E1 freezes at startup

I got my E1 a few days ago, but unfortunately I tried to install my first preset from linux and now it freezes on start up, and I can no longer use it :

  • when I switch on the E1, it boots normally and then freeze at the end of the boot process (see figure) E1_freeze_at_startup|666x500
  • The web app editor cannot connect to it anymore : the app see the input/output ports of the E1, but still cannot connect to it (see second figure for a screenshot)
  • I tried to do a soft and hard reset, but it did not help.
  • From the console app, I succeeded in changing the firmware (I went from 1.5 to 0.9 to 1.5 again), but the issue is not fixed.

How did this happen ?
I tried several time to import a preset using google chrome on linux. The first times I tried nothing happened (i.e it did not work). Then I got a message saying something “importing preset failed”. The last time I tried it seemed that the preset was being imported into the E1, but after a few seconds the controller became “frozen”. Since then, it freezes on startup.

I have no idea if this is a hardware or software problem, and how I can fix it ?

Thanks for your help :slight_smile:
Laurent

Hi Laurent,

Work on linux sysex transfers is being done in the beta version (New ElectraOne console / Testing needed - #17 by RobinC).

The problem is that the ALSA driver does not handle sysex messsages larger than 4kb. I am not saying that it is a general problem of the ALSA driver. It can be something specific to Electra USB interface. If you attempt to transfer such a preset (I mean larger one) it will produce the inconsistent data in the controller and will result in an unexpected behaviour.

To get your Electra working again, please do following: disconnect Electra from the USB. Press and hold the left-middle button. While holding the button pressed, connect Electra to the USB. Keep the button pressed till the start up progress bar is on 100%. This procedure will remove the broken preset file.

When you restart Electra now it should boot up. Of course there will be no preset as it was removed.

At this moment you will be able to load the presets on MacOS X or Windows. On Linux, you should be able to load a preset that is under 4kb. That equals to, say, a preset with one or two controls.

For using Linux, definitely upgrade to the beta release of the firmware. I and @thetechnobear are trying to get sysex working on Linux. And this work is being is being done in beta. There are a few things we achived so far:

Increasing the output_buffer_size parameter of snd_seq_midi kernel module, you will be able to upload larger presets.

I do believe that @thetechnobear found that this problem can be worked around when communicating with raw midi instead of the ALSA driver.

We are also discussing an option to break large preset trasfer sysexes to number of smaller messages.

I am using Ubuntu. When I adjust the output_buffer_size Electra works perfectly. I do not consider this solution as optimal, so more work needs to be done. If you have deeper experience with MIDI on Linux I am happy to share details of my findings.

If you had troubles with removing the preset or if you wanted to discuss it, please reach me on the website chat.

1 Like

Thanks a lot for your quick answer. I followed your procedure, and now the E1 is fully working again, im relieved :wink: I borrowed my GF windows 10 laptop to import my preset and it seems alright.

On a side note, I noted that on my Lubuntu 18.10, the E1 is well recognized by renoise, but renoise does not receive any midi message when I turn a knob. So I installed the last version of Ubuntu studio on a USB stick, and from it everything works perfectly (maybe because jack is used instead of Alsa ? I have to check that).

So it is finally time for me to test my new E1 :-))

@Zite909 good to hear. Have you updated to the beta? Anyways, getting linux working is one of my priorities. If you need anything, you know where to find me :slight_smile:

I have to confess that I failed at testing the beta :confused: I tried to install the 1.5.7 firmware from windows with the last version of the console but I got an error message. From linux I could not install the console app because im missing some dependencies and did not have enough disk space to install them. I will try to fix that this week :slight_smile:

What type of error did you get on windows?

I did not report the issue, because I think the problem comes from me. There is obviously something I did not understand.
So i downloaded the 1.5.7 firmware using the link provided in the other discussion. But it is a 272k .img file, whereas the 1.5 firmware is a 600k .frm file which does not make sense to me. When I follow the procedure to update the E1, I get an error message from the console app saying the firmware file is not correct. I need to borrow a windows computer to try again and tell you what is exactly happenning.

o ok, I see. Please read the info in the New ElectraOne console / Testing needed.

The firmware up to and including 1.5 is using the .frm format (larger in size). The beta branch of the firmware is preparing a switch onto different way of loading the firmware. Hence, the .img file. The .img file is a true binary image for the target processor in Electra and it is smaller than original files.

The main thing is that the .frm files can be uploaded with the official ElectraOne console. If you want to load the .img file you need to use the beta of the ElectraOne console:

In other words, beta firmware (1.5.7) must be flashed with the beta version of the ElectraOne console.

the steps to update to the beta:

  1. Install the beta ElectraOne console
  2. Download 1.5.7 firmware, ie. the .img file
  3. Connect Electra controller to USB port
  4. Start the beta ElectraOne console
  5. Click the update button on the back panel
  6. Use the beta ElectraOne console to load the .img firmware to the controller

I hope it helps. If not, let me know.