hal3001 Posted July 5, 2018 Share Posted July 5, 2018 I recently found a Variax 700 Acoustic and unfortunately the firmware update failed in the middle of the update using a Helix/VDI cable and I can’t get an update to complete and now it’s partially bricked. I’m pretty sure I can fix it with the original USB to VDI adapter but would really prefer to not spend 75 on one if it’s not going to work so I was wondering if there was anyone in my area that has one who would be willing to meet me for 15 minutes and let me use their adapter to get the firmware updated. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
soundog Posted July 5, 2018 Share Posted July 5, 2018 ...if you can't find anyone local and are up against a wall, I could loan you mine (just $ for round-trip postage from/to Portland, OR). I trust a fellow Variax Acoustic owner. I haven't weighed the dongle, but it might ship for First Class (relatively cheap). Otherwise it would need to go Priority Mail. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
codamedia Posted July 9, 2018 Share Posted July 9, 2018 The Helix does not work well with older Variax models in regards to connecting with Workbench/Monkey/Updater, etc... Don't limit yourself to finding the USB to VDI adapter... The X3 Live and HD 500 work fine and there are likely many of those in your area. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
soundog Posted July 9, 2018 Share Posted July 9, 2018 ..... good point! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hal3001 Posted July 10, 2018 Author Share Posted July 10, 2018 @soundog thank you for the offer. For some reason I wasn't receiving notifications for this thread and didn't think to look back. I actually do have a friend with an old HD500 that I could borrow. I didn't realize that you could use it for that. I even owned an HD500X and Variax and just used the VDI/USB adapter. I'll give that a shot and see where I get and I may take you up on the offer. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hal3001 Posted July 12, 2018 Author Share Posted July 12, 2018 I managed to get it all sorted. I borrowed an HD500 and after a few hours of fighting to get the drivers installed on High Sierra, it still failed. After that, I fired up a Windows 7 VM and was able to install everything I needed and it restored the first time. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
soundog Posted July 12, 2018 Share Posted July 12, 2018 Glad you now have a guitar and not a brick. A tip if you ever want to use Workbench on your Mac ....., you can use High Sierra with the old Workbench (newer HD version doesn't work with the old Variax models such as the A700), but you have to perform some tricks. Here is a relevant thread: here is the most relevant part from that thread: "Download the "Variax Workbench 1.73" installer" ... v 1.75 reports being damaged. "when it says it needs a former version of Java down-grade to it" ... its not really a downgrade, as the OS just uses it when something asks for this version of Java. You will be directed to download it when you first try to run Variax Workbench. Just follow the trail, and then restart Workbench. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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