My "How To" on Backing Up Your System Settings & Presets

TSJMajesty

Fractal Fanatic
It always takes me a bit of time to remember how to do this, since imo, it's not intuitive (and I don't do it that often to have it committed to memory.) By that I mean, there's nothing in Axe Edit that specifically says "Backup", and you have to understand the "Send" & "Receive" modes of Fractal Bot. So here's a step-by-step method I use, that you may find helpful, especially if you're new to Fractal:

First, have your folders set up in advance on your computer. My hierarchy goes like this: Personal-Gear-Fractal-Backups. Before I start, I create a new folder in the "Backups" folder called "3-18-22 FW 19.00" (since that's today's date, and my current FW.)

Open Axe Edit. If a window opens showing a new "Software Update" version available, close it for now.
On the Toolbar at the top, click "Tools", then "Fractal Bot" on the drop-down list, and click "Receive Mode" in the window that opens (I can never remember if it's 'Receive' or 'Send.')

Under Step 1, I only have an Axe III connected, and I'm only using USB, so I don't need to change anything here; Yours may be different.

Step 2: Browse to the folder you just created.

This next step, Step 3, is part of where I feel the process is not intuitive, as you need to actually click "Begin" before you will see options for what you want to back up. Since this is for a full backup, prior to downloading & installing new FW and/or presets (at this time we also have a new set of Factory Presets), you want to back up everything: All preset banks, User Cabs, & System + Global Blocks + FC. When I get to this window, all of those boxes are already checked, including the top box, "Back up the Axe-Fx III." If they're not, make sure you check them all.

Click "OK." Go get a cup of coffee, as this took 15 minutes on my system. I like to open the folder I saved everything to and check to see that I have 12 files, 1 for each bank of presets (A thru H), 1 "System/Global/FC, and 3 User Cabs. As the units change, the number and contents of these files may be different, e.g., if you have an Axe Fx Mk I, you'll only have 4 banks of preset files.

Hope this helps someone!
 
Good info, @TSJMajesty.

For the record, you can back up your presets, your user Cabs, and the system. But you can’t back up the firmware. The actual firmware installation file is your firmware backup.
You're right. I used the wrong wording, probably because I was thinking that I always grab the FW file from the forum, and save a copy on my computer. But I changed that in the Title. Thanks!
 
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Reactions: Rex
As Rex mentioned, the FW file itself is your backup copy. I suppose that file is stored on your computer when you update to that FW, but I also like to keep a copy in my Fractal folder, so before I download & install it using Fractal Bot, I'll grab the file from the forum post where it originates, and save it to my Fractal folder. Probably redundant, but with computer memory so plentiful these days, that's how I like to do it.
 
I would also add the suggestion to switch to an empty preset before starting the backup process with Fractal Bot. It can greatly speed up the process in some cases since it frees up more system resources for the backup process to utilize. If you have a really busy preset loaded, the transfer process can really crawl.
 
I usually close Axe Edit before I back up. I start the Fractal Bot, choose "receive" (as I want to receive the files from the Axe), choose the "Axe III" (or whatever you use), choose where I want it to save, start backup, and just select the files I want to back up.

That's usually just bank 1, as I backup all of my presets after each probation session, if I have changed something on some presets. And thats always the case.

Simple, intuitive and fast.
 
You don't say whether you're on Windows or on Mac OS, but, if you're on Mac OS, I think there's an easier way.

This is roughly my hierarchy on my drive inside /blah/Dropbox/Fractal:
Code:
├── Backups
│   ├── FM3-200903-183200 (factory).zip
│   ├── FM3-210914-173049.zip
│   ├── FM9-211218-210935.zip
│   ├── FM9-220114-174417.zip
│   ├── IIIMk2-210618-164115.zip
│   └── more stuff…
├── Editor data
│   ├── Blocks
│   │   ├── Amplifier
│   │   ├── more stuff…
│   │   └── Wahwah
│   ├── Snapshots
│   │   ├── FM3
│   │   ├── FM9
│   │   └── FX3
│   └── Templates
│       ├── FM3
│       ├── FM9
│       └── FX3
├── FM3
│   └── stuff…
├── FM9
│   └── stuff…
├── FX3
│   └── stuff…
├── Impulse Responses
│   ├── Acoustic IRs
│   │   └── stuff…
│   ├── Celestion
│   │   └── stuff…
│   ├── Ownhammer
│   │   └── stuff…
│   ├── Redwirez
│   │   └── stuff…
│   ├── York Audio
│   │   └── stuff…
│   └── stuff…
├── Presets and more
│   ├── layouts
│   └── presets and blocks
  • I manually created the Backups folder inside the Fractal folder. You can put it anywhere you want, but I wanted redundancy in my backups and a common space for them.
  • My "Fractal" folder hierarchy is anchored inside my Dropbox folder, but Google Drive or similar tools will also help make things safer because they'll automatically back up your backup files to the cloud. I have Apple's Time Machine, a full backup to the cloud, plus the Dropbox folder hierarchy. Have at least two points of backup!
  • My editors for the FM3, FM9, and FX3, have their various workspaces defined inside that Fractal folder.
  • The Editor workspaces for Blocks, Snapshots, and Templates point to their own separate folders inside Editor data.
  • All three editors point to the same "Blocks" folder, so I can use the blocks in common in the editors. That interchangeability is not guaranteed to work, but usually does so caveat emptor. I was out of town if something goes wrong.
  • I use separate Snapshots and Templates folders because the various units can't necessarily use all the same blocks and it irritates me when I realize I screwed up and tried to load an FX3 preset into the FM3.
Focusing on the Backups folder, all three editors write to the same folder for my convenience, because I like one-stop shopping. Fractal-Bot, whether it's embedded in the editor, or is stand-alone, writes the backup files using a consistent naming scheme of <device name>-<YYMMDD>-<HHMMSS>.sys.

The files are a consistent size for the FM* units:

Code:
-rw-r--r--@ 1 gregferguson  staff   3159040 Apr  1 16:41 FM3-220401-164138-bank-A.syx
-rw-r--r--@ 1 gregferguson  staff   3159040 Apr  1 16:42 FM3-220401-164138-bank-B.syx
-rw-r--r--@ 1 gregferguson  staff   3159040 Apr  1 16:42 FM3-220401-164138-bank-C.syx
-rw-r--r--@ 1 gregferguson  staff   3159040 Apr  1 16:42 FM3-220401-164138-bank-D.syx
-rw-r--r--@ 1 gregferguson  staff    197270 Apr  1 16:41 FM3-220401-164138-system+gb+fc.syx
-rw-r--r--@ 1 gregferguson  staff  10593280 Apr  1 16:44 FM3-220401-164138-user-cab-bank-1.syx
-rw-r--r--@ 1 gregferguson  staff   3159040 Apr  1 14:48 FM9-220401-144723-bank-A.syx
-rw-r--r--@ 1 gregferguson  staff   3159040 Apr  1 14:48 FM9-220401-144723-bank-B.syx
-rw-r--r--@ 1 gregferguson  staff   3159040 Apr  1 14:49 FM9-220401-144723-bank-C.syx
-rw-r--r--@ 1 gregferguson  staff   3159040 Apr  1 14:50 FM9-220401-144723-bank-D.syx
-rw-r--r--@ 1 gregferguson  staff    197270 Apr  1 14:47 FM9-220401-144723-system+gb+fc.syx
-rw-r--r--@ 1 gregferguson  staff  10593280 Apr  1 14:53 FM9-220401-144723-user-cab-bank-1.syx
and the FX3 is:
Code:
-rw-r--r--@  1 gregferguson  staff   6.0M Mar 30 14:36 IIIMk2-220330-143606-bank-A.syx
-rw-r--r--@  1 gregferguson  staff   6.0M Mar 30 14:37 IIIMk2-220330-143606-bank-B.syx
-rw-r--r--@  1 gregferguson  staff   6.0M Mar 30 14:38 IIIMk2-220330-143606-bank-C.syx
-rw-r--r--@  1 gregferguson  staff   6.0M Mar 30 14:39 IIIMk2-220330-143606-bank-D.syx
-rw-r--r--@  1 gregferguson  staff   6.0M Mar 30 14:40 IIIMk2-220330-143606-bank-E.syx
-rw-r--r--@  1 gregferguson  staff   6.0M Mar 30 14:41 IIIMk2-220330-143606-bank-F.syx
-rw-r--r--@  1 gregferguson  staff   6.0M Mar 30 14:42 IIIMk2-220330-143606-bank-G.syx
-rw-r--r--@  1 gregferguson  staff   6.0M Mar 30 14:42 IIIMk2-220330-143606-bank-H.syx
-rw-r--r--@  1 gregferguson  staff   193K Mar 30 14:36 IIIMk2-220330-143606-system+gb+fc.syx
-rw-r--r--@  1 gregferguson  staff    10M Mar 30 14:44 IIIMk2-220330-143606-user-cab-bank-1.syx
-rw-r--r--@  1 gregferguson  staff    10M Mar 30 14:46 IIIMk2-220330-143606-user-cab-bank-2.syx
-rw-r--r--@  1 gregferguson  staff   647K Mar 30 14:46 IIIMk2-220330-143606-user-cab-bank-fr.syx
Rather than spend time managing a hierarchy of too many files, and having spent too many years as a developer, I looked at the size of the files compressed. Here are the results of zipping the files:

Code:
-rw-r--r--@ 1 gregferguson  staff   497214 Apr  1 22:31 FM3-220401-164138-bank-A.syx.zip
-rw-r--r--@ 1 gregferguson  staff   459402 Apr  1 22:31 FM3-220401-164138-bank-B.syx.zip
-rw-r--r--@ 1 gregferguson  staff   473242 Apr  1 22:31 FM3-220401-164138-bank-C.syx.zip
-rw-r--r--@ 1 gregferguson  staff   201516 Apr  1 22:31 FM3-220401-164138-bank-D.syx.zip
-rw-r--r--@ 1 gregferguson  staff     2045 Apr  1 22:31 FM3-220401-164138-system+gb+fc.syx.zip
-rw-r--r--@ 1 gregferguson  staff   144634 Apr  1 22:31 FM3-220401-164138-user-cab-bank-1.syx.zip
Code:
-rw-r--r--@ 1 gregferguson  staff   530611 Apr  1 22:31 FM9-220401-144723-bank-A.syx.zip
-rw-r--r--@ 1 gregferguson  staff   476748 Apr  1 22:31 FM9-220401-144723-bank-B.syx.zip
-rw-r--r--@ 1 gregferguson  staff   493670 Apr  1 22:31 FM9-220401-144723-bank-C.syx.zip
-rw-r--r--@ 1 gregferguson  staff   233244 Apr  1 22:31 FM9-220401-144723-bank-D.syx.zip
-rw-r--r--@ 1 gregferguson  staff   132214 Apr  1 22:31 FM9-220401-144723-system+gb+fc.syx.zip
-rw-r--r--@ 1 gregferguson  staff   230895 Apr  1 22:31 FM9-220401-144723-user-cab-bank-1.syx.zip
Code:
-rw-r--r--@  1 gregferguson  staff   626K Apr  1 22:03 IIIMk2-220330-143606-bank-A.syx.zip
-rw-r--r--@  1 gregferguson  staff   517K Apr  1 22:03 IIIMk2-220330-143606-bank-B.syx.zip
-rw-r--r--@  1 gregferguson  staff   580K Apr  1 22:03 IIIMk2-220330-143606-bank-C.syx.zip
-rw-r--r--@  1 gregferguson  staff   296K Apr  1 22:03 IIIMk2-220330-143606-bank-D.syx.zip
-rw-r--r--@  1 gregferguson  staff   108K Apr  1 22:03 IIIMk2-220330-143606-bank-E.syx.zip
-rw-r--r--@  1 gregferguson  staff    12K Apr  1 22:03 IIIMk2-220330-143606-bank-F.syx.zip
-rw-r--r--@  1 gregferguson  staff    12K Apr  1 22:03 IIIMk2-220330-143606-bank-G.syx.zip
-rw-r--r--@  1 gregferguson  staff    12K Apr  1 22:03 IIIMk2-220330-143606-bank-H.syx.zip
-rw-r--r--@  1 gregferguson  staff   113K Apr  1 22:03 IIIMk2-220330-143606-system+gb+fc.syx.zip
-rw-r--r--@  1 gregferguson  staff   234K Apr  1 22:03 IIIMk2-220330-143606-user-cab-bank-1.syx.zip
-rw-r--r--@  1 gregferguson  staff    28K Apr  1 22:03 IIIMk2-220330-143606-user-cab-bank-2.syx.zip
-rw-r--r--@  1 gregferguson  staff   2.1K Apr  1 22:03 IIIMk2-220330-143606-user-cab-bank-fr.syx.zip
so it's pretty obvious there's some major space to be saved by archiving the individual files, but rather than do them individually, I do it by the date-time stamp because they're identical once a backup starts.

Here are the same three sets of files when they're compressed:
Code:
-rw-r--r--@  1 gregferguson  staff   1.7M Apr  1 21:26 FM3-220401-164138.zip
-rw-r--r--@ 1 gregferguson  staff   2.0M Apr  1 21:26 FM9-220401-144723.zip
-rw-r--r--@ 1 gregferguson  staff   2.5M Mar 31 23:00 IIIMk2-220330-143606.zip
I decided there's little reason to keep them burst into separate files when it's so easy to unzip them when I need to get their contents.

I wrote a little .sh script that runs in the terminal from my ~/bin directory that walks through the backup directory looking for .sys files, grabs the device name and date and time stamps, and runs them through uniq, then, for each individual stamp, grabs all the files and zips them together into one .zip file.

Code:
#!/bin/sh -x

pushd <the_path_to_your_backups>

for i in `ls *.syx | cut -d '-' -f 1,2,3 | uniq`
do
    zip -vm $i.zip $i-*.syx
done

popd

Replace <the_path_to_your_backups> with the actual path to the backup folder you've defined.

Save that script to your disk in your ~/bin directory as fa_archive.sh, and set the executable flag using chmod +x ~/bin/fa_archive.sh from the command line.

Then, as long as your Fractal-Bot, embedded or standalone, points to that directory, you can run backups, then periodically run the ~/bin/fa_archive.sh script and it'll build individual zip files for each backup run, then delete the *.sys files.

I've been using this for a couple of years, and it's worked correctly every time. Of course, if it doesn't work you didn't hear it from me because I was out of town when it happened.
 
Last edited:
It always takes me a bit of time to remember how to do this, since imo, it's not intuitive (and I don't do it that often to have it committed to memory.) By that I mean, there's nothing in Axe Edit that specifically says "Backup", and you have to understand the "Send" & "Receive" modes of Fractal Bot. So here's a step-by-step method I use, that you may find helpful, especially if you're new to Fractal:

First, have your folders set up in advance on your computer. My hierarchy goes like this: Personal-Gear-Fractal-Backups. Before I start, I create a new folder in the "Backups" folder called "3-18-22 FW 19.00" (since that's today's date, and my current FW.)

Open Axe Edit. If a window opens showing a new "Software Update" version available, close it for now.
On the Toolbar at the top, click "Tools", then "Fractal Bot" on the drop-down list, and click "Receive Mode" in the window that opens (I can never remember if it's 'Receive' or 'Send.')

Under Step 1, I only have an Axe III connected, and I'm only using USB, so I don't need to change anything here; Yours may be different.

Step 2: Browse to the folder you just created.

This next step, Step 3, is part of where I feel the process is not intuitive, as you need to actually click "Begin" before you will see options for what you want to back up. Since this is for a full backup, prior to downloading & installing new FW and/or presets (at this time we also have a new set of Factory Presets), you want to back up everything: All preset banks, User Cabs, & System + Global Blocks + FC. When I get to this window, all of those boxes are already checked, including the top box, "Back up the Axe-Fx III." If they're not, make sure you check them all.

Click "OK." Go get a cup of coffee, as this took 15 minutes on my system. I like to open the folder I saved everything to and check to see that I have 12 files, 1 for each bank of presets (A thru H), 1 "System/Global/FC, and 3 User Cabs. As the units change, the number and contents of these files may be different, e.g., if you have an Axe Fx Mk I, you'll only have 4 banks of preset files.

Hope this helps someone!
Does this back up the effects library too?
 
The effects library only exists on your computer, so there’s nothing in the Axe-Fx to back up.
Gotcha. In a windows system are they usually stored in a default folder -- like Program Files>Fractal Audio? I don't want to miss anything when I back up data. Also, besides the effects library, is there anything else not backed up through the Axe-Fx III?
 
Gotcha. In a windows system are they usually stored in a default folder -- like Program Files>Fractal Audio? I don't want to miss anything when I back up data.
You choose where the blocks library is stored. In Axe-Edit, go to Settings>Preferences>Workspace.
 
It always takes me a bit of time to remember how to do this, since imo, it's not intuitive (and I don't do it that often to have it committed to memory.) By that I mean, there's nothing in Axe Edit that specifically says "Backup", and you have to understand the "Send" & "Receive" modes of Fractal Bot. So here's a step-by-step method I use, that you may find helpful, especially if you're new to Fractal:

First, have your folders set up in advance on your computer. My hierarchy goes like this: Personal-Gear-Fractal-Backups. Before I start, I create a new folder in the "Backups" folder called "3-18-22 FW 19.00" (since that's today's date, and my current FW.)

Open Axe Edit. If a window opens showing a new "Software Update" version available, close it for now.
On the Toolbar at the top, click "Tools", then "Fractal Bot" on the drop-down list, and click "Receive Mode" in the window that opens (I can never remember if it's 'Receive' or 'Send.')

Under Step 1, I only have an Axe III connected, and I'm only using USB, so I don't need to change anything here; Yours may be different.

Step 2: Browse to the folder you just created.

This next step, Step 3, is part of where I feel the process is not intuitive, as you need to actually click "Begin" before you will see options for what you want to back up. Since this is for a full backup, prior to downloading & installing new FW and/or presets (at this time we also have a new set of Factory Presets), you want to back up everything: All preset banks, User Cabs, & System + Global Blocks + FC. When I get to this window, all of those boxes are already checked, including the top box, "Back up the Axe-Fx III." If they're not, make sure you check them all.

Click "OK." Go get a cup of coffee, as this took 15 minutes on my system. I like to open the folder I saved everything to and check to see that I have 12 files, 1 for each bank of presets (A thru H), 1 "System/Global/FC, and 3 User Cabs. As the units change, the number and contents of these files may be different, e.g., if you have an Axe Fx Mk I, you'll only have 4 banks of preset files.

Hope this helps someone!
Thanks for this! Came up on a Google search and helped perfectly.
 
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