Numark NS6 firmware saga
I like my Numark NS6. But then I tried to figure out whether I had the latest firmware installed. After updating the official firmware using the official factory firmware installer emailed to me by Numark support, I had succesfully bricked my NS6. For anybody who is having trouble getting their NS6 booted into a working state, I will relate what I did to turn my NS6 boat anchor back into a working DJ controller.
Whatever came preinstalled on my deck worked fine, but I am told that the final release has some additional lighting features (metering?). But there is no way to determine what version is installed. The NS6 Control app that comes with the drivers reports version 1.0.0(sk2). Well, that’s a start! But wait; there are only two official versions of firmware that actually exist. 1.07, and 1.13. No, that is not a mistake. The number format of the official releases is not the same as what the control panel reports. On top of that, the NS6 Control also report version 1.0.0 when I have rebooted the hardware into safe mode and erased the firmware. So, we have no idea what’s running in there.
So what the heck. I tried to update the firmware using Numark’s official MIDI Firmware updater app, but while it reports success, the deck just freezes when I power it on. Since you delete the installed firmware before installing the update, I had two options: firmware that crashes the deck, and no firmware at all. On the bright side, the hardware is built with a safe boot mode, so it is not possible to permanently brick it with a failed firmware update. Or at least very difficult.
The workaround
This workaround worked for me: use Itch 2.2.2 instead of Numark’s MIDI Firmware app. Follow the official firmware instructions, but run Itch instead. You can probably skip the “boot into update mode” part if you haven’t already bricked your NS6 by trying to update the firmware. :)
- Make sure the official NS6 drivers are installed
- Make sure Itch is not running
- Connect USB to the computer
- boot into the update mode (LOAD A/LOAD B etc..)
- Hit CUE to erase the firmware (WARNING no going back!)
- Launch Serato Itch–the latest version you can find (2.2+). It will update the firmware automatically.
- When Itch says it is successful, hit the flashing CUE button, and wait for Itch to “reconnect”
I had to do it twice. It worked on the second try.
Numark’s support web site will lead you astray. The Numark site directs you to download Itch 1.8, which redirects you to the Serato web site for Itch, which directs you to download Serato DJ. Yes, you want Serato DJ, it is good and supports the NS6. However, it can not update the firmware. To update the firmware, you need Serato Itch 2.2 (or whatever the latest version is), not 1.8, and not DJ. I had to search forums to find this. At the time of this writing, Numark’s web site is still useless.
I still have no idea what version of the firmware is installed. Itch does not say what version it loaded, it just says it is “latest”. Naturally, Numark’s NS6 control panel still reports v1.0.0. *sigh* But at least it’s not a big fancy boat anchor any more.
