Firmware and backups
What a firmware update on the Axe-Fx III actually changes, what it leaves alone, and the backup that means none of it can cost you anything.
It does not erase your presets
Customised presets survive a firmware update. That is the easy half of the answer.
It can change how they sound
Updates revise amp models. A preset is a list of settings, so a preset built on a model that changed will sound like the new model afterwards. This is what the release notes are for, and why they are worth reading before rather than after.
Saving after an update can lock a preset to that version
The one that costs people something. Once you re-save a preset on new firmware, it may no longer load on the old firmware. A backup taken before the update is the only route back, which is why the backup and the update are one procedure rather than two.
It does not update the factory presets
New factory presets show up sometimes, but as a separate download you install yourself — through Fractal-Bot, the same way as firmware. A firmware update on its own leaves them where they were.
The part that makes everything else safe
Fractal-Bot's RECEIVE tab automates this, but you have to know what to ask it for. The Axe-Fx III does not make a point of it anywhere in its own interface, and it matters: presets are stored in four banks of 128, and backing up one bank backs up a quarter of your presets.
- 1
Back up all four preset banks
A is 0–127, B is 128–255, C is 256–383 and D is 384–511. Worth noting that the manual's own bullet misprints the third of those as "265–383"; the banks are contiguous, and 256 is where C starts.
- 2
Back up the SYSTEM
One more file, and it holds every custom setting in the Setup menu — Global, I/O, MIDI/Remote and Tuner. Without it a restore gives you your sounds back with none of your rig's configuration.
- 3
Back up the User Cabs — both banks
The Axe-Fx III stores User Cabs in two banks, and they are two more files.
- 4
Name the folder by date
Fractal-Bot asks where to put the files, so decide in advance. The convention Fractal recommend, and that touring techs use, is yymmdd — 260829, then the unit's name. Sorting by name then sorts by date.
- 5
Write down the firmware version
Keep a text file next to the backup saying which firmware was installed when it was made. This sounds fussy until the day you need to know whether a backup will load — and since presets saved on newer firmware may not open on older, that day comes.
Doing the update
Fractal-Bot again, and a backup before any major update. You can check the version you are on at any time: press SETUP and read the top left of the menu.
- 1
Quit everything else first
Close the editor, any DAW, and anything else touching audio or MIDI. They will fight Fractal-Bot for the connection.
- 2
Download and unzip, but do not double-click the firmware
The archive holds documents as well as the firmware itself, which is a SysEx (.syx) file. Extract it somewhere you can find again and leave it alone — double-clicking a .syx hands it to whatever else on your machine claims that extension. Fractal-Bot will ask you where it is.
- 3
Read the release notes
They say what changed and warn you about anything you need to know first. If you are skipping several versions at once — which is allowed, any version to any version — read the notes for the versions in between too. They ship with every release.
- 4
Then run Fractal-Bot
Three steps, self-explanatory, with the instructions built into the app. Windows needs a driver first, from the downloads page for your unit; macOS does not.
Restoring is not the same shape as backing up
Backing up is automated. Restoring is not — you send each file from the backup set over individually, waiting for one to finish before starting the next. If a System file is one of them, reboot the unit immediately afterwards. Fractal-Bot will remind you, but people miss it.
Do not do this over 5-pin MIDI
Backing up and dumping are not supported over MIDI at all. You can send files to the unit that way, but the transfer rate makes it a genuinely bad idea. Use USB.
If an update fails, try again before you panic
If the unit still boots, simply repeat the update. If it keeps failing, delete the download and fetch it again — a truncated file looks exactly like a broken unit. A different USB port or cable is the next thing to try.
There is a firmware behind the firmware
The Axe-Fx III carries a built-in backup firmware for recovery if an update goes wrong mid-flight. It is not something you invoke casually, but it is the reason a failed update on this unit is a bad evening rather than a trip to a service centre.