have a better chance of seeing info being posted by Frank R and Eric over on the Helix groups on TGP or FarceBuck. This is getting to be the island of lost souls. I do appreciate the hard work that has gone into squishing the bugs

When it gets to this state of affairs, I would begin to suspect that this issue is more to do with how your PC and Windows 10 are configured. As you have noted, it functions perfectly on your laptop. There has been many complaints about the Firmware 2.80 and the changes to the Helix Core operating system, but if this issue occurred with every machine running Windows 10 then Line 6 would be under siege from disgruntled Windows users. Therefore, I think the answer to your question, “Why is a product running on Win10 so hard to fix?” is possibly due to the fact that there are so many variables with how the basic PC can be modified and configured. You may want to check that first, rather than blame the firmware, but as you also mention, you are “not motivated to spend time on the desktop”. Well, there you have it.

Bug fixes or not, it appears that this was posted to the FarceBuck Helix Group before here. Maybe the folks who have an aversion to FB are being disadvantaged, because the supposed “official sticky thread” usually updated by DI and Line 6 Tony has not been updated, but hey, why worry about that because the Helix Native section of this forum still lists a post made by DI in January 2018 for version 1.50. One thing to bear in mind - the release notes for this update have been “cannibalised” from a previous set of notes. At Step 4 Updating the Factory Presets - STOP! In a FB post by Igor Stolarsky he states “There are no new presets in this update”, therefore, as stated above it is lots of bug fixes. Stand by for lots of newbies screaming “update bricked my Helix”. Just so ya all know!

This is actually worse than “Groundhog Day” and seems to have gone on longer than “Star Wars”. Once more from the top! Go here and read this and follow the instructions - exactly. Do not deviate from the path in the slightest, Grasshopper!

Hi, Well, jury rigging the cable may work as a temporary solution, but for safety’s sake, I would seriously recommend that you have the unit repaired by a qualified tech. Until then take care, as any disturbance to the connection will cause data loss and “device not recognised” messages - and that way madness lies!

I really cannot understand what exactly the problem is? Doesn’t fit snugly and dangles down? You tried 3 other cables so that’s not the issue? It’s not exactly clear what is not the issue, cables or socket?! None of the cables work, or do they, but they all dangle down? (that’s the force of gravity!) A cable is a cable, it either works or it doesn’t. If there is no physical break In the cable and it has the correct plug/terminals they simply plug in, unless the socket is broken. Does it look damaged? With something so vague as the information supplied here, you really need to grab your phone and take a picture because this is just... Yeah, right.

Hi, again, You do realise that your Global EQ settings are already being saved from within HX Edit? Example: You go to a gig and soundcheck, adjust the Global EQ of you Helix to suit the venue. Do gig, everybody has a great time, sounds excellent. Pack up, go home and then hook up to HX Edit and make a backup. This is the bit that takes a while because the option to save only the Globals is not there, you have to save a full .hbx file. O.K. name that backup to match the venue. Next time you have a gig at the same place, go to HX Edit and select "Restore from Backup" for the relevant venue and only check the "Global Settings" option. Then you can download the needed Global EQ settings back into your Helix. Done! Long way round, but it works for now. Hope this helps/makes sense (until the option to save only global info is available)

You should check my post above - re: Ideascale. EDIT Damn - I’ve just seen the date on the OP - This is a Zombie thread, it’s not like it ever got started!

Hi, If you have suggestions for anything you feel might be missing from, or could improve the Helix range of products, then you really need to post to: https://line6.ideascale.com/ This is simply a “user forum” and it is very rare that any member of Line 6 staff would bother to pick up on anything that you may post here. In fact you would have greater chance on your FB Helix Family Group, where Frank R and Digital_Igloo are regular correspondents. If you post to Ideascale, first make sure that the suggestion is not already on there, as that would dilute the amount of votes given which gets it higher on the list. Hope this makes sense.

Hi, FYI. The Line 6 Badonk model was add in the Firmware 2.20 released on the 30th March 2017. That was quite an upgrade because that had a bunch of release notes with it especially about resetting the Globals otherwise 2.20 would not work properly. Maybe your Helix was never reset and that's how come it didn't function as everyone else expected?

Hi, If you need long layered loops then, the general opinion seems to be, the best thing to do is patch a dedicated looper into one of the send and return blocks. Gives you a lot more control and if you have a Boss RC-10R you get 6 hours of recording and a built in rhythm box, with 16 drum kits. There is a thread here about the Helix looper and why you should possibly use an external option.

Hi I have to say that the comments in the 2 posts above are from guys who are beta testers for this stuff and if they’re convinced it never worked that way, well, then I’m really confused. You say it worked, they say no - very strange. The only thing that springs to mind about this situation is if you have updated to firmware version 2.81, then because it’s such a major change to the Core, your Global Settings will have been wiped. If you performed a backup prior to updating then maybe you could launch HX Edit and just restore your old Globals only from the backup. It’s worth a shot! Hope this helps/makes sense