After firmware update to 1.1.0 minifreak does not to boot correctly anymore

[credo]

The exact same thing happened to me right now. Tried to update firmware, but the update failed. Not it doesn't start. After the logo it goes black. Tried the shift + < oct with no effect.
Im on latest MacOS.

[Pieter-Jan Kuyten]

I'm starting to get the feeling that there either is a bad batch of Minifreaks out there or the updater is not working correctly. Credo is the third person with a bricked Minifreak in this forum thread.

To answer DrJustice: The second Minifreak was already in a completely bricked state by the time I got the standalone updater, so I couldn't try it out. The first Minifreak was completely bricked as well and was exchanged for the second one, so that one also wasn't able to be used with the standalone updater.

The major issue here is not that the update fails, but that it also takes the boot-loader itself with it after a number of update attempts. Since Credo reports that he was using a Mac for the update, the idea of a series of bad Minifreaks seems to become more likely.

I'm not ruling out computer system issues at this point, but seeing as this issue is more widespread than just me, it starts to feel like hardware issues are the more likely cause.

Maybe the factory received a batch of bad flash memory modules? Or there is a solder connection issue that only became problematic after a few heat/cold cycles? I know that memory modules can become quite warm during the flashing process, so a weak solder joint could become an issue after a few update attempts when the chip got really warm.

Currently I'm waiting to hear back from both my supplier (who is contact with the importer) and from Leo at Arturia Support to see what can be done for a speedy resolution of this issue. I expect that my first Minifreak should have made it back to Arturia for now for a postmortem check. Maybe that will make the issue more clear and a strategy for resolving the issues will become clear.

I just hope it won't take too much time!

[DrJustice]

OK Pieter-Jan - let's just hope this mystery gets solved ASAP 👍

[Pieter-Jan Kuyten]

OK Pieter-Jan - let's just hope this mystery gets solved ASAP 👍

You and me both!

[credo]

I solved this.
Booted up using shift + < oct, then opened the standalone Minifreak V software. It detected the synth and suggested Firmware update. I used the downloaded file. The machine booted successfully when finnished.

The exact same thing happened to me right now. Tried to update firmware, but the update failed. Not it doesn't start. After the logo it goes black. Tried the shift + < oct with no effect.
Im on latest MacOS.

[Pieter-Jan Kuyten]

I solved this.
Booted up using shift + < oct, then opened the standalone Minifreak V software. It detected the synth and suggested Firmware update. I used the downloaded file. The machine booted successfully when finnished.

You were lucky then, I guess we'll have to remove you from the bricked list then.
Did the Minifreak reboot by itself? When the Minifreak V software said it would reboot the Minifreak? No need for a power-cycle when the app said it was done?

[dj_doughy]

To add to my information so its all in one place.
Windows 11, i7 11700k processor, update was attempted on usb3, then usb2, then it bricked itself. No lights, no screen, no response to bootloader command. Just the pop it makes on the speakers when it gets power, and then nothing.
Ticket is open with Arturia support, sitting in the “after sales support” queue. Have attempted to reach out to get an update after a week, no response. Been 5ish days since i sent that email.

[credo]

I solved this.
Booted up using shift + < oct, then opened the standalone Minifreak V software. It detected the synth and suggested Firmware update. I used the downloaded file. The machine booted successfully when finnished.

You were lucky then, I guess we'll have to remove you from the bricked list then.
Did the Minifreak reboot by itself? When the Minifreak V software said it would reboot the Minifreak? No need for a power-cycle when the app said it was done?

The update took perhaps 2-3 minutes. Then the software diologue said Wait for reboot. I waited for about 60 sec and  the Minifreak rebooted without my help.
I would add that the trick was probably to reboot the machine by hand initially using the shift + < oct combo AND then start the standalone application and wait for the update diologue (or click the FW update button, not sure...)

[Matthieu_Arturia]

"then I restarted Minifreak hardware manualy"

NEVER EVER RESTART THE MINIFREAK WHILE ITS UPDATING
It's better to quit minifreak V and relaunch, and retry.
At worse reboot the computer, but never shut down the unit.

[jojkobojko]

I know that very well! (if you reacted to my message). I restarted Minifreak AFTER update was 100% (not while its updating). Minifreak V application finished update process but nothing happened (just LED blinked and display was blank). And I was waiting next 10 minutes AFTER update was finished (just in case) and then restarted MF. Or what can I (We) do, when update is finished, but MF refuses to restart?

[Pieter-Jan Kuyten]

"then I restarted Minifreak hardware manualy"

NEVER EVER RESTART THE MINIFREAK WHILE ITS UPDATING
It's better to quit minifreak V and relaunch, and retry.
At worse reboot the computer, but never shut down the unit.

Well, that is all very nice to know, but since that information isn't provided anywhere the only option left after having the Minifreak sit in the update finished state (but not rebooting) for seven hours was to power cycle it and hope for the best. I don't know how long you think sitting in this state doing update after update attempt is sensible, but at some point in time a reboot seems to be the only logical thing to do.

What I don't understand is why the bootloader is wiped by the update process? The bootloader should never be touched. It should be in a separate part of the flash memory and never be touched. Most devices that can be updated remotely have a bootloader and and A and B firmware section, so that running A updates B and should that fail it falls back to A, should it succeed it switches to B. But the bootloader is never touched. Unless targeted specifically from a running A or B partition, but only under extreme circumstances (security issues or major bugs in the bootloader).

But I'll take your advice to heart and the next Minifreak will not be powercycled until an update attempt is successful.

[dj_doughy]

"then I restarted Minifreak hardware manualy"

NEVER EVER RESTART THE MINIFREAK WHILE ITS UPDATING
It's better to quit minifreak V and relaunch, and retry.
At worse reboot the computer, but never shut down the unit.

The minifreak v standalone said “update complete! Rebooting minifreak”…. From a standpoint that sounds like the update finished, it tried to push a reboot but didnt/couldnt, so power cycled. Then it fails. Just an observation

[Pieter-Jan Kuyten]

The minifreak v standalone said “update complete! Rebooting minifreak”…. From a standpoint that sounds like the update finished, it tried to push a reboot but didnt/couldnt, so power cycled. Then it fails. Just an observation

Indeed, the issue is not that we rebooted the Minifreak during the update, the issue is that the Minifreak V software said it was done with the update, but for some reason hadn't rebooted the Minifreak. So either the check on completion of the update process is not correct and the user is misinformed about the state of the update or there is no check on completion and Minifreak V is just assuming that the update is complete.

Either way, the only way to go forward is to reboot the Minifreak manually. And I waited a considerable time each time after Minifreak V told me the update was complete, that is until the point (after several update attempts) that the Minifreak wasn't even booting in bootloader mode anymore.

[Matthieu_Arturia]

Hello,
Hello.

I'm very sorry to hear that....

Manually rebooting the Hardware is what causes the bricking.
DON'T REBOOT THE UNIT MANUALLY !
Sorry to insist on that.

If the unit won't reboot after updating:
- Quit and relaunch MiniFreak V and try the update again
- If it's not working, reboot the computer but don't shut down the MiniFreak

Also, make sure you are using a cable directly connected to the computer.

I have a feeling that the issue is happening on windows 11 only, do you confirm?
Know that we are currently working on a fix for MiniFreak V.
We will make sure to tackle this issue, give proper info on how to and what not to do.
If you have further recommendations for us or info on your setup, please share them as it might help us a lot.

Again i'm very sorry to hear you have experienced such a difficult time, i hope you'll have fun soon with a functioning unit.

Kind regards.

[jojkobojko]

Yes, I can confirm windows 11 as my native running system.