A Catalyst may seem "dead" if a firmware update fails to complete itself. If the Catalyst fails to update:
Power down the amp and close the Updater app.
Open the Updater again, then power up the Catalyst while holding A and B to put the unit into bootloader mode.
You will then need to manually select the correct Catalyst product from three choices presented by the Updater.
Select the latest firmware version, then accept the Terms and Conditions.
After the update is complete, power down your Catalyst amplifier, then “RESET” the amplifier by holding down the “B” and “MANUAL” channel buttons while turning the power switch back on.
A failed firmware attempt can have a number of causes. Computer users may be having USB hardware or driver configuration issues, while mobile device users may experience Bluetooth range or interference issues. In any event, a failure in the update process will produce the following page:
In our experience, in addition to using Update Mode as laid out on the above page, the best results come from using the USB updater, possibly on multiple computers in case a given computer is experiencing USB configuration issues.
We have seen some users experience update issues with older Firehawk drivers still installed on Windows. Go to My Computer > Device Manager > Firehawk then right click "Uninstall Drivers" make sure you click the box saying "Remove Files" Then unplug your Firehawk, plug it back in and repeat these steps until Windows doesn't have any more drivers installed to assign to the Firehawk. Finally, reinstall the latest driver and let Windows assign it.