If I were having issues like the ones explained by the OP or cujo I would be on the phone with Fractal, not whining here. The #1 reason I personally use the Fractal is consistency and reliability. Take that away and this rig is a $3k paperweight.
Hey look, I am not whining. I am using the forum community to see if other people have seen what I have see, and to look for some answers. That is what the forum is for. I'm trying to map out the best path to a solution. I stated in my original post that I was going to contact Matt, but since I can't reproduce the issues on command, it's tricky how to ask for help. That is what makes this forum so valuable, and it is a key part of the entire Fractal experience. It should be be an open and hopefully non-emotional environment for sharing ideas, successes, and failures (or... "learning experiences" if you prefer) for all of us to gain from. I am hoping to both learn and provide value to other guys with issues as well here.
For all of the other responses:
I REALLY appreciate all of the answers and feedback on this thread. Both those of you who have had issues and those who have not are extremely helpful. Those who have never had an issue give me confidence that what is going on is not normal, and can be resolved. That is key for me. It is what I wanted to hear. I love the system and want to stay with it. I simply have to solve my reliability issues.
Those who HAVE had issues are helping me narrow in on the possibility that there might be some common themes or conditions that are leading to the issues.. Hopefully my quest to solve the problems can help the other guys who have had glitches as well.
I don't consider myself a power user, but I am a fairly serious user, and I do own an operate a working band and play for income. (not my primary income, but income none the less.) Here are some things I have picked up here, and I that I am going to investigate or make some changes to:
1.) Power. I have thought about this more than once. I run my entire rig (which is a bit more complex than most AXE guys, honestly) off of a Furman power conditioner. (please, no need to open this common debate. I use it for convenience of multi outlets and light on the front and rear of my rack.) I do wonder if maybe it passes dirty power or spikes through. It has had issues with blinking LED's on the front of it, and I think that part of it is defective. I have hooked it to a voltage meters and monitored it for long periods and it puts out 120V, even thought the lights are flashing that it is putting out too high of voltage. I checked it off of the list, but I think I will change that unit out just to be safe. It's possible that if it sends any kind of spikes I would not see them on the meter.
2) One reason I DON'T think it's the power is the fact that some of my issues are triggered by scene changes. I did have a repeat situation on one particular patch, so I might have a corrupted preset. I have a preset for Hash Pipe that is a a very basic Mesa Boogie preset, and the solo preset (scene 4) is just a 3db boost and turns on a phaser block. It's not a high CPU patch, but twice now that patch has failed when I step on scene 4. It causes me to lose audio output. Here's the weird part, If I go back to scene 1 (that was just working), still no audio out. If I Bank Up to the next preset (I run a bank size of 1) then bank back down, it works again. I'm going to delete this preset and rebuild it from scratch in a whole new slot to see what that nets me. (in fact, I'm going to go a lot farther than that... I'm going to wipe my Axe clean. More on that in a minute...)
3) To the guys who have had MFC issues, random presets, runaway presets, Name Timeout issues... I've had all of that, but i think I fixed it because I have not had those problems since I switched my FASLink XLR cable to a one with a Neutrik end. I tried about 4 or 5 different cables over time, starting with a cheap guitar center cable (NO!) to several other brands, and a common theme was they all had some "wiggle" in them. The FASLink port is a little loose, and kind of fussy about what you put in it. XLR's for audio are one thing, but when carrying digital data, you can't afford any breaks in that system at all. The slightest disruption to that signal will cause you a big problem. So, the Neutrik connectors fit very snug and tight, and solved my MFC problems. Make sure that you run a single cable from the rear of the AXE to the MFC input. Try to avoid any additional connections like patch panels if you can. Make sure there is zero wiggle at the connections.
-More on MFC issues - I did have my MFC go blank 2 weeks ago at practice, and I had to reboot the AXE. At that time, I was connected to Axe Edit making some changes. For me, being connected to AXE edit is inviting trouble. Problems are frequent for me if connected, so I am NEVER connected by USB when playing live.
Potential problem spot:
4) I run about 50 presets. Many are similar, and frankly I don't need them. I have one preset per song, and I like having the name of the song pop up on my MFC when a song starts, to let me know I'm on the right tone. My AXE presets are changed via MIDI from Ableton Live, so when a track starts (via another controller) my AXE selects the right preset automatically.
This is layer of complexity that I am looking closely at. I do have both a MIDI connection and a FASLink connection to my AXE. MIDI runs the show, and the FASLINK allows me to make manual changes, use expression pedals and so on. I am really curious about the possibility of a conflict if I step on a button at the same time as an incoming MIDI change. I know this is very different from a lot of people, and this is a likely problem area.
What I am going to do:
A. I'm going to abandon that whole process for a while. (Makes me sad, because I worked very hard and long hours to set it up, not to mention the investment side of things.) I'm going to disconnect the midi, and run my show 100% by the MFC to see if problems stop. This creates some other problems for me, since right now my show is totally random access. I can start any track at any time, and instantly be on the right preset, no matter where it's located. (Meaning I can go from preset #3 to preset #40 with no scrolling or searching, simply by selecting that song in Ableton and pressing Launch.)
B. I am going to back up my system and presets, wipe my axe clean, and re-install the firmware. Then I'm going to make 3 new presets from scratch, and use just those. Basically a 3 channel amp with some effects. This should help me eliminate any possible corrupted presets or software problems.
C. I'm going to consult with Matt (hopefully) to see if he has any input on this as well.
So, with a new power conditioner, no midi connection, and 100% new and clean firmware and a few simple presets, we'll see if the problems stop. If I can go a couple of months with no issues, then I'll have learned something, and I can look closer at adding things back in slowly to see if problems return.
D. Finally, I'll report back and keep this thread updated with my progress. It might serve as a reference to other guys who have has issues as well. As many problems as I have had, for as long as I have had them, if I can get it fixed with these steps then I'll know it was either bad patches or the midi. If the problems continue, at that point I'll know I have something wrong with my actual unit.