Help! My unit is bricked!

Freak MiniFreak
#1

Support mailed me a custom procedure to update the firmware, and I followed this to the letter. It didn’t work, so I re-installed the version 2.0 firmware through the official procedure, taking note of the firmware update instructions on the website.

Right now, my unit is in a bricked state, where it does no longer listen to the “shift + oct(-)” command, thus it cannot be taken into boot-loader mode.

All it shows is the Minifreak-logo with an animated particle background! There is also no USB-connection sound when I use the cable.

Does anyone have experience getting out if this state?
Thanks,

#2

Have you tried rebooting your computer? It might have disabled the port.
This is what I would try:

  • Shut down both computer and miniFreak
  • Make sure, miniFreak is plugged into its power supply. Unplug USB.
  • Reboot computer.
  • Load miniFreak V.
  • Start miniFreak with Shift and Octave depressed.
  • Plug directly into a USB port on your computer.

Hopefully miniFreak V will show the update prompt.

If the update has trouble, do not turn off the mini Freak, but restart the computer.

#3

I had the same issue with my first two Minifreaks, when firmware V1.1 was released. The first one I exchanged for a new one at my vendor. The second one I had to RMA to Arturia to get fixed. If your Minifreak is indeed stuck in this bootloop, the only people that can help it get out of it is Arturia support.

If you are still connected to the PC, you can try the tricks posted by HaraldS, but if those don’t work for you, the only option is an RMA to Arturia.

#4

Thanks for the suggestion, HarandS. Sadly I didn’t get that to work, as the MiniFreak still did not want to make a connection.

Support has been unresponsive for 10 days now, so I’ve decided to return my unit through the vendor. I had hoped Arturia would offer me a direct repair route, as my vendor charges extra for their assurance package (which was the only way to get a replacement within a reasonable time-frame).

I’m disappointed with the timeliness and quality of the support I have received from Arturia.

#5

You could try starting the device in boot loader mode;

-Turn off the mini freak.
-Press and hold the shift and octave down buttons.
-Whilst holding those buttons, power on the device.
-Plug the minifreak into your pc
-Start up minifreakV (the standalone, not from within a DAW)
-on the settings bar (on the right), under where it lists the minifreak, select update. (I recommend downloading the firmware from the Arturia website rather than doing it through the standalone software)
-wait for the update.

Hopefully that’ll work for you.
I managed to brick my Astrolab within an hour of receiving it and had to go through a very similar ordeal!

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#6

Thanks for the reply, but as mentioned, the device does no longer listen to the shift+octave down buttons and does not get into boot-loader mode.

#7

Ah, sorry I missed that. I will note though, and sorry if this comes off as condescendingly simple advice, that, at least on the Astrolab, merely holding down the buttons during powering on didn’t actually put it into service mode… Rather, by quickly releasing and then pressing the relevant buttons again after the device powers on, the mode was activated.

If you haven’t yet tried this, I would suggest giving it a try.

#8

10 days? Yikes. I’m having the issue now and I sent an RMA 3 days ago but 10? I’m a little annoyed.

#9

I can’t believe this … I have version 4.0 , and the only reason I tried to update the firmware to 4.0.1, was to get my V patches I made, to my hardware minifreak.

However, although I have the usb connected, and the V said i was linked, and tried loading the firmware update, it said ‘update failed’. but it would not update. So I tried restarting the minifreak v. this was ok, just no update happened.

Then i tried again, and this time my hardware unit still wouldn’t read my minifreak V, but i had no sound coming from the hardware unit, and thats when i became a lot more concerned, because I could link them, then the update faied again, and then no sound played. I waited a good 5 minutes too. ugh, i am so upset right now. . .

basically i tried reseting my computer disconnected my usb, turned minifreak hardware off, held shift and octave down, got the screen logo plus page 1 assign on the matrix area in the upper left of the synth light illuminated, and thats all. i cant play anything. I then connected the usb again, but the minifreak v didnt recognize the hardware minifreak still.

Can anything be done to save it? All I wanted to do was transfer my patches I made from software , onto the hardware unit…

#10

I did afterwards, find a 1.1 firmware and downloaded it just in case. I also went to my arturia software center, and updated the minifreak V software to the latest , 4.0.2.something. But yeah the hardware I have no idea what to do with it now … is there any solution? I had no issues whatsoever with it over the past year plus that Ive had it.

#11

update - I fixed the issue, by downloading the hardware FW update from the arturia site, then went to the software center updated that app, then updated the minifreak V from there also. After which i powered my computer, disconnected all usb from the usb hub, and on advice from a friend, suggested i also plug the usb cable from minifreak to the usb c port on the mac os i use, which i did after powering computer back on, turning on minifreak V again, connecting the usb again, and then holding shift and octave down again on the minifreak hardware to go in to boot mode.

The minifreak V recognized wiith the link, and after again failing to update with the live button on top, I tried the upload from file option, found my FW update file I saved, and it worked!

#12

Im glad the issue is resolved. Just for reference, it’s best to connect via USB directly and not thru a hub if that was your setup. Additionally, as you found out, all s/w should be checked for updates.

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