3.60 freezes AFTER update

[ajfkeith]

I successfully upgraded by Helix Floor.  "Successfully", meaning the install went well, the new amps/effects are there.

 

But after a few minutes the device freezes where it is and doesn't respond to footswitches, encoders, switches...nothing. The connection to HX Edit dies.   It does continue to put out sound.  A reboot fixes recovers the device for a few minutes until it happens again.

 

I have tried all manner of factory resets, and attempted to re-install 3.60 using Installer 2.70.  No luck.

 

Has anyone else seen this? I have a support case open for this and waiting to hear back.

[silverhead]

Just to be sure…. You also updated HX Edit to v3.6?

[theElevators]

I have had certain heavy presets crash HX Edit on my Mac, and it made Helix unresponsive a few times in the past.  I had to reboot the Helix to get it to work again.  But this was when I had my Helix connected to the computer, which is not how I play live...

 

Maybe you're having issues with one specific preset?  What happens if you don't connect the Helix to your computer? 

 

 

[ajfkeith]

On 5/3/2023 at 1:31 PM, silverhead said:

Just to be sure…. You also updated HX Edit to v3.6?

Yup.  First thing I did

[ajfkeith]

On 5/4/2023 at 8:35 AM, theElevators said:

I have had certain heavy presets crash HX Edit on my Mac, and it made Helix unresponsive a few times in the past.  I had to reboot the Helix to get it to work again.  But this was when I had my Helix connected to the computer, which is not how I play live...

 

Maybe you're having issues with one specific preset?  What happens if you don't connect the Helix to your computer? 

 

 

Same thing happens if not connected.

 

I think the next thing I'll try is to delete all the factory presets - since that's all that's in there now - if I can do that before it crashes again.

[silverhead]

I would open a support ticket. Sounds to me like something is amiss in your PC/Mac environment.

[datacommando]

On 5/3/2023 at 6:26 PM, ajfkeith said:

I successfully upgraded by Helix Floor.  "Successfully", meaning the install went well, the new amps/effects are there.

 

But after a few minutes the device freezes where it is and doesn't respond to footswitches, encoders, switches...nothing. The connection to HX Edit dies.   It does continue to put out sound.  A reboot fixes recovers the device for a few minutes until it happens again.

 

I have tried all manner of factory resets, and attempted to re-install 3.60 using Installer 2.70.  No luck.

 

Has anyone else seen this? I have a support case open for this and waiting to hear back.

Hi,

 

A couple of things about your post confuse me.
 

Firstly, when asking for assistance with an issue it really is a BIG help to know what your computer and OS are. I don’t see that here.

 

Secondly, you said that you installed v3.6 “Successfully”, but other than saying that all “the new amps/effects are there”, no mention of if the device conformed to the auto restart, preset rebuilding process. It is a quite important thing for a clean install. Did you also restore your Helix from the backup bundle you made before updating.

 

Now you have a Helix that freezes after a short period and a reboot clears this but is a temporary fix, including “all manner of factory resets” to no avail. Now what bothers me is that you said “attempted to re-install 3.60 using Installer 2.70. No luck.”  I guess you actually mean the Line 6 Updater Utility v.1.27, but once again don’t elaborate on how, or what made this fail. The Updater is the failed update recovery tool. I don’t understand why this didn’t work.

 

Filling in some of these holes in the report might help narrow down what may be causing the issue. If you have opened a ticket on this, then the Line 6 techies are going to require the same sort info in order to help you.

 

Hope this helps/makes sense.

[ajfkeith]

On 5/4/2023 at 2:29 PM, datacommando said:

Hi,

 

A couple of things about your post confuse me.
 

Firstly, when asking for assistance with an issue it really is a BIG help to know what your computer and OS are. I don’t see that here.

 

Secondly, you said that you installed v3.6 “Successfully”, but other than saying that all “the new amps/effects are there”, no mention of if the device conformed to the auto restart, preset rebuilding process. It is a quite important thing for a clean install. Did you also restore your Helix from the backup bundle you made before updating.

 

Now you have a Helix that freezes after a short period and a reboot clears this but is a temporary fix, including “all manner of factory resets” to no avail. Now what bothers me is that you said “attempted to re-install 3.60 using Installer 2.70. No luck.”  I guess you actually mean the Line 6 Updater Utility v.1.27, but once again don’t elaborate on how, or what made this fail. The Updater is the failed update recovery tool. I don’t understand why this didn’t work.

 

Filling in some of these holes in the report might help narrow down what may be causing the issue. If you have opened a ticket on this, then the Line 6 techies are going to require the same sort info in order to help you.

 

Hope this helps/makes sense.

 

@datacommando - thanks I appreciate you jumping in to try to help. Answers to your questions:

 

1. Computer and OS: MacBook Pro 2021; Ventura 13.3.1

2. By "successful" I meant to say the upgrade (via HX Edit) completed with no errors; auto-restarted/rebooted and rebuilt the presets; then continued to boot completely in 3.60.  Once booted the system operated normally for a several minutes (and connected to and sync'd with HX Edit).  It would freeze after several minutes.

3. Yes I restored from the backup bundle.  I also removed all presets (first by overwriting them with New Presets, then later with reset sequence (below) in case an existing preset was causing the problem.

 

Other things I tried:

- Using Line 6 Updater v1.27 (thanks I used the wrong name for it) I "updated" to 3.60.  Again the upgrade completed without error, but the problem (freezing later) persisted.  So the Updater Tool didn't "fail" - that method just didn't fix the freezing problem.

- I repeated the upgrade (again using Updater) after booting in safe mode.   

- I reset the system with no presets, no IRs (Power On with FS 5+12 pressed)

- I reset the system to "reformat existing presets" (Power on with FS 10+11 pressed)

- I opened a support ticket; they have advised me to install again using Updater (already tried this).  If that didn't work they said take it in for repair.

 

I'm using past tense here because I got the system working after using Updater to downgrade the firmware to 3.50.  This failed twice ("Update Failed") but worked the third time.  Now all is well, but I won't be updating to 3.6 any time soon.  My Helix is quite old (I was an early buyer).  Perhaps old HW revs have something to do with it.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[datacommando]

On 5/6/2023 at 4:54 PM, ajfkeith said:

I'm using past tense here because I got the system working after using Updater to downgrade the firmware to 3.50.  This failed twice ("Update Failed") but worked the third time.  Now all is well, but I won't be updating to 3.6 any time soon.  My Helix is quite old (I was an early buyer).  Perhaps old HW revs have something to do with it.

 

Hi,

 

Thanks for the clarification, about your situation, and I’m glad you have found that reverting to the previous firmware seems to fixed the issue of “freezing”. Not ideal, but at least it is functioning.

It seems to be very odd that you actually managed to install 3.6, but would lock up after a short time. Did this happen while being disconnected from your MBP or was it still on the USB? It appears to me that there is some sort of mysterious voodoo involved with USB and firmware update glitches.

 

As for your Helix being “quite old” - I don’t think that is the real problem. I have and my Helix since 2015 and it is in use in my studio for several hours almost every day. I’ve lways managed to keep up to the latest firmware revision.

 

Hope this helps/makes sense.

 

[ajfkeith]

On 5/6/2023 at 2:04 PM, datacommando said:

Hi,

 

Thanks for the clarification, about your situation, and I’m glad you have found that reverting to the previous firmware seems to fixed the issue of “freezing”. Not ideal, but at least it is functioning.

It seems to be very odd that you actually managed to install 3.6, but would lock up after a short time. Did this happen while being disconnected from your MBP or was it still on the USB? It appears to me that there is some sort of mysterious voodoo involved with USB and firmware update glitches.

 

As for your Helix being “quite old” - I don’t think that is the real problem. I have and my Helix since 2015 and it is in use in my studio for several hours almost every day. I’ve lways managed to keep up to the latest firmware revision.

 

Hope this helps/makes sense.

 

Yeah the freezing happens while disconnected or connected to the MBP.  It seems to be a bug in the 3.6 code rather than an issue with the actual upgrade process.  It is strange I'm the only one hitting it apparently.

 

Now that I'm back to 3.5 I'll probably wait for a later 3.6 release and try it again.  Fortunately 3.5 has everything I need.

 

Cheers

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[dale_hopalong]

I'm experiencing the exact same issue. Sometimes when switching presets, device would go dead. No signal is coming to my audio interface.

This has started since 3.6, I bought the unit recently (while on 3.5).

[GuitarGuy19]

I'm also experiencing the same issue. My Helix never froze before upgrading to 3.60. Since the upgrade, it occasionally freezes when switching between complex presets, and the only resolution is to power off/on.

[silverhead]

On 5/7/2023 at 6:25 PM, dale_hopalong said:

I'm experiencing the exact same issue. .

 

On 5/27/2023 at 10:59 PM, GuitarGuy19 said:

I'm also experiencing the same issue. ..

I suggest you both open a support ticket if you haven’t already done so.

[Ricky02]

I’ve got the same problem. Since I upgraded to 3.60 my Helix keeps freezing when switching presets and snapshots too. 
I’ve tried to downgrade to 3.50 but but I didn’t solve anything

[dgtr890]

I too have had this same problem and I think it's a software issue.

I think something went wrong with HX Edit

What I did was 1. rebuild the patches

2. Reset Globals

This was done AFTER the 3.61 update To Native and Edit. So far, so good.

 

[mikeabbs67]

Same Issue.  Quite annoying

[MGW-Alberta]

I had the same issue in an earlier version of the firmware.  Possibly 2.6 or so but can't remember for sure.  It lasted through several firmware updates until 3.0 when it went away.  In my case it took me a long time to recognise what might be triggering it.   I started paying closer attention and it turned out whenever I hit the Amp button to shortcut to the amp block it froze.  No amount of button or knob touching would do anything at all.  It still made sound in the last snapshot it was in before it froze.  Rebooting the unit always unfroze it until I hit the button again.  Once I figured that out I started navigating manually with the joystick to the amp block and it never crashed on me again after that ... unless I absentmindedly hit the amp button again that is.  With each update I tried it again but it persisted.  As I mentioned it went away after updating to 3.0.  I did start a support ticket at the time but I was already off warranty and they wanted me to ship it to an authorised repair depot at my expense and of course the repair would have been at my expense as well, which is all understandable being off warranty.  I chose to save the money and just use my work-around solution.  I'm glad I did since it went away for free and I was not without my Helix for however many weeks or months it might have taken.

 

I suggest you guys who are having the issue try to pay attention to what your action(s) might be immediately preceding the freeze.  Even if this particular bug isn't related to the amp button, knowing what triggers it will definitely be helpful when communicating with L6 about your support ticket.

[MGW-Alberta]

I will add one more thing.  If one (or preferably all) of you do figure out what's triggering it, please come back here and report your findings.  It will be of help to other owners who might be searching for the same answers.

[wbowen]

My HX Edit is freezing after the latest update to Windows (10.0.19045) on a desktop PC.

It opens, sees my Helix Floor (as window title changes), graphic at bottom says "Connecting" then hangs (title says "Not responding).

I have to use Task Manager to kill the app.

Helix Floor is fine but I'm now unable to edit presets - I've had Helix for 5 years without issue beforehand plus know my way round Windows software

I have opened a support ticket

 

For the record I'm using HX Edit 3.61 and Firmware 3.60.0   (latest version)

Nor have I changed USB cable or port :-)

[alexa973]

Firmware 3.6

HX Edit 3.61

Rebuilt Global, rebuilt presets doesn't solve the problem.

 

 

Exact same behaviour. Narrow down to USB connectivity problem/bug. When it freeze, unplug - re plug USB and it's alive again for some period of time. 

Will try to revert back to 3.5 

 

Disappointing

[rollitttakeit]

Adding to this thread as I’ve just had my Helix Floor freeze after boot at rehersal for the second time.

Both times I did the same process:

I’m dragging and dropping patches at home btwn PC and Helix.

I close HX Edit, power off the Helix, unplug the USB connecting the PC to the Helix, pack up the Helix and got to rehearsal

Power it up at rehearsal, start to scroll patches and it freezes.

 

Is there steps you are supposed to go through when connecting or disconnecting from a PC to prevent this from happening?

[bimmer007]

Same here. I did what Line 6 is telling you to do. Download Helix Edit, install, install 3.6, Rebuilt Global, rebuilt presets doesn't solve the problem.

 

Froze twice on the same patch.

 

Another thing I noticed is that it is now very slow when browsing through the preset. If you turn the knob 2 clicks it only move by 1 preset.

 

Deleted all user preset, still.

 

Very disappointed that they would push that garbage to customers. I hope they will fix this asap.

 

This is now a 2,500$ piece of useless metal and electronics. I have gigs lined up...can't afford to deal with unreliable gear.

 

Thanks Line 6, I'll go back to what always works...analog 

[phil_m]

On 11/14/2023 at 8:07 PM, bimmer007 said:

Same here. I did what Line 6 is telling you to do. Download Helix Edit, install, install 3.6, Rebuilt Global, rebuilt presets doesn't solve the problem.

 

Froze twice on the same patch.

 

Another thing I noticed is that it is now very slow when browsing through the preset. If you turn the knob 2 clicks it only move by 1 preset.

 

Deleted all user preset, still.

 

Very disappointed that they would push that garbage to customers. I hope they will fix this asap.

 

This is now a 2,500$ piece of useless metal and electronics. I have gigs lined up...can't afford to deal with unreliable gear.

 

Thanks Line 6, I'll go back to what always works...analog 

 

Yes, because no piece of analog gear has ever failed...

 

Did you do the factory reset and restore from backup after doing the update?

[bimmer007]

Thanks for your input and yes I did. I noticed that the first time after I did a factory reset the unit was very slow responding to move from one preset to the next. So far after a few cycles of running a factory reset then restoring my backup, it seems that it freeze up only after the restore... It is not consistently doing it but maybe there is something there.

 

Bought my very first pedal in 1974, an MXR Distortion +, and still have it. Since then I have bought numerous pedals. Apart from having to re-solder a few battery clip wires (who has not!) I never had a pedal completely failing on me. I had a few bad patch cables but this is it. In any case, these "problems" are very easy to troubleshoot and fix; worst case is you take the pedal out of the chain. Maybe I was lucky :-)

 

Don't get me wrong , I think that the Helix is a phenomenal piece of technology and it's just amazing all that you can do with it. However, all of these wonderful qualities fall short when it fails like it does now.