Kinda freaking out a little...

Resetting system Params, and resetting my amp blocks almost always lets me enjoy new firmware.

It *sometimes* works out of the box (and with certain presets), but if you have a lot going on there, things will change when you update.

Go fresh, start again with AMP/CAB. See what you think then.
 
I experienced the same. But remembered to reset the amp (choose another one and than go back)
After that, the patches (Friedmans) opened the way they should.
 
Reading these kind of topics always make me scared to update. How do we know if it is a corrupt file or a bad install or just the different tone because of the FW changes?
And why do these corrupt files/bad installs happen?
 
i assumed that's what the "verify" process was, that runs just after the install, but i guess not...
 
If something gets corrupted in the download process, that should be the container (the .zip file) not the continent (the .syx, and the other stuff). If the .zip gets corrupt you simply cannot extract what's inside.
There is no way to have the inside stuff of a zip file "corrupted"... Or the zip is corrupted or it's valid (and valid what's inside too).

So, If something goes wrong upon a firmware update it should be:
1. In the extraction process. The .syx gets damaged once you extract the file to your computer. If that was the case, the verification process in the Axe should stop the update... But for some reason passes the verification process.
2. In the update process. Something goes wrong when the Axe is updated. The verification process in the Axe should stop the update... But for some reason passes the verification process.


So... To me the redownload thing does nothing. People says that it actually works so I'm not going to stop anyone to do it.
I bet the reinstall is the thing that makes it work as it should. It just happens that you redownloaded the file again to reinstall.


In the end, a redownload cost seconds so there is no harm to do it... But it makes no sense.
 
In theory, you are correct, but this doesn't always prove true. I've had it happen a couple times to me.
I noticed it happened when I downloaded both the XL+ and II firmware versions back to back without letting one complete before starting the other download. I have both versions of the Axe. When I'd attempt to update from the zip I started to download first, it would either not complete and error out before the verification process or if it did load, it wouldn't sound right. Did not have this issue if I let each one completely download before downloading the next. The fact remains many of us have had issues with firmware installing and/or not performing correctly.


If something gets corrupted in the download process, that should be the container (the .zip file) not the continent (the .syx, and the other stuff). If the .zip gets corrupt you simply cannot extract what's inside.
There is no way to have the inside stuff of a zip file "corrupted"... Or the zip is corrupted or it's valid (and valid what's inside too).

So, If something goes wrong upon a firmware update it should be:
1. In the extraction process. The .syx gets damaged once you extract the file to your computer. If that was the case, the verification process in the Axe should stop the update... But for some reason passes the verification process.
2. In the update process. Something goes wrong when the Axe is updated. The verification process in the Axe should stop the update... But for some reason passes the verification process.


So... To me the redownload thing does nothing. People says that it actually works so I'm not going to stop anyone to do it.
I bet the reinstall is the thing that makes it work as it should. It just happens that you redownloaded the file again to reinstall.


In the end, a redownload cost seconds so there is no harm to do it... But it makes no sense.
 
I'm going to guess here, and probably I'm totally wrong:

I think that the firmware update does not "wipe" the current firmware in the axe before updating... It overwrites the stuff that has changed and adds the new stuff. So for some reason something that should be overwritten it doesn't or it does but in a "glitchy" way. The second (or third or whatever) time you try to update again, it finally overwrites the stuff the way it should and everything start to sound as it should.

Something like that would explain why when you reinstall the firmware it goes back to normal behaviour.

Again, I'm totally guessing here.
 
If something gets corrupted in the download process, that should be the container (the .zip file) not the continent (the .syx, and the other stuff). If the .zip gets corrupt you simply cannot extract what's inside.
There is no way to have the inside stuff of a zip file "corrupted"... Or the zip is corrupted or it's valid (and valid what's inside too).

So, If something goes wrong upon a firmware update it should be:
1. In the extraction process. The .syx gets damaged once you extract the file to your computer. If that was the case, the verification process in the Axe should stop the update... But for some reason passes the verification process.
2. In the update process. Something goes wrong when the Axe is updated. The verification process in the Axe should stop the update... But for some reason passes the verification process.


So... To me the redownload thing does nothing. People says that it actually works so I'm not going to stop anyone to do it.
I bet the reinstall is the thing that makes it work as it should. It just happens that you redownloaded the file again to reinstall.


In the end, a redownload cost seconds so there is no harm to do it... But it makes no sense.


That's pretty much my thoughts as well .. I have a hard time imagining it any other way .. I'm not saying it couldn't happened
but for me it is very unlikely that "bad downloads" would be the answer here.


It is kinda mysterious though, and I have had 1 occasion that I immediately felt something didn't sound right, and reinstalled the firmware and everything was back to normal ..
 
The fact remains many of us have had issues with firmware installing and/or not performing correctly.

I'm not saying that the firmware issues are placebo or doesn't exist. I'm just saying that a redownload shouldn't make any difference. I think the key is the reinstall, not the redownload.
Again, it doesn't hurt to redownload again, it's a matter of seconds to do so if people feels better doing it, go for it.
 
Doing the work I do, I see it all the time. However, it is confusing why this would happen given the .ZIP download package. There is a corruption in the data somewhere, sometimes. I do wonder if it is an old data over write issue.
 
Publishing a SHA or MD5 hash of the download would ensure that the file, as received, was the same as the one published. Pretty common in the software world to ensure that single bit errors -- which happen literally all the time -- don't affect code that was transferred from one host to another.

In theory, the result of a firmware update should be a fairly binary process -- either it works as intended, or it simply fails. There should be no "doesn't sound right". It's not like there's a loose tube socket, or cold solder joint somewhere in the models. :) I also find it strange that the failed firmware installation always seems to affect the sound, from the reports we see here. If a glitch were to happen in the update, and those glitches are random based on bad downloads, etc, then I would expect the errors to manifest in other ways -- screens that can't be read, parameters missing, or that don't act as intended, scrambled text, knobs that no longer work -- a whole host of other problems.

There have been enough reports of this behavior that it's worth investigating, either to fix the issue, or prove that it's not an issue.
 
it's funny you should say that, i had a couple of brief audio dropouts during the gig. i thought it was my guitar cable, but maybe it wasn't....?
 
Publishing a SHA or MD5 hash of the download would ensure that the file, as received, was the same as the one published.

Yeah, That was proposed long time ago, but FAS didn't said nothing about it.
That would discard the download thing.

I thought the same thing... It's weird that the issue just affects the sound... That's how I came to the "Overwriting theory" I posted above. Just a total guess.
 
Very strange because if the .syx file was corrupted it wouldn't pass the verification stage where it calculates the checksum and compares it with the value embedded in the file. Very unlikely imho.

Now lets pretend that the verification stage is bypassed and one loads a "corrupt" firmware into the Axe. How would such a firmware behave? Would it sound bad or would it crash randomly instead? I guess it's a very interesting question :D
 
Back
Top Bottom