fix it

You are in a different layout . Fix: The FM9 has nine layouts and each reassigns all nine switches. Holding a switch usually steps between them.

It is in a line input . Fix: Only Input 1 has Fractal's Secret Sauce IV instrument circuit.

A ground loop . Fix: Use a Humbuster cable from the quarter-inch output. On the XLR side, use the ground lift switch.

Presets where scenes would do . Fix: Scenes load nothing and switch seamlessly. Build song sections as scenes.

The preset is out of CPU . Fix: Replace duplicate blocks with channels—four channels in one block cost far less than four blocks.

The factory layouts assume nine switches . Fix: They were designed around the FM9's own switches. Adding an FC means writing custom layouts, and Layout Link is what keeps the two boards coherent.

The preset was never stored . Fix: Press STORE. The edited indicator lights as soon as you change anything, and changing preset discards it without a prompt.

A cable, before anything else . Fix: Most of the time it is a faulty or disconnected cable. Plug headphones straight into the modeler. If the preset sounds fine there, the fault is downstream and nothing on it needs changing.

The path does not reach the output . Fix: A grid can look connected and not be. Check the preset begins with an Input block and ends with an Output block, and that those match the jacks you have cabled. Then change each block to a shunt in turn, leaving the Amp and Cab until last, and listen for where the sound returns.

A modifier is holding a level at zero . Fix: If something is assigned to a volume or level control and the pedal or switch it expects is not plugged in, the level sits wherever that missing controller says, usually at silence. Either remove the modifier, or set the external controller's initial value to 100% instead of 0%.

The preset wants a User Cab you do not have . Fix: Presets you downloaded often reference a cab IR that lives on the author's modeler and not yours. Point the Cab block at a factory cab and the sound comes back.

A cable with a short in it . Fix: Fractal list this first. A brand new or long-trusted cable is often the problem. Swap it before you diagnose anything else.

Something is clipping . Fix: Check whether you are clipping the inputs or the outputs. Clipping that only appears on the loudest notes sounds like a crackle, not distortion.

The preset is over the CPU budget . Fix: Above about 80% the modeler starts running out of room and the artifacts are audible. Remove a block and see whether they stop.

The outputs ship set for consumer line level . Fix: The analog outputs ship set for consumer line level. If you are feeding professional gear at +4 dBu, change the Output Level for that output under SETUP : I/O : Audio.

It has not been calibrated . Fix: Calibrate the pedal on its jack first, so the modeler learns its travel. Until then it can act as a fixed value instead of a sweep.

It is not a TRS cable, or not the right jack . Fix: Expression needs a TRS cable, not a standard guitar lead. A volume pedal is not an expression pedal, even though it has the same socket.

Nothing is assigned to it . Fix: Calibrating the pedal does not connect it to anything. It has to be attached to a parameter with a modifier before it does a job.

The preset it wakes up on is the problem . Fix: Power down, wait five seconds, then power on holding HOME until the progress bar appears. It comes up on an empty preset you can store over the problem one.

A system setting is the problem . Fix: Power down, wait five seconds, power on holding EDIT until the progress bar appears, then SETUP > Utilities > Reset and run Reset System Parameters. Your presets are not touched.

A firmware update went wrong . Fix: Power down, wait five seconds, then power on holding both PAGE buttons until the emergency utility page appears, and update as normal with Fractal-Bot.

Something around the preset changed, not the preset . Fix: A preset is a list of settings, and those settings are interpreted by whatever firmware is running. The usual culprits are a firmware version change, a different guitar, a different amp at the other end, or external controllers sitting at different values than they were. Global Blocks that have since been edited will also change every preset that references them.

Presets do not move freely across the line . Fix: Presets do not move freely between Fractal generations. Axe-Fx II, AX8 and FX8 presets do not import. The models are largely the same, so transferring settings by hand usually lands where you expect, and the older factory cabs are in the Legacy bank.

MIDI access was refused for gridleak.app, or the prompt was dismissed . Fix: In Chrome open Settings → Privacy and security → Site settings → MIDI devices, and allow gridleak.app. Reload the page, then connect again.

FM9-Edit or another app is holding the modeler’s MIDI port . Fix: Quit FM9-Edit and any DAW or MIDI utility, then connect again.

The browser has no Web MIDI . Fix: Use Chrome or Edge on a desktop computer.

This browser has no Web MIDI, which one-click install uses to reach the FM9 . Fix: Open this page on a computer in Chrome or Edge, or download the file and import it with FM9-Edit.

FM9-Edit holds the USB connection exclusively while it runs . Fix: Quit FM9-Edit completely, then connect again. Closing its window does not quit the app.

The modeler is off, or the USB cable is not plugged into the computer . Fix: Connect your FM9 via USB and power it on.

Nothing was picked in the browser prompt . Fix: Click connect again and pick your FM9 in the browser prompt.

FM9-Edit is holding the USB connection . Fix: Quit FM9-Edit if it is running, then connect again.

The preset was sent, but the modeler did not answer the save . Fix: Check the preset on the FM9. If it isn’t there, install again with FM9-Edit quit.

FM9-Edit was open and refused the write for the modeler . Fix: Quit FM9-Edit, then install again.

The connection dropped part-way through . Fix: Reconnect the modeler and install again.

One-click install loads the preset into the edit buffer, and nothing is kept until you store it . Fix: Press Store on the FM9. Pick a location, then press Enter. Or store it from FM9-Edit.

The file is damaged or is not a preset for this modeler . Fix: Download the preset for the FM9 again, then install it.

Another preset is still being sent . Fix: Wait for it to finish, then send the next one.

One-click install isn’t available in this browser or on this device . Fix: Download the .syx preset file. Open FM9-Edit and connect your FM9 via USB. Go to Preset → Import → select the .syx file.

The connection or the modeler stopped answering mid-install . Fix: Quit FM9-Edit, reconnect the FM9, then try again.