Firmware and backups
What a firmware update on the Helix Rack actually changes, what it leaves alone, and the backup that means none of it can cost you anything.
It does not delete your presets
Your own presets, setlists and IRs survive an update. The thing that catches people is the next line, not this one.
It can change the factory presets
Line 6 tweak, replace and update the factory presets with most firmware releases. If you built on top of a factory preset without saving it to your own slot, that is the one that can move under you.
It can change how a preset sounds
Models get revised. A preset is a list of settings, not a recording, so a preset that used a model whose behaviour changed will sound like the new model afterwards. This is why the release notes are worth two minutes.
Going backwards is a separate app
HX Edit's built-in updater only installs the latest. If you need an earlier firmware — or your computer has no internet — that is Line 6 Central, a different application entirely.
The part that makes everything else safe
Do this first, every time, and it takes about a minute. A backup (.hxb) captures presets, setlists, IRs, Favorites, your custom model defaults and every global setting in one file.
- 1
Save the preset you are on
Backups take every preset from its LAST SAVED state. Whatever you have been tweaking but not saved is not in the backup. Press SAVE before you start, or accept that the tweak is gone.
- 2
File > Create Backup
By default it lands in Documents > Line 6 > Tones > Helix > Backups, and you can title it and put it somewhere else. There is no limit on how many you keep, and old ones stay listed in the Restore window.
- 3
If you own anything from Marketplace, authorise the computer first
A backup containing Marketplace presets or IRs can only be created — or restored — from a computer in the Authorized state. Worth checking before the day you actually need the restore.
- 4
Know what an .hxb will and will not restore onto
A backup made from a Helix Floor, LT or Rack restores onto any of the three, which is a genuinely useful way to clone a rig onto a spare. It will not restore onto a different device type — a Helix backup is not an HX Stomp backup.
Doing the update
The whole thing happens inside HX Edit, and the order is not optional.
- 1
Update HX Edit before the firmware
When both are available, only the app's Update Now button is clickable. The firmware button stays greyed out until the app has been updated and relaunched. This is by design, and it is the step people report as "the updater is broken".
- 2
Let it make its own backup too
The firmware updater prompts you to create a backup as its first step. Say yes even though you already made one — it costs nothing, and it is stamped with the moment before this specific update.
- 3
Then leave it alone
Agree to the licence, click Update, and let it run. It will tell you when it is done.
Restoring factory presets wipes yours
Power off, hold footswitches 7 and 8 while powering on, and let go when "Will restore..." appears. This completely overwrites your own presets with the factory set. Back up first — and if you only want some of the factory setlists back, use Restore From Backup in HX Edit to pick them selectively instead.
Presets do not always translate between devices
HX Edit will try to convert a preset from one device to another on import. It fails when the source used something the target does not have — a Helix preset containing an Amp block cannot become an HX Effects preset, because that device has no amp models. You get an error explaining which capability was missing, and the import is cancelled.
Old exports and new software do not mix
Presets exported under firmware and Helix Native 3.50 are not compatible with earlier versions of either. If you are moving tones between a hardware unit and the plug-in, match the versions rather than assuming a preset file is a preset file.