Upgrade Beat Buddy firmware using Mac

BeatBuddy General
1

I received a new BB a few days ago. I am wanting to know if it needs a firmware update or if it shipped with the latest firmware. Serial number BB0020332

2

Hi, You can check the version that you have by pressing the Drum Set and Tempo button at the same time,
Scroll down to About BeatBuddy and press the TAP button. The version will show here.
If you do not have the current version 1.8.5 you can download it under General Discussion in Forum 4 th post.

3

Thanks Scotty Mac. Says 1.2.9. I will attempt to update the firmware.

4

I use a 2012.5 mac with the latest OS X. I have watched the update video several times and several times i have attempted transfer the zip files to the SD card folder, but the v.1.8.5 files will not overwrite any files. The computer simply installs them between the existing listed files and there is no option to overwrite the existing folders with the new files. Any ideas why this may be happening?

5

Please make sure your SD card is not locked. There is a slide on the side of your SD card. Unlock it and try again to drag the 5 firmware files to the card–you should not be dragging a folder to the card. You should get a prompt about replacing existing files. Press yes to replace. Eject the card from the Mac. Power the pedal down. Put the card in the pedal and then power it up.

6

Thank You persist. I looked to see if the card may have been locked. It was unlocked. I left it unlocked. I made another attempt to transfer the v.1.8.5 files. The same result occurred at the computers discretion. The update files drop in between the existing files shown on the SD card with no option to overwrite. There is probably a simple solution to this dilemma.
[ATTACH=full]3581[/ATTACH]

7

Try it in your pedal. If this doesn’t work, would you like to try a remote session?

8

Ok. I will post my result and we can go from there.

9

u say there—
transfer the ZIP FILES

Did you UN-ZIP them first ?

10

If i click on the downloaded v. 1.8.5 folder of the update files the Mac doesn’t ask to unzip them and the window on the left of the picture in post #6 appears. I highlighted the files to transfer them to the sd card. The files do appear to be unzipped. When i two finger click on the v.1.8.5 folder these are the options i am given.
[ATTACH=full]3582[/ATTACH]

11

I use MacBook Pro running OS X El Capitan. I have less than 1 week experience, all of it frustrating, getting BB MANAGER and FIRMWARE update installed and running in Mac. Another layer of problems getting info transferred from Mac to Pedal. But, I am making progress despite the clunky software install designs.

I put SD card into MacBook reader slot. Locate SD card in Finder. Leave that window open and then
I got the firmware file onto Desktop. Then open it. Then highlight all the file icons inside the Firmware File. Drag those highlighted files to the SD card icon.

That is how I did it.

12

Have you tried what I suggested? If not, please do so now and your firmware will update the pedal. How do I know this? Because the right screen shot in your post #6 shows that the files with the .bin extensions have not been processed by your pedal. If they were, your SD card would look similar to mine. Notice that there are no files with a .bin extension? That’s because the firmware updated the pedal.
[ATTACH=full]3586[/ATTACH]

13

Thanks Mowgli. I used your exact process and while I was able to install the update files they did not overwrite any existing files on the SD card. I did not install the card back in the pedal to see if it worked because the files did not overwrite and due to previous bad experiences with computers I did not want to chance damaging anything.

14

I am out running some errands and upon returning home will follow your process of plugging the pedal with SD card installed directly into the Mac via usb. When I plug the pedal into the Mac should I have the pedal plugged into a power source?

15

Livio, when you update the firmware, the pedal should not be connected to your Mac via USB cable.

  • if the pedal is still connected via USB cable, eject the SD card from the Mac and this will disconnect the Mac from the SD card
  • disconnect the USB cable from the pedal
  • turn the power off to your pedal
  • if not already done, insert the SD card into your pedal
  • power up the pedal and leave it on; the pedal should display ‘Updating Firmware’; it should take about 30 seconds
  • once the update has completed, you should see your folders and songs
  • then you can check the pedal settings About BeatBuddy to see if the firmware updated to 1.8.5

If none of this works, contact me via Conversation on the forum and I will get you up and running.

16

Success!!! Somehow during this process the files were overwritten. Overwriting must have occurred during the highlight and transfer of files from the “update folder” to the “SD card folder”. After reinserting the SD card back into the BB pedal i powered it up and was about to plug the BB pedal via usb into the mac when i noticed that it had begun to update the firmware. After it finished i looked in the “About Beat Buddy” folder and it showed the BB pedal is running V.1.8.5. I suppose all is right and current now with the BB. Thanks for the replies!

Surely this cannot be the first thread about BB firmware updates using a mac? Is there any way to edit the thread title to “Upgrade Beat Buddy firmware using mac”?

17

What you are saying here is that the overwriting will not occur on my computer screen. After the files are moved to the BB SD card the card is then inserted into the BB pedal and upon powering up the pedal the update process then occurs while the card is in the pedal. Which is what appears to have happened.

18

Generally correct. You are only copying firmware files to the SD card. When you place the card in the pedal, that’s when the pedal updates the embedded firmware.