Has Fractal fixed this avoidable problem yet??

AxeBoss

New Member
Fractal Axe FX Ultra CRASHED and erased ALL factory and user presets! WTF!?!??!!

So my band ARC hits the studio yesterday to record some smokin' saucy new tracks for all to consume, and our engineer fires up his AX Ultra to pull up the same tones we used last time we were there.... only to find that ALL presets, the factory AND user presets, have been erased! All the names are just random junk like : 48767@&^#, and there are a few that are just random chains of amps and FX that make no sense. Most presets are just totally junk and don't do a damn thing.

He said it was the first time he has fired it up since December. We suspect Y12k to be a factor.

Anyone else ever experience this? I have been nothing but amazed at the Axe FX Ultra and have been planning on getting one to use live.... but the thought of rolling into a gig and finding ALL my patches GONE without warning is a *little* unsettling.

Turns out the AxeFX uses a battery backup, and the battery died. The problem is, you void your warranty if you open your case up...to change the battery, you have to open your case up.

The above is on an Ultra, but the same dated technology is used on the AxeFX II as well...

Is this going to be fixed??
 
All "computers" require a "battery" to save any settings that can and have been adjusted... System settings, Patches, etc... If Cliff figures out a way to "fix" this "issue"... He'd probably be a billionaire by now and wouldn't give two poops about "this issue"...
 
All "computers" require a "battery" to save any settings that can and have been adjusted... System settings, Patches, etc... If Cliff figures out a way to "fix" this "issue"... He'd probably be a billionaire by now and wouldn't give two poops about "this issue"...

Flash memory? Solid state? There are many ways to achieve it. Many brought up in that thread.
 
My Mac Pro tower has a CR2032 battery for parameter ram backup.

I've had many other FX devices that use a battery too. Not saying it's ideal, but it's not uncommon.
 
1. On the Axe-FX II there is flash on-board that you can use to back up your presets whenever you want.
2. It does not void your warranty to replace the battery.
 
Note to the OP: batteries die. Back up your presets if you value them. It's child's play to drop them back in. If you don't you are tempting fate with any digital box. And replacing your battery does NOT void the warranty. That's not true.

I am mighty suspicious of the new members showing up linking to nonsense threads from HC in the past few days. Just sayin'.
 
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Note to the OP: batteries die. Back up your presets if you value them. It's child's play to drop them back in. If you don't you are tempting fate with any digital box. And replacing your battery does NOT void the warranty. That's not true.

I am mighty suspicious of the new members showing up linking to nonsense threads from HC in the past few days. Just sayin'.

Yes!!!




 
From OP:
So my band ARC hits the studio yesterday to record some smokin' saucy new tracks for all to consume, and our engineer fires up his AX Ultra to pull up the same tones we used last time we were there.... only to find that ALL presets, the factory AND user presets, have been erased! All the names are just random junk like : 48767@&^#, and there are a few that are just random chains of amps and FX that make no sense. Most presets are just totally junk and don't do a damn thing.

He said it was the first time he has fired it up since December. We suspect Y12k to be a factor.

Anyone else ever experience this? I have been nothing but amazed at the Axe FX Ultra and have been planning on getting one to use live.... but the thought of rolling into a gig and finding ALL my patches GONE without warning is a *little* unsettling.

I actually find fault with the engineer and/or band. If that was an engineer in my studio who knew the band would be returning to work on with these same patches, unless there was a very valid explanation for not doing a backup, he/she would be gone. If the band wanted to return and use the same presets, unless prior arrangements were made, the impetus is on them to bring those presets with them.

Either way, to blame the battery is just weird and immature.
 
oh my gosh, a computer crashed and lost data....whoa....welcome to the age of the computer. It's called back things up. Just like anything else, geez. What a goober to post this nonsense here. You are correct, it is completely avoidable, back-stuff up.

Now, on a side note.....what if it just so happens to crash at a gig? Should I start bringing my computer and usb cord as a backup just in case i lose all my settings? Would only take a few minutes to re-boot....actually not a bad idea.....(trying to get some positive best practice out of this silly posting)
 
oh my gosh, a computer crashed and lost data....whoa....welcome to the age of the computer. It's called back things up. Just like anything else, geez. What a goober to post this nonsense here. You are correct, it is completely avoidable, back-stuff up.

Now, on a side note.....what if it just so happens to crash at a gig? Should I start bringing my computer and usb cord as a backup just in case i lose all my settings? Would only take a few minutes to re-boot....actually not a bad idea.....(trying to get some positive best practice out of this silly posting)

@ wake911, great new topic! I'm all about constructive problem solving.

Here is the new thread started by wake911: http://forum.fractalaudio.com/axe-fx-ii-wish-list/45919-way-remotely-back-up-axe-ii.html
 
wake911: exactly. It may seem a bit extreme, but I usually carry a laptop with me to shows for a lot of different reasons. Catastrophic restoration of my AFX presets being at the top of the list. For some gigs, I can get by without a lot of processing/effects, so I carry a small pedal in case I need a quick bail-out. But other gigs REQUIRE that I have a vast number of heavily programmed presets in the AxeFx. And, if the AFX ever does totally fail, I still have a fully programmed backup (different manufacturer) processor that I used to use before I got my AFX. The show must go on! ...but there are only so many ways you can hedge before backup redundancy becomes a sort of neurotic obsession...

On another note, does anyone know the type of backup battery (and values) that is used in the AxeFx Ultra/AxeFx II , for just such an emergency?
 
For restore purposes at a gig, seems you could carry a smart phone (i.e. iPhone) with a midi interface (any Core Midi interface) and an app that can transmit sysex presets. Would assume some smart phone apps can transmit sysex.

Thinking out loud,
Karma
 
One other side note - on the II you can back up and store both your presets and your system files in ROM, which does NOT require a battery. It is accessed via the utility menu.

So if your battery went down (which frankly is extremely unlikely at best) you could drop in a new one and be back up totally within a minute. No computer, no memory stick, no shenanigans.

As is typical on HC, that thread went 9+ pages. Sigh.
 
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