Welcome! Testers wanted on Windows and macOS

[vitoramaral10]

Hi! 👋 This app updates the M-VAVE Pocket AMP firmware over USB from Windows, macOS or Linux.

The first beta is out: https://github.com/vitoramaral10/pocket-amp-upgrader/releases/tag/v0.1.0-beta.1

We need testers on Windows and macOS

Detection has been tested on Linux with a real pedal, but nobody has tried Windows or macOS with a real Pocket AMP yet. You can help without risking anything:

1. Download the build for your system.
2. Connect the pedal by USB and open the app. Just opening it only asks the pedal for its name and version; nothing is written.
3. Tell us what you saw with the hardware test report form, or reply here.

If you decide to run a full update, back up your presets first (see the README).

Questions, tips and ideas for other M-VAVE pedals are welcome in this thread or in a new discussion. See CONTRIBUTING.md if you want to help with code or docs.

[ShinaTak1]

I bought a Coolmusic Pixie1 pedal, which is the same as the Pocket Amp. However, I can't upgrade it through the M-Vave official app. I hope you can fix this so that it supports the upgrade.The firmware version is V07.

[vitoramaral10]

Thanks, @fernandoarafat! Not shared on social media yet. It's still a beta, and I want a few more confirmed updates on real hardware first.

Good news: a PIXIE1 on V07 was updated to Pocket AMP 1.05 with this app today (see #2), so the path from the V0x line works on at least one rebranded unit. I don't know yet whether the Donner pedal is the same hardware, and you can help me find out. None of the steps below writes anything to the pedal.

1. Detection log. Connect the pedal by USB, open the app and paste the log here, as ShinaTak1 did above. I need the exact name the pedal reports (for example Pocket Go_008) and your OS version.
2. Photos. One of the front of the pedal and one of the screen showing the firmware version. If you ever open it, a photo of the board helps too, but that's optional.
3. The V08 file from Donner. Zip it and attach it here, or send a link. If you'd rather not share it, post the exact file name, the size in bytes and the SHA-256 (certutil -hashfile "file.fwsc" SHA256 on Windows, shasum -a 256 file.fwsc on macOS).
4. What Donner sent with it. The name of the updater program they told you to use, and any instructions. Also tell me whether V08 is installed now or the pedal is still on V07.

For reference, I looked at the firmware Donner publishes on its Pocket Go page (Pocket Go_009.fwsc). It is the same chip and the same family as the Pocket AMP firmware, but an older generation with a different flash layout than 1.05.

So please don't flash 1.05 yet. Because the layout changes, user presets and loaded IRs may not survive the update. Once I've seen your log and the file, I'll tell you whether it's safe and what to back up first.

[fernandoarafat]

Thanks for the instructions. Here's the information:

1. Detection log. The pedal is detected as "DONNER Pocket AMP_008" and the message says the pedal is not supported. I'm using Windows 11.

18:38:35  Ports: USB-Midi
18:38:36    USB-Midi: answered "DONNER Pocket AMP_008", not a supported pedal
18:38:36  No pedal answered.

2. Photos.

3 & 4. Files. I have attached the second firmware file that they sent me (that's why it was named (2)) because the first one didn't work. I also attached to the zip file the instructions they sent me, which was using M-Vave's M-Upgrade program. I currently have the Ver 008 installed (which is the attached fwsc file.
DONNER Pocket AMP_008(2).zip

I hope this information can help you, or let me know if you need something else.

Regarding the installation using your upgrader, I wouldn't care if loose my presets or Amps and IR's on this pedal, so no worries about that.

[vitoramaral10]

Thanks, @fernandoarafat, that was everything I needed.

What I found. Your pedal looks like a Pocket AMP under the Donner name:

• the photos show the same buttons, knobs and screen;
• Donner sent you M-VAVE's own M-UPGRADE tool;
• the firmware file is for the same chip (AC791N), and its package lists the same checksum for the update loader as M-VAVE's Pocket AMP V1.05 package.

It is not the "Pocket Go" I mentioned before; that is a different product. The app refused yours only because it did not know the name DONNER Pocket AMP.

Test build. I added that name in #14. A Windows build is here (log in to GitHub, then download pocket-amp-upgrader-windows-x64.zip at the bottom of the page):
https://github.com/vitoramaral10/pocket-amp-upgrader/actions/runs/42817388749

Please read before updating:

• Nobody has done this on a Donner unit yet. The evidence above is strong but it is not proof: if the hardware differs, the pedal may stop working. The app asks you to confirm this separately.
• It writes M-VAVE's Pocket AMP V1.05 firmware. Afterwards the pedal reports itself as Pocket AMP_105, and Donner's V08 file may no longer be accepted to go back.
• Your presets will most likely not survive, as you expected. On older firmware the app cannot back them up in a way it can restore: it saves a raw copy, tells you where, and asks before continuing.
• If the update stops with the pedal in update mode, close the app, open it again and run the update a second time. That happened once on a PIXIE1 and the second run finished.
• After updating from the V0x line, M-VAVE says to switch to Speaker mode and load the Speaker mode preset in M-EFCS if there is no sound.

If you'd rather not risk it, just opening the test build is safe: it only asks the pedal for its name and should now show it as a Pocket AMP.

Either way, please tell me what happened, with the log from Details → Copy for a bug report. If the app saves a raw-DONNER_Pocket_AMP_008-<date>.bin file in Documents/Pocket AMP Upgrader, attaching it (zipped) to #10 would help with converting old presets one day.

[vitoramaral10]

@fernandoarafat, an update: we tested the Donner path on a real pedal.

What we did.

1. We put your DONNER Pocket AMP_008 firmware on an M-VAVE Pocket AMP. It ran normally as DONNER Pocket AMP_008: USB, MIDI, audio, all fine. That is strong evidence your pedal is the same hardware.
2. From that state, the app converted it to M-VAVE Pocket AMP V1.05, from the normal screen, with the same steps you would follow.
3. It came back as Pocket AMP_105 and works as before. The audio response measured the same on both firmwares.

New test build. The project is now called Pocket AMP Tools, and this build replaces the one from yesterday. Log in to GitHub, then download pocket-amp-tools-windows-x64.zip at the bottom of this page:
https://github.com/vitoramaral10/pocket-amp-tools/actions/runs/42939244683

To update, in the Firmware section:

1. Click Download from M-VAVE. The package line should read M-VAVE Pocket AMP V1.05.
2. Click Update firmware and tick both boxes, including the one that turns your Donner into a Pocket AMP.
3. When the app says your presets cannot be backed up, choose Update without a backup. Donner's firmware stores presets in another format; the app keeps a raw copy and tells you where.
4. Keep the pedal connected and powered for about 2 minutes, until the app says it restarted as Pocket AMP_105.

Still true:

• Not tested on your unit: no Donner-made unit has been updated yet, so yours would be the first. Our test pedal was an M-VAVE unit running Donner's firmware, which is the closest we could get.
• Your presets: the presets on your pedal now will most likely not carry over.
• Going back: after the update the pedal reports itself as a Pocket AMP. In our test we could also put Donner's V08 back with a development tool, but the app itself only installs M-VAVE's official firmware.

If you try it, please paste the log from Details here, whether it worked or not. And thanks again for the files: they made this possible.

[fernandoarafat]

Hey there, @vitoramaral10 . Sorry for not replying back, but I was planning on testing the updater once I get back from work. Thanks for confirming that the Donner firmware worked on other pedals. I will try this new Pocket Amp Tools on my unit and report back, just give me a couple hours if I get a chance tonight.

[fernandoarafat]

Hello, @vitoramaral10. About the Donner branded pocket amp. I just tried the Pocket Amp tools. When I tried the first time, it when through the flashing process and the unit end up with a black screen and the buttons lit up and the program show a message saying that it couldn't reconnect, and this was the log:

windows "Windows 10 Pro" 10.0 (Build 26300)
20:50:45  Ports: USB-Midi
20:50:45  Found "DONNER Pocket AMP_008" on USB-Midi
20:52:16  Downloading https://yms-file-store.oss-cn-hongkong.aliyuncs.com/software/firmware/Pocket%20AMP.fwsc
20:52:18  Package "Pocket AMP_105" from M-VAVE download, sha256 9584e81da98215e8e70ddffc28311423ceaa1a5a8a12a478dc68f4679e10902b
20:53:26  Presets are not in the Pocket AMP layout (Backup EQ table is not valid.); raw copy kept at ~\Documents\Pocket AMP Tools\raw-DONNER_Pocket_AMP_008-2026-11-10T205326.bin. They will not be restored.
20:53:46  Continuing without a restorable preset backup.
20:53:46  Pedal "DONNER Pocket AMP_008" -> package "Pocket AMP_105" (sha256 9584e81da98215e8e70ddffc28311423ceaa1a5a8a12a478dc68f4679e10902b)
20:53:48  loader: done (1s)
20:53:48  Waiting for the pedal to come back in update mode...
20:54:28  Update failed: The pedal did not come back. Do not unplug it: reconnect it, open this app again and run the update once more; it resumes from update mode.

I then restarted the program, click on download again from M-Vave, and the Resume Update button. The unit came back to life and left it on for some time, but the program showed and error message that it couldn't reconnect it again. I checked the version in the unit and already showed POCKET AMP VER 105, so I proceeded to restart the app once more, clicked on detect pedal and it showed it was an M-Vave Pocket AMP. My presets are still there with my loaded Amps and Cabs. Here is the final log:

windows "Windows 10 Pro" 10.0 (Build 26300)
21:03:05  Ports: USB-Midi
21:03:06  Found "ota-DONNER Pocket AMP_008" on USB-Midi
21:03:18  Downloading https://yms-file-store.oss-cn-hongkong.aliyuncs.com/software/firmware/Pocket%20AMP.fwsc
21:03:20  Package "Pocket AMP_105" from M-VAVE download, sha256 9584e81da98215e8e70ddffc28311423ceaa1a5a8a12a478dc68f4679e10902b
21:03:35  Pedal "ota-DONNER Pocket AMP_008" -> package "Pocket AMP_105" (sha256 9584e81da98215e8e70ddffc28311423ceaa1a5a8a12a478dc68f4679e10902b)
21:03:47  flash: done (12s)
21:03:47  Waiting for the pedal to restart...
21:04:47  Update failed: The pedal did not come back. Do not unplug it: reconnect it, open this app again and run the update once more; it resumes from update mode.
21:06:52  Ports: USB-Midi
21:06:52  Found "Pocket AMP_105" on USB-Midi
21:13:55  Downloading https://yms-file-store.oss-cn-hongkong.aliyuncs.com/software/firmware/Pocket%20AMP.fwsc
21:13:57  Package "Pocket AMP_105" from M-VAVE download, sha256 9584e81da98215e8e70ddffc28311423ceaa1a5a8a12a478dc68f4679e10902b
21:15:27  Read all 80 presets and their EQ.

[vitoramaral10]

Thanks a lot, @fernandoarafat! Yours is the first Donner-made unit updated to V1.05, and it's great news that your presets, amps and cabs survived.

Why it said "the pedal did not come back". On Windows your pedal shows up on a port named just USB-Midi, and after each restart the app was looking for the pedal by a name it didn't recognise. The update itself was fine, as you saw: the second run finished the flash, and the pedal was already on V1.05 when the app gave up waiting. The app now finds the pedal on a port with a generic name (#23).

New release: v0.2.0-beta.3 includes that fix, plus fixes from a full review: safer restores and live editing, and a check that refuses to update while another pedal is plugged in. You no longer need a build from the Actions page.

I've updated the README and the website: the Donner Pocket AMP is now listed as updated by an owner, with credit to you.

If you still have the raw-DONNER_Pocket_AMP_008-….bin file the app saved before the update, attaching it (zipped) to #10 would still help with converting presets from older firmware one day. No pressure, of course.