Okay

[MGW-Alberta]

Never mind.

[phil_m]

I'm not sure what hoops Line 6 is exactly making you jump through anymore. Everything is done with HX Edit now, but Line 6 Updater should still be working for you. The Fractal update process isn't really all that different as they have a separate update utility called Fractal Bot, which is analogous to Line 6 Updater.

 

Usually update problems come down to specific USB cables or USB ports being problematic. I'm not sure why Updater isn't running for you. It should be. Try uninstalling stuff and reinstalling, I guess. When you say you checked to see if 3.0 was compatible, did you actually download and install HX Edit 3.0? Many people assume HX Edit updates itself automatically. It does not. You need to download and install the latest version.

[themetallikid]

random thought....I'm far from a tech, and far from knowing anything about Apple/Macs.......BUT, I had a program/device awhile ago (can't even remember if it was music related) but it had intermittent connection issues similar to what I've seen on here and for some reason reading your post reminded me of my experience.  Whenever I'd have this issue happen, I literally had to go into the Windows Device Manager and 'remove' something with the USB Port.  I dont remember if it was the driver, or if it was something else with the USB Port...But as soon as I did that, restarted, connected my mystery device, powered my mystery device on.....Windows would detect the 'new dvice' in the USB Port and install a driver automatically and it'd work great again.....usually until I restarted the cpu, unplugged the USB cable to use a different device or something...then I'd have to redo that process.   

 

If I remember correctly everytime I plugged in a new device...instead of just 'connecting' it was detecting a 'new  device' and essentially creating a 'new' USB Port in the device manager.  My laptop only had 3 ports....but sometimes when I'd do this I'd see 5 or 6 in the Device manager with the yellow ?'s on them....remove all of them, restart...etc....and issue went away.  

 

Again, not sure that applies to Mac/Apple stuff, and definately not IT trained here...Just thought I'd throw it out there.  It wasnt the cables or my device I was plugging in...

[codamedia]

Since you are disgruntled that this is ALWAYS a problem.... then I suggest you look at your entire chain as a potential problem, not just the Helix. I see you have ruled out the "cable" as an issue... but I don't see mention of other important troubleshooting steps. Just because a printer prints.... that doesn't rule out other conflicts/issues. 

 

As a computer/IT tech.... I'll offer a couple suggestions that I don't see mentioned already.

1. Remove all unnecessary peripherals from the computer.... this includes any printers, scanners, etc...
2. Try connecting the Helix to a different USB port. There are reasons for this....
   • USB Ports are in pairs or groups within a computer... sort of like "internal hubs" for lack of a better description
   • If you are on the same "group" as a slower device (keyboard, mouse) then the ports slow down to their speed... often USB 1. This would seriously hinder an update process. 
   • The point of disconnecting everything else and trying other ports is to find a "grouping" that isn't shared. 
3. Sometimes a USB2 device does not behave in USB3 (blue) ports. Try to find a dedicated USB2 (black) port if you have one. . If your only option is a 2nd USB2 port with a keyboard/mouse connected to the other.... try moving those to the USB3 port. 
4. Always start each process (attempt) with a fresh reboot... might not help, but never hurts! 

 If it still doesn't work....  do you, or anyone you know have a PC you can try the update on? NO, you shouldn't have to.... but if your computer is the last "common denominator", you can't rule it out :) 

Good luck! 

 

4 hours ago, MGW-Alberta said:

I have had this thing for just shy of 4 years and I have never once had a problem-free update.

Yet I've had my Helix nearly 3 years... and have never had a single problem updating it :) 

Something more is at play.... whether it's a faulty Helix, or a conflict at your system. 

[themetallikid]

Glad it finally worked out....welcome to 3.01!!  Lol, damn technology

[donkelley]

USB port configuration, the sleep mode options for your usb host configuration, and so much more which are controlled by the OS, by the settings in your computer, all of that stuff can tie into being triggered by idle time events, among other things.  Windows is more susceptible to this, but I'm certain Macs can suffer from it too since they are all running standard intel chipsets and architecture (at least until the last couple months when everyone's giving up on Intel in the computer design world.

 

Depending on how your usb ports are configured (something possible to see in windows 10 with lots of effort, but more of a low level config file editing thing on Macs the last time I checked (several years ago), the USB port could be entering a different mode after a period of user input-idle time.

 

So it's possible that if you just move your mouse every 30 seconds or so during FW updates that the computer will not go into any change in USB power mode (such as performance limiting changes, a default setting on most windows laptops (for example)).

 

It's worth a shot.

 

It's also possible that the last time you tried your update, because you're anxious about it, you kept moving things, touching mouse or touchpad, or similar... and that's why it worked.

 

Or this might not be the problem at all.

 

But it's worth considering that you might have unusually setup USB ports that aren't behaving how you need them to behave during user idle time.

 

PS:  printers don't transfer nearly as much data as a fw update to a USB device would.... so the fact that your printer is reliable does not mean that I am wrong about this being one possible cause.

 

It's just a slim chance that this is your problem, but it certainly doesn't hurt to move your mouse once every few seconds to make sure the computer stays WIDE awake.  It can go into lower power usb mode while the screen is on and you have no idea.... USB power mode timing is set independently of your screen lock or anything else.

[datacommando]

On 1/20/2021 at 4:39 AM, MGW-Alberta said:

Here are the Line-6 Updater fails:

 

 

 

Hi,

 

Well, from the screen shots, it looks like you are able get the Updater to see your Helix, but rather than installing the firmware from a previously downloaded file, you’re updating via the internet. Even in 2021, this can cause issues simply by having an unstable connection and/or a large amount of server traffic. If you have problems with the update do a “local install”. Also, it’s a good idea to close down any other running applications and disconnect other USB items to avoid potential conflicts.

 

Hope this helps/makes sense.

[codamedia]

1 hour ago, MGW-Alberta said:

I tried to download the file and do a local.  The file I got was a dmg file which still accessed the internet for the data.

 

That wouldn't be the UPDATE file.... it was likely just the "updater program".  

 

The UPDATE file would have been an "hxf" file... 

• https://line6.com/software/index.html
• Hardware = Helix
• Software = Flash Memory
• OS = Mac OS X

That would provide you the update file....

Then run the updater and tell it to use that update file instead of going online to find it.