maxnew40

Yes I am using the original PSU that came with HD500. It appears from my testing that the tuner may be part of the equation. My connections are just JTV to HD500 and HD500 L6 Link to L2 speaker. -Max

I am not sure, maybe Line 6 collects some demographics information. In my case I am in the older guys category, I had my first bar band in the 80s. -Max

Well, all I can say is the results were interesting. I re-flashed my HD500 with the latest firmware as suggested by Line 6 in response to my support ticket. Initial testing seemed to indicate that this fixed the issue of the HD500 not working if the JTV is connected to the HD500 at power up. However about an hour into band rehearsal I switched to the tuner and it wasn't getting a signal so I turned off the tuner and then the HD500 was in the same error state as I had before and now it does the same if the JTV is connected at power up. -Max

I got a response from Line 6 this morning that wasn't super encouraging. It basically says "Didn't happen when I tried it, try re-flashing the firmware" You would think that they would at least do a checksum verification after a flash update to verify that the flash was complete and successful. Maybe I will get lucky and this will fix the issue but I am not going to hold my breath. -Max

That is good news! The JC120 probably should have been included with the base unit. That amp was used on tons of recordings in late 70s and 80s and it turns out the metal players love it for clean sounds too, so it really doesn't fit into either vintage or metal. -Max

I made sure the JTV battery had a charge and then plugged in a 1/4 cable and made sure the guitar volume was up all the way. I next powered up the HD500 while connected via VDI to the POD500 and it still has the same issue of none of the buttons working. I also tried a different power supply but it wasn't a valid test because that particular PSU only puts out 2.5 amps and so cannot be trusted for this type of test (it failed in the same way though). -Max

I have a friend that went by lollipop when he was younger but now goes by Rich (his full name is Richard). He loves to tell people that he used to be a lollipop but now he is Rich :-) Oh well the filter doesn't like the name and changed it to lollipop -Max

I submitted a support ticket this morning for the issue. I will report back when I receive a response. -Max

And yet actual testing confirms that the new firmware is required to have this issue. Older versions of firmware did not have this issue for me or Line-6-user with the same exact PSU unit. It would be an incredible coincidence for both of our PSU units to go out of spec at the same instant we upgraded the firmware. What this proves is that the firmware is at the very least one component of the problem (I test software for a living and this is just basic troubleshooting logic). The fact that this issue does not reproduce on every unit points to more than one factor required to produce the failure (new firmware plus some other factor we have not yet determined and could use some help from line 6 to find). I will try plugging in a 1/4 inch to the guitar tonight which will cause the JTV to be powered up fully before I power up the HD500. If this fixes the issue then it logically points towards an issue with PSU not being able to maintain voltage under a load. This would be easy to test if I had a scope but I don't. If a new PSU unit fixes this issue then it appears that Line 6 needs to investigate the build quality of the PSU and address why an out of spec PSU didn't cause a failure until version 2.6.2. -Max

I don't think I said that the power supply needed to be regulated. I do know that in most cases these little wall wart power supplies are not designed to be super stable power supplies and often this shows up under max current draw. I have been working in electronics manufacturing and software test since the 80s and in my experience anything that is running a processor will choke when the voltage dips. Even an internal voltage regulator isn't going to be able to make up a serious dip in voltage or current. I didn't even state that this is the problem, just that it may explain what we are seeing. I really did ignore my better judgment when I decided to update firmware so soon after release. The facts in my case are: I never had this issue even one time before upgrading the firmware. Nothing in my setup has changed other than the firmware update. It reproduces on two different JTV guitars with two different VDI cables. The only way I have found to get the HD500 to work at all now is to power up without a JTV connected to the VDI port (I have yet to try the Variax without a battery or with battery and 1/4 inch connected, but those are work arounds not solutions). -Max

I still didn't get to my HD500 last night, but we have a drummer audition tonight so I will get the serial number and file a ticket. I also do not believe that the my power supply got flaky at the exact moment I updated the firmware. I do believe that the power up sequence is now different in some way. I can't imagine the firmware change actually making either the JTV or the HD500 draw more current. I really hope this can be resolved with a firmware update in the future. -Max

Getting mad at people on an internet forum is just as pointless as trying to warn the characters on the screen at a movie to not go in that house. It might make you feel better but everyone around you is snickering. -Max

I didn't submit a ticket yet as I have to get to my HD500 to get the serial number off of it to be able to submit a ticket. As far as the PSU unit goes. In my experience these little power supply units typically are not designed and manufactured to give a perfect voltage at max current draw. It is very possible that the new POD firmware is doing something a little different when powering up the POD and the JTV. If they are both trying to power up at the same time then they are going to be drawing current from both devices which may cause a slightly out of spec PSU to drop the voltage and if you have any experience with digital gear you will know that voltage drops are nearly always going to cause problems. I don't have another PSU to try either and at the price that Line 6 sells them for I am not going to chance purchasing a new one in the off chance that it may resolve this issue. If I can get to my POD tonight I will submit a support ticket. -Max

What some of us don't understand is what is exactly is the point of the original post? What was it supposed to accomplish? This type of look at me posts usually draw well deserved ridicule. It isn't that I don't like what he has to say (you completely failed at mind reading by the way) as I could care less what device he is using or what car he drives or pretty much anything about the guy. I come here to read about how to use my HD500 better and to find out about upcoming releases and such. Posts about how Joe Blow has decided that he wants to use some other device doesn't contribute anything to HD500 users as far as I can tell. It seems the point of the post was akin to posting what he had for dinner or what he watched on television last night (hey everyone look at me!). -Max

Thanks, I wanted to be sure since it is not uncommon to write HD500 even if you have the HD500X. I didn't have time to check to see if removing the JTV battery has any effect last night. Based on the results above it seems that if the JTV is fully powered up (by connecting the 1/4 inch) then the HD500 is powering up correctly. It seems that there may be an issue with current draw while powering up both the guitar and the HD500. You can hear the JTV powering up (sounds like a relay clicking) when the HD500 powers up. Knowing how variable these little power supplies can be, it would make sense that some of them may dip the voltage under that maximum current draw when powering up both the guitar and HD500. -Max

Can anyone who responded that they did not experience this issue tell me if they are running the HD500 or the HD500X? -Max

I wonder if he sends this type of stuff to a car manufacturer when he switches brands? Sorry Gillette but your blades just aren't cutting it for me any more. I want to let everyone know that I am switching to a much more expensive boutique brand of blades and I just wanted to pop in here to let you know that you should now feel inferior to me. -Max

I will try removing the battery from the Variax, it is the only variable that is different on my system. It isn't a show stopper but is very annoying from a usability standpoint (I test software for a living). -Max

The fawn sounded good to me with the right guitar. On some guitars it sounded just right and with others not so great. I think it sounded better with single coils to me. -Max

I used the dongle to update both of my JTV guitars. Both JTV guitars have the battery installed. Both JTV guitars were connected to the HD500 via the VDI cable made for performance (not the cheap cable that comes with the dongle. I have the HD500 and not the HD500X. I tried a JTV 59 and a JTV69 both with different VDI cables. I have not changed the way I have anything connected and I did not have this problem with the older firmware versions. I will submit a support ticket tonight when I have the serial number handy. -Max

As soon as I get home to get the serial number and other info I will submit a service ticket. I have verified that there is a real easily duplicated issue with this new firmware when powering up the HD500 with a JTV connected via VDI. If you power up without the JTV connected there will be no problem. -Max

OK, I have verified that this is an easily repeatable problem with the new firmware. On My HD500 with the new firmware and a JTV59 and JTV69 with two different VDI cables (not the cables for the USB dongle but the real VDI cable for performance). All you need to do to make the POD completely unusable is to power up the HD500 while the JTV is connected. After power up The foot switches do nothing and the POD is in a bad state. The only way to fix this issue is to power off the POD disconnect the JTV and power up the POD and then connect the JTV after the POD has finished powering up. I will be submitting a ticket as I feel this is a serious defect in the new firmware that needs to be resolved. -Max

The only issue I have had with the new firmware was one time the tuner wasn't working right and the only thing that fixed it was to unplug the VDI and then plug it back in. No amount of power cycling the pod would fix the tuner. -Max

I love my Fender SuperSonic amp and will probably never sell that amp. I use the dream rig with an L2 speaker for gigging these days though. -Max

I have both the JTV 59 and a JTV69 and I have a band rehearsal tonight. I am going to test powering up with the 59 and then the 69 connected and see if I can reproduce this issue. -Max