FracTool - for power users only

Hello Alex, I have a large collection of blocks created on AXE-FX III over the last year or two that I am trying to convert so they will be compatible with the FM3.

The vast majority of them return an error "Error loading blk file" when I drop them onto Fractool.

Are there any bugs in this feature or limitations on the conversion process at all?
 
knwlnd said:
Hello Alex, I have a large collection of blocks created on AXE-FX III over the last year or two that I am trying to convert so they will be compatible with the FM3.

The vast majority of them return an error "Error loading blk file" when I drop them onto Fractool.

Are there any bugs in this feature or limitations on the conversion process at all?
Click to expand...
Gen3 block files are not supported, or maybe they are, i don't know... If it doesn't work...
 
knwlnd said:
Hello Alex, I have a large collection of blocks created on AXE-FX III over the last year or two that I am trying to convert so they will be compatible with the FM3.

The vast majority of them return an error "Error loading blk file" when I drop them onto Fractool.

Are there any bugs in this feature or limitations on the conversion process at all?
Click to expand...
Btw, Axe3Edit is supposed to do the conversion, but i never tried
 
Randall d said:
Is there a way to grab a single preset out of an FM3 bank save file (used Fractal Bot) and convert it to Axe III without the FM3 present?
Click to expand...
You can do this using Axe-Edit easily too. If you open the bank, or drop it into the browser window in the Preset Manager, Axe-Edit will show you all the presets in the file. Select the one(s) you want and drag to the slot(s). I do it all the time to keep my presets in sync on both units.

Just make sure the firmware on the FX3 is the same as, or newer than, the version on the FM3 where the backup came from, and that Axe-Edit is the corresponding or newer version than on the FX3. It’s the normal version compatibility issue.
 
knwlnd said:
I have a large collection of blocks created on AXE-FX III over the last year or two that I am trying to convert so they will be compatible with the FM3.
Click to expand...
Just use Axe-Edit III and FM3-Edit. They can open each other’s backup files and exports. My FX3 and FM3 are both on current versions of their firmware and the editors are current.

The FM3 has a smaller grid and doesn’t have all the same blocks, so adjust the presets using the FX3 and Axe-Edit so they’ll fit into the FM3 and they’ll transfer correctly. If you don’t honor the grid size the layout will wrap and you’ll have to move and reconnect blocks. If you try to use blocks that are not available on the FM3 they will be silently dropped.

Be careful if you try to transfer a preset that exceeds the CPU capability of the FM3. It might go to a crawl trying to process.

See the Wiki for more detail: https://wiki.fractalaudio.com/wiki/index.php?title=Comparing_the_FM3_to_the_Axe-Fx_III
 
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Greg Ferguson said:
Just use Axe-Edit III and FM3-Edit. They can open each other’s backup files and exports. My FX3 and FM3 are both on current versions of their firmware and the editors are current.

The FM3 has a smaller grid and doesn’t have all the same blocks, so adjust the presets using the FX3 and Axe-Edit so they’ll fit into the FM3 and they’ll transfer correctly. If you don’t honor the grid size the layout will wrap and you’ll have to move and reconnect blocks. If you try to use blocks that are not available on the FM3 they will be silently dropped.

Be careful if you try to transfer a preset that exceeds the CPU capability of the FM3. It might go to a crawl trying to process.

See the Wiki for more detail: https://wiki.fractalaudio.com/wiki/index.php?title=Comparing_the_FM3_to_the_Axe-Fx_III
Click to expand...

Thanks Greg, I’ve explored that avenue already. The challenge is that not all blocks are currently saved in presets, some are only in the block library.

Strangely some blocks saved earlier this week on AXE-FX III with current firmware are flagged as incompatible when opening FM3-Edit (also fully up to date) while they are in the block folder and same again when dragging them to an empty block on the grid.

For some reason that I can’t determine others made last week on the same firmware are fine (all made in blocks that are available in both devices). I’ve tried a few things such as making a tiny change and saving again or “save as” and renaming on the AXE-FX III to prompt an updated save but no joy.

There seems to be something specific about a set of them that makes them unable to be converted via Fractool and incompatible with FM3/FM3-Edit thus forcing them to need to be recreated manually.
 
knwlnd said:
Thanks Greg, I’ve explored that avenue already. The challenge is that not all blocks are currently saved in presets, some are only in the block library.

Strangely some blocks saved earlier this week on AXE-FX III with current firmware are flagged as incompatible when opening FM3-Edit (also fully up to date) while they are in the block folder and same again when dragging them to an empty block on the grid.

For some reason that I can’t determine others made last week on the same firmware are fine (all made in blocks that are available in both devices). I’ve tried a few things such as making a tiny change and saving again or “save as” and renaming on the AXE-FX III to prompt an updated save but no joy.

There seems to be something specific about a set of them that makes them unable to be converted via Fractool and incompatible with FM3/FM3-Edit thus forcing them to need to be recreated manually.
Click to expand...
This really sounds like a bug in Axe Edit to me; I'd raise the problem in the Axe-Edit and/or FM3-Edit forum(s).

And, perhaps Fractal can explain what makes a block be incompatible. We should have automatic backwards compatibility for presets and blocks. Whether the block sounds its best is a different issue that we get to shoulder.

Several months ago, during the thick of the beta cycles I had several blocks that had the incompatible warning, and didn't really think about it, I just merged/synced the FM3 and FX3 library files, and that took care of the problem. You know how it happens when you're moving fast, keeping your head down and trying to serpentine from cover to cover just to get things to work. :)
 
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Greg Ferguson said:
This really sounds like a bug in Axe Edit to me; I'd raise the problem in the Axe-Edit and/or FM3-Edit forum(s).

And, perhaps Fractal can explain what makes a block be incompatible. We should have automatic backwards compatibility for presets and blocks. Whether the block sounds its best is a different issue that we get to shoulder.

Several months ago, during the thick of the beta cycles I had several blocks that had the incompatible warning, and didn't really think about it, I just merged/synced the FM3 and FX3 library files, and that took care of the problem. You know how it happens when you're moving fast, keeping your head down and trying to serpentine from cover to cover just to get things to work. :)
Click to expand...
I’ll put a topic in and see if someone like Michael Pickens can shed some light on it.

I thought I read something about incompatibility for blocks between the two, that’s why I headed towards Fractool as another avenue to resolve.
 
Greg Ferguson said:
This really sounds like a bug in Axe Edit to me; I'd raise the problem in the Axe-Edit and/or FM3-Edit forum(s).

And, perhaps Fractal can explain what makes a block be incompatible. We should have automatic backwards compatibility for presets and blocks. Whether the block sounds its best is a different issue that we get to shoulder.

Several months ago, during the thick of the beta cycles I had several blocks that had the incompatible warning, and didn't really think about it, I just merged/synced the FM3 and FX3 library files, and that took care of the problem. You know how it happens when you're moving fast, keeping your head down and trying to serpentine from cover to cover just to get things to work. :)
Click to expand...

I think I’ve closed in on the mystery a little after trawling through the log in console.

It looks like anything created by 11.01 and earlier isn’t compatible and possibly those that are a “save as” or rename of a block created on 11.01 or earlier.

Might just be a line in the sand drawn for backwards compatibility.

I’ll look into it a bit more when I have both devices with me again next week.

If I can pin it down to a specific behaviour I’ll raise it elsewhere to keep it in a more relevant category and to stop flooding this thread.

If it turns out to be a bug that can be corrected it might save me recreating two hundred or so blocks.
 
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knwlnd said:
I think I’ve closed in on the mystery a little after trawling through the log in console.

It looks like anything created by 11.01 and earlier isn’t compatible and possibly those that are a “save as” or rename of a block created on 11.01 or earlier.

Might just be a line in the sand drawn for backwards compatibility.

I’ll look into it a bit more when I have both devices with me again next week.

If I can pin it down to a specific behaviour I’ll raise it elsewhere to keep it in a more relevant category and to stop flooding this thread.

If it turns out to be a bug that can be corrected it might save me recreating two hundred or so blocks.
Click to expand...
Maybe downgrade your firmware to the last Ares, try loading the troublesome blocks, and if it's happy then stuff some empty presets with the blocks and save them into memory, then upgrade back to Cygnus and save the preset as blocks again using "Preset > Save as Blocks in Library"?

Having blocks get orphaned without any way of fixing them is cruel.
 
Greg Ferguson said:
Maybe downgrade your firmware to the last Ares, try loading the troublesome blocks, and if it's happy then stuff some empty presets with the blocks and save them into memory, then upgrade back to Cygnus and save the preset as blocks again using "Preset > Save as Blocks in Library"?

Having blocks get orphaned without any way of fixing them is cruel.
Click to expand...
They all work fine with the AXE-FX III, even blocks made on 5.07 which my unit shipped with.

The issue is just compatibility with the FM3 and that there is currently no method to convert them or resave them to be compatible without manual recreation.

I’ll investigate and take it elsewhere to avoid muddying the thread any further.
 
I put here the same question on the FM3 4.0 CYGNUS FIRMWARE POST.

How can i modify , via batch , the CS per SCENES value of the Control Switch to "LAST".

The editor make me do only NUMERIC VALUE for this parameters , i tried different value without success.

Anyone does it ?

I must change from OFF to LAST for every CS2 for every my 3 BANK of PRESETS(0-383).

Thanks,
A.
 
Hi, does anyone else have a problem with the latest version crashing on Macs? I tried it on 2 different Macs, one a 2017 latest OS and one a 2012 older OS. The app wont open, you get the Mac crash screen. Here is a snippet from the first page of text:

Process: FracTool [26523]
Path: /Applications/FracTool.app/Contents/MacOS/FracTool
Identifier: fr.axefx.fractool
Version: 3.63 (1)
Code Type: X86-64 (Native)
Parent Process: ??? [1]
Responsible: FracTool [26523]
User ID: 501

Date/Time: 2021-08-07 14:23:33.805 -0400
OS Version: macOS 11.5 (20G71)
Report Version: 12
Bridge OS Version: 3.0 (14Y908)
Anonymous UUID: BCF33833-8930-926E-05BC-5EC24CBCBF7B

Sleep/Wake UUID: 127D34DD-BD02-43E6-9FB7-F157DAC0AFAF

Time Awake Since Boot: 85000 seconds
Time Since Wake: 8200 seconds

System Integrity Protection: enabled

Crashed Thread: 6 Qt bearer thread

Exception Type: EXC_CRASH (SIGABRT)
Exception Codes: 0x0000000000000000, 0x0000000000000000
Exception Note: EXC_CORPSE_NOTIFY

Termination Reason: DYLD, [0x4] Symbol missing

Application Specific Information:
dyld: in dlopen()
/Applications/FracTool.app/Contents/PlugIns/imageformats/libqjpeg.dylib

Dyld Error Message:
Symbol not found: __ZN9QCFString9toQStringEPK8NSString
Referenced from: /Applications/FracTool.app/Contents/PlugIns/bearer/libqcorewlanbearer.dylib
Expected in: /Applications/FracTool.app/Contents/MacOS/../Frameworks/QtCore.framework/Versions/5/QtCore
 
@AlGrenadine

Hello Alex,

I have read many of the posts in this thread, but I did not have opportunity to read all 186 pages...so I apologize in advance if this question has already been asked and answered.

When using FracTool's "View" tool, all the individual parameters for any given block are displayed in a single, continuous alphabetical list (which can be reverse sorted with toggle arrow). In some future version of FracTool, would it be possible for this data to be collated into separate tabs, which correspond to the different tabs/pages/sub-menus that are displayed when a block is selected within the FM3 or Axe-FX Editors? In other words, that the listing, order, and location of these parameters mirrors how they are displayed in the graphical view of their respective editors? This is not a complaint, but rather (hopefully) a constructive critique and recommendation.

Thank you so much for this wonderful program and app, and all the hard work you have put into it.

Cheers,
John
 
Tritium3H said:
@AlGrenadine

Hello Alex,

I have read many of the posts in this thread, but I did not have opportunity to read all 186 pages...so I apologize in advance if this question has already been asked and answered.

When using FracTool's "View" tool, all the individual parameters for any given block are displayed in a single, continuous alphabetical list (which can be reverse sorted with toggle arrow). In some future version of FracTool, would it be possible for this data to be collated into separate tabs, which correspond to the different tabs/pages/sub-menus that are displayed when a block is selected within the FM3 or Axe-FX Editors? In other words, that the listing, order, and location of these parameters mirrors how they are displayed in the graphical view of their respective editors? This is not a complaint, but rather (hopefully) a constructive critique and recommendation.

Thank you so much for this wonderful program and app, and all the hard work you have put into it.

Cheers,
John
Click to expand...
Hi
I'll see if i can reuse the FracPad database for this
 
Hi,
is it possible to send from AxeChange 1:1 to FX3 device, without converting, when newest firmware is unknown.
"Preset Version : 0x126 - Unknown Firmware -> 16.03"
My Axe-FX3 Firmware is 16.05.
thanks in advance
 
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