HD24 firmware update failure and solution

Doesn't seem to much chattter on ADAT/HD24 in here, but just in case it might help the odd soul, I thought I would relate my recent experience with updating my Alesis HD24 O.S. (I use the HD24 in tandem with Sonar):

Alesis posts their HD24 firmware updates as a SYSX files and has a FAQ with instructions about how to use their FreeLoader program (also avaible as download on their site) to upload it via MIDI.

I went about doing that and all seemed well except the progress bar on the HD24 seemed to be lagging the progress bar on the FreeLoader program. The FreeLoader program "finished" and then the HD24 display said, "Download Failure, Please Use Midi To Update O.S.". And that's it ... my HD24 was dead in the water! I tried using FreeLoader again with the same result and then tried uploading an older O.S. version ... again same result.

I finally figured out that the MIDI protocol, having no flow control, and FreeLoader, which was written when computers were far slower, was basically causing the upload to go faster than the HD24 could accept it.

SOLUTION:

Sonar lets you set configuration parameters in TTSEQ.INI that meter the rate of SYSX downloads. I set those to be *real* slow and so, using Sonar, the update took. I don't what folks would do that didn't have Sonar or some other configurable SYSX downloader, because FreeLoader will not work on modern computers ... its amazing to me that Alesis doesn't have a more robust firmaware update utility (you know, like one that works!) for their $1500 HD24.

Well, I guess no one who has an HD24 has bothered to check for OS updates, because a google search turned up no one who had the same problem (or else they had 486 20ghz machines).

It just irks me no end that Alesis would not invest a few days pay to someone to create a firmware update ultility that works ... or at the very least take the "update by MIDI" instructions out of their FAQ, if they just *gotta* be that cheap.