Profiler Player - Backup on USB Stick

    • Official Post

    Why do you make things overly complicated? No PC and no other PROFILER model are needed.


    I'm wondering why you want to format "fresh USB sticks" to FAT32 on your Mac!? Were these not preformatted with FAT32 right out of the box? All these usual USB sticks come preformatted with FAT32 and are ready to be used on any PROFILER model.


    Plug them into the Player once while it is running, so that it can create the three folders "OS Update", "Backups", and "Shared". That's all it does. Afterwards the stick is ready to create backups.


    I just made a test and reformatted one of my sticks on my Mac with FAT 32. It results in an empty stick. I plugged it into a running Player. Within a couple of seconds the three folders were created by the Player. Then I shut down the Player and restarted with the stick plugged in and holding the BANK button. A beautiful backup has been created in folder Backups. I had tested this successfully before with a stick reformatted on my Windows PC. My suspicon is, that you missed the second step creating the three folders before initiating the backup procedure. And that is why backup didn't work and you fixed that by plugging it into you PowerRack. The PowerRack can only create the three folders, while it is switched on. The same applies to the Player.


    What is hindering you to do it the easy way?

    Quote from Burkhard

    Why do you make things overly complicated? No PC and no other PROFILER model are needed.

    Not that I have had an issue, but in defense of the others, it seems like the documentation is really lacking in clarity so this has led them to compensate as best they can. People wouldn't voluntarily choose to over-complicate things if they just worked the way they expected them to after reading the brief instructions. :wacko:

    While it can be said that "most newer" sticks are FAT32 out-of-the-box, in-turn, you can't say "all" of them are because that's not true. Unless you can read it on the packaging, you can't assume FAT32 is in place so you definitely should use a pc or mac to verify it. Kemper seemingly has not bought and tested every stick on the market and verified compatibility with each of them so as to allow them to document a list of current factual evidience. The message to users is merely "well, it should work." Okay, but what if it doesn't? What if I haven't bought a new stick because I already own a hundred? :/

    I'm sure there is some user-error here, but I also believe that the potential for true issues in a minority of users must exist because frankly, with tech, it always does. I believe these very valid cases should be treated with care and dignity because regardless of the situation, when it happens to you, it really sucks to be the outsider having problems while the community at large is up & running just fine. Compassion is key here because in the end, we would all rather be playing guitar. ^^

    "No socks? No problem."

    Thanks 2
    • Official Post

    I try to avoid spreading uncertainty and doubt and make things seemingly complicated, where it has no practical relevance.


    I'm dealing with all kinds of USB sticks and PROFILER models all the time and never met a stick not preformatted with FAT32. Could you point me to one example of a stick not preformatted with FAT32 at the big "A"?


    You find these sentences in the Player manual on page 134 right before the descriptin of the backup process:


    - Before you can use a USB flash drive to transfer files from your Mac® or PC, your USB flash drive and PROFILER
    need to become acquainted. When you connect a USB flash drive for the very first time, the PROFILER will create
    three folders on that drive: “Backups”, “OS Update”, and "Shared”.
    - New USB flash drives are normally pre-formatted with file system FAT32, which is immediately compatible with the
    PROFILER. In this case, no further action is needed.
    - USB flash drives pre-formatted with another file system, like NTFS or exFAT, cannot be used with the PROFILER
    Player, but need to be reformatted to file system FAT32 first, using a PC. Be aware that this formatting will delete all
    data on that stick!


    The next manual and update documents will include an additinal hint, that the Player needs to be up and running for this acquantenance job.

    Respectfully, is the take away from that supposed to be you think people are posting here to spread uncertainty and doubt? I thought this was a user forum for people looking for help. A community of users looking to give or get a kind-hearted hand with their troubles. No? I doubt people are trying to besmirch Kemper here. It seems like they just want a little help. :)

    Alright, this is what I know and believe: Firstly, so very many official statements (inluding from Kemper & even the likes of Kingston) have some adverb or determiner at play when describing modern preformatted usb sticks i.e. "normally" or "most" or "typically." Why isn't a word like "always" or "all" ever used? Because it's not the case. Admittedly, said case may be comparatively minute, but it still a significant enough truth to prompt the writing party to yield in their officially posted language. :/

    Secondly, FAT32 is not suitable for drives that are larger than 32GB. Can they still be FAT32? Yes. Is it appropriate? It depends on the scope of the product. If the drive is aimed at people who want to backup photos and such, it will probably be FAT32. If the drive is aimed at people who are dealing with large files, creating secure archival storage, or even running Operating Systems, it may not be FAT32 after all. Some manufacturers apply the technically correct format and some don't. Kempers only need a relatively small drive for their cause but no one tells you to avoid any particular size. Specifically, in the Player manual, Kemper states that the "PROFILER can deal with USB flash drive of up to 128 GB and more." just before mentioning it's realistic and humble requirements. They didn't omit the fact that even though Kempers only need small dedicated drives, you can go for any size even beyond 128GB, they purposefully pointed that potential out. Why not lock access to smaller drives only if that could be a problem? Because it won't be? Ok, so it's open-season for most any drive, right? Not exactly. 8|

    Evidentially, I bought a 1TB stick a just two years ago. It came formatted in exFAT. I didn't even know that until I opened its properties on my PC. I would gladly name the maker and link you to the exact product but the drive is completely bereft of any identifiable markings. Regardless, you can find a plethora of exFAT drives on "A" if you search it. Many people looking to buy a stick are looking for the most appealing size/cost ratio while granular details outside of that might be in the blinders. Opting to get the best bang for your buck can easily mate you with a differently formatted drive whether you realize this and intend to re-format or not. :huh:

    And thus, we can see the honest reality at hand. Not every USB drive is FAT32 by default. Furthermore, not everyone is tech-savvy or anywhere close. There's always free-radicals in the equation but we all want the same treatment. I only hope all of us here can work together, in a positive fashion, to help drive for solutions that aren't always obvious or working for whatever reason. Is that so impractical? <3

    "No socks? No problem."

    Thanks 2

    Just a little tip on the side: formatting USB sticks or SD cards using the operating system tools (especially with MAC) does NOT produce adequate results.

    Depending on how big the stick is > 32 GB, extFast32 is automatically used.

    The “SD Memory Card Formatter” program and the consistent use of USB sticks <= 32GB provide correct results.

    SD Memory Card Formatter for Mac Download | SD Association
    www.sdcard.org

    Be the force with you ;)

    Thanks Burkhard, that's much easier.


    Now I am having the issue that I can't restore a back up,


    The three folders are created on the stick, a back up is present on the stick, and when I power the device on while holding Bank, FX1 & FX2 with the stick plugged in I get 4 flashing red lights and no restoration is happening,


    Can anyone guide me as to what I am doing wrong?


    Thanks,

    Same here. I believe it's a system bug.