Brand New Helix Freezing Up...does not bode well.

[z3albw1rr]

I got one of the blem units from MF for $699.

 

I've been putting it through its paces (gently). Updated to latest everything. Have been going through what it can and can't do.

 

Had it for what, 3-4 days, been putting a couple hours in per day. Tested headphones jack, etc. Seems "mint" except for it having arrived in Demo Mode with 2.6 or something on it. Update took care of all that. Nothing seems amiss cosmetically or functionally. Buttons/Jacks all solid, LEDs all work, screen still has the peely offy thingy.

 

So I'm building a patch - Amp+Cab on Path B. Pull it down to 2nd path, set the Merge to the 2nd path - output 1 to 1/4", output 2 to XLR (this one's going to FOH). So far so good (Twin model).

 

Put in a 63 Spring, then two Echo Platters - working from the end of the path towards the front.

 

Then I go to put a Chorus in - 70s chorus - get into the choices and scroll down then it locks up. Can't do anything - can't exit the screen, nothing works. Can't do anything but turn it off.

 

Power cycled. Tried the same thing 2 more times, and it locked up at basically the same point each time.

 

I decided to try starting from the front of the path - Wah, Drive, all the mods I want, 2 delays, verb, volume, amp+cab, separate the paths and so on.

 

Seemed to work that time but I wanted to move one of the mods from the upper path to the lower just to move things - couldn't copy and paste (paste greyed out) so I decided to delete thee block from the upper path and just add it to the lower path.

 

Froze again.

 

I doubt very seriously this is any issue with it being a Blem. But I can't afford $700 for something that's not going to work right, discounted or not.

 

 

[rd2rk]

Blem or not, if it's new it should be under warranty. Open a support ticket.

[z3albw1rr]

I was hoping to get a feel for how common this is, if it's a just a hiccup a reset will cure, or if it's something that's going to continue to crop up over the life of the product.

 

Also, if I open a support ticket and they're just going to say "do these 5 steps" and it's something someone posts here or a link to, I could try that first and see if it helps.

 

 

[rd2rk]

No, it's not common, so definitely start with the factory reset.

[HonestOpinion]

16 hours ago, z3albw1rr said:

I got one of the blem units from MF for $699.

 

I've been putting it through its paces (gently). Updated to latest everything. Have been going through what it can and can't do.

 

Had it for what, 3-4 days, been putting a couple hours in per day. Tested headphones jack, etc. Seems "mint" except for it having arrived in Demo Mode with 2.6 or something on it. Update took care of all that. Nothing seems amiss cosmetically or functionally. Buttons/Jacks all solid, LEDs all work, screen still has the peely offy thingy.

 

So I'm building a patch - Amp+Cab on Path B. Pull it down to 2nd path, set the Merge to the 2nd path - output 1 to 1/4", output 2 to XLR (this one's going to FOH). So far so good (Twin model).

 

Put in a 63 Spring, then two Echo Platters - working from the end of the path towards the front.

 

Then I go to put a Chorus in - 70s chorus - get into the choices and scroll down then it locks up. Can't do anything - can't exit the screen, nothing works. Can't do anything but turn it off.

 

Power cycled. Tried the same thing 2 more times, and it locked up at basically the same point each time.

 

I decided to try starting from the front of the path - Wah, Drive, all the mods I want, 2 delays, verb, volume, amp+cab, separate the paths and so on.

 

Seemed to work that time but I wanted to move one of the mods from the upper path to the lower just to move things - couldn't copy and paste (paste greyed out) so I decided to delete thee block from the upper path and just add it to the lower path.

 

Froze again.

 

I doubt very seriously this is any issue with it being a Blem. But I can't afford $700 for something that's not going to work right, discounted or not.

 

 

 

What version of HX Edit and the firmware are you on?  The first thing you might try is getting a backup and then doing a global reset.   - https://helixhelp.com/tips-and-guides/universal/reset-options.

 

Try doing a restore from backup after that if it is still having issues.

 

If that does not work I would do the following: 

1. Uninstall and reinstall HX Edit 3.10
2. It should prompt you to upgrade the firmware if you are not at version 3.11 of the firmware. Go ahead and upgrade.
3. Follow the firmware update release note instructions. Do a global reset, and then restore from backup.

If for some reason you can't run the firmware update from HX Edit then exit it and use the Line6 Updater instead. Again, do the global reset, and then restore from backup.

 

Hopefully this should get you up and running without the lockups.  Paying $700 for a Helix is an absolute steal, leaves you with zero chance of ever having buyer's remorse, and it should be very much worth your while to put some time into stabilizing your device. As rd2rk said you should be under warranty if all else fails anyway. 

[theElevators]

Sometimes HX edit can crash your Helix or make it do weird things. 

[phil_m]

Have you done a factory reset since receiving the unit? Doing the firmware update doesn’t reset the factory settings.

[Paulzx]

Yep echo the above, the one thing you didn't mention was doing the factory reset after the updates - just in case you didn't!

 

Out of interest, is this maybe happening when you're running out of DSP? Can you replicate the error just building a simple patch on the top output path?