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Workbench HD and Helix?


FlyingsCool
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Ok, I'm at a complete loss.

 

I haven't been able to figure out how to get Workbench HD connect to my JTV-69S with latest firmware 2.21.

 

My Helix is updated to 2.20 and the Editor is updated.  Helix USB driver is updated to 1.85.  MIDI over USB is set to on.  Helix is connected to my computer and the editor sees it just fine.  My Variax is connected to the Helix with VDI and playing fine through the Helix.

 

I updated Line 6 Monkey to 1.74

It says I have the latest Workbench HD - 2.13

 

The Helix release notes say there is a Workbench HD 2.20, but no link is provided and I can't find the software.

If I go to downloads and and select Variax / Workbench HD/ Windows 7 and select Go, nothing comes up, I just get the "Recent Updates"

 

Through Line 6 Monkey, I updated Workbench HD to 2.13 and the latest USB driver to 1.0.72.  If I connect the Variax to my computer through its USB interface, Workbench HD connects to my Variax fine. 

 

I was expecting, however, that if I am connected to my Helix with a VDI cable, then Workbench HD should see the Variax.  It doesn't.  What am I missing?  I'm feeling rather stupid, and don't see any step by step instructions for setting up and  using the Workbench with my Variax   I kinda hadda stumble through the process to get all the pieces installed.

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 Helix release notes say there is a Workbench HD 2.20, but no link is provided and I can't find the software.

 

 

Should be in a folder called Line 6 in "Program files" or some such. On a Mac here so can't be specific.

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...

 

The Helix release notes say there is a Workbench HD 2.20, but no link is provided and I can't find the software.

....

 

You're right - the release notes do say that. It's an error. The latest Workbench HD is version 2.13. Helix is compatible with this version as a Workbench HD interface device.

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Yes. Line 6 Monkey is updated and I installed the latest USB drivers for the Variax with the Variax connected to the computer with the Variax USB interface.  Workbench is at 2.13.  Workbench HD worked fine through the Variax USB interface.

 

I updated Helix, the editor, updater, and the USB driver.  Followed ALL the instructions.  Helix is happy.  Variax is connected to the Helix with a VDI cable and playing.  I rebooted the computer.  I reinstalled my presets and IR's.  I rebooted Helix and it rebuilt all my presets again.  Helix is connected to a USB 2 port, and the editor connects fine.  When I start Workbench HD, it says it can't connect.  I tried it with and without a 1/4 plug in the Variax.

 

I'm using Windows 7 Pro.

 

Is there something I can do to see if I can send a signal to the Variax from the computer.  I have a DAW (Mixcraft Pro Studio).  Not much of a MIDI guy though, I've done some piano rolls in my DAW, that's about it.

 

I do have another guitar connected to the Helix through the 1/4" Guitar In at the same time.  That's it.  MIDI through USB is on and MIDI send and receive are on MIDI + USB.

 

My DAW is not started and no MIDI devices or software is in my home.

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Try turning off Helix and disconnecting the VDI cable. Turn Helix back on and reconnect the VDI cable. This will reset VDI communications and may enable proper communication with Workbench HD through Helix.

 

I have found it best to disconnect the VDI during a firmware update.

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That worked.  Sort of. 

 

At first, when I unplugged and replugged my Variax with my VDI cable with VDI connector (3rd party) I got nothing through the helix.  Connected the Variax with the supplied ethernet cable from the USB interface still no joy O_o.  Not a squeak from the guitar.

 

Rebooted the Helix with the USB ethernet cable, then it connected fine.  I could play through the Helix, and, joy, workbench worked. 

 

But then I disconnected the ethernet cable, reconnected the VDI connector VDI cable and still joy, it could play again through the helix.  But no joy on connecting to Workbench :(  Rebooted the Helix, still no joy on Workbench, but at least it still plays.  I'll bring the cable to work and make sure all the lines are correct tomorrow.

 

Tested it again with the USB ethernet cable. Definitely the VDI cable is the problem.

 

Thanks everyone.

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Through Line 6 Monkey, I updated Workbench HD to 2.13 and the latest USB driver to 1.0.72.  If I connect the Variax to my computer through its USB interface, Workbench HD connects to my Variax fine. 

 

I was expecting, however, that if I am connected to my Helix with a VDI cable, then Workbench HD should see the Variax.  It doesn't.  What am I missing?  I'm feeling rather stupid, and don't see any step by step instructions for setting up and  using the Workbench with my Variax   I kinda hadda stumble through the process to get all the pieces installed.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

So according to this...

 

  • Variax Workbench HD Support—Variax can now communicate directly with Variax Workbench HD software (Mac/PC) through Helix via USB. IMPORTANT! Global Settings > MIDI/Tempo > MIDI over USB must be set to “On.â€

The latest USB driver is 1.85 not 1.0.72. I got all my updates from the links in this message. Also did you do everything this says. I'm mainly referring to "MIDI over USB must be set to "On" ". That's what caught me. Now it works fine. Actually switches models in the Workbench program as you switch models in the Helix editor. I haven't tested to see what happens when I change the tunings in the Helix editor or what happens in the Helix editor when I change models or tuning in Workbench.

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Through Line 6 Monkey, I updated Workbench HD to 2.13 and the latest USB driver to 1.0.72.  If I connect the Variax to my computer through its USB interface, Workbench HD connects to my Variax fine. 

 

I was expecting, however, that if I am connected to my Helix with a VDI cable, then Workbench HD should see the Variax.  It doesn't.  What am I missing?  I'm feeling rather stupid, and don't see any step by step instructions for setting up and  using the Workbench with my Variax   I kinda hadda stumble through the process to get all the pieces installed.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

So according to this...

 

  • Variax Workbench HD Support—Variax can now communicate directly with Variax Workbench HD software (Mac/PC) through Helix via USB. IMPORTANT! Global Settings > MIDI/Tempo > MIDI over USB must be set to “On.â€

The latest USB driver is 1.85 not 1.0.72. I got all my updates from the links in this message. Also did you do everything this says. I'm mainly referring to "MIDI over USB must be set to "On" ". That's what caught me. Now it works fine. Actually switches models in the Workbench program as you switch models in the Helix editor. I haven't tested to see what happens when I change the tunings in the Helix editor or what happens in the Helix editor when I change models or tuning in Workbench.

 

As I noted.  The issue is solved.  The problem was my VDI cable.  1.85 is the latest Helix USB driver version, the latest Variax USB driver version is 1.0.72.

 

The whole process is all quite complicated because there are different systems for different uses.  As I noted, when I get a chance, I'm planning on documenting everything since I found the Line 6 documentation a little lacking.  It's all there, but, all over the place, and you kinda have to understand how it all goes together to understand it.  Took me a while to get there

 

(As a side note, I've never attempted to control anything through MIDI.  Still beyond my little pea brain.  I did once try to control some lights through a DMX controller a bunch of years ago, but it didn't work.  I think the controller was broken.  I got it used with a whole bunch of other stuff, I didn't really care that much, just wanted to see if I could get it working.  Coulda been me, coulda been the cables I was using, coulda been the controller, who knows? 

Squirrel!!)

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Hey Gents, here's another solution for anyone else having problems with the HELIX/ WORKBENCH driver...

 

It's possible that when you plugged your Helix into the computers USB port, Windows pulled the driver from the Windows update site instead of the newly installed 1.85 driver.

 

To delete the Windows driver, and ensure that the 1.85 driver is used, use the following procedure...(you may already know this)

  1. While your Helix is connected to your computer open your Device Manager from Control Panel
  2. In the Control Panel, under Sound, Video and Game controllers find Line 6 Helix, right click with your mouse and select Uninstall.
  3. When the Confirmation window appears, Check the "Delete the driver software for this device" checkbox and press OK to Confirm Device Uninstall
  4. After pressing OK disconnect the USB cable between the Computer and the the HELIX.
  5. Reinstall the 1.85 driver by downloading the Line6Driver2Helixv1.85Installer.exe from Line 6 Support website
  6. Once the drivers have been installed, re-connect the USB cable between the Computer and the the HELIX.
  7. You will see a Driver Software Notification Icon in the notification center that Helix drivers are being installed, click the Icon and click the Skip obtaining driver software from Windows Update link and Confirm that this is what you want to do by pressing Yes
  8. Then Windows Software installation will find the 1.85 driver and everything should work by indicating that HELIX is Ready to use!

I hope this helps

 

seeya

 

Joe

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As I noted.  The issue is solved.  The problem was my VDI cable.  1.85 is the latest Helix USB driver version, the latest Variax USB driver version is 1.0.72.

 

The whole process is all quite complicated because there are different systems for different uses.  As I noted, when I get a chance, I'm planning on documenting everything since I found the Line 6 documentation a little lacking.  It's all there, but, all over the place, and you kinda have to understand how it all goes together to understand it.  Took me a while to get there

 

(As a side note, I've never attempted to control anything through MIDI.  Still beyond my little pea brain.  I did once try to control some lights through a DMX controller a bunch of years ago, but it didn't work.  I think the controller was broken.  I got it used with a whole bunch of other stuff, I didn't really care that much, just wanted to see if I could get it working.  Coulda been me, coulda been the cables I was using, coulda been the controller, who knows? 

Squirrel!!)

 

Oh sorry, didn't catch that. Hooray for everything working. Yeah, I don't do MIDI either. I just copy and pasted the whole section on the Variax. Sorry if it seemed a little condescending. And I agree, the info does tend to be kind of all over the place.

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Hey Gents, here's another solution for anyone else having problems with the HELIX/ WORKBENCH driver...

 

It's possible that when you plugged your Helix into the computers USB port, Windows pulled the driver from the Windows update site instead of the newly installed 1.85 driver.

 

To delete the Windows driver, and ensure that the 1.85 driver is used, use the following procedure...(you may already know this)

  1. While your Helix is connected to your computer open your Device Manager from Control Panel
  2. In the Control Panel, under Sound, Video and Game controllers find Line 6 Helix, right click with your mouse and select Uninstall.
  3. When the Confirmation window appears, Check the "Delete the driver software for this device" checkbox and press OK to Confirm Device Uninstall
  4. After pressing OK disconnect the USB cable between the Computer and the the HELIX.
  5. Reinstall the 1.85 driver by downloading the Line6Driver2Helixv1.85Installer.exe from Line 6 Support website
  6. Once the drivers have been installed, re-connect the USB cable between the Computer and the the HELIX.
  7. You will see a Driver Software Notification Icon in the notification center that Helix drivers are being installed, click the Icon and click the Skip obtaining driver software from Windows Update link and Confirm that this is what you want to do by pressing Yes
  8. Then Windows Software installation will find the 1.85 driver and everything should work by indicating that HELIX is Ready to use!

I hope this helps

 

seeya

 

Joe

 

Hahaha... sorry... I couldn't figure out the problem at first, so I was documenting everything I did to see if I was doing something wrong.  I wasn't.  I didn't ultimately HAVE to do everything I did, but really I did if I ever wanted to just connect the Variax and use Line 6 Monkey.  It's two different systems, two different ways of using the same Workbench HD to access the Variax, and update the Variax really.

 

Ok, since people seem to be confused here's a first go at it. 

 

My problem was a bad cable.  Period.  That's it. 

 

Something's wrong with my Neutrik Ended VDI cable.  I don't know what.  Workbench HD sees my variax when I connect my Helix to my computer by USB and my Variax to my Helix with the ethernet cable supplied with the Variax Guitar (no Neutrik ends), short).  When I connect my Variax to my Helix with a third party Neutrik ended ethernet cable, Helix can see it and it plays fine, but Workbench HD cannot connect to my Variax.  I haven't had time yet to do a pin to pin test of the cable, so I don't know what's wrong.

 

You need Line 6 Monkey to update the Variax drivers and can use it to update Workbench HD.  That requires direct USB connection of the Variax to the computer.  Which in turn requires the Variax USB driver (v1.0.72).

You need Line 6 Updater to update Helix to 2.20.  You need the Helix USB driver (v1.85) to connect the Helix to the computer by USB.  

 

Workbench HD can see the Variax if either:

The Variax is connected to the computer by Variax USB Dongle

or

The Variax is connected to the Helix and the Helix is connected to the computer by USB.

 

(I've only tested it with VDI connection to the Helix.  I have not yet tried to connect my Variax to the Helix with 1/4 inch connection and see if that works with Workbench.  It's possible it could.  I don't know, and there's currently no documentation on that as far as I could find.  Like I said, documentation is pretty thin.)

 

So the story has a happy ending... Workbench HD integration does in fact work through the Helix.  And now I can make changes and hear them at the same time.  My problem was but a cable.  That is all.

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I have everything upgraded to the newest firmware and drivers but I cant connect my JT69 with 2.21 to workbench hd. connects just fine with usb interface but not through helix with vdi cable

 

Any ideas?

 

"The connected variax is not compatible with workbench hd. You must use a James Tyler version 2.00 or higher"

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  • 5 years later...
On 4/18/2022 at 4:46 PM, dietmd said:

Workbench does not see my Variax.

 

Can you confirm that you mean "Workbench HD"... not just "Workbench"? 

Workbench has never worked with a JTV or the Helix... so I just want to make sure that's not what you were trying. 

 

 

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