datacommando

Hi, Sweetwater has this:- https://www.sweetwater.com/sweetcare/articles/getting-started-fast-with-line-6-helix-native/ Once you have Helix Native installed, you need to create a new AUDIO track, not software instrument. Then you click on Audio FX button for the channel you're using and select Helix Native from under Audio Units -> Line 6. This guy did this video a couple of years back when it was at version 3.0 It should get you up and running. Hope this helps/makes sense

Hi, Good to know you have it fixed. I'm a little late getting back to you on this, but I opened Native and erased absolutely everything to blank setlists. Then reloaded the backup bundle from prior to updating and everything works just fine. Still not sure what might have caused that error code, it's not one that I've seen before.

Hi, In no way am I trying to denigrate you, or suggesting that you have not used due diligence while working through this update procedure. Having said that, your latest post does raise a few questions in my mind. “NO accusations of RTFM! can be fairly levelled at me.” That’s excellent and given that you are familiar with the Manual you will be aware that page 5 contains the information regarding “Updating HX Effects Firmware.” Then page 17 contains the details on “Creating/Restoring Full Device Backups.” This section actually states - “Creating full backups of your device’s presets, IRs, favorites, custom user model defaults, and global settings is highly recommended to make sure your precious custom tones and configurations are never lost!” Your comments stating - “I decided to download the editing software”. Along with - “the pain of losing presets born of hours and hours of research, experimentation and programming”, rather gives the impression that you have never made a safety copy of any of your presets? If you do have fail safe back up copies of all your hard work then it should be a fairly simple job to restore them to your hardware. If not, well … I find this rather concerning too - “I have unpacked the update file (which is not recognised) and have a list presets.” Sorry, but this statement smacks of someone poking around in something they don’t understand. There is a saying about when you are in a hole, stop digging! Plus, you also say - “I am still utterly dismayed that this has happened to me in spite of all the precautions”. Well, unfortunately it has happened to you, but you’re not the first, and certainly won’t be the last to encounter this. You are dealing with what is essentially a computer. This is a quote from Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak: “Everything that has a computer in will fail. Everything in your life, from a watch to a car, to a radio, to an iPhone, it will fail if it has a computer in it.” O.K. As nothing seems to have gone to plan for you, I’m not sure from your posts, if on completion of the update your HXFX auto restated and rebuilt the presets. If it did that then your carefully sculpted presets could still be in the unit. If that is the case then they should appear in HX Edit v.3.70, from where you should be able to save them to your Mac. If you got past that stage and restarted your HXFX while holding down FS6 & TAP you will have done a Factory Reset and effectively wiped your presets and it will be something that you will never do again. Right now, I don’t know what else to suggest, unless as mentioned by @SaschaFranck in his post, you do have the file named “HX Effects Backup 2023-Nov-XX.hxb" on your Mac, (where XX is the date). If you have this bundle file, but cannot load into you HX Edit, maybe you could post it somewhere that I can download it. I could then try to open the file in Helix Native in compatibility mode and try to resave it from there. Oh, finally - “but I imagine some people from L6 will be paying attention here.” Hmm … here we go again - this is my “boilerplate” response. There are no Line 6 staff here and only very occasionally do they visit these forums - (See the “sticky comment” in the black banner stripe at the top of this page entitled “Welcome to the Line 6 forums”).

Hi, Thank you for your appreciation of the situation. I’m both glad and also sad to hear that you have managed to update to the new 3.70 firmware but your backup file is screwed. You do have another fail safe back up somewhere don’t you? In here we try to assist people with genuine issues and I, along with several other regular contributors to this forum, do as much as is humanly possible to help others avoid the various pitfalls of software updates. Over many years we have tried to do our best, even to the point of using translations through Google when necessary. It is almost like a regular United Nations of Support in here. None of us are particularly looking for any reward other than knowing we succeed in the task. Then, as you have realised, we have the complete ignorance of some people, who spend a not inconsiderable amount of money on a somewhat complex piece of kit, but cannot be bothered follow simple instructions or to read a manual? It's beyond me, and judging from the amount of times we have had to respond to a ridiculous query with "RTM" (not even RTFM), it gets to a point that is beyond irritating. Regarding your initial post, which came across as yet another “me too” complaint, it would have been very helpful to all concerned to know exactly which version of the Firmware you had installed prior to attempting the update. Fellow forum user @SaschaFranck, very astutely pointed out to me that you may have been trying to update from a very early version of the firmware. If only I had known. FYI -There was a major update to the Core operating system of all HX products at v.2.80 firmware. This was the bane of many because the update would appear to fail about half way through the update. Even though this was fully documented in the Release Notes it created waves of “Update bricked my Helix”posts. Oh, what fun. There was another large change to the Core at v.3.50. This again was fully documented by Line 6 in the Release Notes and on the download page. The official notes for 3.70 states: My Helix/HX is at version X.XX. Can I go straight to 3.70? Yes, but note that if you're starting from 2.80 or lower, the update may appear to happen three times and will take notably longer than 30 minutes. This is normal. You have mentioned the you “did everything I read in the instructions on the Line6 website prior to undertaking the update and I followed all of the instructions I found scouring these forums to try to recover the situation when the update windows kept closing on me, all, as I said above, to no avail.” Oh, well - maybe a PBKAC in this instance? You may think I am being harsh, but I am not a Line 6 employee - just another Helix user. If you have an issue with the Line 6 coders, I would suggest that you had better address it directly to them if you find it "unacceptable". I doubt it would get anywhere because, you probably didn’t read this, which is the official Line 6 comment about updates. Check the bits in Red! Hope this helps/makes sense.

Hi, As I said earlier, when I did the update to Native 3.70 I didn’t have to reload my presets from the backup and all the new amps, cabs and effects were available to use. If you do have corrupted backup of your presets, and you have performed the Factory Reset on Native, you can simply open HX Edit and drag the presets you have in your Rack across into Native. In fact you can drag and drop any .hlx files from any folder on your computer. You should also be able to import Setlists and/or Bundles. You can encounter issues with importing if you don’t have the correct Helix Compatibility mode set, so it might be advisable to check that. Click on the Question Mark icon in the lower right of the GUI window of Native and select the “Pilot’s Guide” which is a downloadable pdf. There is a whole bunch of information regarding importing and exporting Setlists and Bundles. Hope this helps/makes sense.

Hi,Roy, i updated to v.3.70 Helix Native on my Mac running Logic Pro X only yesterday. As is recommended, I made a backup of everything in Native prior to installing the new version. I didn’t attempt to reload the backup file as all my presets remained as they were before 3.70 - as it seemed unnecessary to reload the saved backup, I haven’t bothered. Everything just seems to work as it should. Anyhow, I’m not back in the studio for at least another 15 hours, so only then can I check what happens following a Factory Reset on the plug-in. As my version of HX Native is essentially a mirror of the presets and IRs in my Helix Floor, it means I have several back up copies available as fail safe copies. Never seen that particular error code, but I will try a reset tomorrow and see what transpires. I will report back ASAP.

Ah, well observed - if he had a really early firmware installed pre 2.80 when the Core was modified, that could be an issue. Although, the usual Release Notes for this version does contain this: My Helix/HX is at version X.XX. Can I go straight to 3.70? Yes, but note that if you're starting from 2.80 or lower, the update may appear to happen three times and will take notably longer than 30 minutes. This is normal. Even so, if he can get the Updater (or the new Line 6 Central) to mount the HXFX the option to reinstall an earlier version should be there, but may require a sign-in to the Line 6 Account by going back on-line. ;)

Hi, There have been around 29 firmware updates to the Helix hardware, since way back in February 2016, which was mainly “bug fixes” for us early adopters. On just about every update there has been a spate of “Update bricked my Helix” and it is becoming more than a little tedious for regular forum users to continue bailing out people who manage to screw this stuff up. It is not brain surgery, it is not rocket science - it’s a software update. Sometimes, it may be easier to find a 14 year old kid to do this. O.K. You say that - “I can get Updater to connect by starting the unit whilst pressing the right arrow (Updater recognises “Unknown HX Effects unit) and I browse to the down loaded firmware file.” Now you get to the “HOWEVER” bit! If you are trying to perform a disaster recovery from a failed Update, then you MUST ensure the prior to launching the Line 6 Updater Utility you have disconnected the USB Cable from both the Computer and your HXFX. Then Reboot your computer and then the HXFX while holding down the right arrow key to put it into Safe Boot mode. Once your HX powers up you can then reconnect the USB to your Mac/PC. Now ensure you are disconnected from the internet, and that nothing else is running in the background on your computer, screen saver etc., because if your computer loses focus during the update it will fail, don’t even wiggle the mouse, or move out of the Updater window - it will fail! Now launch the Line 6 Updater v.1.28 which should detect your HXFX. Now you should be able to proceed to do a local update to 3.70 without any issues. There are no guarantees implied with this - if if fails you should contact Line 6 Customer Support to tell them “this is unacceptable”, because there are no Line 6 staff here, only other users, doing our utmost to help one another through pain free updates. We are dealing with software on a very specialised computer (HX Unit), and sheet happens! Hope this helps/makes sense.

Hi, Good to know it worked out for you. Just remember, in future never update to new firmware prior to a gig, especially when money is involved. Happy trails.

Hi, Did you try the suggestion in the post listed 3 from the top of this thread?

Hi, IIRC, the Line 6 HX presets are JavaScript Object Notation (JSON) - a standard text-based format for representing structured data based on JavaScript object syntax, rather than XML, which is more complex and requires a tag structure. Hope this helps/makes sense. EDIT: I found this ancient thread about the file format.

Hi, It helps to know what computer an operating system you have, but if you’re using a Mac, make sure the installer actually overwrites the old version. It’s not unknown for there to be ran alias back to an earlier version lurking on the computer that can screw stuff up. In fact, the best thing to do with the old version of HX Edit is to make a backup of all the stuff from your HX device, and then bin the 3.62 version. Then run the installer for v.3.70. Hope this helps/makes sense.

Nope just a very poor version of Space Invaders”. I have become tired have having to type the same rescue info over and over again so, follow this link to the the official instructions from Line 6. or the unofficial version from a while back - if you follow this disaster recovery just remember that you need to use the latest revision numbers where necessary - ie. 3.70 not 3.50. Hope this helps/makes sense.

Hi, Rule one about updates - NEVER UPDATE TO NEW UNTESTED FIRMWARE BEFORE A GIG! O.K. You say that HX Edit notified you about the new firmware, therefore you must have downloaded the latest version of HX Edit and made a backup of everything on your HX Stomp XL - YES? If you have not made a backup you could be screwed. You say you started pushing buttons in an attempt to reset your unit. If you were holding down C+D while powering up that is the combination used to perform a Factory Reset on the device, and and doing so may have inadvertently wiped all your presets. As your screenshot still shows v.3.60 may be you can recover from this by going into Safe Boot mode. This is the Line 6 options for the XL "HX Stomp XL 1. Foot switches C + D performs a factory reset while pressing on holding boot-up. (Resets Globals, Presets, IRs). 2. Pressing and Holding down the "Page >" Button while powering up will put the HX into update mode. This update mode is helpful if the update is interrupted, and the HX Stomp will not boot properly. You will see a blank screen (no visual feedback on the display)." In order to fix your unit you will require the Line 6 Updater Utility v.1.28 - this should have downloaded along with HX Edit 3.70, drivers and firmware package to your computer. If not simply go to the Downloads at the top of this page and get them individually. Once you have the Updater, disconnect the USB cable and then wait a minute before reconnecting. Power up your Stomp while holding down the “Page >” button. Ensure that nothing else is running on your computer, especially HX Edit. Now launch Line 6 Updater which should connect to your hardware, and from here you have the option to either perform a “local” update to v3.70 or reinstall 3.60. There ya go! Read, study and digest the Release Note before stating an update. Bet you never make this mistake again. Hope this helps/makes sense.

Hi, The info supplied by @SaschaFranck is correct, especially about making the backup first before installing HX Edit. I have also replied to similar post earlier that you might want to check out here: Hope this helps/makes sense.

Hi, Tom, Yay! Solved! You get used to this sort of stuff, especially having owned a Helix since 2015. You generally find that after every firmware update there is a spate of “Update bricked my Helix” posts. It is not in the interests of Line 6 to screw stuff up, and when you been around here a while you come to realise that there are many other things that create this chaos. As you have found, this can include having both HX Edit and the Updater open at the same time, bad USB cables and connections, bad internet connections, drivers, fluff in your mouse or keyboard and a myriad of other nonsense things that often boils down to user error and failing to read the Release Notes. Good to know you got up and running - enjoy the new stuff in 3.70. Shirley, you ain’t the first, and definitely won’t be the last to have fallen foul of these damnable traps for the unwary. “Cigarette?” ”Yes it is!” (and a million other Leslie Nielsen quips) Regards

Hi, When you update to new firmware, you are advised to make a complete backup of everything on your device. This is your safety copy. When the update has completed, after rebuilding the presets, you should still have all your presets and settings are still functional on the hardware, and now optimised to run on the new firmware. You can choose to reboot your HX Stomp while holding down FS2 & FS3 which will then perform a Factory Reset on your unit, which will erase your presets etc., and replace them with the new factory defaults. You can the explore the new factory presets provided in the update, and then should you decide you want to keep them, you can export them from HX Edit as individual presets, or setlists. Again, by using the HX Edit menu, you can select “Restore from Backup”, which will the bring up a window pointing to the last backup you made, or navigate to another, from where you can select exactly which items you want to restore to your Stomp. These can include, Globals, Favorites, IRs, Setlists etc. You simply need to click to create a green tick mark in each selection you wish to restore. My guess is you are referring to the Global settings, so you could just select them to restore if you like. Hope this helps/makes sense.

Hi, Good to know you got it up and running - some simple things are easily overlooked, and usually easily fixed. It’s understandable when you start to panic thinking you might have turned your toy into a paperweight. Have fun with the updated stuff.

Hi, Interesting first post, but it might have been wise to do a little research about the looper functions in the HX product line. If you had, then you may have had less chance of being dissatisfied. The onboard looper isn’t really designed as a performance device. There are many threads with discussions about the looper on this forum. It’s main purpose is for help in “sound sculpting” - creating tones by capturing a short snippet of audio to playback while adjusting the amp tones and effects behind it. It is also handy for grabbing a short chord progression to practice soloing over. In fact the looper was being mentioned in a similar thread earlier, so I did a copy and paste of my reply to that one. Here ya go! For serious live use Line 6 conveniently added an FX Loop Send/Return jack sockets to attach your particular weapon of choice for that sort of thing. Personally, I have several different loopers for different jobs, all with slightly different features and loop time/lengths. For example a Ditto x4 dual tracks with FX, Boss RC-30 with drums, a cheapo Ammoon Stereo Looper with 10 independent loops, and each loop's recording time is up to 10 minutes. Oh, and one built in on the DTP Mooer Ocean Machine. Horses for courses and tools for the job. EDIT: As for the issues with v.3.70 - have you done the Factory Reset as advised in the Release Notes? If you think you have found a genuine bug raise a ticket with Support, and report it - if they don’t know they cannot fix it. Hope this helps/makes sense.

Well, it FINALLY made Mr Freeman happy! Here's what he said on his UChoob video comparison - "Helix 3.70 Brit 2203 vs Softube JMP 2203" "Both models are gain and level matched, the new Brit 2203 is nigh-on identical to Softube JMP 2203. This makes Helix/HX/Native have one of the finest 2203 models available and I've tested and measured most of them. Well done Line 6." :)

Hi, Yes, if you have saved a full back up (as when you update the firmware) and then perform a Factory Reset on your device, you can then click on Restore from Backup in the HX Edit menu. Then the restore dialogue box pops up with the option to choose which files to restore to your hardware. Your "User Model Defaults" is in there, along with Favorites, Globals etc., and any that you don't check in the option box with a Green Tick will remain as the Factory Default. Hope this helps/makes sense.

The onboard looper isn’t really designed as a performance device, as mentioned by @silverhead in the post above. Line 6 conveniently added an FX Loop Send/Return jack sockets to attach your particular weapon of choice for that sort of thing. Personally, I have several different loopers for different jobs, all with slightly different features and loop time/lengths. For example a Ditto x4 dual tracks with FX, Boss RC-30 with drums, a cheapo Ammoon Stereo Looper with 10 independent loops, and each loop's recording time is up to 10 minutes. Oh, and one built in on the DTP Mooer Ocean Machine. Horses for courses and tools for the job. Hope this helps/makes sense.

Correct, it was an issue with 3.60, BUT on newer Mac running Ventura and above. Link: So far I have always been lucky with the updates, right back to v.1.06.5 in 2016. Having said that - I am on my way to the studio to install 3.70 in the next hour or so. :-o

Oh, well it was worth checking out if the hack would work. I think I can live without a few nice shiny icons - I know what I have connected. Thanks.

Hi, Tom, A couple of things - NO, you didn’t install HX Edit version 7.0 - that doesn’t exist. You mean v3.70 surely. Next - you want to make a back up of the stuff from your LT which now doesn’t show up over USB. Well, you must have been connected to your Helix LT when HX Edit detected the update was available. Then when you have the latest HX Edit installed the first thing you are prompted to do before going any further is to create a backup of your entire device. Once you have done that, you can commence the update. You must have bypassed that option? I’m a little confused as to why you mention the Line 6 Updater Utility and that you are checking your device is available (which you say it is). At no point in the installation routine does it mention the need for you to run the Updater tool. The Updater is generally a final resort for disaster recovery. You should never have both the Updater and HX Edit open at the same time, this is probably the reason that HX Edit fails to see your device! Anyhow - first rule of Helix is always work on a copy (fail safe) - you do have a recent backup don’t you? You might want to read this but as it is from and earlier update recovery, simple change an the version numbers in the post to the very latest ones. Hope this helps/makes sense.