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Appendix C: Troubleshooting
ANDROMEDA A6 REFERENCE MANUAL268
UPGRADING THE OPERATING SYSTEM
While the Andromeda's sound-generating electronics are all analog, they are
controlled by a digital microprocessor with software, just like a computer. This
software resides in flash memory, and is upgradeable via MIDI. Over the course of
time, Alesis may make improvements to the operating system and make a new
operating system available to Andromeda owners. Check www.alesis.com for
information about the latest version of A6 software. Upgrading the software will not
affect, in most cases, your Programs and Mixes, but check the documentation to be
sure, and make a backup copy (to card or a SysEx file) of your User banks before
proceeding.
TO DISPLAY THE VERSION OF SOFTWARE IN YOUR A6:
Press GLOBAL, then soft button 1. The OS version will be displayed at the top of the
screen.
There are actually two parts of the A6 code: the OS and the bootloader. The
bootloader is the basic code that allows you to upgrade the operating system itself. It
will probably never need upgrading. The OS is where the majority of the code
resides. To find out your bootloader version number, turn on the A6 while holding
down soft button
6. The display will show the version numbers for the bootloader
and the OS.
Tip: Before upgrading to a new version of software, connect the MIDI OUT of the A6
to the MIDI IN of a sequencer, set it to record a SysEx dump, and press STORE
from this page. This will give you a backup copy of the old operating system in
case there is a problem with transmitting the new one.
TO UPGRADE THE SYSTEM SOFTWARE OF YOUR A6:
1. Obtain the new operating system (OS) from the Alesis website (www.alesis.com).
The file will need to be decompressed via a utility such as Unzip before using. Make sure
your utility does not alter the files in any way, such as stripping line-feeds, or converting
files to text. The decompressed files will have the extensions ".mid" for MIDI files and
".syx" for System Exclusive files.
2. Start your sequencer program or SysEx transfer software (like Alesis Freeloader),
decide which file format to use, and load the file(s) into your program.
You may decide to use either the SysEx files or MIDI files, whichever your software is
able to transmit. The multiple-file format (files prefixed by an “M”) is for programs that
can’t handle large single files. If you choose to use the multiple files, you may transmit
them to the A6 in any order and the A6 will sort them out. In some sequencers, you may
need to open a blank sequence before opening a SysEx file.
3. Make sure you disable any “Chase Events”, “Send MIDI Clock” and “Transmit
MMC/MTC” functions in your sequencing software. You may also need to
increase the buffer size or adjust the transmit speed of your sequencing software.
4. Connect the computer’s MIDI OUT to the MIDI IN of the Andromeda.
5. Turn on the Andromeda while holding down soft button
7. A screen will appear
showing the current software version number. It will also display, "IF RAM
CARD IS IN PLEASE REMOVE IT AND PRESS ANY SWITCH." Do that.