upgrading lynx aurora for new PTHD (x or native) cards

[gigpiglet]

if anyone is doing this (which i would imagine is pretty common) please see my post on the lynx forum. solutions pasted below as well.
http://www.lynxstudio.com/forum/forum_p ... 298&#32298

MY POST ON LYNX SITE:

well that was one of the most buggy/ time consuming/ irritating updates ive had to deal with in years.
problem solved with much reading - see link here:
http://www.lynxstudio.com/forum/forum_p ... -work-lthd

this 3 year old issue still seems to be the case.

i would seriously suggest that lynx update their instructions and online "how to" given how out of date it seems (referring to firmware 13 for example when up to 27) and the common issues that a lot of people seem to be having that are not mentioned at all. would save everyone a lot of greif and probably the people at lynx a lot of time!

some issues in a nutshell that we had (as suggestions to update, but also as tips for other people doing this update)

- must update via midi with an Lslot in your device if you wish to update the lslot firmware as well as the unit. for people with LTHD and wanting to upgrade for use with new PT11 this is a MUST and not mentioned anywhere. both the aurora and the LT-HD must be upgraded. there doesnt appear to be any documentation on the lynx site about how to upgrade the lslot card, you will just have to wing it

- updating seems to reset units to 16ch mode (much discussion on there about people "losing" 16ch and only appearing as one IO and all the rest of ot. after update you need to reset to 32ch mode if using that (with the sectret keystroke)

- despite being an issue from the update to PT8 some 3 years ago, the link above STILL seems to give issues in the update for PT11. firmware update turns on some new "options" in the aurora that essentially make it not work! ie: no inputs. read through above link for how to connect with remote software and change back to working state.

thats all i can think of for the moment.

hopefully no major changes in the near future and we get another 3 or more years good service out of our units without having to go through anything similar.

and hopefully by the time we do there will be some good instructions on how to!

[andygriffiths]

Gareth, I did with a midi-usb interface. I only bought it for this reason, I'm happy to post it down to you if you want my too

[gigpiglet]

thanks andy - but im all upgraded now!
just took a while
and thought my experiences where worth posting so that others doing the same could learn/ reference.
the update turning on the aurora mixer software (rather than being in stand alone) and theirfore rendering all inputs invalid, with no warning/ notice/ or comment on the aurora site was just unbelievable!!
especially since it was a "bug" back in 2012 for the HD8 upgrade. 3 years is long enough to (if you arnt going to fix the problem) update your website to warn that it could happen!

[JoshuaWhitehead]

Thanks for posting your experience Gareth. I was doing an upgrade to hd native this weekend and carefully read through your posts and many others to do this properly. Unfortunately when updating the aurora firmware from 24 to the latest 28 l ended up with an EEPROM timeout and a big update fail on 2 aurora 16's. It has left them inoperable. Pretty strange as they're meant to hold onto an alternative firmware incase of errors to avoid this.
I'm waiting for a response from Lynx which looks as if it will take a few days. In the meantime l thought I'd check for any similar experiences from anyone.
Also wondering if anyone knows if these units can be serviced by anyone in Australia?

Quick note:
I've tried hard resets on them
Changed the jumper setting on the LTHD
Updated through midi using a UM-ONE midi to usb
Digilink cable was removed during update.

There was a similar situation on the lynx forum where he was told they needed benchtime. If it comes to this really hoping it can be done in Aust to avoid downtime.

Any suggestions or knowledge appreciated.
Cheers
Josh

[gigpiglet]

bummer man
from memory we had one timeout, but then ran it again and it worked.
sounds like yours is a different situation.

awave/ audio chocolate in melb are the importer/ distro - they may be able to help if the unit needs to be returned somewhere.
but id try some more reading research etc on the web first.

i have a spare unit (for sale actually - but currently not being used as no bites on it) if you need to borrow it to avoid downtime let me know and im sure we can work something out.

[JoshuaWhitehead]

Thanks Gareth. Very kind of you.
I have a few more things to try and hopefully Lynx may have some ideas too.
I'll post back with an update when l get something.

[Suburban Studios]

Hi Joshua,

Sorry to hear about your Aurora issues. I'm running my Aurora-16 using an LT-Madi card in 32 channel mode, but have also had issues updating firmware at different times. I'd suggest using a different MIDI interface, as I've had highly variable results with different brands, especially when it comes to firmware updates. I now use my RME interfaces to perform MIDI updates, rather than my old M-Audio or simple USB-to-Midi interfaces. I also believe that there is a jumper setting or dip-switch on the main PCB board (not on the LT-HD card) that forces the use of the older back-up firmware. May be worth checking that out, but don't hold me to that info, just going from memory.

As Gareth mentions, if all else fails, speak to Louis or one of the tech guys at Awave/Audio Chocolate; they were great when I had issues with my Aurora. Paul from Lynx immediately sent me out some replacement parts, when a 2nd-hand Aurora I'd purchased arrived with some missing/damaged screws in the LT-slot etc...

Good luck with it. If you need a loaner unit desperately, let me know, as I'm also in Melbourne and can hook you up with my Aurora (I also have a spare LT-HD card, which I switched out for the LT-Madi card, lying around here somewhere).

Cheers,
George

[JoshuaWhitehead]

Got them working! Thanks for the support Gareth and George. Most appreciated.

So... if anyone updates the firmware and the LTHD card disappears from the dropdown box in the firmware installer and the aurora can't be seen by pro tools, try removing the lid of the unit and swapping the config jumper on the LTHD card to position 2 and it should make the unit show up again.

The rest was as George mentioned (thanks for your help!!). The midi to USB was the problem. The model to avoid is the Roland UM-ONE. Funny enough the model that worked was an older Roland Edirol UM-1 (Numerical instead of letters).

Hopefully won't have to do this for another 5 years.

Cheers,
Josh

[Suburban Studios]

Glad to hear you're up and running Joshua!

Yeah, it's always the pesky little things that make all the difference. I believe that different brands of midi-interfaces spit out data (especially sys-ex strings for firmware updates etc...) at highly variable speeds and sometimes the firmware update process gets mucked up, either waiting too long for data, or receiving data too quickly before the firmware update has had a chance to run through its particular routines. Anyway, good-news story. 5-years is an eternity in digital interface land...my bet is you'll be opening that sucker up well before then to install the LT-Best-Thing-Since -Sliced-Bread card.

Cheers,
George