Hard freeze while using MIDI requiring power down?

Ugly Bunny

Ugly Bunny

Power User
Has anyone had issues with MIDI and their unit freezing? It happened to me twice within an hour or so yesterday: I'd be working on shaping a tone, balancing volumes, etc, swapping between scenes and then out of nowhere, on a swap to the other scene, the unit would freeze and a high-pitched tone would be coming through the monitor. There would be no indication on the unit that anything was wrong except that nothing was moving and the buttons wouldn't work. The only fix was to power down.

I'm not gonna lie - I'm now a neurotic about saving changes after every couple parameter tweaks lol!

Has this happened to anyone else? I'm using the FCB1010 stock, if it matters, with the latest public release FW on the Axe III, while connected to Axe Edit III. Maybe it's related, maybe not, but I have noticed that as of late, Axe Edit III doesn't update in any reasonable timeframe when changes are made on the unit - like if I use my pedal to turn an overdrive block on or off, the Axe performs the action immediately, but Axe Edit III will take anywhere from 2 or 3 to about 10 seconds to update the state of the block - definitely not instantaneously like it used to be.
 
What specific message are you sending when it freezes? Is Axe-Edit connected during any of this?
 
Does the same occur if you disconnect the FB1010 and perform the same actions? Only hiccup I’ve experienced with my III is when a foot controller was connected, and even then I’ve not been able to repeat the incident.

Lee
 
I too had a few bizarre occurrences, and believe it was related to midi traffic - causing complete lock up of the unit - with no knobs responding, until reboot, at times. At other times, the unit would lose it's internal saved system settings - chiefly, my midi controller assignments. I learned to always save a system backup anytime I made changes, in case it happens again.

Sent my unit back, and it happened to the new unit as well.

Since then, I've made sure that when I'm in my house, I plug the Axe III, iMac, and my midi controller into the same Furman conditioners - and I haven't had this phenomenon in about 5-6 weeks, since introducing that procedure into my set up. Keep in mind, I've been in this house for 2 years, with (2) Axe Fx II's and not so much as a hiccup. The biggest difference is that I did also get the iMac, when I got my Axe III. Previous to the new iMac, I was using a MacBook Pro with the II's.

I also do this when playing out - I run and extension cord from my foot controller, to my rack and plug that into the same line conditioner as the rest of my rack.....I don't have the iMac when I play out.

Maybe the issue was a ground loop and the USB connection was to blame? I don't know. I just know I've had zero problems with any failures with either of my Axe II's.......
 
rodzimguitar68 said:
causing complete lock up of the unit - with no knobs responding, until reboot, at times. At other times, the unit would lose it's internal saved system settings -
Click to expand...

I omitted going into detail above, but this portion of @rodzimguitar68 ‘s post is precisely the same as in my III. Now that I’ve re-entered the midi controller information I’ll make certain to back it up.
 
I don't remember exactly what the MIDI command was, but it was probably just a CC#34 (scene change) between 0 and 1 (scenes 1 and 2); but this was also after having turned on and off various effects over and over to test for drive levels, volume standardization, etc. - and yes, Axe Edit III was connected. I didn't try to replicate the problem without Axe Edit connected; I haven't done any real troubleshooting since it's not like it happens in any predictable fashion and I'd rather just be playing guitar, but it may be something to look into: maybe the system gets overloaded with MIDI messages or something causing it to crash?
 
decreebass said:
maybe the system gets overloaded with MIDI messages or something causing it to crash?
Click to expand...

This

I have a midi system that sends commands when it boots up. My suspicion is that the Axe III couldn't handle receiving bursts of MIDI messages while it was also booting up.

So, now I never turn both my midi pedal AND the AXE III on at the same time. I let one or the other completely boot up, and stabilize, before I turn on the other one. Or, when I'm playing out, I turn them both on, without a midi cable connected between them, until they are completely up and running.

No problems since doing it this way.

Never a problem since 2012 with my Axe II mark I, or since Oct 2017 with my XL plus............

Perhaps Fractal should consider a "BLOCK INCOMING MIDI" during boot up/load. I don't think the III can handle the overload.
 
My AxeFX III keeps on freezing everyday, maybe 3 or 4 times a day. I'm not sure about the reason, maybe it's the midi. A Softstep foot controller is always plugged, sending program changes & simple controllers for volume & scene changing. Sometimes a high noise is emitted during the freeze. Very annoying & not very professional, considering I was teaching a gtr masterclass, recording live in studio & performing live on stage in front of many people... This morning I tried to send both program changes & Midi Time Code thru a midi merger to the AXE III & it didn't like it at all - instant freeze. I had some comparable freezes with my previous AxeFX II XL, but found it was a corrupted preset that I erased & re-created from scratch.
 
Went to Florida for a week vacation. All my gear was powered off. Everything is plugged into the same Furman F1000-UPS, which was powered down during my trip.

I was able to install FW 1.13 prior to leaving for this trip, and saved my presets and system settings before and after the FW upgrade.

Returned today and turned on my rack. Once again, my Axe III has lost my system settings. This is my second AXE III unit, and I returned the first one due to this, and the dreaded "total knob lockup" phenomenon.

My problem this evening is, that I have been trying to install my system settings before or after the FW 1.13 upgrade from last week, and the new settings do not take effect.

As I write this, I am reinstalling FW 1.13, and then I'm going to try to restore my system settings, and see what happens.

I am glad I do not have a gig anytime soon. This is frustrating!!!
 
rodzimguitar68 said:
Went to Florida for a week vacation. All my gear was powered off. Everything is plugged into the same Furman F1000-UPS, which was powered down during my trip.

I was able to install FW 1.13 prior to leaving for this trip, and saved my presets and system settings before and after the FW upgrade.

Returned today and turned on my rack. Once again, my Axe III has lost my system settings. This is my second AXE III unit, and I returned the first one due to this, and the dreaded "total knob lockup" phenomenon.

My problem this evening is, that I have been trying to install my system settings before or after the FW 1.13 upgrade from last week, and the new settings do not take effect.

As I write this, I am reinstalling FW 1.13, and then I'm going to try to restore my system settings, and see what happens.

I am glad I do not have a gig anytime soon. This is frustrating!!!
Click to expand...
Do you have a MIDI controller connected? If so, what make and model?
 
Liquid Foot LF+12+ as master and a LF+12 as an expander.

Been using them for 6 years with my rig.

I've been able to restore my system settings from something other than one of the two system settings I had saved before and after installing 1.13 prior to vacation. Who knows, perhaps the unit had already lost the system settings, and my 2 saved ones were both factory defaults?

Anyhoo, now that I've got my system settings installed, I am reporting another weird thing that I've never seen until this evening: The unit responds to the PC command I send it, for a split second, and then it reverts to PC 1. (I use the display offset).

Once again - nothing has changed in my set up except FW 1.13, which I didn't test before I left. I just installed it, and turned off the unit.
 
REVERTED BACK TO BETA 1.13 beta 2

All operation returned to normal. The unit responds to the PC commands I've sent, and no longer flashes the correct preset for a split second and then reverts back to preset 1, as I was experiencing with FW 1.13.

YMMV
 
rodzimguitar68 said:
Liquid Foot LF+12+ as master and a LF+12 as an expander.

Been using them for 6 years with my rig.

I've been able to restore my system settings from something other than one of the two system settings I had saved before and after installing 1.13 prior to vacation. Who knows, perhaps the unit had already lost the system settings, and my 2 saved ones were both factory defaults?

Anyhoo, now that I've got my system settings installed, I am reporting another weird thing that I've never seen until this evening: The unit responds to the PC command I send it, for a split second, and then it reverts to PC 1. (I use the display offset).

Once again - nothing has changed in my set up except FW 1.13, which I didn't test before I left. I just installed it, and turned off the unit.
Click to expand...
I suspect this is due to Preset Increment/Decrement CC being assigned to a CC that the LF is sending along with the PC. This along with the Start and End range being zero will cause the unit to recall preset 0. Check the CC for Preset Increment and Decrement and make sure they are set to None.
 
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