Newbie Start up symptoms and first impressions

So while this guy is going through its first update… Thought I would share some first thoughts and symptoms if people are searching on the internet for similar issues.

Connect all cables and midi and power. I have no SD card since everything online has seemed to have said that’s optional. On switch is already down so I just run with that. First power on indicates a blue LED. Boot lasts about 10-15 seconds. But goes right to the main menu no problems. After watching all the videos on how you should get Wi-Fi enabled and update firmware asap. I got Wi-Fi enabled no sweat. I look for updates and the screen says it’s up to date.
Push thrall my preferred settings and now I’m
Thinking cool let’s loop some thing!
Press loop studio button in main screen. Boot screen. 3 minutes. Nothing’s happening.
I power down at the switch. Count ten seconds. Turn it back on. Check if Wi-Fi is enabled. It is. Disconnect my midi cable in case there’s a sysex issue.
Then I press the loop studio button in the menu. Same result, frozen.
Ok I go though turn it off and on again check with wi fi and updates. Seems up to date. Look at the diagnostics button maybe that’s it? Nothing out of the ordinary.
Ok maybe I need to read through all the menus and quick start. Ok got that there’s no eula etc.
Press the loo studio button again. The screen loads and says NO SD CARD CONNECTED. I’m thinking yeah let’s keep using internal. That screen clears and I get to 2 track mode. But I wanted six track so I go back to settings to see if I can enable it. Not there, neither is the quantize settings I was looking for.
Then go back to the loop studio. Frozen again.
Power off and on again. Wi-Fi enabled this time greeted with new firmware update found. Ok so yeah this has to be it.
Update the firmware. Go to the boards to kill time since this update is real slow.
Stops a little at 5.75%
Error message just now half hour in at 25.5% saying firmware update is invalid. Cancel the update.
Now downloading new update firmware seems to be loading faster.

I have no complaints so far. I just hope the loading issue doesn’t happen while I’m at a gig. Cause this was supposed to be an upgrade to my peavey grabber that’s been glitching lately. (Maybe power sag :?)
I have other loopers, RC 505, the Looperlative LP2, but the quantize function in this and the form factor and build quality was the selling point. Props to the shipping dept for getting this out Friday and getting It to me this afternoon free of charge from Amazon on Christmas Eve.
Ok ugh…
Now this guy says invalid firmware at 15.54% 40minutes after. cancel update for retry. Now it says all up to date. OS and SW versions 4.0.0 same as at the start of the update. No new firmware offered.
Ok let’s loop something!
Pressing “loop studio” with a nervous finger…
SD card has been removed. Yeah I don’t have one. Let’s go with internal.
“Ok”
2track mode.
Play drum machine. Midi not working. It’s plugged in.
Press a button to record something. Machine locks up. And emits a high pitched whine. Flashes over to boot screen. The high pitched whine doesn’t stop no matter what button I press. Ok power down… noise stops.
Power on. Boot screen
Wi-Fi disconnected. Wi fi reconnects on its own asks to update firmware again. Sure. Why not?
Downloading…
So yeah got this looper. Cause it’s crucial for my live rig and I can bounce layers to it while playing my sampler and drum machine. I make techno and play live. Hope to turn some people onto this device.
Still downloading. It’s Christmas Eve. It’s 9 pm. 1 hour into this first boot And there’s alcohol to be drunk. Cheers looper pedal. Hope we can jam soon.

Btw if this update fails I will try putting it closer to the router. There’s one video suggesting that was a thing to do. Anyway must continue my conversation with Jim Beam.

Ok 46.7% updated before it said it was invalid. Check wi fi. Reported disconnected.
Will try again next to the router in the AM.

Wi fi keeps disconnecting. Maybe the antenna is affected somehow.

Some thoughts. The machine and OS seems rather home brew. Which is cool. Though some more beta testing would be advisable.
But I’m going through updates and a Crankier user base with the native instruments maschine+ forum so it’s not far off. standalone software and hardware combinations are a tough frontier to crack. :christmas_tree:

You might want to download the update, then put it on an sd card and update from the card. Ive always been able to update with the Aeros right next to the router, but it sometimes takes several tries.

Cool. Plugged it in and let it sit next to my Wi-Fi repeater. Update flashed over super fast. I was kinda shocked since the other updates took so long. Now it’s stuck on the boot screen. Eh…

Some questions for the dev team on this. 4.0.0 was supposed to be one of the latest iterations, even if no update was required some functionality should be available without SD card or an update. If the pedal was damaged in shipping then the stomp box form is not ideal, since people assume all pedals are like boss pedals and you can chuck em in a drawer or throw them on the floor and they will work.
If an SD card is required maybe someone should have brought it up. Somewhere. Even if it was, is it necessary to format the SD card for the device?
If an update is absolutely fundamental to getting this pedal operational. Maybe all updates should be flashed over Bluetooth to the pedals in stock prior to shipping.

The pedal costs a lot to go through this much grief.

In any case the update is installed. After 7-10 minutes of stuck on boot screen I’m going to restart.

Ok so I pop on the device after restarting. Check for updates. “4.0.0” asks me to install firmware.

Sure. Let’s go.
Fast update download.
New thing… “validating checksum”
“Download completed, please reboot.”
Ok!
Press reboot.
Boot screen shows up after 10 seconds.
“Update starting”
Update progress:
“This process will take about 10 mins”
At 99% update progress in 3 mins. Stalled at 99%
C’mon………
Ok after 5 mins boot screen comes on again.
Some changes. The American flag on settings looks like the update in the videos.
Going through menu buttons.
Update is enabled 4.3.1 nice.
Settings… fade buttons enabled. No quantize settings in settings. Maybe I missed this and it’s in loop studio screen.
Press loop studio screen…
Loop studio screen comes up with title time signature and bpm. Home buttons. Etc etc. very promising.
Will catch breakfast and hook it up to audio sources. Record button goes through to the looper screen. All buttons work. Seems normal. Editing midi sync doesn’t seem intuitive right off the bat. We’ll get to that.

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Ok seems to be stable and working well after the update. Sweet.
Some feature requests
-Input gain adjustment (am I not seeing this?)

-Record quantize to beat and length to beat. So that you end up recording polyrhythms you can tap in and out of.
Example… the peavey grabber/ formerly red sound cycloops had set beat lengths you could tap on like 2 beat or 1 beat loops anywhere to start and end In 2 beats later. Really cool.
rc505 has this but it cannot seem to end on beat very easily.

-Assigning set beat lengths to tracks… this is available in the looperlative firmware.

-Quantize to 8th note, 16, or 32.

-Hold down twice to delete. Undo is fine, but stopping the workflow to delete all is distracting.

-Turn off automatic recording once MMC messages are sent. Nice that it’s there but not necessary all the time.

-Better wi fi antenna or instructions to place the pedal close to the source of a wi fi signal.

Positive observations:

  • the pedal doesn’t have much of a delay so that even if you’re recording via midi sync there’s no phasing issues. And what little phasing there is harmonic and pleasant.
    -The timing on the pedal is rock solid. Love it.
    It sounds really good. 1:1 sound quality.
    -When overdubbing there’s no feedback. Nothing gets out of control like a looping delay pedal or the looper in the mpc live.
    -Super easy to use. I will find ways to use it as it stands in my set, but will miss the ability to record only half notes, quarter notes, vs whole notes and create polyrhythm chains. Possibly can find a workaround for this. Edit: the 1/4 time signature selection is helpful for recording quarternotes. Greatly helpful.
    -Love the fade options. That’s going to be useful! Looks easy to set up compared to the looperlative.