Axe FX III Firmware update conditions with another audio interface connected too

Mladen

Mladen

Member
If, in addition to Axe FX III, I have another Audio interface during Axe FX III firmware update, is it important to have Axe FX III set as the default audio interface for the firmware update to work flawlessly or is it enough to just be connected to a PC. This is a Windows 11 environment. I had 2 Blue Screen of Death after last firmware update and last Axe EDIT III installation after first PC restart. It works normally now.
 
I have a Steinberg UR816C interface connected to my PC via USB and running as the primary interface - I don't run the Axe as the primary interface for a variety of reasons. Been running it with the Axe connected via USB on two different systems for a couple of years without any issues. Before that, I had the Axe II XL running the same way. Again, no problems with firmware updates or any other communication issues. The Windows OS can be a royal PITA sometimes which is why I try to remove any of Microsoft's or the hardware manufacturer's bloatware when I first spin up a new machine.
 
Mladen said:
If, in addition to Axe FX III, I have another Audio interface during Axe FX III firmware update, is it important to have Axe FX III set as the default audio interface for the firmware update to work flawlessly or is it enough to just be connected to a PC.
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The Axe-Fx does not need to be the active audio interface in order to update the firmware. It simply needs to be connected to the computer.
 
So far I haven't had any problems with the firmware update and now it was maybe because the Axe FX III was set as the default (main) interface next to my main audio interface just connected and that's why I suspected that was the reason.
Thanks guys for confirming what I thought.
 
I've never had an issue updating the Axe3 regardless of 'main' interface, or multiple interfaces in windows.

I'm running Focusrite, along with Axe 2 and Axe 3 as enabled audio interfaces.
 
I have experienced several problemen with USB. And it seems to be my USB device in my PC.
Either my pc can not handle the usb load or windows.

Its not my cable. (That has been changed by many brands)

What keeps me wondering is others have similar problems and mine are always with playback and in combination with axe edit or fracbot doing a heavy operation. But today the problem lies within drivers and usb on my pc. So maybe same with you?
 
musicman0001 said:
What keeps me wondering is others have similar problems and mine are always with playback and in combination with axe edit or fracbot doing a heavy operation. But today the problem lies within drivers and usb on my pc. So maybe same with you?
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PCs often have two different USB busses, with different capacities. Move your cable around to different ports because that can make a difference.

When I first started using my Fractal on my Mac, I had problems with the connection being dropped and tried several different things to isolate the problem. I removed all USB drives and devices, including other hubs, and plugged the Fractal directly in, confirmed it worked, then started re-adding the other devices. Eventually, I found that my secondary hub, which was powered also, wasn't able to keep up with my Fractals (I have all three and often have them doing backups or installs at the same time). I bought a better-powered hub, and have had almost no problems since.

If you use the Fractal like an audio card then, when streaming audio and doing backups/installs or updates, the hardware is going to run out of CPU in my experience. The Fractal seems to give its processing priority over the incoming audio processing, understandably. I try to not stream when I'm pushing the system like that. I've had no problem when streaming a track and playing over it or recording though.

Windows can be a real pain when it comes to drivers, so make sure you've always got the current driver for the Fractals.
 
Greg Ferguson said:
PCs often have two different USB busses, with different capacities. Move your cable around to different ports because that can make a difference.

When I first started using my Fractal on my Mac, I had problems with the connection being dropped and tried several different things to isolate the problem. I removed all USB drives and devices, including other hubs, and plugged the Fractal directly in, confirmed it worked, then started re-adding the other devices. Eventually, I found that my secondary hub, which was powered also, wasn't able to keep up with my Fractals (I have all three and often have them doing backups or installs at the same time). I bought a better-powered hub, and have had almost no problems since.

If you use the Fractal like an audio card then, when streaming audio and doing backups/installs or updates, the hardware is going to run out of CPU in my experience. The Fractal seems to give its processing priority over the incoming audio processing, understandably. I try to not stream when I'm pushing the system like that. I've had no problem when streaming a track and playing over it or recording though.

Windows can be a real pain when it comes to drivers, so make sure you've always got the current driver for the Fractals.
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Thank,

Guess my pc needs an upgrade ✌️
 
musicman0001 said:
I have experienced several problemen with USB. And it seems to be my USB device in my PC.
Either my pc can not handle the usb load or windows.

Its not my cable. (That has been changed by many brands)

What keeps me wondering is others have similar problems and mine are always with playback and in combination with axe edit or fracbot doing a heavy operation. But today the problem lies within drivers and usb on my pc. So maybe same with you?
Click to expand...
I also have problems with the Axe FX III USB MIDI which I had to disable in the DAW because the DAW crashes if I turn on the Axe EDIT III.
 
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Mladen said:
I also have problems with the Axe FX III USB MIDI which I had to disable in the DAW because the DAW crashed if I turn on the Axe EDIT III.
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Which DAW? In Logic, you can selectively disable MIDI Inputs, which can prevent a problem like this that used to happen on older versions of that DAW.
 
Admin M@ said:
Which DAW? In Logic, you can selectively disable MIDI Inputs, which can prevent a problem like this that used to happen on older versions of that DAW.
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Yes, older version of that DAW, Pro Tools 12.5. It was painful until I came up with how to use Pro Tools and Axe Edit III at the same time.
Apart from this issues I have never had any problems so far, the Axe FX III has always worked flawlessly, I love my Axe FX III, the King of Sound.
 
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Never encountered an issue updating Axe-FX III with all my other audio devices connected. Kemper, Focusrite, H9, TC2290, SY300.
 
The Blue Screen of Death seems to have been due to a Windows security update that limited some of the Windows features that are still much needed for many applications. That Windows update was at the same time as I installed the last Axe FX III firmware update and the last Axe EDIT III.
 
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