Footswitch logic reverses when assigning controller

[mjlee25]

This is driving me crazy. Say I have a footswtich assigned to a few different parameters of multiple blocks. I then try to assign that same footswitch to another parameter of one of those blocks. When I turn the knob to assign the footswitch, Helix reverses the polarity of that footswitch, meaning if it's dimmed it brightens it, and vice versa. To make things worse, when it does so it doesn't even change the values of those parameters that are assigned to it. So now everything is messed up! What am I doing wrong?

[theElevators]

On 4/12/2025 at 2:10 AM, mjlee25 said:

This is driving me crazy. Say I have a footswtich assigned to a few different parameters of multiple blocks. I then try to assign that same footswitch to another parameter of one of those blocks. When I turn the knob to assign the footswitch, Helix reverses the polarity of that footswitch, meaning if it's dimmed it brightens it, and vice versa. To make things worse, when it does so it doesn't even change the values of those parameters that are assigned to it. So now everything is messed up! What am I doing wrong?

Press the footswitch to get it to a desired state (lit or un-lit).  Go to all the blocks in question and bypass/un-bypass them manually.  Save.  The default behavior is to simply toggle the on/off state of your blocks.  Something can be on, something can be of (bypassed/un-bypassed).  So if you get this "flipped" state, just go and set the on/off status of your blocks.

 

Pretty sure that's all you need to do. 

[amsdenj]

If I remember right, Helix foot switches display the state of the last select effect when the patch was saved. Just keep touching the switch to toggle through the blocks it controls until you get to the one that should control the displayed state. Then save the patch.

[mjlee25]

@theElevators Thanks, I did as you said, and it works, but In some cases I have multiple bypasses and multiple parameters assigned to one footswitch. It seems silly I have to go through all of that, just to do a controller assign. Surely something is wrong here? Am I missing something? 

[theElevators]

On 4/13/2025 at 7:48 PM, mjlee25 said:

@theElevators Thanks, I did as you said, and it works, but In some cases I have multiple bypasses and multiple parameters assigned to one footswitch. It seems silly I have to go through all of that, just to do a controller assign. Surely something is wrong here? Am I missing something? 

Well, that's the thing about multiple blocks, some being on and some being off.  Helix cannot "guess" what exactly you are trying to have on when the light is on. 

 

When all fails, you can have a dummy block also assigned to the same button. For example a volume block that is at 100%, and won't change the sound at all, whether it's on or off.  You can assign a button to that block, then turn the button light on/off, and then assign other things to the same button.  That can also work.  I use dummy blocks to circumvent various idiosyncrasies in the Helix all the time. 

[mjlee25]

On 4/14/2025 at 8:16 AM, theElevators said:

Well, that's the thing about multiple blocks, some being on and some being off.  Helix cannot "guess" what exactly you are trying to have on when the light is on. 

 

When all fails, you can have a dummy block also assigned to the same button. For example a volume block that is at 100%, and won't change the sound at all, whether it's on or off.  You can assign a button to that block, then turn the button light on/off, and then assign other things to the same button.  That can also work.  I use dummy blocks to circumvent various idiosyncrasies in the Helix all the time. 

Not sure why Helix has to guess. The on/off status of each block and min/max values of each assigned parameter, as they relate to dimmed vs. notdimmed, is saved when you save. When I go to assign a controller, it could just leave everything as is. Don't see why it has to undo all those statuses, forcing me to go back and reset all of them.