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Helix/HX Firmware 2.90 | Helix Native 1.90


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29 minutes ago, bluetinmusic said:

 

Yep, I'm on Mac OS Catalina as well. I've given up trying to update. Line6 support must be overwhelmed right now because they sent me some instructions for the full Helix (not Stomp) that don't apply, and I never heard back from them. But truly it's all the other issues people seem to be having with tap tempo, knobs not working, etc, and I'll just wait for 2.91...

 

Yeah, I think I'll give this one a miss too. Bit of a shame, but I'd rather make sure I've at least got a working unit while I'm in lockdown!

 

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I think the update process is one of the best things that came with 2.90. Both Helix Floor and HX Stomp went like a breeze! I’m not so much into the heavy amp, but I really like the Revv Purple model. Still in the process of figuring out the several effect models, but I think the new phaser is great. Tap tempo is off for me as well, but since I can’t go out to play that’s not a big issue for me at the moment. Haven’t had any issues with the tuner or volume knob yet. Hats off to you, Line 6 folks, for pulling this off in these dire times!

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The Revv Purple is an amazing piece of programming - and I'm not big into heavy overdriven tones - I downloaded Jason Saditte's patch and did my usual tweaks - hard to believe models have come this far - super addicting digital amp!

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Great improvements to Line6's update process. Found the update to be flawless. The addition of the new automatic notification of a new version of the software is fantastic as is the elimination of the requirement to use the Updater. User error as well as users with incompatible computers, OS versions, or faulty cables or USB ports will inevitably pop up but that is unavoidable. Would still like to see the following things happen to reduce user challenges with updates. Particularly those new to the HX family of equipment.

 

  1. No need to put the firmware("Flash Memory") file at the top of the download page. It continues to confuse new users. Put it under a completely different section of the download menu.
  2. Helps that the HX Edit 2.9 and Helix Native 1.9 notes refer to each other. Makes it easier to know what version of each you should have to keep things matched up. Better yet would be to have an updater that can update the HX Edit package and Helix Native version at the same time if the user has a Helix Native license. If a user does not have any hardware and only Native perhaps Native could employ the new update alert and procedure that HX Edit is using. One master update to rule them all!
  3. Optional: Also think the new automatic backup built into HX Edit is a great addition! Might be worth having it backup individual setlists in addition to the full backup it already executes. For the more OCD of us automatically backing up the separate presets would be a bonus too in the event that there is something corrupt in one of the setlists that prevents that setlist from upgrading or being manually reloaded properly during or after the firmware upgrade. Always a proponent for making two separate full backups as well, in case my initial one is corrupt, but I do that before I upgrade firmware anyway. Know this might sound overly cautious to some/many(?) users which is why I started this last bullet point with "Optional". One might even say this would be dev cycles better spent on other things.  Luckily all of these backup options are available from the menu and can be executed manually by the user. It would just be extremely handy but not necessary to see them automated.  :-)
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19 hours ago, silverhead said:


The display is controlled in Global Settings, which were reset to default values by the update. If you restore the backup file you created as part of the update process your global settings will be restored to their pre-update values.

 

What about the volume and preset knobs?  Not working.  Absolute trash.  I wish you guys would do a better job of QCing your updates before you put em out. This is unacceptable. 

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2 hours ago, DrMetal said:

This is unacceptable


Hmm... yes, I think your attitude really is unacceptable. Eight posts in and down voted twice!
 

This is so freaking tedious. With every update there are a bunch of people who pi$$ and moan about things that they think should have been done better or differently. Welcome to the bleeding edge of technology, this is what happens to early adopters of new software. You had the choice not to do it and simply follow the threads for bug reports, but no - you wanted to be the test pilot, so don’t complain when you crash and burn. When you bought your Helix - that was it - done finished, Line 6 owes you nothing more. Firmware updates are not an entitlement, but they do come free for you to use or not. You are not paying for this stuff, it’s a gratuity. Don’t like it - simple, revert back. Oh, yeah, and when the bugs are ironed out in this version, you can safely update and then start to gripe about Firmware v3.0.

 

Should have taken the red pill. Reset your Globals and have a nice life.

 

EDIT: I just followed the install procedure without any issues during or since. Rebuilding the presets routine took longer than any other part of the update and that was only a few minutes. Using HX Edit to do the install is a breeze. Thank you Line 6.

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1 hour ago, datacommando said:


Hmm... yes, I think your attitude really is unacceptable. Eight posts in and down voted twice!
 

This is so freaking tedious. With every update there are a bunch of people who pi$$ and moan

 

 

The volume and preset knobs dont work.    I'm not talking about some obscure parameter of some obscure effect or amp model.  Ok if a delay was off here or there, you could certainly live with that. 

 

They made  a software update (and didn't properly vet it) that renders the entire control apparatus useless.  That's not a small glitch.  

 

I reverted back to 2.82.  Still a huge fan of Line 6 and it's products.   

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7 hours ago, DrMetal said:

 That's not a small glitch

 

Gotta agree here completely. IMO, the entire 2.9 update is a pretty bad affair.

I would much rather have Line 6 concentrate on quality control, stability and usability instead of adding nerdy features pretty much nobody is using, such as the Helix being able to work as a keyboard (for which there is almost no reason as there's utlilities converting MIDI messages into keyboard messages, in case you really need that kinda thing).

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10 hours ago, DrMetal said:

The volume and preset knobs dont work.    

That's not a small glitch.  


O.K. Doctor, that’s one view of it, although there are at least three Beta Testers among the users of this forum that possibly have other opinions.

 

I was going to ask if you honestly thought that something as blindingly obvious as the big Volume knob not functioning correctly could have slipped through the net, but it seems you do. That defies logic to me and furthermore, as the majority of people who did the update don’t seem to be suffering the same misfortune as you, it could well be “a small glitch”. To say that the software was not properly vetted is simply your assumption. One of the Beta Test team (Peter Hamm) stated that he did detect the tap tempo “glitch” prior to release, but has since posted that people should just relax because a “hot fix” is being developed for imminent release. Hang on in there, because if something as major as the volume knob not working escaped into the wild, then I guess that is also being worked on.

 

As usual, people have been clamouring for months for the release of 2.9, then when it arrives the regular sh!t storm lands.

 

Anyhow, I’m glad to hear that reverting back to a previous version has got you back up and running. Nothing else to do, sit around and wait for a bug fix.

 

EDITFOUND THIS IN ANOTHER THREAD - RE: VOLUME KNOB.

From Digital Igloo - (Chief Product Design Architect at Yamaha Guitar Group, Inc. / Line 6 / Ampeg):

 

Reboot again. Don't touch anything for 30 seconds. Should be fine. 2.91 hot fix coming very soon.

 

 

 

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2 hours ago, SaschaFranck said:

 

Gotta agree here completely. IMO, the entire 2.9 update is a pretty bad affair.

I would much rather have Line 6 concentrate on quality control, stability and usability instead of adding nerdy features pretty much nobody is using, such as the Helix being able to work as a keyboard (for which there is almost no reason as there's utlilities converting MIDI messages into keyboard messages, in case you really need that kinda thing).

Whilst I never understood the clamour for meters and features that contribute nothing to sound, I would never complain about free stuff. Personally I want polyphonic pitch shift above anything else and wait patiently, but I know other people have different priorities.

 

You can't please everyone and I don't think negative comments will encourage L6 to work harder on future free updates. 

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45 minutes ago, karlic said:

Whilst I never understood the clamour for meters and features that contribute nothing to sound, I would never complain about free stuff. Personally I want polyphonic pitch shift above anything else and wait patiently, but I know other people have different priorities.

 

You can't please everyone and I don't think negative comments will encourage L6 to work harder on future free updates. 

 

See, personally, I absolutely treat the Helix as "bought as is". It's exactly why, for a while, the GT-1000 was my preferred choice. But as I had no need to update my setup, I was waiting for 2.8 - which brought certain essential things (for me) to the table so the Helix was it.

And I would never complain at all in case 2.82 was the last update the Helix would ever see. I even would have no problems turning back to it should Line 6 not manage to fix 2.9 properly.

In other words: My Helix is delivering exactly what was promised and what I need. Sure, in case it was stuck on 2.82, I would likely have a look at the competition one day, but still, I wouldn't complain as I got exactly what I paid for (minus a few bugs fortunately not affecting me much so far, such as corrupted presets).

Ok, so much about that, just to make things clear.

 

But now, if you bring up updates and keep telling people the current Helix family hasn't even remotely seen its EOL, the updates you come up with should rather be of decent quality. And given the tons of issues this update has caused for plenty of people (fortunately I'm only affected by the tap tempo bug which isn't essential in these days of non-live-playing), I don't think this is up to whatever Line 6's standards might be (unless they have considerably lowered the bar, which I absolutely doubt).

Now, I have no idea what went so wrong (seriously, there's *tons* of complaints around the web, more than with any other update, as far as I remember - and I watched the Helix scene for a whole long time before I purchased mine), but something very clearly did. I mean, the official word by now is "don't touch anything for half a minute after booting to avoid major issues" - just around one day after releasing the update. Seriously, that's pointing to a severe lack of whatever it might be.

 

In a nutshell: No, I don't expect free beer. But in case someone comes up with it, it should rather not be stale.

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I'm not doubting the issues some are having considering all the variables.

I'm sharing my update experience only for reference... 

  • Windows 10, Helix LT...
  • I always backup with my current version of EDIT prior to updating anything
  • EDIT update took about 30 seconds.... no issues
  • Helix update took about 7 minutes, give or take a little. That included the built in backup and preset rebuilding. 
  • After the update I restored my GLOBAL settings only.

Seeing the horror stories I immediately tried a few things....

  • Tap tempo. No issues, but I do run my delays in "transparent mode". 
  • Volume control... no issues, works as it should
  • All presets are working as expected, including my Variax presets.

It might be premature to suggest this, but I don't see any issues with this update.... the features or the process. It's working as it should and there are no surprises that are biting me. Are there things I might have done differently? Darn right there are! But I've always been one to adapt to how something was designed rather than complain that it wasn't designed the way I thought it should be. 

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1 hour ago, SaschaFranck said:

Now, I have no idea what went so wrong (seriously, there's *tons* of complaints around the web, more than with any other update, as far as I remember

 

How quickly we forget the 2.8 update and how many issues people had "bricking" their HX units... for a variety of reasons :) 

 

1 hour ago, SaschaFranck said:

the official word by now is "don't touch anything for half a minute after booting to avoid major issues"

 

I've seen that in reference to the volume control.... but what other "major issues" is it suppose to prevent from occurring? 

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1 hour ago, SaschaFranck said:

In a nutshell: No, I don't expect free beer. But in case someone comes up with it, it should rather not be stale.

 

No.

You don't have to drink it either!

Don't like it - just simply walk away.

You don't need to throw it in their face!

Don't gripe about it!

 

I'm with "coda media" above - straight forward update (possibly the easiest yet) and totally none of the issues with Tap, Volume or anything else.

Plus the ones mentioned in the bug list are already being fixed.
Get a life or at least an artists impression of one.

Did someone die, and in their will  leave you an opinion on absolutely everything?

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48 minutes ago, codamedia said:

I've seen that in reference to the volume control.... but what other "major issues" is it suppose to prevent from occurring? 

 

Switches not working anymore, other knobs not working anymore, tuner not working anymore, entire unit freezing in.

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3 minutes ago, SaschaFranck said:

Can you prove that?

 

I don't need to - you have the problem and, as it has been stated over and over again, "this is a known issue and a hot fix is in the pipeline". Which part of that do you not comprehend?

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32 minutes ago, datacommando said:

 

Get a life or at least an artists impression of one.

Did someone die, and in their will  leave you an opinion on absolutely everything?

Hey! Leave Bitterman alone. You don't seem to understand how hard life is when you have a 1500€ device that you don't really like. Even sharing your bitterness with everyone on an internet forum doesn't help you feel a bit better.

 

A little bit of empathy, please.

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1 hour ago, SaschaFranck said:

 

Switches not working anymore, other knobs not working anymore, tuner not working anymore, entire unit freezing in.

 

As I said in my first post in this thread "I'm not doubting the issues some are having considering all the variables".... but it doesn't appear to be everyone, for whatever reasons. FYI.... even if I start fiddling with the Helix immediately on start I am not seeing any of the problems you mention? 

 

The entire "wait 30 seconds" seems to make some sense to me as a work around. The start speed of 2.9 is very fast.... so I don't doubt it is saying it's ready before it really is. 

  • Line 6 has identified some issues
  • Line 6 has provided a work around for some (wait 30 seconds)
  • Line 6 has promised a speedy hot fix (history shows they deliver on these)

Let's give them the benefit of the doubt, and a little time :) 

 

 

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2 hours ago, datacommando said:

 

I don't need to - you have the problem and, as it has been stated over and over again, "this is a known issue and a hot fix is in the pipeline". Which part of that do you not comprehend?

 

So, which part of the contradiction between "officially approved issue" and "works" do you not comprehend?

 

2 hours ago, molul said:

Hey! Leave Bitterman alone. You don't seem to understand how hard life is when you have a 1500€ device that you don't really like. Even sharing your bitterness with everyone on an internet forum doesn't help you feel a bit better.

 

I don't know:

A) How you came to the conclusion O wouldn't like the Helix.

B) How it qualifies as bitterness when you try to pinpoint some bugs in software.

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Hi Everyone

 

I am having Issues with this Update and have to Rollback to 2.82.

 

Installation okay on Win 10 x64 its yust ny Variax JTV 89F stops working as a "VARIAX" as modelled guitars and alternative Tunings wont work again the Knows on The Variax wont Light Up. Interesting Workbench HD recognises the Changes on the Models from the Knob and the Pickup Swith but they have no effect on the Sound,

 

First I tought it had something to do with me Updating the Firmware of My Variax from to 2.21 to to 2.23.

 

After Many hours of Firmware changes and loads of Tests I finally managed to have everything working again yesterday Night.

 

But I fired up my Floor Helix and Same Problem Again.

 

Rolled Back to 2.82 and Working Fine.

 

If anybody knows a Fix or Workaround please Share but I do suspect is a Bug.

 

Thanks for Reading.

 

Jose.

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1 hour ago, codamedia said:

As I said in my first post in this thread "I'm not doubting the issues some are having considering all the variables".... but it doesn't appear to be everyone, for whatever reasons. FYI.... even if I start fiddling with the Helix immediately on start I am not seeing any of the problems you mention?

 

Once it's up and running, I'm not experiencing any of the problems but the tap tempo issue myself, either. But I can 100% reproduce the tuner and volume knob bugs in case I don't wait for a while after booting.

 

Quote

 

The entire "wait 30 seconds" seems to make some sense to me as a work around. The start speed of 2.9 is very fast.... so I don't doubt it is saying it's ready before it really is. 

  • Line 6 has identified some issues
  • Line 6 has provided a work around for some (wait 30 seconds)
  • Line 6 has promised a speedy hot fix (history shows they deliver on these)

Let's give them the benefit of the doubt, and a little time :) 

 

 

This is all fine.

I also appreciate (and even praise) Line 6 for adding features for free (and I already love the new Command Center options - too bad there's no live playing for a while, my redesigned patches would make things a lot more fun than it already was). And I also acknowledge that they have quickly approved those bugs and presented a workaround (not for the tap tempo issue, though).

Yet, I am still wondering how this could be released. I mean, it took quite a long while since 2.82, I would expect this to be more foolproof. As said before, I have been part of a whole lot of audio software (occasionally hardware, too) betatests, and usually something with such IMO obvious bugs such as in 2.9 wouldn't have been released. The tap tempo issue alone could be considered a shopstopper, the golden rule being that you don't release software with such showstoppers.

Fwiw, it's not as if I wouldn't like to give Line 6 and their testers the benefit of the doubt - for example I could perhaps imagine that tap tempo would be working on some people's Helixes. Still, so far nobody has been able to prove that it would work indeed. In fact, I already asked two folks from the german Helix FB group, they also claimed tap tempo would be working fine - but once they really tried, they had to acknowledge that it's not working.

 

Anyhow, as a fix is in the works, I won't bother anyone anymore. I just don't get being accused of whatever it might be for pointing out obvious flaws. And fwiw, releasing such updates IMO isn't much in the interest of Line 6, either.

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10 hours ago, codamedia said:

 

How quickly we forget the 2.8 update and how many issues people had "bricking" their HX units... for a variety of reasons :) 

 

 

...

 

There are some major issues popping up for some people on this update although perhaps not for that many of them or I would expect to see more posts. I can understand why the issues that are appearing, for whatever number of affected users, such as severe tuner and screen lag and volume knobs not controlling properly have those impacted scratching their heads as to what is going on with QA. Can't say some of those thoughts don't cross my mind when I see something major slip through but that is mitigated by having spent decades dealing with enterprise software for corporations with millions of dollars on the line and way more to lose that also went through years of bugs. The more complicated a product gets the more difficult it is to do a bug-free release. With that said the hope is that the bugs that do slip through are minor and obscure.  Here's to L6 getting out a hotfix quickly!

 

Although there are a lot of bug reports coming in I also remember what happened after the 2.8 release and the update process itself seems to have gone infinitely smoother. The changes to the editor and firmware upgrade process seem to have resulted in far fewer posts from users who had issues with the upgrade than I have seen over the entire lifetime of the Helix. These improvements to the upgrade process are quite possibly part of the benefits we derived from the more involved and extensive 2.8 upgrade that put all our devices on the new unified "Helix Core" architecture. I guess we will have to wait a few more days to see how things go as more people update but in the past by this time the forum had already exploded with people complaining about temporarily bricked units and asking a thousand questions about how to get through the upgrade process. To me there appears to be a qualitative change in the upgrade process for the better.

 

I am extremely happy to see a device that is now several years old still getting updates that add substantial improvements. I suspect the 3.0 update will be particularly noteworthy. To get an update during a pandemic when Line6 workers have so many additional stressors is above and beyond the call. Sincere thanks to Line6 for giving me a new toy/tool to play with at no cost during a particularly grim time. 

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I am having the same problem as "Monsterinus" - dead in the water halfway through the update process, trying to update from 2.7 to 2.91.

 

Mac OS Mojave

Helix Floor

driver 1.7

HX Edit 2.9

 

I get halfway through the update process and the Helix's display says "-3 Boot Failure, Entered Update Mode!". HX Edit sees the unit, but doesn't manage to connect. Pressing the "Reconnect" button gives "Connection Interrupted" after 20 seconds or so. The solution someone posted of entering update mode and using Line 6 updater did not work (Updater does not see the device). Has anybody else experienced this and found a way out? 

 

EDIT: I tried connecting from a Windows 10 laptop running HX Edit - same result. 

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23 minutes ago, gnosis123 said:
  22 minutes ago, rsvette12 said:

Wonder if you guys may have an anti-virus issue or something - seems like its during the push process in some cases


For me this issue only happens with 2.9. I can restore my Global settings and other parameters with earlier versions. 2.9 will restore everything but my Global setting.
 

I am using the HX Effects with my midi amp, so I don’t want to have to manually tweak all the settings again. 

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1 hour ago, gnosis123 said:

dead in the water halfway through the update process, trying to update from 2.7 to 2.91.

 

1 hour ago, gnosis123 said:

I get halfway through the update process and the Helix's display says "-3 Boot Failure, Entered Update Mode!".

 

Just an FYI .... Those are the errors people were having when updating to 2.8. You are bypassing that update, but you still have to get to the same place which is a completely re-written helix core! If you look up that error message there are many threads that will walk you through it. 

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26 minutes ago, codamedia said:

 

1 hour ago, gnosis123 said:

dead in the water halfway through the update process, trying to update from 2.7 to 2.91.

 

1 hour ago, gnosis123 said:

I get halfway through the update process and the Helix's display says "-3 Boot Failure, Entered Update Mode!".

 

That really sucks. Maybe I’ll try to update to 2.9 then 2.91. 

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1 hour ago, gnosis123 said:

I am having the same problem as "Monsterinus" - dead in the water halfway through the update process, trying to update from 2.7 to 2.91.

 

Mac OS Mojave

Helix Floor

driver 1.7

HX Edit 2.9

 

I get halfway through the update process and the Helix's display says "-3 Boot Failure, Entered Update Mode!". HX Edit sees the unit, but doesn't manage to connect. Pressing the "Reconnect" button gives "Connection Interrupted" after 20 seconds or so. The solution someone posted of entering update mode and using Line 6 updater did not work (Updater does not see the device). Has anybody else experienced this and found a way out? 

 

EDIT: I tried connecting from a Windows 10 laptop running HX Edit - same result. 

 

UPDATE: I reinstalled the earlier 2.82 version of Line6 Updater (the latest version didn't work for me), and it was able to see the Helix when it powered up (no footswitches pressed). From there I did a firmware upgrade to 2.91 from scratch, without problems. 

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I am one of the ‘whiny, ungrateful’ people that had the volume and tap tempo issues with 2.90, rolled back to 2.82 with no issues.

i can see 2.91 is out and am about to go and try it, will report back later.

i just want to say thanks to Line 6 for hearing us and acting so quickly, i bet there were a number of people not having any sleep for the past few days finding the bugs and fixing them. To all of them i think we owe them this: go and test the 2.91 fix and if it has fixed your issues let them know, so they can go away and have some rest!

 

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30 minutes ago, codamedia said:

 

 

Just an FYI .... Those are the errors people were having when updating to 2.8. You are bypassing that update, but you still have to get to the same place which is a completely re-written helix core! If you look up that error message there are many threads that will walk you through it. 

 

I guess I lucked out - just used the previous version of l6 updater and it was able to communicate with the unit and hop straight to 2.91. Seems like a USB communication problem between Edit/Updater and/or the firmware, but I guess time will tell.

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