Be careful updating HD24 software

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jmorris

jmorris

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I was speaking to an Alesis tech guy about updating my software on my HD24. I have the older 1.02 version. Good thing I aked. If you update to newest version to 1.21 (I think it is), you can't use old hard drives. All data is gone. Short story,if you want to keep those old projects on your hard drives recorded with you HD 24 with older software..DO NOT UPGRADE!
 
What about copying your projects over to a computer, upgrading the firmware, formatting the drives, and transferring everything back to the disks? Kind of a hassle, but would there be a problem there?
 
HOLY COW, we were just about to go ahead and upgrade (if necessary). Thanks for the impeccably timed warning!!!

What's the procedure for checking the current software version on the HD24?
 
Also, my reason for the upgrade is to improve its performance with the BRC, which apparently it's supposed to do. Anyone had experience with this?

While things do work OK with the BRC in general, the punch feature (with BRC) is frustratingly temperamental.
 
jmorris said:
I was speaking to an Alesis tech guy about updating my software on my HD24. I have the older 1.02 version. Good thing I aked. If you update to newest version to 1.21 (I think it is), you can't use old hard drives. All data is gone. Short story,if you want to keep those old projects on your hard drives recorded with you HD 24 with older software..DO NOT UPGRADE!
Click to expand...

I think you've been misinformed, or have misunderstood what you heard. Newer firmware can read the old drives, but it will update them to the current format. Once that's done, they can no longer be read on the old firmware. At least that's my understanding. I suggest that you check again with your source at Alesis.
 
Why would new firmware erase old data? That would be a ridiculous move on Alesis' part. I have the same understanding that Gilliland has.
 
Other than the BRC, What does the new firmeware fix or add?
 
Fishmed_Returns said:
Other than the BRC, What does the new firmeware fix or add?
Click to expand...
Alesis has fixed and added a number of things via firmware updates over these last five years. So the answer to your question really depends on what version of firmware is on your machine at present. They made some very significant changes (including the disk format change under discussion here) when they went from version 1.0x to version 1.1x. You can get all the details here:

http://alesis.com/downloads/software/HD24/HD24 Release Notes1204.pdf

Note, by the way, this statement from Alesis (which should clarify the issue that started this thread):

"A drive file system upgrade feature is automatically entered when a drive with an old file system is mounted. Upgrading the drive will enable the drive to all the new features, however the drive will no longer be recognized on HD24s with previous firmware versions."
 
Gilliland said:
Note, by the way, this statement from Alesis (which should clarify the issue that started this thread):

"A drive file system upgrade feature is automatically entered when a drive with an old file system is mounted. Upgrading the drive will enable the drive to all the new features, however the drive will no longer be recognized on HD24s with previous firmware versions."
Click to expand...

Thanks for following up. I was working on this myself, and decided to just email Alesis about it (no response yet). I don't own one, but use one on occassion in a studio. The statement above makes sense to me, and I think it was needed in this thread. :)
 
Sounds like the same type of "stuff" that happen with the XT to the XT/LX-20 upgrades. You could play the old stuff (16 bit) in the "new" machines, but couldn't play the new stuff (20 bit) back in the "old" machines....! I think it's a "good thing" to have an Adat "laying around" just for transfers back and forth to the HD24!..... ;)
 
rray@alesis.com is the guys email address. He was very clear with his info. on the update issues. We even discussed the foolishness of the inability of the HD24 to read old firmware drives once the upgrade has been done. I even said to him,there should be something noted on the Alesis upgrade page to warm people that no longer can they use there old hard drives, that is the data that WAS on it. They have to be reformatted and all old data will be lost. I did see a number of thing in the long list of bug repairs that he did mention. One that I did not see is now ( with the new 1.2)the ability to mix digital and analog recording inputs at the same time with the new firmware.
Jim
 
robin watson said:
HOLY COW, we were just about to go ahead and upgrade (if necessary). Thanks for the impeccably timed warning!!!

What's the procedure for checking the current software version on the HD24?
Click to expand...
press utility until you see "utill2: sys Info Master 00 slaves, then press 'YES" ARROW, you will then see OS 1.02( IN MY CASE)
 
jmorris said:
rray@alesis.com is the guys email address. ..... I did see a number of thing in the long list of bug repairs that he did mention. One that I did not see is now ( with the new 1.2)the ability to mix digital and analog recording inputs at the same time with the new firmware.
Click to expand...
Yes, I know Robert Ray fairly well. In fact, they named that update (the one that allowed you to mix analog and digital inputs) after me - it was called "code name: Jim Gilliland" because I was the one who pushed them for that capability. I was amused to say the least.

In any event, I've used a number of old-format drives with the newer firmware. It works fine. If you put an old-format drive into an HD24 with the newer firmware, it will offer to update the drive for you - you can tell it yes or no.

If you tell the HD24 to go ahead and do the update, then the drive will be migrated to the new format and it will no longer be fully readable on units with the older firmware. (Actually, it will remain readable, but only the last project on the disk will be visible - the others will appear not to be there.)

I strongly suggest that you go back to Robert and clarify your discussion with him.

I just took a look back through the posts in the Yahoo HD24 discussion group. Here's an exchange that I found from October of 2003:

Lynn Graber asked: "i just upgraded my OS to 1.17. i insert my harddrives from the previous 1.0 and it asks me if i want to upgrade my harddrives to 1.17. this is not going to reformatt my drive and erase all my existing songs, is it?"

Dave Kirkey replied: "It does not erase your projects or songs or tracks, it just lets you take advantage of some of the features that were not available on the system.. I did it and it worked great.."
 
And I just looked a bit further back into the HD24 discussion group, and found this post from myself that I wrote three years ago this month. I don't even remember it, but there it was in the archive:

January 8, 2003:

At 06:31 AM 1/8/2003 -0800, you wrote:
>Jim, are there any draw backs to updating from a version 1.6 to the new
>version? I have 3 projects using the older version OS and I sure would not
>want to start over. It sure sounds like the new version has some cool
>capabilities from the outline.


I can't see anything that I'd call a drawback. If you update your
software, the system will convert your discs to the new structure
automatically, and it did both of mine without any trouble whatsoever. The
change is fairly trivial anyway - it's just a slightly different directory
structure. Basically nothing different than doing a directory "drag and
drop" under Windows.

With the new structure, you can organize your "songs" by project, so it
just adds one layer to the organization.

As a matter of principal, I'd always make sure that I had a backup before I
started, but in my experience there's been no reason for concern. The
update has gone smoothly.

And, btw, if you ever need to use the new disk format in an HD24 that has
the older software, it'll still work. The older machine will only be able
to access one project, though. If I remember correctly, it will access
only the most recently used project - whichever project was currently
selected on the disk.
 
So how does the "mixing analog and digital signals" at the same time work, after you upgrade the software of course? Just plug into the Lightpipe input and the analog 1/4" input at the same time? Doesn't this ask for an input choice or do the new software make the inputs active at the same time?If so, this is cool! Thanks... :cool:
 
snatchman said:
So how does the "mixing analog and digital signals" at the same time work, after you upgrade the software of course? Just plug into the Lightpipe input and the analog 1/4" input at the same time? Doesn't this ask for an input choice or do the new software make the inputs active at the same time?If so, this is cool! Thanks... :cool:
Click to expand...
Under the old firmware, you only had two choices - all channels digital, or all channels analog. So if you wanted to source some channels from a digital mixer and others from an outboard analog mic pre, under the original firmware you couldn't do it.

The new system is a lot more flexible. You get to choose how each pair of channels is sourced. Channels 1 & 2 can be set to either analog or digital input, same again for channels 3 & 4, and for each pair up through 23 & 24. The control for this option is on the Utility menu - that's where you set how each pair of channels is routed.

The "Input" button on the front panel still lets you choose between all analog and all digital, but now it has a third "mixed" state as well. When a mixed set of inputs is in use, the front panel will light both the "Analog" and the "Digital" indicators at the same time. So the button will toggle through three states: "Digital", "Analog", and "Analog/Digital". When the third state is engaged, the settings in the Utility menu take effect.
 
jmorris said:
rray@alesis.com is the guys email address. He was very clear with his info. on the update issues. We even discussed the foolishness of the inability of the HD24 to read old firmware drives once the upgrade has been done. I even said to him,there should be something noted on the Alesis upgrade page to warm people that no longer can they use there old hard drives, that is the data that WAS on it. They have to be reformatted and all old data will be lost. I did see a number of thing in the long list of bug repairs that he did mention. One that I did not see is now ( with the new 1.2)the ability to mix digital and analog recording inputs at the same time with the new firmware.
Jim
Click to expand...

You seem to be under the impression that the drive is wiped clean, which would include all the previously recorded data/songs. Am I right on this? I don't believe this to be true. I'm with Gilliland, but I'm guessing Alesis will get back with me eventually on the email I sent their way.
 
Gilliland said:
Under the old firmware, you only had two choices - all channels digital, or all channels analog. So if you wanted to source some channels from a digital mixer and others from an outboard analog mic pre, under the original firmware you couldn't do it.

The new system is a lot more flexible. You get to choose how each pair of channels is sourced. Channels 1 & 2 can be set to either analog or digital input, same again for channels 3 & 4, and for each pair up through 23 & 24. The control for this option is on the Utility menu - that's where you set how each pair of channels is routed.

The "Input" button on the front panel still lets you choose between all analog and all digital, but now it has a third "mixed" state as well. When a mixed set of inputs is in use, the front panel will light both the "Analog" and the "Digital" indicators at the same time. So the button will toggle through three states: "Digital", "Analog", and "Analog/Digital". When the third state is engaged, the settings in the Utility menu take effect.
Click to expand...
Thanks Gilliland..! That's cool... :cool:
 
Hey Jim,

Here’s the deal…

When you update from a pre-1.10 version, the HD24 will need to re-format the drives to the new filing system. The best thing to do is to back up your drives to a computer, update, format, and then move the files back.



Hope this helps!!

R.Ray

Here is eamil from Robert Ray about the update issue. Older versions will not read on newer versions as stated unless as backup is preformed then relaoded. Data will be unreadable.
 
jmorris said:
Hey Jim,

Here’s the deal…

When you update from a pre-1.10 version, the HD24 will need to re-format the drives to the new filing system. The best thing to do is to back up your drives to a computer, update, format, and then move the files back.


Hope this helps!!

R.Ray

Here is eamil from Robert Ray about the update issue.
Click to expand...
Excellent, that helps a lot. Robert recommends a backup, just as I did (always a good practice). But he does not state that the upgrade will wipe out your data - because it won't. Thanks for the clarification.
 
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