Updating Firmware

Welcome to another session of the TouchMix Training Series.

Today we're going to go over a simple but vitally important function of your mixer:

how to update the firmware.

This is a relatively simple process, but we're going to show you what it looks like,

just in case you were wondering.

If you’ve already registered your mixer, you should receive an e-mail every time we release a new firmware.

And you can always visit the TouchMix page on the QSC website for further information.

Now the first step, of course, is to download the new firmware update from the website.

If you are a PC user, you should be able to just double-click the zipped file

that contains a compressed file that ends in tar.gz.

If you’re a Mac user, then your Safari browser may automatically attempt to unzip that compressed filed as well.

To prevent this, you’ll need to go to your Safari preferences, choose the General tab,

and deselect the box at the bottom that says “Open “safe" files after downloading".

Next you’ll have to open it and extract the tar.gz file by specifying a destination.

If you’re still having trouble, you may need to change a setting in the Archive Utility.

Double-click the drive for your computer’s system and go to System > Library and go to Core Services.

Find and open the Archive Utility. In the Menu screen, select Archive Utility and choose Preferences.

Then uncheck “Keep expanding if possible." Then, proceed to unpack the file as described earlier.

Once you’re done with the process, you can change any of these settings back if you so desire.

For both PC and Mac users, now that you have the tar.gz file,

put it in the root directory of a USB storage device.

This can be a hard drive or a thumb drive, just as long as it’s formatted with the FAT32 file system.

Insert this device into one of the USB ports on the back of the TouchMix and then stop.

Ask yourself a couple questions. For instance, are you about to start a gig?

Yes? Well then maybe now is not the best time to upgrade your firmware.

Don’t do it.

This process will take a little while, so you have to be sure you have enough downtime to finish the upgrade.

Ask yourself another question: do you want to save the current settings on the Mixer?

If so, be sure to save a new Scene of your current setup so that you can recall it after the update.

The update will reset all of your channel levels, labels, EQ, etc.,

but all of your scenes and presets will remain intact.

Once you’re sure you’re ready to update, press the Menu button, press Mixer Setup, and then Upgrade.

You’ll get a warning dialogue box to remind you of all the things we just told you:

This is going to take some time, you’ll lose your current settings, etc.

The upgrade process cannot be interrupted and the device should not be unplugged until it’s complete.

If you mess this up, the TouchMix will explode. Okay, no, it won’t explode.

The TouchMix is designed to recover perfectly fine if it gets interrupted, but don’t go testing that out.

Don’t be that guy. Nobody likes that guy. That’s the same guy that puts the Mentos in the Coke bottle.

I hate that guy. Everybody hates that guy, just don’t interrupt it, alright?

Now press Proceed and confirm one final time that you do want to do this.

First, you’ll see a loading screen.

It may take up to 30 or 45 seconds to complete. Wow, that was faster than I thought!

Settle down, that’s just loading the upgrader application. Once the upgrader opens, you’ll see this screen.

Any available TouchMix upgrades will be listed under your USB devices here.

If you want to back out, simply press the Exit button. Otherwise, press Update and the process will begin.

This can take up to ten minutes, and it may look like it’s not doing anything at times,

but simply be patient. At the end of the process, a dialogue box will tell you that the upgrade was successful.

Simply press OK and the software upgrader will close and the mixer will reboot.

And that’s it. Your TouchMix is ready to go with all of the latest features.

Remember that updating your firmware is actually quite easy,

but knowing what to expect really goes a long way.

Thanks for watching.