Sorry if this has been answered before but how exactly do you downgrade? I updated to FW4 and the Handy just doesnt work period. It connects to stuff like faptap and script player but just doesnt move.
Scroll up in this thread for a link to instructions (quite many pages up, just keep scrolling).
WiFi is backward compatible, but not Bluetooth. If you want to connect to legacy Bluetooth apps (script player) you will need to press the ACTION button and UP button at the same time for more than 2 sec.
Hi. Could you help me debug further?
- On what service did you have trouble uploading?
- What was the error you had?
- And what FW version are you on?
Direct link to upgrade to 4.0.13 is here: Handyverse
Not the original poster, but I’ve been seeing issues as well with Stash, especially in case of a longer video. Sometimes the Handy will just stop and nothing will get it back working unless I reload the video, wait for the script to upload and then ffwd to the spot I was in.
I am using HereSphere on Quest served by xbvr running on my NAS. With FW4 a few months ago scripts would upload and immediately start very consistently. It was fantastic.
Over the last ~6 weeks the process got increasingly unreliable. I’d get an orange “failed to upload” message in HereSphere. I’d get a “uploaded” message but the script wouldn’t start. I’d get a “script playing” message - but the Handy wouldn’t actually move at all. These problems increased to the point that last week I had to retry multiple times for each script.
I tried changing my Handy key - no improvement.
I went back to FW3 and uploads were much more reliable - maybe 1 in 20 failures.
I am in the U.S.A. in central Texas. I have 1.2Gbps Internet service from Spectrum. I have a wifi 6E router in the same room as my Quest Pro.
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I also have been having this same issue. The thing that confused me is that I’m pretty sure it started happening and I hadn’t upgraded Heresphere, nor changed the FW.
It happened to me on both 4.0.12 and to 4.0.13
My guess is that it’s a server-side issue for FW4. I remember there was a server outage during the holidays that only affected those who were on the 4 beta.
I’m certain you are correct. Unfortunately it keeps getting worse, as opposed to the usual day or three outages we’ve seen from Handy in the past.
I agree, this seems to be related to the servers, which are likely different from the servers used in FW3 because they now use gRPC for communication.
I believe this may be the case as well. Ever since FW4 has been launched, there has been significantly more downtime due to server and connection issues, unlike FW3. While FW4 does works great when it works, its reliability is worse than FW3.
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In latest version i can’t connect to bluetooth. Went back to FW3. Anyone else have same problem or is it just me? Scripts loads time were really good with FW4, but sometimes accuracy is not and when i used FW4 handy sometimes goes to way top making that “clank” sound. Not have that problem with FW3. Hopefully you guys get it fixed.
I also have issues to connect to bluetooth mode.
When offline (green light), a single press of the mode button gives a red light (when pressing)
Holding mode button allow to connect to wifi without issue, but I noticed the light switches between purple and blue, but I have never been able to connect to bluetooth (at least, on Intiface)
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The biggest advantage of FW4 is the vastly improved Wifi start time - when the servers are working properly. Bluetooth is just as fast to start. Seems like you aren’t getting much by moving to FW4?
Hello everyone,
Legacy Bluetooth:
For those wishing to use apps that depend on the older Bluetooth protocol, you can activate Legacy Bluetooth mode on the FW4 device by pressing the Wi-Fi button and the UP button simultaneously.
Server Issues:
We understand that there have been some challenges regarding downtime with the FW4 system, as we are still in the beta phase. The FW3 system and API v2 remain our primary platforms for the time being. We appreciate your patience as we navigate through this transition. While we are making significant upgrades, some bugs are still being addressed, and we are hopeful that the major downtimes experienced during the holidays are behind us.
Please remember, participation in this beta is completely optional, and we welcome any constructive feedback you may have.
Thank you for your understanding and support.
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i wanted to mention the ability to use the handy offline over wifi, but it seems like it’s been noticed and planned for somewhere in the future. i agree with the points made for this change, but the problem i have is the unreliability of my own internet connection that sometimes sours the experience. from the slight desync every time I play/pause or skip ahead, to the device just losing the ability to play scripts entirely when my internet is down (unless something recently changed about this, bluetooth still seems janky and hardly usable with many scripts).
on the topic of firmware, im glad to see improvements are being made to FW4. when i tried it soon after the first “stable” release, i got scared by the sounds the motor started making and i immediately downgraded to FW3 
the connectivity improvements of FW4 is something that im looking forward to, but at this point im wondering if it wouldn’t be a good idea to do the same thing with motor operation that was done with the new bluetooth stuff - provide a way to switch it to legacy FW3 mode.
You say that, but a brand new Handy configured using the HandyOnboarding app will show a prompt front-and-center with a message like “you are on old firmware - upgrade?”
Sure, someone can decline that - but why would they? There’s no indication the upgrade is to a beta / test / work-in-progress.
That sure makes FW4 seem like the default.
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Hi
Yes, you are right. The idea was that the Handyverse app would be the main app for FW3, and the onboarding app was for FW4 only. However, Google removed the Handyverse app on Android. On iOS, Handyverse and FW3 are still the main route.
Use handyfeeling.com or handyverse APK if you want to stay FW3 only, or just ignore the update message in the onboarding app.
I know that. Other EroScripts members know that. But the thousands of Handy customers who don’t frequent this forum will not.
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With the wackiness of the FW4 servers I mentioned I switched back to FW3. The FW3 servers were having connectivity issues the other day. I was unable to connect to Handy’s servers long enough to complete a FW upgrade back to FW4.
Out of curiosity I pulled out my backup Handy - I have a new-in-box second unit. I’ve noticed that it regularly hits the top of the housing when moving. I tried moving the stroker portion to the opposite end of the device and reconnecting power, hoping the automated startup would figure out the proper extent of movement. No luck.
I ran the calibration routine in the HandyOnboarding app, but it didn’t seem to make any change.
Not sure I should be using FW4 on this device, since it seems bound to break eventually this way.
Thanks for the feedback.
- What FW version are you on when it hits the top and fails calibration?
- What FW3 issues did you have?