eightthree

I opened a support ticket and Line 6 advised me to send mine in for service. I just heard back yesterday that the MCU board needed to be replaced (basically the main computer that runs the Helix). I'd start by opening a ticket with Line 6 if you haven't already – and be prepared to send it in.

@MojoAxe, really curious what came of this issue, did you have to get it fixed? I’m experiencing the same issues both with 2.2x and 2.30 firmware. Line 6 has advised I send it in for service.

I am also dealing with this issue on firmware 2.30, so please let us know what comes of your support ticket (I have a ticket open as well). It seems to happen any time I end up editing or creating patches, either on the unit itself, or by using the HX Edit software. Everything seems to save fine, but the Helix just stops recognizing any input from my guitar. I switch to the tuner to verify, and no matter what I do, the tuner doesn't pick up any signal. 2.30 has been nothing but frustration for me.

I had previously reset the Helix to have nothing but factory presets on it... I guess I could try it after setting all presets to empty :|

After downgrading to 2.12.0 I tried going straight to 2.30.0 and it... kinda worked. I had to boot a couple times because it froze when rebuilding patches, but eventually I got it running. This doesn't leave me with a ton of confidence though that the next update will be any different, or that things are even running the way they should be. Fingers crossed. Thanks silvered! Yeah, I've tried all of them. The biggest concern I have is that every time I install any version of the firmware (2.12.0, 2.20.0, 2.30.0, ...) it always finishes the install but fails at the restart part of it (the screen just goes black and nothing else happens). I have to manually turn off the Helix and turn it back on after waiting 10 seconds or so to get the start up screen and maybe the "rebuilding patches" sequence. I have also gotten the "Boot Failure. Entered Update Mode!" screen on occasion and it always shows at red "-33" code in the top left corner of the screen. I'd love to know what that code means, hoping L6 support can shed some light on that. Last night I finished off by going from the 2.12.0 to the 2.30.0 firmware, but the Helix wouldn't get past the loading screen that just showed the firmware version. So, I unplugged everything, went to bed and plugged it back in again when I woke up this morning. It booted fine and started to rebuild the patches. It got through most of them but then froze at patch 915, so I turned it off, waited a few minutes, and turned it back on again. It booted, finished building the patches, and finished the start up sequence. Hopefully I'm good, but again, not super confident. I'll take a good look at this if my Helix 2.30.0 update proves unstable. Thanks for the tip!

Thanks, I've already opened a ticket, but it says it'll take 3 business days. Ideally, I'd like to be playing my guitar right now, but my Helix is stuck during boot. :(

I've had a ton of trouble updating my Helix every time there's a new firmware version. So much so, that I've been avoiding updating for quite some time. Up until last week I was running 2.10.0 since my previous attempts at updating to 2.20.0 had failed and downgrading was the only thing that actually worked for me. This weekend I tried updating everything to get on the latest firmware version so I can be ready when 2.50.0 comes out. At one point I was able to get up and running after a very frustrating series of on/off/on/off/on/off sequences that were really just me crossing my fingers hoping this time it would boot up. Today, boot problems again, so I'm trying to re-install the 2.30.0 firmware from a local file on my machine. Problem is, every time the updater program goes to the "Success, your Helix will now restart" screen, the Helix looks like it's trying to restart, but only shows a blank screen and blank scribble strips. Has anyone run into this before? I just opened a support ticket to see if L6 can help out, but if there's anyone else who's been through this that could give me some pointers I'd really appreciate it. I should also mention, after I turn off the Helix after the blank screen problem, turning it back on typically just results in it hanging at the startup/version firmware screen. Although, occasionally I've gotten a screen that says "Boot failure. Entered update mode!" and there's a red "-33" code in the top left corner of the screen as well.

Just curious if anyone else has noticed this or if it's just my Helix, but the expression pedal value hits 0 a good amount before the heel down position. I've noticed there's a decent amount of "dead zone" where moving the pedal does nothing at all because it's already hit zero. Is this normal? I read somewhere that the pedal calibrates itself automatically, but is there any way to manually calibrate it so I don't have so much dead space before the heel down position? Cheers!

I'm thinking about grabbing an Ernie Ball VP Jr to use with my HD500X, but I'm not sure which version I should get (the Active 25K version, or the Passive 250K version). I'm pretty sure it should be the passive, but I'd love some advice from those who have used one with a 500X before. I'm mainly going to be using it for volume swells, and I'm thinking I'd like to place it in the FX loop before any delay/reverb FX, however I'd also like to try it out before the HD500X's guitar input. Would the passive volume pedal work for both scenarios, or would it be one or the other? Thanks!

Thanks to you both! I don't feel like I've completely wraped my brain around all of this, so the tips definitely help. I'm also curious about how the effects loop plays into this picture. I typically run my effects loop after the amp(s) & mixer blocks, but only using the L/mono send & return. Does the effects loop sum everything to mono as well? Seems to me that if that's the case, that could be my "mono summing effect at the end" that you're referring to. If that's the case, would using a stereo effect (like a reverb) after the effects loop put my signal back into stereo mode again?

I haven't paid much attention to this in the past, but the more I read the more I'm wondering if maybe I missed something – so I thought I'd ask just to be sure. What's the best way to pan the HD500X's channels at the mixer for Mono output? Panning both channels to the center seems to give a noticeable volume increase when using the left (mono) 1/4" output, but I've noticed most stock patches and even the default "new tone" patch are all hard-panned left/right. Is that just because Line 6 wants to showcase the stereo capabilities of the HD? For the most part, I run my HD500X into a mono PA using the left 1/4" output plugged into a DI, so I'm really looking for the best way of setting up patches for that scenario. That said, I'm curious about how it would/should differ when using only the left XLR output as well. And do the rules change if I'm using a dual tone patch vs. a single-amp?

I've been an HD500 owner for a few years now, and recently upgraded to a 500X. I plan on "starting over" with the tones I've been using on my 500 for a while, and am just wondering if there's any consensus on how to best setup my POD and patches for studio/direct output in mono. I've read through a bunch of this guide, but I'm wondering if there are any differences in the HD500X, and whether or not that guide is up to date? Has anything changed since it was written? Is the 500X documentation any better than the 500 was (i.e. does it include some of the "nuances" of the unit and how signals are routed through it)? Basically, I'm just looking for some current advice on how to best setup patches in the 500X. I plan on creating both single and dual-amp patches. Any advice? Thanks!