Virus C Firmware Update & All Bank Re-installation

    Hi all,

    New Virus C owner here - just received it in the post and it has OS 5.5 and banks A-D installed.

    I'm guessing it makes sense to upgrade to 6.5, and i'd like to get all the additional banks added. I've got the OS download from the Access site and just want to check what the current best way is to get this installed from a Windows 11 PC. I see there's a few guides on the forum, but some go back many years, so wanted some advice if possible of what is the best method in 2022!

    I have a USB-midi cable etc, so hardware-wise should have everything needed - it's just the software I need to get my head around!

    Thanks

    As far as I know there's only one method and that's to play the midi files with midi clock turned off. Once the Virus has received them, you press store. Have you downloaded the manual as well? It's all set out on p158-160.

    You're right insofar as the page I linked to assumes that you have .syx files - my apologies, that slipped. However, Midi Ox does allow playback of midi files as well, so you can use it to update the firmware regardless. Of course, if you prefer another method then you can follow that instead.

    I'm sure you'll be fine but the instructions in the linked thread seem way over-engineered to me. It really is as simple as playing the midi files (routed to the Virus midi in) and then hitting store.


    As abraxa says, if there are sounds you want to keep, you'll need to save them first and reload them after, but I'm guessing if your banks are the same you only have the factory presets.


    Let us know how you get on.

    Turns out this was harder than I thought!
    I'm mostly a PC/Windows guy and have machines running Windows 10 and 11.

    Tried Bome first as it's widely regarded as the best on PC - finds the MIDI ports fine, accepts the firmware file, and then as soon as you click send it hangs and turns unresponsive. On both machines.

    Tried MIDIOX next which, when i try and select my MIDI OUT tells me I don't have enough memory to perform the operation (LOL) so it must have a memory leak somewhere when run on Win 10/11. Running in compatability mode allowed me to set the MIDI IN, but not the MIDI OUT. So no good.

    That seems to be it for PC - no other solutions found.


    So I dusted off a 12 year old Macbook I have - thankfully still booted - and tried SysEx Librarian. This worked! Upgraded my Virus C to 6.5.


    Would love to hear if anyone has a reliable PC solution in a Win10/11 environment.

    That said, I won't ever need to update the firmware again, so now I just need a reliable Patch/Bank Librarian/Uploader. If anyone has any suggestions that work I would certainly appreciate it!

    When I said it was straightforward, maybe I should have mentioned I'm a MacBook user ;)


    For the librarian, everyone seems to be using Mystery Islands - there are quite a few threads on here. I've tried a couple of others but I couldn't get the demos to work so I ditched them.

    I have a virus b thread, Turns out windows 10 stripped out the option to send teh windows media player .mid file out of teh machine. Get cool software's midi mapper. Run it first with your nmidi out setup selected then play the firmware using teh media player. Tip for windows users.

    • Neu

    I am having a similar issue. I have updated the OS by following the instructions in the video linked above; it was quite straightforward, but when I try to update the soundbanks using the Goodies/ABM.mid file I get a checksum error, regardless of transfer speed. Same with other Virus soundbanks. I'm using BomeSendSx. I've tried loading the ABM.mid file into my DAW to play it back instead, using Live. Live10 won't load the file, or any other Virus soundbank.


    Anyone got any ideas?

    • Neu

    So...the weirdness is that if you try to [MIDI DUMP RX/Verify] the file as it comes in, it generates a Bad Data error, and if you try to load in Store mode it generates a Checksum error, but if you just load up a patch as normal and then play the file in (a mode where no error message can be displayed) is loads all the new patches. Weirder still, if you then try to load with Verify on, it all sails through this time. I do not understand this as a process.

    • Neu
    Zitat von macrostructure

    So...the weirdness is that if you try to [MIDI DUMP RX/Verify] the file as it comes in, it generates a Bad Data error, and if you try to load in Store mode it generates a Checksum error, but if you just load up a patch as normal and then play the file in (a mode where no error message can be displayed) is loads all the new patches. Weirder still, if you then try to load with Verify on, it all sails through this time. I do not understand this as a process.

    I've PMed you on here mate.