FM9 USB Firmware V 1.02 Release

amandio

amandio

Moderator
Moderator
Hi Everyone,

New USB firmware for the FM9, v1.02, is available!

This release fixes an issue where USB IN channels 1 and 2 can move to other USB IN channels causing a sudden loss of output. You can download this release from the downloads page for the FM9 on our main website, or you can use the link below:

FM9 USB Firmware v1.02 Release Download

INSTALLATION INSTRUCTIONS

Unlike DSP firmware, which changes sound and features, USB firmware changes the way your FM9 interacts with a computer. Version 1.02 fixes an issue where USB IN channels 1 and 2 can move to other USB IN channels causing a sudden loss in output.

TO CHECK YOUR USB FIRMWARE VERSION
Perform this check before and after the upgrade:
  • Press HOME
  • Press SETUP (push-knob E)
  • Select Utilities using the Nav buttons.
  • Press ENTER to show the Utilities menu.
  • Page Right>> to the Version page.
  • Your current USB firmware version is shown on the screen.
INSTALL NEW USB FIRMWARE
  1. Download and unzip the USB firmware update from: https://www.fractalaudio.com/fm9-downloads
  2. Download and install Fractal-Bot from: https://www.fractalaudio.com/fractal-bot/
    NOTE: Windows requires that you to install our driver before using Fractal-Bot. Mac OS does not require a driver.
    https://www.fractalaudio.com/axe-fx-iii-downloads/
    IMPORTANT: Please Quit/Exit all audio/MIDI-related apps including FM9-Edit, any DAWs, Chrome, etc while using Fractal-Bot. A reliable method of ensuring a clean environment would be to power off the FM9, reboot your computer, quit any apps, power on the FM9, and proceed with the update.
  3. Launch Fractal-Bot and install the new USB firmware.
    • For Step 1, choose “FM9”. You should then see three green checks.
    • For Step 2, Browse to the new USB firmware file.
    • For Step 3, press Begin. The file should transfer quickly and Fractal-Bot will pop up a dialog stating “The transfer is complete".
      NOTE: Unlike when installing DSP firmware, the FM9 does not show a loading screen or special reboot message.
  4. Click OK in Fractal-Bot and then reboot the FM9. Once the unit reboots, check your unit’s USB Firmware version using the process listed in the bulleted steps above these instructions.

GETTING HELP
If an upgrade fails for any reason, please first reboot all devices and simply try again.
If you require any help with this process, please contact us via https://support.fractalaudio.com
 
Today i installed v1.02. Thank you for working on it.

The problem of audio dropouts as described and demonstrated in this post is still present on FM9 with FW 4.01 and USB 1.02.
This is as expected, because v1.02 only solved the problem of USB channel switching.

To anyone experiencing audio dropouts, @amandio says in this post it could be related to electrical interference and/or poor cabling, and has an advice included. I can neither confirm nor refute it is electrical interference and/or poor cabling in my situation at this moment.
 
I updated to v1.02 and facing this problem of USB playback. As soon as I play from my Laptop, I hear the sound through FM9 for 1 second and then there is no sound. It resolves after I restart my FM9 but only to hear the audio for 1 second again before it becomes muted again. Recording input into the Laptop has no problem and works but I'm not able to hear anything through my Laptop. I have tried many things like installing the latest Windows USB driver for FM9, updating Windows, changing USB cable etc but the issue remains as it is.

It used to run fine with v1.01 where I would face this problem once in a while but in this version the problem is persistent for me. I don't know if anyone else is facing this problem after the upgrade but would really appreciate if someone can share the V1.01 with me so I can resume my recording. Maybe a future version will release which works better with my laptop. The Fractal website has the v1.02 only as download and I never had the previous file since it came pre-loaded with my FM9.
 
From the Home page on the FM9 press 4 times on the PAGE>> button. Now you see the Meters page. What can you see when you have sound for 1 second and whats different when the sound mutes?
 
In the USB In meters, in the 1 second I see the bars moving up and then suddenly its dead along with the sound
 
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I am still getting drop outs after optimizing my Mac and latest firmware's for USB and FM9....FM9 edit stays connected but the sound drops out of Traktor DJ program or the Mac music program or my DAW. Sometimes it works fine all day but today 3 dropouts and the only fix is rebooting the FM9. I am running a 6' USB cable which is shortest possible.

Edit; I changed a slightly noisy monster power bar out for my best power conditioner and have had 3 days with no issue's of dropping out...
Electrical interference suspected as the issue.
 
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I've had the USB audio dropout issue occur sporadically with my FM9, but lately I've noticed it almost exclusively happens if I'm playing videos/audio on youtube in Chrome through it, and it's possible this has always been the culprit. This very consistently causes the dropout. I usually practice with a PC metronome app, play along to playlists on spotify for cover gigs, and will often have Netflix/Hulu/etc. playing while working on some technical exercises or something and can go hours without the dropout issue occurring. This includes playing the streaming services in Chrome. As soon as I start something on youtube, I can count on it occurring relatively quickly.

I'm on windows 11, and I've had this issue in three different living spaces since I received it in 2021. I've also experienced it with two completely different PC builds, but I'm unsure if the youtube issue was as prevalent in the past but I've ONLY experienced it with Youtube for the past month or so. I recently started watching a docuseries on youtube, and it's basically impossible to get through it with the FM9. The only way the audio returns is with a reboot, and then it seems within 2-3 minutes the issue will recur. If I switch to watching anything else (including a 4K video with high quality audio tracks, so I don't think it's that youtube is particularly demanding on my machine or something), the issue does not happen again. I also leave youtube tabs open/paused often and the issue does not occur, so it seems to be correlated to playback somehow? I know each machine will be different, but just putting this out there in case others can replicate, youtube is pretty ubiquitous and a good reference when using DAWs and whatnot, so curious if anybody else has seen this.
 
ducci1012 said:
I've had the USB audio dropout issue occur sporadically with my FM9, but lately I've noticed it almost exclusively happens if I'm playing videos/audio on youtube in Chrome through it, and it's possible this has always been the culprit. This very consistently causes the dropout. I usually practice with a PC metronome app, play along to playlists on spotify for cover gigs, and will often have Netflix/Hulu/etc. playing while working on some technical exercises or something and can go hours without the dropout issue occurring. This includes playing the streaming services in Chrome. As soon as I start something on youtube, I can count on it occurring relatively quickly.

I'm on windows 11, and I've had this issue in three different living spaces since I received it in 2021. I've also experienced it with two completely different PC builds, but I'm unsure if the youtube issue was as prevalent in the past but I've ONLY experienced it with Youtube for the past month or so. I recently started watching a docuseries on youtube, and it's basically impossible to get through it with the FM9. The only way the audio returns is with a reboot, and then it seems within 2-3 minutes the issue will recur. If I switch to watching anything else (including a 4K video with high quality audio tracks, so I don't think it's that youtube is particularly demanding on my machine or something), the issue does not happen again. I also leave youtube tabs open/paused often and the issue does not occur, so it seems to be correlated to playback somehow? I know each machine will be different, but just putting this out there in case others can replicate, youtube is pretty ubiquitous and a good reference when using DAWs and whatnot, so curious if anybody else has seen this.
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Have you tried clearing your browser cache? I had slow downs and stutter w 32gb of ram in pc. Cleared browser cache and no more stutter. Good luck
 
Scanman39 said:
Have you tried clearing your browser cache? I had slow downs and stutter w 32gb of ram in pc. Cleared browser cache and no more stutter. Good luck
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For the record, this was not "stuttering". The video playback is 100% fine, the FM9 loses ALL USB audio from the PC; including system sounds. Unplugging the USB and plugging it back in does not resolve the issue, the FM9 must be fully rebooted. The video keeps playing sans audio, without stuttering issues, when this occurs. If I plug a my headphones directly into the computer the audio is just fine. If I reboot the FM9, the audio is working again just fine. The browser cache is not the culprit here.

FWIW, I ended up buying an interface and these issues have totally vanished (obviously). I bought it for other reasons, but this was a great side benefit. That said, I'm interested to test out the Windows Audio drivers that just released today to see if this issue has been resolved.
 
You could try running MSINFO32.EXE, exporting the NFO, and uploading it here. I had a similar issue recently, which I initially put down to something related to switching between audio interfaces, and bug(s) in their respective drivers. The FM9 USB Audio would stop working and wouldn't return until I rebooted the unit. I had a feeling at the time that it was probably more of a Windows issue (low level driver anomalies etc.), because I had seen similar behaviour numerous times before with other USB devices, where simply unplugging and re-inserting the USB cable into the PC wouldn't work.

It transpired that the actual cause of the problem was in fact the Nvidia graphics driver - I know, weird right? Nvidia drivers also include audio functionality for various reasons (including audio over HDMI and so on), the bugged Nvidia driver version I was running was crashing occasionally, most commonly when I was running one stream through one interface and simultaneously doing something else through another interface (like playing guitar through the FM9 whilst listening to a backing track through my Steinberg interface).

If you don't want to upload the NFO here, try looking through it yourself. Look for audio related crashes, they're usually fairly easy to spot, and you might get a clue as to the underlying cause. You can further narrow things down if you can remember approximately the last time the issue occurred, or better still, if you can recreate the issue. Then run the MSINFO32.EXE and scroll down until you reach the date/time range that the problem occurred. Failing all that there's always Windows Event Viewer, although that can be harder to interpret. Good luck! :)
 
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WhiteRoom said:
You could try running MSOINFO32.EXE, exporting the NFO, and uploading it here. I had a similar issue recently, which I initially put down to something related to switching between audio interfaces, and bug(s) in their respective drivers. The FM9 USB Audio would stop working and wouldn't return until I rebooted the unit. I had a feeling at the time that it was probably more of a Windows issue (low level driver anomalies etc.), because I had seen similar behaviour numerous times before with other USB devices, where simply unplugging and re-inserting the USB cable into the PC wouldn't work.

It transpired that the actual cause of the problem was in fact the Nvidia graphics driver - I know, weird right? Nvidia drivers also include audio functionality for various reasons (including audio over HDMI and so on), the bugged Nvidia driver version I was running was crashing occasionally, most commonly when I was running one stream through one interface and simultaneously doing something else through another interface (like playing guitar through the FM9 whilst listening to a backing track through my Steinberg interface).

If you don't want to upload the NFO here, try looking through it yourself. Look for audio related crashes, they're usually fairly easy to spot, and you might get a clue as to the underlying cause. You can further narrow things down if you can remember approximately the last time the issue occurred, or better still, if you can recreate the issue. Then run the MSOIFNO32.EXE and scroll down until you reach the date/time range that the problem occurred. Failing all that there's always Windows Event Viewer, although that can be harder to interpret. Good luck! :)
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Appreciate these suggestions! I'm assuming you mean msinfo32.exe? I don't have anything called msoinfo32.exe and all searches suggest removing the "O" in "MSO".

However, still no luck finding any error messages in either this or the Event Viewer. I used the FM9 as my audio interface last night and was running over some youtube back tracks and the audio dropout happened maybe after 6 or 7 minutes (this was last night at around 1:30 am, so 3/12/2024). I don't see any errors in the various Event Viewer logs, and the most recent error message in System Info for 3/12 from 1:30 today (the date sorting is awful in this lol). I was having issues getting these errors to render/export last night as it occurred, so I'll give it another go and share the NFO when it occurs again. One thing I noticed is there are some FM9-Edit entries in here where ntdll.dll faulted; I do almost always have FM9-Edit open while playing so I may give it a shot next time it happens to reboot and then leave that closed, I wonder if there could be some sort of collision going on.
 
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ducci1012 said:
Appreciate these suggestions! I'm assuming you mean msinfo32.exe? I don't have anything called msoinfo32.exe and all searches suggest removing the "O" in "MSO".

However, still no luck finding any error messages in either this or the Event Viewer. I used the FM9 as my audio interface last night and was running over some youtube back tracks and the audio dropout happened maybe after 6 or 7 minutes (this was last night at around 1:30 am, so 3/12/2024). I don't see any errors in the various Event Viewer logs, and the most recent error message in System Info for 3/12 from 1:30 today (the date sorting is awful in this lol). I was having issues getting these errors to render/export last night as it occurred, so I'll give it another go and share the NFO when it occurs again. One thing I noticed is there are some FM9-Edit entries in here where ntdll.dll faulted; I do almost always have FM9-Edit open while playing so I may give it a shot next time it happens to reboot and then leave that closed, I wonder if there could be some sort of collision going on.
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Yes brain inserted an "O" in there where it wasn't required for some stupid reason :laughing:

I'll edit that post so that it doesn't cause further confusion for someone else landing here at a later date.

I will grab a few screenshots from the NFO that I exported in a bit, and share. It may help just because it might help show how I was able to isolate the cause of my particular issue. There is always the possibility that all of this isn't going to help and it is something more fundamental, but definitely worth pursuing a while longer I think.
 
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