16 Nov 2020
Please take a moment to understand the Firmware Recovery process and read all instructions carefully before continuing.
A Firmware Recovery is a method of both updating the mixer's firmware and/or doing a factory reset of the mixer. If you are experiencing any strange behavior or problems with your mixer, a Firmware Recovery may be necessary to correct the issue. If you need to reset your mixer to factory defaults for any reason, a Firmware Recovery is the method you would use to do this.
NOTE: The Firmware Recovery is a complete re-flash of the mixer firmware, restoring the mixer to its factory default state. It will completely remove any user created scenes or presets, as well as any network information or other settings stored on the mixer, and rewrite all factory presets.
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If you need to save your user-created Scenes and Presets from your mixer, please see the linked video below:
StudioLive AI UC Surface Scene Save to Local Device (UC Surface 1.8 and below)
StudioLive UC Surface 2.0+ Scene save (UC Surface 2.0 and above)
Please note: if doing a mixer Backup from the Settings Menu of UC Surface, it will only backup your saved Named Scenes, Quick Scenes, Mute Groups, and Fat Channel, FX, and GEQ presets. It does NOT store the current settings of the mixer. You must first save this as a Scene to the internal Scene Memory of the mixer so that a Backup will capture that information.
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It is highly recommended that when doing firmware updates or the Firmware Recovery process that you use a Sandisk USB flash drive as mentioned in the following knowledge base article. Some flash drives will not work correctly for Firmware Update and/or Firmware Recovery:
SanDisk Cruzer USB Flash Drive Compatibility with StudioLive AI
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Firmware Recovery Process
Please be sure to review all instructions before performing a Firmware Recovery on your StudioLive RM Series mixer.
1. Download the firmware files for your mixer.
NOTE: You must first register your mixer to your my.presonus account in order to access the firmware downloads.
To find the firmware files, first login to your My.PreSonus.com account-
Then click on "Products," then click "Hardware" and lastly click "View More Details." Once the page loads, scroll down to the downloads section and select the version of firmware you would like to install.
****NOTE: StudioLive AI mixers do not "share" firmware files. The different firmware files are particular to RM16 AI, RM32 AI, RML16 AI, and RML32 AI mixer models, exclusively. Loading the wrong firmware can cause the mixer to not function properly or potentially damage the unit.
2. Open your “Downloads” folder and locate the downloaded firmware .zip file. The .zip file will be named with your mixer’s model number and the new firmware version (e.g., RM32AI_v5550).
3. Depending on your system preferences, the firmware folder may not automatically uncompress from the .zip file. To expand, simply double-click it.
4. Open the firmware folder; you will find five files inside:
– Initvars.scr
–Recovery.scr
– Rootfs.img
– uImage
– Upgrade.bin
You will need all five files to upgrade your mixer.
5. Connect a FAT32-formatted USB thumb drive to your computer.
Power User Tip: Most small USB drives (16 GB or less) are already formatted correctly, so formatting may not be required, but if your mixer does not detect your thumb drive, we recommend doing a fresh format of the drive. Also, it is important that you use a drive no smaller than 1 GB and no larger than 32 GB in size. When in doubt, it's a good idea to go ahead and re-format your thumb drive as FAT32. On Windows, be sure to do a "Full" format as opposed to a "Quick" format. On Macs, the choice will be listed as MS-DOS (FAT)
NOTE to Mac Users - If your Mac is running OS X 10.11 El Capitan or later, you will need to make sure to adhere to the following extra step in order to format a USB drive for loading firmware on your mixer (Users with Mac running OS X versions earlier than 10.11 can skip to Step 6):
Leave name set to "Untitled" & set Format to "MS-DOS (FAT)"
Change Scheme type to "Master Boot Record"
After verifying your settings look like the screenshot below, click "Erase"
Once the format is complete, move on to Step 6...
6. Select all five firmware files and either copy/paste or drag them to the root of your thumb drive. Eject your drive and disconnect it from your computer.
7. Power off your mixer, remove your WiFi LAN adapter (if inserted) and insert the thumb drive into the USB slot on the front the mixer.
8. Next, take a Philips head screwdriver and on the back of the StudioLive mixer, loosen the screws securing the option card. Pull the option card out an inch or two so that it is no longer seated in its internal slot and then power on the mixer.
Note: When the mixer is powered on with the option card removed, it will automatically attempt to do a Firmware Recovery. If the USB thumb drive is recognized and the firmware files are seen, it will begin the Firmware Recovery process after about . To indicate the progress of the Firmware Recovery, the LED input indicators on the front of the mixer will illuminate amber in pairs from left to right.
The Firmware Recovery process takes about 10 minutes to complete. Once all LED indicator lights have illuminated amber, they will all turn green to indicate completion of the initial Recovery process, and at this point you can power off the mixer.
9. Once you have powered the mixer off, make sure to put the option card back into the mixer and secure the thumb screws on the unit. At this point you can also remove the USB thumb drive and if you plan on using WiFi to connect the mixer to the network, you can insert the USB wireless dongle back into your mixer.
PLEASE NOTE (VERY IMPORTANT): Once you have power-cycled the mixer after the initial firmware update step, it may need to finish some final components of the firmware programming. If this is the case, you will see the Channel LEDs on the front of the mixer illuminate amber from left to right as before during the initial Recovery process, and this can take several minutes to complete. Once the final portion of the update is complete, all the Channel LEDs will again illuminate green. When you see this, power cycle the mixer again. This process may occur several times depending on which firmware version you are upgrading from and to. If your mixer does not perform these additional steps do not be alarmed, as it may not be necessary for this particular update.
10. Restart UC Surface and revisit the Device Settings Tab in the Settings Menu and observe the firmware version reported. The last 4 digits of the firmware version reported here should match the version of the files you downloaded for your mixer.