FactorLib Trashed My Presets

[kenficara]

I wanted to do the update to v3, so I connected my TimeFactor to my Mac (SnowLeopard) and put it into update mode. Started FactorLib and asked it to download presets. I get the "LOADING" message and it just sits there. Read the forums. Apparently all banks have to be active. OK, so I quit FactorLib and power down the TimeFactor to change the settings

I turn it back on and it says "EMPTY." No presets anymore.

I assume they are not recoverable, but what did I do wrong, and is there any way to reliably back up the TF and update it? The more I read in these forums, the more I wonder if I should not even try this.

[nickrose]

EMPTY is probably a message from the Looper, and nothing to do with presets. Don't think that FactorLib could easily overwrite your presets even if it wanted to.

kenficara:

asked it to download presets

How did you ask it ?

[kenficara]

I clicked "Open From Midi." The message LOADING appeared in the lower right, and the pedal just said "READY." Nothing else happened.

Several questions I can't answer from the documentation:

1. When using FactorLib, should the pedal be in update mode or just powered on?

2. How do I know the pedal has been successfully recognized?

3. When is it safe to disconnect the USB cable from the pedal?

4. Why not mention in the documentation that all banks need to be available?

As far as the "EMPTY" message, I've never seen it before, and my presets did not seem to be there anymore; when I switched into bank mode I kept getting the "EMPTY" message rather than "DIGDELAY" or whatever the preset setting was. I re-initialized it so it's too late now in any case. I had them written down so it's not a disaster, just a fair amount of work.

[nickrose]

kenficara:

The message LOADING appeared in the lower right, and the pedal just said "READY." Nothing else happened.

That's all you see until the load is complete. It takes quite a while.

kenficara:

1. When using FactorLib, should the pedal be in update mode or just powered on

Powered on – update mode is only for updates. In case this confuses others, we'll add a warning to the next version.

kenficara:

2. How do I know the pedal has been successfully recognized?

It will give warnings within about 5 seconds if it has not.

kenficara:

3. When is it safe to disconnect the USB cable from the pedal?

After all loads and other activity are complete.

kenficara:

4. Why not mention in the documentation that all banks need to be available?

They don't need to be – it will only load the currently selected banks – this is deliberate. We can add a note to the UM but it is pretty self evident.

kenficara:

As far as the "EMPTY" message, I've never seen it before

This is a message from the Looper, indicating that it has no recording, i.e. is empty. Presumably the unit was switched off in a state where the looper was loaded, so it came back when you powered up. It was unfortunate that this message could be interpreted as "no presets".

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