Posts by DrTT

Dear all,

I'm still doubtful whether my unit is flawed: upon rebooting
after the upgrade to the current firmware the KPA crashed
and needed the well-known 20 minutes of off-time to recover.
At least I'm quite confident that this is no thermal problem
of the unit because I did the installation directly after
switching on the KPA.
No, Manuel, I didn't tamper with the backup files before
Did someone else have this problem?

Best regards
DrTT
.

Hello Manuel,

apology accepted! You are absolutely correct that tampering with the backups is critical.

Now let's move on playing the guitar on the KPA

Best regards

DrTT

Hello Manuel,

you wrote:

Quote from manuelcicca

Yes mine does. An experienced Unix user like you should know how that can be done under Windows. ... Who cares about POSIX.1-1988 and POSIX.1-2001 after all?

I think there is some misunderstanding here: first you told the forum that "there isn't such a thing on earth as what you described being a 'Unix-tar file'" when tar-files are obviously and firstly defined by Unix standards.
Then you tell me that this all "can be done under Windows" easily. Of course it can: you either need a file manager able to deduce the file type for kpabackups (e.g. from the magic number in the file) or you have to tell Windows explicitly (!) that kpabackups are tar-files. Nevertheless I assume that not everyone in the forum had this information before and most of colleagues will be using just plain Windows. I assume you use Unix or some intelligent file manager, so this might not apply to you.

Quote from manuelcicca

Frankly I suggest you to go and look on some other forum if you wish to discuss this further.Here we are Guitar Players with a passion for music and the KPA.

Honestly I find that a patronizing remark when it was you that started the nit-picking discussion. It should also be quite clear that I own a KPA and I am a guitar player myself.
Someone else might find my initial information in the thread useful. Sorry when I have bothered you with trivia.

Best regards
DrTT

Dear Manuel,

thanks for the clarification!
You wrote:

Quote from manuelcicca

There isn't such a thing on earth as what you described being a "Unix-tar file" !!

So maybe I was imprecise here: The tar-format was introduced as an archive format by Unix and later standardized by POSIX.1-1988 and POSIX.1-2001.

Quote from manuelcicca

Besides if you really want know it Tar archives can be opened with any OS you want !

Yes, I do that myself because I'm using Windows. But I guess that no OS knows from scratch that *.kpabackup files are tar files, does yours?

Quote from manuelcicca

I really appreciate your good intentions but ...

Thanks! As mentioned several times I do not encourage to use that technical information lightheartedly.
But I think you agree that the labelling of the amps, cabinets and effects presets is improvable. E.g. do you know (without deliberation) what kind of stomp preset BPTOUCH.kipr is? The management of those presets is currently very tedious: if I want to rename one of them to some meaningful name, I have to load it into a rig, store it from there and type the new name by dialling. Then the old preset has to be deleted.
Or is there better way to rename a preset?
Best regards
DrTT

Dear all,

thanks for all the helpful advice, but in my opinion I've been quite clear on that topic:

Quote

Note that, of course, I do not encourage any tampering with the backup files

So anyone using the technical information I have given is (of course!) on his own!
On the other hand the Kemper people have not given so far any information about

• the structure of the backup file (as mentioned a Unix tarball) and
• the structure of the KIPR files (a standard MIDI file with a single track and a lot of sysex stuff)

If the Kempers were mainly interested in having their platform closed they could have used either a proprietary file system on the stick or at least encode the files.
I am quite aware that Kemper has to put their emphasis now on making the firmware related to the central function of the KPA more robust before they invest into checking the consistency of files presumably in their hands.
But at least mid-term it is also necessary to have some kind of external rig management software. Most of the devices I have bought in the past have come with a very precise definition of their patch management (typically via MIDI SYSEX). Commendable examples are the BOSS devices and those have open-source librarians (like the FX Floorboard) programmed against the MIDI interface definition.
When we as a community want to help Kemper in writing a public domain KPA library manager, this requires either input from Kemper or reengineering research by the community.

Best regards
DrTT

Dear all,

I've already mentioned this in another thread, but it might be interesting here: the backup files seem to be Unix-tar-files (tarballs). This means, you can get at the contents via a tar-program without resorting to tools like Total Commander.

E.g. tar -t xxx.kpabackup shows the list of all files in the xxx.kpabackup file.

Note that, of course, I do not encourage any tampering with the backup files, but at least on a level where files are inserted or removed into the tarball, this should be fine.

Best regards
DrTT

Dear all,

guitarnet70 and tylerhb wrote:

Quote from guitarnet70

Exactly what I do to manage the profile databank, I've start cleaning up the KPA and I'll leave the rest on the PC

For those interested: the backup files seem to be Unix-tar-files (tarballs). This means, you can get at the contents via a tar-program without resorting to tools like Total Commander.

E.g. tar -t xxx.kpabackup shows the list of all files in the xxx.kpabackup file.

Note that, of course, I do not encourage any tampering with the backup files, but at least on a level where files are inserted or removed into the tarball, this should be fine.

Best regards
DrTT

Dear all,

Armin wrote:

Quote from Armin

... This KPA would need professional beta testing - but they seam not to want it. ...

I understand Armin's frustration; I had a state of shock myself with the KPA when it took half an hour to recover from a crash. So the firmware should be definitely improved.

On the other hand there was an immense pressure on the Kemper team. Everybody in forums said "why don't these guys put out the product now, I cannot wait any longer and can definitely live with an imperfect firmware, they can fix that later". They had promised it at NAMM for summer 2011, so something had to happen.

I can live with the imperfections and still think that it's a gorgeous product.

Best regards
DrTT

Dear all,
the message editor for the forum inserts extra line breaks whenever you select "Preview". I have not yet found how to get rid of them (deleting and reposting does not help for some reason).
My personal preference would be to have the "Source code" tab opened. I am quite able to write HTML-code so this would definitely help.
Best regards
DrTT

Hi JonG,

you wrote:

Quote

Good review here http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=pla…e&v=RNDhwM0s03I

There is even a text version of it directly on Tony McKenzie's web site: http://www.tonymckenzie.com/kemper-amps-review.htm Here the KPA gets a rating of 10 (on a scale from 1 to 10). This proves again that Tony McKenzie knows what he's talking about
Best regards
DrTT

Dear all,
elfredo wrote:

Quote

try to leave it off the mains for half an hour and boot it again by holding system-button when turning on

Where does this ominous half an hour come from? I had some problems with the initial release firmware 6895 where the KPA crashed and could not be rebooted at all. After disconnecting it for about twenty minutes, the reboot was successful.
At first I thought about thermal problems, because typically electronic devices do not need that long to recover (because the remaining internal charge should have disappeared after a few seconds and then the system is definitely reset).
Any convincing explanations for that long recovery period?

Best regards
DrTT

Hi,

I think it is a bit unfair to characterize Tony McKenzie as biased. The turmoil in the Axe FX group was also caused by an insult of Cliff Chase himself and the subsequent reaction of Mr McKenzie.
In my opinion Tony McKenzie has a preference for tube amps and sometimes I think that in his reviews he sometimes puts emphasis on less important points. Nevertheless I find that his reviews gives helpful insight into products.

All in all http://www.kemperampprofiles.com is definitely not the official kemper site, but it explicitly tells so.
Best regards

DrTT