6600M display requires a Maestro EULA agree

K3SF

FYI All 6600m user

MY 66600m is running latest version.

i recently experienced on my 6600m 'the Maestro EULA message'..which does not go away

Trouble ticket submitted and radio going back to flex for repair now.

Tim sent me a procedure to reboot the tablet OS on the main panle, but that did nbot clear the issue.

When the error occurred all profiles get wiped out and any attempt to fall back to older version ssdr failed with message 'could not unpack file'

once the radio does get up and running and i can configure it for a band, but when turnoff and then on (waiting the appropo time)..problem still persists

at one point, i was able to connect using macssdr

Paul K3SF

Trucker

I experienced a similar problem with my 6600M. I ended up sending it in for service last Monday. It arrived the next day. Now the wait begins. No idea when they will be able to get to it.

James

WD5GWY

Pete La

My 6400M has come up with the EULA agreement twice now. I agree and lose my setting and move on. What is causing this? I have also noticed my VOX dropout is back once I agreed to the EULA. What is going on with Flex Radio???? Will you ever come out with an update that fixes the radio and not introduce a ton of new problems?

johnn1jm

Looks like the the same problem I have. I started a discussion before I discovered this. I would be interested to know what the front panel reboot procedure is. I've also just submitted a help-desk request.

johnn1jm

Mine is going back tomorrow. Tried the factory reset and tablet reset no luck. Lets hope it is an easy fix.

73, John N1JM

K3SF

Hi John

yep...mine just arrived today at Flex for repair... now in the queue...now waiting for a tech to get their hands on it.

i am interested in the cause of the failure so i sure hope i get a detailed analysis...

Reason i didnt answer you , i thought it would be better for Tim to address your issue directly...

He would provide the appropriate set of procedures and work directly with you

Paul K3SF

johnn1jm

Love this radio. Hate to be without it.

Just out of curiosity, how old is yours? Mine is about 5 years old.

John N1JM

K3SF

Hi John

mine was one of the first production runs ...2016 i think

i too love the 6600m...

i make use of all four slices almost all the time

Doing two slices on FT8 and two slices on ssb

It truly helped my get to DXCC HR because of all of it capabilities

catching multi-band openings early, working dxpediiton splits,

and so much more

i do have icom7300 as my backup and run Marcus s/w on my macs which works just like macssdr

today got on and kept looking for the four slices i woukd normally run on the 6600m

not there ...uggggg...i was single banding ;-))

Paul K3SF

johnn1jm

I have an IC-7610 for my second radio. I run Marcus' software on my Mac for both the Icom and Flex. Great software. Sometimes I'll split up the Flex and run 2 slices on the Mac and 2 on the PC. Fun stuff. I'm a casual contester, mostly RTTY and run N1MM and use either PC or Mac for the Flex or local. I'm not a serious certificate chaser but I'm sure I've worked a couple of hundred countries particularly on FT8.

John N1JM

johnn1jm

Anyone heard from Flex yet other than it arrived and is in queue?

John N1JM

Pete La

John,

What were your symtoms and how long did they last before you had to send it in? I just started having intermittent issues wih the EULA and a variety of other Maestro related error messages on my 6400M. I'm running v3.4.23. I put in a help desk ticket and Tim had me perform a front panel reset, cold boot, and factory reset. The issues went away for about a week and then reappeared. I conveyed this to Tim and he issued an RMA to return the rig to Flex for repair. I find it very odd that suddenly Flex 6xxxM owners are having these front panel issues. I don't want to send mine in for two reasons - 1. The problem is intermittent 2. It cost a lot to ship to and from Flex. Tim doesn't reveal much about what the issue is and seems to punt the ball immediately to the service department if a master reset doesn't fix the issue. He determined that it is hardware related, but doesn't explain the specifics. I am very disappointed with the service department and FRS overall. These radios cost way too much to be having all these issues. I'm ready to get rid of mine and find a more reliable rig.

Trucker

My 6600M is scheduled for delivery today. Hopefully, everything is back to normal. It will be interesting to see if the Persistence Database problem I have had, is effected in any way from the front panel being reimaged. I kind of doubt it as that is a known firmware defect that is supposed to be fixed in v3.5.x whenever it is finally released. ( maybe it won't introduce new bugs)

James

WD5GWY

Mike-VA3MW

This is a known issue with some units. If you are experiencing this issue, we need you to open a support ticket so we can track it.

johnn1jm

Pete La

The EULA would come up intermittently and then all the time. Once in awhile I would get a Maestro updater error and the screen would go blank/black. But most of time I could go on to operate but everything was reset to factory-profiles gone, memories gone, radio would start at 14.1 MHz, etc. If you went into the menu the second item down would say Maestro instead of Front Panel. I could reset everything and seemingly operate normally until I had to shut down and restart. Radio arrived at Flex about a week ago.

John N1JM

K3SF

hi ALL

My 6600M went back and was received by flex on the 18th May for this exact issue..

All i know at this point the unit is in the queue, waiting to be serviced...no update since

BUT I figure Dayton plus holiday maybe be a bit longer before they get to it...

Followed procedure Tim sent me..

Note that doing a full factory reset and the front panel reset did not clear the issue for me...

I too would like to know why it failed...

Paul K3SF

Pete La

I can't get the darn thing to do the same thing twice in a row. I get error messages telling me to agree to the EULA, the Maestro disk is full, Maestro has failed to respond, Maestro is not responding (what is the difference?). Some long time Flex users are telling me that the issue is the hard drive in the Front Panel is full of old firmware versions and causing the errors. No one seems to know how to delete the old versions. Mike says it is a known issue with 'some" units and put a help desk ticket in. I have done that and sent pictures of the error messages popping up. So far all the help desk has done for me is to instruct me on how to do a front panel reset, cold boot and master reset. None of that worked so now they have determined that it is a hardware issue and I should send it in for front panel reimaging (what is that?). I have a problem with that because the issue is intermittent, erratic, and shipping cost are out of sight. I want to be certain that they are going to fix it and not just plug it in have it boot normally a couple of times and tell me nothing is wrong. Plus I don't think all the troubleshooting possibilities have been exhausted. No one seems to want to tell me what is going on or to take the time to find out. Very Very frustrating to say the least.

johnn1jm

It cost me $100 to ship it to Flex with insurance and an an hour of labor just to look at it. Hopefully they have a discount with a shipper to send it back. I figure if I get away with less than $500 I will be lucky, assuming no hardware replacement. But considering it is a $6000 radio with tax, I'd hate to live with the problems. For my style of operating, the radio was fine before this. I'm not a cw operator, so I've never experienced some of the cw problems I've been hearing about.

YMMV

John N1JM

Pete La

I am not a happy camper. All of this started shortly after updating to version 3.4.23. I don't know if it is related or not. A friend just got rid of his Flex 6600M for a Kenwood 890 becasue of all the issues he was having. I feel like Flex has let the ham radio community down and is no longer providing the type of service they used to. I didn't pay $6000 for my 6400M, but it is the most expensive radio I have ever bought. I have had radios that have lasted me a lot longer and are still operating a decade or more later. I had a TS-2000 for 12 years, a FT-1000 MKV for 15 years, a FTdx3000D for 7 years, and a IC-7100 that I bought the first year they came out. I sold them to local hams and they are still operating just fine. I bought this Flex in 2018 and it has given me a lot of issues with each firmware update. Now it looks like it is dying a slow death. I am very upset with Flex. This is not what I expected out of a $3000 radio.

Pete K1OYQ

johnn1jm

My Flex 6600M is on the way back. They had to re-image the front screen/tablet. I assume it was corrupted. Also did other things like checks, calibration and alignment. Hope this radio stays good.

John N1JM

Pete La

Mind if I ask what the repair cost was?

Pete K1OYQ

johnn1jm

1 and 1/2 hours labor. $187.50.

K3SF

hi all

well my 6600m is back from flex for the eula issue

cost--

1 and 1/2 hours labor. $187.50

they did the re--image of tablet

and

added new fan...for extra $25

plus

$35 return shipping

mine is out of warrantee...

i ran it thru a series of tests here and updated my profiles

and

then did update to latest 3.4.24

all went well...

been running now for 6 hour no issues

and

after multiple on/off sequences too

Paul K3SF

johnn1jm

Paul

Very nice. Mine arrives tomorrow- plus $28 return shipping plus about $3 for tax.

John N1JM

K3SF

Hi John

It has been great having my 6600m back...for only a day now

no issues..so far

i so love running multiple slices...right now listening to the VHF contest on 6m FT8 and CW

on main panel

as well as monitoring 10m & 40m ssb... using macsdr on mac mini

making most of all 4 slices...i sure missed them ;-O

I am addicted to RF ;-))

Paul K3SF

johnn1jm

Paul

Mine is working great now too. I've powered it down 3 or 4 times and no EULA 😀.

I used my 7610 while the Flex was gone but the 7610 is no Flex.

John N1JM