My update story

[malduroque]

It went well, except when it didn't. This was my third firmware update. Did 2.5, 2.6 and 2.81. Yes, I read instructions. Each time I update I see the error message "Update failed. Please reboot and try again". So I  reboot and try again and by the 5th or 6th try (without changing anything I did), it succeeds. 2.81 completed on my 5th try. This time I tried my back of the computer USB ports but that didn't make any difference. Overall, I'm good with the process, it just always has me holding my breath!

 

My 2.81 version  seems ok and I can see the new amp models and connect with HX Edit 2.81. One thing though, I never did see the error message that we were supposed to ignore "Boot failure. Entered update mode". Any cause for concern?

[rvroberts]

Must say my experiences have been similar. It always works in the end, but it's always a bumpy ride. 

I'm sure the Helix is not good at USB. 

Which is a worry. 

And I do very few updates as a result. 

1.8, 2.2, 2.7, and still holding off 2.81!

I'd really love to feel a bit more confidence about it!

I got good gear, and nothing else has ever shown this degree of uncertainty. 

I wish Line 6 would show some indication that they care, rather than just acting like it's OK. 

And for those of you who never had a problem with this, I'm finding that hard to believe!

Some people have all the luck!

 

[cruisinon2]

6 hours ago, rvroberts said:

And for those of you who never had a problem with this, I'm finding that hard to believe!

 

 

Why, exactly? Because you have issues with it, therefore the problems must be universal? There's no logic to that conclusion. Now I can only speak for myself, but what incentive would I have to lie? L6 isn't cutting me a check or giving me free $hit. And I'm not exactly what you'd call a "glass is half-full" kinda guy. I'm a realist, and have no interest in blowing sunshine up anybody's arse. If something sucks,  I'm only too happy to point it out.

 

But the truth is, no matter how unsettling it is when you're the one having problems, is that it's comparatively rare, and in no way representative of a majority of users. Companies that churn out useless crap that dies on everybody who buys one, don't stay in business very long. You can't conclude anything from your own personal sample size of one, nor from the fact that a handful of others show up here to complain... this is the Complaint Depot... where else are they gonna go? Most users though, don't come here at all, whether they're happy and trouble free, or not.

[phil_m]

6 hours ago, rvroberts said:

And for those of you who never had a problem with this, I'm finding that hard to believe! 

Some people have all the luck!

 

I've probably updated my Helix, HX Effects and Stomp more than anyone on the forum, and I've never had any issue with those updates. Not saying that to shame anyone or put people who've had issues down. Stuff obviously can happen. I did have one issue with my Powercab Plus when updating once. The update failed and the Updater stopped recognizing my PC+ for a little bit. Eventually, though, it recognized it again and the update went through.

 

As far as Line 6 caring, these forums aren't really set up to be support forums. There is no guarantee that a Line 6 employee is going to see these posts. In fact, I'd say people should probably assume they don't. People need to open support tickets and/or call support if they really want to contact Line 6. Otherwise, what they're going to get here is advice from other users. And, honestly, that's often enough to solve a lot of problems. But if people are stuck on something, they need to go the CS route.

[Kilrahi]

I am not doubting the experience of people like the OP who say that their update process was a hairball.

 

However, I can only speak from the perspective of what I've experienced. The Line 6 products I've owned are two Spider amps, a Pod HD500X, a Firehawk 1500, and a HX Stomp.

 

Every single update has been a painless process.  I got KIND of apprehensive when I was doing the 2.8 update for the HX Stomp, even though my thinking was that if I were to run into problems, it would probably be on the devices that were not already on HX Core.

 

However, despite my apprehension, it went off smoothly in a matter of minutes, and I was cranking out that blessed KOT sound in no time.

 

However, I tried to plunge a toilet the other day and that was a very lollipop ordeal, so I don't lead a charmed life if that makes you feel better.

[jpdennis]

After reading and rereading the instructions I have yet to have a failure during the update process; this is since day-one of ownership 3 to 4 years ago.  Not sure if it helps however, I use a browser OTHER THAN Internet Explorer to download most critical updates and that is per Line 6 instructions as well as my experience over the past several years with other vendor products.

[HonestOpinion]

I am also in the camp that has never had an update fail. I follow upgrade instructions carefully, and happen to have multiple PCs, all of which I keep up to date on OS revisions. My hardware so far plays well with Helix on all my computers.  I use my Helix in a relatively simple setup and that also spares me some of the more exotic bugs. I recognize there are some folks who have executed all the right instructions, made no errors during the upgrade process, and simply have a hardware setup or problematic drivers from other devices that do not lend themselves to a smooth upgrade.  I can see how for them it is difficult to believe that so many others have not had any issue during multiple upgrades.  I would probably feel the same way, especially if I was not having problems with software/firmware installs from other products.

 

For anyone having upgrade issues frequently on multiple different firmware revisions it is probably first and foremost time to find another computer(with an up-to-date OS) to do the upgrades with. If that doesn't fix things you probably want to  look to improve your process when upgrading, you may be missing a step. If the issue is HX Edit connectivity after updates, barring a bug causing this you may have to troubleshoot drivers and USB port connectivity.  While addressing everything you can on the user side Line6 probably is and should continue to work on streamlining the upgrade process and making it compatible with as wide an array of hardware and current or recent operating system versions as possible.

 

Ironically getting gun-shy about updating might increase your odds of having problems with old presets or functionality - a bit of a 'Catch-22'.  Don't know if it is the case with Line6 software/firmware, their presets may be perfectly compatible no matter what version they are upgraded from but in other software I have owned jumping from a low version directly to an update many versions later can sometimes introduce issues with old user code(in this case presets). I have always been a fan of keeping my software/firmware up to date in the event that newer versions aren't quite as backwards compatible as one would hope when they are used to upgrade versions that are several revisions behind. That is one of the reasons it may be a good idea whenever someone gets a new HX device that the first thing they do is after ensuring it is working properly is to upgrade to the latest firmware so that their preset design starts on the most recent stable firmware and editor version.

[amsdenj]

The answer is to reduce the variability that Line6 has no control over, cannot predict, and therefore can't test - that's our computers. I too have had no issues with updates. But I'm using a high-end MacBook pro with a rigorously updated OS and USB-C through adapters and/or and OWC Thunderbolt 3 hub. The computer, OS, updates apps, drivers, and/or USB connections add a lot of unpredictable variability to updates of complex units like Helix. Maybe Line6 should abandon computer based updates, use Ethernet for connectivity and control the updates completely through the hardware. Worth a thought. 

 

Perhaps Line6 should start a poll to understand the configurations user have and their update problems in order to determine a correlation and zero in on the root cause.