KKS MK3 stuck at "Get latest update" - no firmware updater launching

TomSynsongs · 2023-10-28T20:01:38+00:00

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Wow, what a bad start. Just received the MK3 today and after registering the device and loading the Hardware Connection Service, it just sits there saying "Get latest update".

The link provided on the display is wrong.

Launching Komplete Kontrol 3.0.1 does not see the device however it is powered on and lightens up.

Tried different USB-C ports on the Mac Studio (with the original cable) but to no avail. What a bad experience for a 900 EUR keyboard.

Does anybody know what is going on here?

Thanks

Tom

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TomSynsongs

Brilliant: The German pages have no information about the external Updater which must be downloaded separately!

The URL ni.de/kontrol-update has not been working a few hours ago (404).

How should anybody know that there is a full US URL available just in case?

https://www.native-instruments.com/en/specials/komplete/kontrol-update/?_ga=2.135014193.1525650873.1698519773-1286026596.1696972914

At the moment, the German page seems to have gotten back to life. Phew, things should be really explained better. Hope it works now - and hope the link helps those who are in a similar situation.

TomSynsongs

... and of course it is not updating :-(

First it did nothing, now "error -2"

Wow.

TomSynsongs

... and now it is bricked, too. The Firmware Updater said I should Power-Cycle the Keyboard and now, all I see is a white screen.

PoorFellow

https://community.native-instruments.com/discussion/18043/mk3-stuck-at-get-latest-update-no-firmware-updater-launching

Quote : "Does anybody know what is going on here?" !

Dear Tom , it appears as if at you at the moment might as well phone your grand-parents and ask them , since at the moment then there appear to be such a multitude of complaints and problem reports that it's hard to even get a good grip on it all.

Also , leading up to the release of the Sxx MK3 keyboards then as an extra stroke of 'genius' then N.I. decided to send the , probably over-worked, forum service person Jeremy on a months leave (probably needs to be fit for all the 'Cyber Season' work) and the leader of the hardware team is taking time off with his family (I am not making this up !). So while there is hardware team representatives in the forum then they are also struggling fixing discovered issues so , you know , you might as well contact hardware support right away !

Yes , there are trouble-shooters , but.. and so on , please look at my posts over here : https://community.native-instruments.com/discussion/18041/i-have-just-received-my-s61-mk3-and-i-am-having-problems-setting-it-up

MAC actually are doing rather well updating compared to all the issues with PC , but again , Jeremy_NI , on leave until November 6th is also the MAC expert ! ...

Also usually people are also posting pictures of their keyboard display and giving more explanations , not saying that it would help you a lot here , but from your description then for me at least then it is rather difficult to get a good grip even on where you exactly are in the having trouble with your keyboard process...

PoorFellow

https://community.native-instruments.com/discussion/comment/103689#Comment_103689

Kontrol S-Series MK3 Troubleshooting Guide : https://support.native-instruments.com/hc/en-us/articles/14229273602077-Kontrol-S-Series-MK3-Troubleshooting-Guiden

There exists a possibly reset by power-cycling advice by power cycling the keyboard a number of times but that has been removed from public by N.I. for some reason. Not to add to the troubles then I will refrain to post it here since N.I. has removed it from the trouble-shooting page...

If you can not get past the white-screen then you will have to contact hardware support. I am very sorry for your trouble and for not being able to at least add some more positive input here. Best thing is try not to be too upset and then let N.I. clean up their mess for you ! At least N.I. is no candy shop and they are going to help and assist you fix even a bricked keyboard , if it is bricked ! So please try to not be too upset though easier said than done !

TomSynsongs

Dear PoorFellow,

first of all, thank you very much for your reply. I apologize for sending multiple mails here, but I could not delete some and due to a browser problem, I could not edit either.

The current situation has frustrated me a lot last night and therefore I was probably not in the right mood and should have refrained from writing.

Owning 4 NI keyboards MK1 and MK2, I was hoping for years that direct Kontakt support would come - which did not. After investing another 900 Euro for the S61 MK3, the experience I had was just bad.

First, the infos on the keyboard (in German) where wrong - at least until later that night, the URL did not work but caused a 404 error. So I had to search for additional setup instructions.

Having a brand new Mac Studio which is capable of providing the required USB-C connection, I finally got the keyboard registered. Installing the required connection software on the Mac made me realise that only parts of the objects had been installed for no appearant reason. So I had to figure out what could potentially be missing.

Then one document said that if I had installed Komplete Kontrol and would launch it standalone, it would immediately update the detected keyboard - which it did not. After half an hour of trying forth and back, I saw that the German mail had no infos whatsoever, but at least there was a video embedded. So I had to actually watch it in order to find out where to download the firmware updater. Why not post a link on the setup page? Too much work? That´s beyond my understanding, really.

Trying to apply the firmware (without which the keyboard would do nothing), the updater did not do anything but asked me to power down everything and restart. The next time, it looked good at first, but then the updater app said that it failed with an "Error -2". No explanation could be found on this, neither online nor offline. The updater said I should power-cycle everything and after doing so, the display came up with a totally white screen. The visual animations during power-up were not visible either.

I have tried at least 20 times to power on the keyboard, but to no avail.

Having a lot of gear here, which all require firmware updates at one point or another, I am always super careful when doing this and never in my life had any failure of any device, neither Macs, nor Routers, nor Keyboards. Up to now.

So I am sitting over the weekend with a bricked MK3 and had to reconfigure everything back to my MK2 Kontrol in order to keep working. At least this still does its job as expected :-)

Again, thank you very much and please - everyone - accept my apologies for my overly frustrated initial mails. After spending almost 1 hour reading and searching for the correct infos and setting up the required services on my Mac, I was simply not in the best mood.

Kind Regards

Tom

DarkNRG

EXACT SAME ISSUES trying to connect and update using my Intel Mac, support has been useless, they don’t even read the messages and talk about windows when I was clearly saying Mac, and i got my second MK3 today and this one bricked BSD as the first did. So frustrating!

TomSynsongs

@DarkNRG:

100 % exactly the same messages here!

Many thanks for also posting the Firmware Updater screen (which I did unfortunately miss).

PoorFellow

https://community.native-instruments.com/discussion/comment/103733#Comment_103733

Hi Tom ,

No need for you to apologize for being frustrated , you are very civil about it all and everybody here ought to understand the frustration of you and others.

If your unit really appear to be 'bricked' then it should not be able to make things worse to try to reset the device by force ! However please notice that if the unit is totally 'bricked' then the following advice may not be able to help either :

Please try the following power cycling procedure at least one time (if it doesn't work I see no harm in trying it again if unit is totally bricked anyway !) :

Quote (previously public N.I. advice) :

Power cycle the keyboard 5 times. At the 5th time, the recovery screen should appear and you can re-update the controller. In order to power cycle, turn on the device, wait 2-3 seconds and then turn it off again. Please repeat this 5 times.

TomSynsongs

@PoorFellow Thank you so much again, I have not found this and will test asap.

PoorFellow

https://community.native-instruments.com/discussion/comment/104083#Comment_104083

If it helps to reset then please apply an USB-C power supply prior to updating the firmware just in case...

TomSynsongs

@PoorFellow

Thank you for your advice, sadly no luck. I have tried power-cycling as described "endlessly", but no recovery screen. Also, using other USB-C ports or even USB-C to USB-A did not change anything.

What is interesing though: There are small lines appearing on the top of the screen - when power-cycling they get smaller until they are gone. But unfortunately that does not change things.

And NI Support has not gotten back.

PoorFellow

If NI Support does not get back to you then try updating your ticket..

@Nilo_NI , could you please check to see if the ticket of TomSynsongs has been buried ?

TomSynsongs

@PoorFellow

You won´t believe it, but SUCCESS!!!

I can´t believe it, but after many hours of trying everything, here is what brought my S61 MK3 back to life:

I have power-cycled the device a number of times (around 10 - 20), with the white screen appearing every time
Then I have connected the keyboard to the USB Charger of my Macbook Pro. After powering it on, the white screen was still there.
For the data connection, I have used a USB-C to USB-A adapter and plugged the USB-A cable directly into the USB-A port on the back of my Mac Studio. The display was still white.
I then launched the Firmware Updater and started it. The firmware updater got active although the device itself still showed nothing but the white screen. Letting it run for around 5 minutes, the firmware update suddenly reported success and the S61 MK3 lit up again, telling me that it downloads the firmware. Once finished, the screen went on to the "Default MIDI template."

Unbelievable. Now let´s see if it keeps working :-) I am going to post this solution to a separate thread as well in case somebody experiences the same.

Again, many thanks for helping me.

PoorFellow

https://community.native-instruments.com/discussion/comment/104167#Comment_104167

You are so very welcome and thank you very much for caring to give feedback ! , I am very glad that you appear to have had your issue fixed.

I the mean time I will try calling for NI hardware people to take notice !

@Tim_NI and @Chris_NI , please take a look at this persons experience described in the above post and previous posts.. (I purposely didn't tag Martin_NI as tagging two of you seem a lot even for something that I consider important ! and Matthew_NI appear to be taking time off for quality time with his family)(Thank you all for your time and effort !)

Also , ref. : (later 'solution' thread by user) : https://community.native-instruments.com/discussion/18099/potential-solution-to-fix-bricked-mk3-keyboard-on-apple-silicon-white-screen

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