If you're having trouble updating your Spark GO firmware on Windows 11 version 25H2, you're not alone. This article explains what's happening, what Positive Grid is doing about it, and how you can update your Spark GO today.
What's Happening
The Spark GO firmware updater communicates with your amp over USB MIDI. During an update it:
- Detects the connected Spark GO
- Switches it into bootloader (update) mode
- Transfers the new firmware file
Windows 11 version 25H2 introduces a redesigned MIDI subsystem with stricter USB audio class handling. This change affects how third-party audio tools — including our firmware updater — communicate with USB MIDI devices. The result:
- The updater becomes unresponsive after device detection
- Spark GO is not recognized in bootloader mode
- The update stalls or fails partway through
Your Spark GO hardware and its current firmware are working normally. The failure happens in the USB MIDI communication layer inside Windows itself, before our updater or your amp can complete the exchange.
What Positive Grid Is Doing
Because the root cause is a change inside Windows itself, a Positive Grid firmware update cannot resolve it from our side. What we're doing instead:
- Our firmware team has confirmed the diagnosis and reproducibility data, and shared it with Microsoft's Windows Music Dev team.
- We are actively tracking Microsoft's Windows MIDI Services rollout and their incremental fixes.
- We are documenting reliable workarounds (below) so you can update your Spark GO today.
When Microsoft releases a fix through a future Windows Update, the firmware updater should work again with no additional action needed on our side or yours.
What Works Today
These are the practical solutions — either one will let you use or update your Spark GO without waiting for Microsoft's fix.
Option 1: Stay on Your Current Firmware (Recommended)
Your Spark GO ships from the factory with a recent firmware version. Recent firmware updates contain minor bug fixes and improvements only — no critical functionality is missing on earlier firmware versions.
If you don't have an urgent need to update, we recommend staying on your current firmware version. The Spark app will continue to connect and work with your Spark GO normally.
Option 2: Use a Different Computer
If you need to update firmware right now, the Spark GO firmware updater still works normally on:
- Windows 10
- Windows 11 version 23H2 or earlier
- macOS 10.13 or later
Running the updater on any of those systems will let you update your Spark GO today. To check your Windows version, press Win + R, type winver, and press Enter. If it shows 25H2 (Build 26200) or later, you're likely affected.
Related Background
Windows 11 25H2 introduced a redesigned Windows MIDI Services architecture. Microsoft has been rolling out incremental fixes for various music software and hardware compatibility reports affected by this change — see Microsoft's Windows MIDI Services known issues page for their tracking.