Fractal-Bot

What is Fractal-Bot

Fractal-Bot is a simple and free utility, created by Fractal Audio, which lets you easily transfer data to and from your Fractal Audio hardware.

You can use Fractal-Bot to:

• Upgrade the firmware of your Fractal Audio device
• Send and retrieve single presets and entire preset banks
• Send and retrieve impulse responses
• Send and retrieve system data
• Create and restore backups of the entire system data (and on the Axe-Fx III: just lobal Blocks data or just FC controllers data)
• Fix a "bricked" device

More information:

• Download the latest version of Fractal-Bot (Windows, OS X) or an older version
• Read the manual
• Visit the discussion forum

Connecting Fractal-Bot

Axe-Fx III: USB. When using a Windows computer, you need to install Fractal Audio's USB driver first. The Axe-Fx III doesn't require a driver for Mac computers. Read the manual and follow the instructions after launching Fractal-Bot.

Axe-Fx II: USB. You need to install Fractal Audio's USB drivers first. You can use the Axe-Fx II as a MIDI interface. Read the manual and follow the instructions after launching Fractal-Bot.

FX8: USB. No driver required.

AX8: USB. No driver required.

MFC-101: MIDI. Use a MIDI interface or use the Axe-Fx II's USB Adapter Mode (read the manual).

FC controllers: Keep the FC controllers connected to the Axe-Fx III through FASLINK.

Running Fractal-Bot and a software editor at the same time

Don't run Fractal-Bot and a software editor at the same time because this may cause conflicts.

Updating firmware with Fractal-Bot

Read this: Firmware.

Hardware-specific functionality

Axe-Fx III

Use Fractal-Bot to back up:

• System Settings + Global Blocks + FC Controllers (filename: -system+gb+fc.syx), or:
• System Settings only (filename: -system.syx). This includes Setup:Global, Setup:I/O, Setup:MIDI/Remote, and Tuner settings
• Global Blocks data only (filename: -gb.syx)
• FC controllers settings only (filename: )

Fractal-Bot and the Axe-Fx III use the contents of a .Syx file, not the name of the file, to determine the backup type.

Axe-Fx II

Use Fractal-Bot to back up system data, presets and user cabs.

If you use Global Blocks in your presets, DO NOT FORGET to always backup the System data area. A backup of your presets alone does not contain the global block data.

• Axe-Fx II Mk I or Mk II – You can also backup banks of presets and system data to onboard memory. You can restore a single preset from onboard memory or the onboard factory presets using “Fetch” in the Utility menu.
• XL and XL+ – Saving presets to onboard memory is not possible, but a backup of system data can be stored in onboard memory.

"The XL does not have a backup to FLASH function because the presets are all in FLASH. If the battery dies you don't lose your presets so there is no need to back them up. The system data IS battery-backed and the backup function saves system data to FLASH." source

User cabs:

• Axe-Fx II Mk I and Mk II – User cabs 0-49 are included in a system backup. Cabs 50 and up are saved in a different area of memory and are not saved or restored when doing a system dump/restore, use Fractal-Bot to save these separately.
• Axe-Fx II XL and XL+ – User cabs are not included in a system backup. Use Fractal-Bot to back these up.

Want to speed up the backup process? Scroll to an empty preset slot before performing the backup.

Wicked Wiki thread

You can export a preset to CSV in the software editor, to document every parameter's setting. More information

AX8

Use Fractal-Bot to save and restore presets and user cabs.

FX8

Use Fractal-Bot to save and restore presets.

MFC-101

Use Fractal-Bot or MFC-Edit to save and restore the MFC-101 configuration. This requires the use of a USB-to-MIDI-interface. The Axe-Fx II in USB Adapter Mode can be used as an interface, MIDI cables and a power supply are still required. Follow the instructions in Fractal-Bot.

The Axe-Fx III does not support USB Adapter Mode.

Troubleshooting

Browse button doesn't work

If the Browse button doesn't work, exit Fractal-Bot, delete the file "Fractal-Bot.settings" and restart.

Empty presets after updating

If the preset banks show up empty after updating with Fractal-Bot, install the latest firmware first. Old firmware (even minor versions) may not always be able to read newer preset revisions.

Solving communication issues

• Try another USB cable.
• Do not use cable extenders or USB hubs.
• Try another USB port on the computer.
• Check for corrupt IRs or presets. Even empty slots may be corrupt (clear them using the software editor).
• Adjust the MIDI Buffer Delay.