How do you back up your Helix patches

[ibanezfan123]

Hi guys. I am wanting to download the new beta 1.11 version for my Helix, but i want to back up my patches and IR's as recommended. This may sound stupid, but how do i do that? I checked the manual and did not see anything about how to do this. Any help would be appreciated. Thanks!

[silverhead]

Use the version of the Helix app that you have before updating to 1.11. Back up all setlists individually using the Export Setlist command repeatedly, once for each setlist.

 

There is really no need to backup your IRs since you already have them as wav files somewhere - that's the only way they got into your Helix in the first place. However, you might find it convenient to rename each IR to include its IR# as a prefix to the name. This number/location for each IR is important because that's how it is referenced in Helix presets, yet it is not part of the information that is exported with the IR/wav file. This will help you restore your IRs to their correct location after updating firmware.

[ur2funky]

To me, it seems the correct word is in-convenient.   ;)

 

Unhelpful cheeky answer, I know.

 

I can't stand the thought of renaming the IRs, maybe if I settle on just a handful I will.  In the meantime I took a screen shot to at least have an idea where they were...

 

 

Cheers!

[spikey]

Use the version of the Helix app that you have before updating to 1.11. Back up all setlists individually using the Export Setlist command repeatedly, once for each setlist.

 

There is really no need to backup your IRs since you already have them as wav files somewhere - that's the only way they got into your Helix in the first place. However, you might find it convenient to rename each IR to include its IR# as a prefix to the name. This number/location for each IR is important because that's how it is referenced in Helix presets, yet it is not part of the information that is exported with the IR/wav file. This will help you restore your IRs to their correct location after updating firmware.

Silver if the IRs are not referenced correctly by Helix when you call up that preset, what exactly happens?

[silverhead]

The preset will use whatever IR is present in the specified slot/location number. If the slot is empty then no IR is applied.

 

Pretty much the same thing that happens when you call up an empty preset in the User setlist. It's still a preset and Helix has no problem loading no amps and FX into its audition buffer and playing the resulting dry signal from your guitar. Similarly, Helix does not object to loading an empty IR into the IR block.

[ibanezfan123]

Thanks for the feedback guys. I will give it a go this weekend.  :D

[spikey]

The preset will use whatever IR is present in the specified slot/location number. If the slot is empty then no IR is applied.

 

Pretty much the same thing that happens when you call up an empty preset in the User setlist. It's still a preset and Helix has no problem loading no amps and FX into its audition buffer and playing the resulting dry signal from your guitar. Similarly, Helix does not object to loading an empty IR into the IR block.

Makes sense, thanks!

[RRMark]

To me, it seems the correct word is in-convenient. ;)

 

Unhelpful cheeky answer, I know.

 

I can't stand the thought of renaming the IRs, maybe if I settle on just a handful I will. In the meantime I took a screen shot to at least have an idea where they were...

 

 

Cheers!

On my windows 10 laptop I select and drag all current irs from Helix editor in one hit to a new folder. To reload them I open a 'date saved tab' and click it and it puts them in the right order ready to drag back in. Warning! Worth testing first, on my older windows 7 laptop they don't reorder quite accurately, guess the time stamp doesn't have quite enough resolution. Obviously this won't work if you have spaces and I have no idea about Mac

[HonestOpinion]

This script is to help make backing up and restoring IRs to the same slot a little easier. For anyone looking for a quick way to add an incremented prefix number to all their IRs. Still an imperfect solution for IR backups but I hope this helps.

I wrote a DOS script inspired by some suggestions on the web for adding an incremented numbered prefix to all of your IRs at once. I considered doing it in PowerShell but I thought more people might be comfortable with a DOS script. It can be run from a Windows directory or any Command window (DOS prompt) As of right now numbered prefixes are the only way I know of to be able to dependably restore IRs after a firmware update and global restore in the same order so that your presets don't point to the wrong IR.

I pasted the script here so you can create your own batch file rather than uploading code which always has the possibility of a virus. Cut and paste from this post and just name the file something like IncrementedPrefixIR.bat and run it from the command prompt on a Windows computer. My apologies to Mac users, I am not a Mac person but I am sure it could easily be adapted by someone who is, or run from a Mac DOS emulator. The script is totally non-destructive, only does a copy, and seems to work perfectly but I make no guarantees implied or otherwise. The safest way to test this script will be to copy your IRs and the script to a new directory and run it from there. If anyone has any issues please let me know and I will attempt to fix them. Thanks!

Instructions for .bat file use

• Cut and paste the script into Notepad and save and name the script, e.g IncrementedPrefixIR.bat Make sure you have a .bat extension for the file name.
• Place it in the directory with your IR files. It will only copy IRs (*.wav) files
• You can run the script by double-clicking it or using "Open" on the .bat file from the Windows directory, or, alternatively you can open a dos/command prompt and navigate to your IR directory with the script. Then type .\ IncrementedPrefixIR.bat
• All IRs in the directory will be copied with a prefixed incremented number and underscore. For example, the files "MarshallGreenback.wav" and "MesaBlackWidow.wav" will now have copies named "1_MarshallGreenback.wav" and "2_MesaBlackWidow.wav". You may need to refresh your directory to see the new files. If you run the script twice you will end up with two sets of copies.
• You can now either move your prefixed copies to a new directory or delete the old files without prefixes (make sure you have a backup of them somewhere else first).
• You can now order the Windows directory on name and all your IRs can be imported into the Helix in the same order every time.
• Please feel free to enhance the script, I can think of a couple of ways it could be better.

The .bat file script (cut and paste everything from "@echo off" down to the "GOTO :eof" line into a .bat file)

@echo off
SET COUNT=1
REM

FOR /f "tokens=*" %%G IN ('dir /b .\*.wav') DO (call :renum "%%G")
GOTO :eof

:renum
copy %1 %count%_%1
set /a count+=1
GOTO :eof

[HonestOpinion]

This script is to help make backing up and restoring IRs to the same slot a little easier. For anyone looking for a quick way to add an incremented prefix number to all their IRs. Still an imperfect solution for IR backups but I hope this helps.

 

I wrote a DOS script inspired by some suggestions on the web for adding an incremented numbered prefix to all of your IRs at once. I considered doing it in PowerShell but I thought more people might be comfortable with a DOS script. It can be run from a Windows directory or any Command window (DOS prompt) As of right now numbered prefixes are the only way I know of to be able to dependably restore IRs after a firmware update and global restore in the same order so that your presets don't point to the wrong IR.

 

I pasted the script here so you can create your own batch file rather than uploading code which always has the possibility of a virus. Cut and paste from this post and just name the file something like IncrementedPrefixIR.bat and run it from the command prompt on a Windows computer. My apologies to Mac users, I am not a Mac person but I am sure it could easily be adapted by someone who is, or run from a Mac DOS emulator. The script is totally non-destructive, only does a copy, and seems to work perfectly but I make no guarantees implied or otherwise. The safest way to test this script will be to copy your IRs and the script to a new directory and run it from there. If anyone has any issues please let me know and I will attempt to fix them. Thanks!

 

Instructions for .bat file use

• Cut and paste the script into Notepad and save and name the script, e.g IncrementedPrefixIR.bat Make sure you have a .bat extension for the file name.
• Place it in the directory with your IR files. It will only copy IRs (*.wav) files
• You can run the script by double-clicking it or using "Open" on the .bat file from the Windows directory, or, alternatively you can open a dos/command prompt and navigate to your IR directory with the script. Then type .\ IncrementedPrefixIR.bat
• All IRs in the directory will be copied with a prefixed incremented number and underscore. For example, the files "MarshallGreenback.wav" and "MesaBlackWidow.wav" will now have copies named "1_MarshallGreenback.wav" and "2_MesaBlackWidow.wav". You may need to refresh your directory to see the new files. If you run the script twice you will end up with two sets of copies.
• You can now either move your prefixed copies to a new directory or delete the old files without prefixes (make sure you have a backup of them somewhere else first).
• You can now order the Windows directory on name and all your IRs can be imported into the Helix in the same order every time.
• Please feel free to enhance the script, I can think of a couple of ways it could be better.

The .bat file script (cut and paste everything from "@echo off" down to the "GOTO :eof" line into a .bat file)

 

@echo off

SET COUNT=1

REM

 

FOR /f "tokens=*" %%G IN ('dir /b .\*.wav') DO (call :renum "%%G")

GOTO :eof

 

:renum

copy %1 %count%_%1

set /a count+=1

GOTO :eof

 

A nice enhancement to this script would be to be to add intelligence to it to pick up at the highest number and only add new number prefixes to the IRs that are not already numbered.

[ur2funky]

On my Mac it's useless, hence the screen shot approach.  I have gaps in the IRs, so out of order, and they are from different dates too.