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Okay, I made the mistake of buying 4 Invokes for $50 at the Microsoft Store. I first bought two and really like them and then bought two more. I have two of them set up.
I love the sound quality (it's better than the Echo Dots and Google Homes that I also have) and I've been pretty happy with them. I use them for listening to the radio (via TuneIn), setting timers, and as my alarm clock.
I have also set up reminders and they showed up in my Windows PC as a notification. That's something that I don't think Alexa or Google Home can do. Really neat! I also like Cortana's personality.
But I made the mistake of waiting too long before setting the other two up. I have been trying since December 2019 to set them up using both my Windows 10 PC and an Android phone. The setup app can connect to the speakers and then have the speakers connect to my WiFi network. Everything seems to be going well but the set up process never finishes.
After connecting to WiFi, the speaker tells me it needs to update the system software/firmware and to please wait. Eventually, the speakers tells me that something went wrong and that I should start the setup process over again.
I keep repeating the setup process and the same thing happens. It seems like it is trying to update the software/firmware to the latest version but a server is down or something so it can never finish the set up process.
Can someone from Microsoft please tell me if it is still possible to setup my two remaining Harmon Kardon Invoke speakers? Is the server responsible for setting up and updating the Invoke still operating?
If not, is there any way I can manually update the firmware on the Invokes to the latest? There is a USB port on the Invoke that is supposed to be used for "service". Can this be used to update the firmware? Is there a firmware file available for download?
If the server is down, can Microsoft put the server back up again so I can set up my remaining two Invokes? I received no warning that this would happen. Perhaps you host the server on your Azure Cloud services? That would seem like the perfect place to do it. It shouldn't take up too much resources as it would just spin up when needed. Please restore the server even if it's only for a limited time. Just give us a warning when it will go down so we would have time to set up our speakers before its too late.
I tried emailing Harman Kardon but I can tell they won't be of much help. Any help or information would be greatly appreciated. These are brand new speakers and I would just hate for them to be useless right out of the box. And I wish that Microsoft wouldn't give up on Cortana like this.
Locked Question. This question was migrated from the Microsoft Support Community. You can vote on whether it's helpful, but you can't add comments or replies or follow the question.
Mine is having the same problem; however when I get to the stage where you connect to the WIFI and it switched over to HK_Invoke_XXXXX nothing works. I have trying to change to all three of my WIFI settings and it still wont connect. Eventually, it says something failed and I get a red light, but because it has never established a connection to WIFI it never updated. This is super frustrating and I would love to hear from you, as MS or HK are not helpful in resolving this issue.
I have one invoke that never got the latest software update and it definitely does not work as well as the other 4 I have. Come on MS, distribute the last update via manual download so that it can be applied via the service port. It's not like the software doesn't exist.
Thank you so much for your reply. I did as you instructed and I was able to fool my 2 new Invokes into working.
In the past I tried everything. I think the main difference is that after removing power from my Invoke, I can't wait too long to reapply power (I waited a day). This time, I did as you instructed (waited about 1 minute) and after the 2nd setup process, the speaker will pretend it was successful.
I now have a total of 4 working Harman Kardon Invokes and I'm very happy.
Thanks - appreciate your response as I had the same issue. I also was able to fool my new Invoke into working - and I have 2 I've given as presents the past few months that I'll have to help the same way. It's irritating that this is required, and that firmware doesn't seem to be available from either Microsoft or Harman Kardon.
Hi!
The same problem here...
I just bought my 5th Invoke and I having exaclty the same issue: it does not update.
However, I have good news for you...
At the end of the setup, after it tells you that something failed and you have you see the res light, just remove it from the power, wait one minute and turn it on again.
It will start, it will again tell you that you need an update and it will fail, but this time instead of red light, it will pretend that it worked and you will be able to use it.
The problem now is that everytime you remove it from power source and turn it on again, this will happen. So boot time for invoke will take a long time.
However it works as expected, but with the older version of the firmware.
Good Luck!
This is my first post here ever. I just did that because I totally understand your frustration.
Finally, please, could Microsoft or Harman Kardon turn on the Invoke update server?
Since it already checks for an update, what is down it the download server.
Thanks
