Firmware 9.7.4: Steadier Encoders
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Another update built from a user's email. If you drive arrow keys or a scroll wheel from an encoder, this one is for you.
The Report
A customer updated his 8ES and wrote in about the encoders. Turning one steadily in a single direction would sometimes produce movement in the other direction. It was worst when he turned quickly, still noticeable when he turned slowly, and it happened on all eight encoders.
The telling detail was that MIDI looked fine. Only the keystroke and scroll-wheel side misbehaved, which is exactly how it had slipped past us. Chasing it down turned up three more things worth fixing while we were in there.
Firmware 9.7.4
- Encoders no longer report the wrong direction. A change of direction now has to be a real one before it is sent. Turning steadily one way stays one way, however fast you go — and the fine steps you get at higher resolutions are untouched.
- The first turn after power-on behaves. Two smaller faults shared one cause. Depending on the setting, the first time you reversed direction after plugging in could cost an extra click, or every power-on would quietly nudge each encoder's value down by one. Both are gone.
- Fast turns keep up. Sending a keystroke used to hold the controller up far longer than it needed to. Spin an encoder quickly through half a turn on arrow keys and the input now arrives with your hand instead of trailing behind it. Volume and media keys got the same treatment.
- Modifiers work with mouse actions again. Ctrl + scroll to zoom, Shift + scroll to pan — the modifier checkboxes for MOUSE saved your choice but stopped applying it back in 8.0.0. They apply again.
If none of this ever bothered you, 9.7.4 will simply feel the same. Nothing was traded away for it.
How to Update
- Download the latest ParksTool Uploader from the releases page. (Firmware updates need the desktop app — config.parkstool.com edits settings but cannot flash firmware.)
- Run it, connect your device with USB, and press Auto Update — it detects your device and installs firmware 9.7.4 automatically.
Your settings carry over. 9.7.4 does not change how the device stores its configuration, so your assignments, banks and colours are exactly where you left them.
Have a feature request, or something that does not behave the way you expect? We build these from user feedback. Let us know.