Firmware 2.2 and Electra App update

This is a bigger update of both, the Electra One firmware and the web application.

Note!

The firmware must be updated to keep compatibility with the web application and to be able to use the new features of the web app.

The firmware can be now updated directly from the web application, see instructions below. It is available on the Downloads page too.

The changelog:

  1. Presets can be now filtered on brands, device types, and usage groups. Big thank you to @NewIgnis for his work on the list of filters (Website Feedback) and to @nuipb for his input. I keep the tags in place as they were. They help me with categorizing the presets. I will adjust this later on.

  1. The new Controller menu item allows users to update the firmware, manage the configuration, view the log messages, and manage the presets slots in the controller.

  1. Electra SysEx implementation has been extended to allow @jhh to work on his Ableton integration. A number of new messages have been added as well as it is now possible to process Electra SysEx messages on all USB ports.

  2. Snapshots can be now managed in the web app and they are linked to the preset (not to the preset slot as it used to be till now). It means that when you move the preset around the banks and slots, it will not lose its saved snapshots. There is still a lot that can be improved but this should be sufficient for users to start working with it more seriously.

  1. Saving reworked and simple version control added. The new version saves work on presets automatically whenever the preset is sent to the controller or when the user leaves the editor. There is also a new option to save it manually and annotate the saved version. Saved versions can be exported and imported to presets and therefore it is possible to maintain a separated (work-in-progress) and public version of the preset.

  1. Presets and snapshots can be loaded and sent out using the MIDI Bank select and Program change messages.

Documentation will be updated early next weekā€¦ before I leave to the Superbooth :slight_smile:

There were a few minor fixes too. Not worth mentioning. I would like to apologize to @Perial, the routing of the External MIDI control did not make it to this release. I keep it on the list for the next one.

Firmware update in the browser

An important part of the release is the possibility to update the firmware directly from the web application. I would love this would become the standard way of updating because it makes it lot easier to make sure your Electras are running the latest available version. The update process is based on fairly new WebHID support in Chrome-based browsers. I can imagine that there might be some quirks and issues. If you encounter anything please share it with me.

These are the steps to update the firmware from the browser:

  1. An outdated firmware should be detected automatically. The web app will show a button to update the firmware:

  1. User will land on the Update firmware page and it is required to hit the Update firmware button there. (required by Chrome):

  1. Chrome will ask the user to confirm connecting the USB device (Electra One bootloader in this case). Unfortunately, the bootloader is identified as the Unknown device (16c0:0478). Selected that device and click Connect.

  1. The firmware will be uploaded.

If your Electra One got to some weird frozen state, hit the Update button on the back panel and repeat the process. Pressing the Update button on the back panel forces Electra to go to the update mode. In such case, the Update firmware page will read:

Last remarks

This release comes with many changes. We were testing it a lot. There were a few issues we saw but we could not replicate them. If you encounter anything strange, please report it. The issues were mostly concerning the Preset slots page in the Controller section.

If you had issues with the new versionm just downgrade to
firmware-2.1.7.img.zip (274.3 KB). It will work with the new web app, besides the new features, of course.

If you had problems with updating from the web app, you can still use the Electra One Console and upload the file from the Downloads page.

14 Likes

I assume that this wonā€™t work through the Mio10, but instead needs a direct USB connection?
Still, fantastic news. Thanks and see you in Berlin!

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It will not, the update is not a MIDI. Direct connection is needed for that.

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I wasnā€™t sure if the new fw needed to be on the Electra to allow fw updates via browser in the future, or if it already worked NOW. So I tried and the website told me a fw update was available and the update went fine (Vivaldi, WIN10). A lot more convenient than via the app :+1::blush:

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No problems updating from 2.17 to 2.22 on Mac Mini (Mojave, Chrome)
The initial save test seemed to be fine as well. Nice to be able to work and save off a bunch of changes.

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great work !

chrome/web browser upgrade (Mac mini m1/macOS 12.3.1)
HW 2.3 - upgrade worked flawlessly (nice) !

HW 2.0 - failed, had to do manually with E1 console.
details:

  • chrome app, detected upgrade - and switch to update mode fine.
  • tried to do the normal upgrade path, started the update - but froze at 84%
  • power cycled E1, pressed rear update button.
  • again chrome could see it - tried forced update in browser - same thing, froze at 84%

update via E1 console - success

  • downloaded 2.2 fw image file
  • power cycled E1, pressed rear update button.
  • ran E1 console, to updated using firmware file (above)

success :slight_smile:
now chrome app successfully shows 2.2 loaded and is happy.

I donā€™t know if this is a limitation of the 2.0 hardware, but I think shows that having the E1 Console app is important going forwards , even as a ā€˜backupā€™ for older E1 units - though, it could be stripped back to just do firmware updates!?

that said, Iā€™m not a huge fan of ā€˜over dependanceā€™ on web apps.
I much prefer open sourced standalone / native apps - for sure, OS updates also kill these, but if we have the source code - then there is always an option for the community to fix it.

thats no disrespect to this update ā€¦ as the web app approach was already there.
and there is no doubt, both the new web app and the firmware are great improvements.
cheers to all involved !

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The main idea behind this ā€œmoveā€ is to reduce the amount of extra work that I have to do on my side. Now, when updates are possible from the web app, I will start taking steps on making a standalone (most likely electron based) version of the web application. Therefore maintaining just one source code. The last missing bit is the storage. Online web app is using firebase while the standalone should also provide a way to use local data storage.

will take a look at that. Thanks for reporting!

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cool ā€¦

looking forward to catching up with you at Superbooth!
Iā€™m helping out Percussa a bit, so in the tent next door :slight_smile:

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Iā€™ll be there as well, as of Friday! Looking forward as well

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No problems (as last!) updating from 1.5 to 2.22 on MacBook Pro (Catalina, Chrome)
Big up, Martin! What a great work!
updated directly from the web application
" The new Controller menu item allows users to update the firmware, manage the configuration, view the log messages, and manage the presets slots in the controller." (Great!)

I will enjoy all this new functions

Congrats to all involved!

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Isnā€™t my Electra even older? Currently not at home, so canā€™t check

@markus.schloesser, yes, it is :slight_smile: The hardware revision should not have any impact on this. I will check with @thetechnobear what is happening there.

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ok, so for testing purposesā€¦ I tried twice more to do a forced update on this v2.0 hw

this time, both times the web update went to 100% ok, and then rebooted,
and indeed the E1 rebooted went to 100% on the boot up bar - but then didnā€™t do anything.
however, power cycling the E1 and it then booted fine.

same thing both timesā€¦ so this is ok.

not sure what was different, iirc, both E1 were on 2.1.7ā€¦ I think :wink:

apart from that, same Mac, same usb cable, same everything.


I should stress though, really none of this was a big dealā€¦ I knew it work one way or another.
which is why I was completely confident to re-test the firmware upgrade repeatedly.
Iā€™ve flashed the E1 so many times ā€¦ Im confident its a safe procedure, even if some quirks occasionally.

which remind me @Martin, this is the same E1 as had issues on a previous upgrade, so perhaps its a bit of a quirk on this particular one? ( as I donā€™t think last time, others reported similar issues?!)

A first somewhat fully functional version of the Ableton Remote script, using Martinā€™s update of the firmware, has just been uploaded:

Please play with it, find bugs (there sure should still be plenty), and most of all: tell me which features are missing, could be improved, etc.

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Yes, I think it is the reason. I do remember that your first unit had issues like that. Letā€™s have a chat at the SB. We can try, later and just out of curiosity, to decrease the speed of uploading the data. It could help.

This is absolutely amazing. I did not have time to test it out yet - it was rather busy here today - but I will as soon as I can. Thanks @jhh !

Looking forward to hear about your experiences. The version I just uploaded uses real threading and should be more robust.

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Makes me want to use Ableton now! :wink:
Hardcore Reason user here thoughā€¦

D.

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This is super exciting.
Do you think it would be possible to get Macro names when controlling a Rack ?
More generally, is there a way to dynamically change control names on the Electra one ?