Software downloads and questions about installation

A) Possible Solutions if You Have a hörbert Without a USB-C Port:

• Even if you have already replaced the batteries or rechargeable batteries, please try again with a completely fresh pack of high-quality AA batteries. Sometimes an empty cell sneaks in during a battery change, or the batteries may already be discharged when purchased. If you are using rechargeable batteries, they may not be charging fully anymore, one cell could be defective, or the charger might have an issue.
• When replacing the batteries—especially if they have been completely removed from the device—gently press the ends of the opposite metal battery clips together with two fingers to ensure proper contact with the batteries. Please do this even if you think the batteries are already sitting firmly in place.
• The issue could also be related to the content on the memory card. If this might be the case, please send us the service file of your memory card for analysis along with a photo of the inner life of hörbert. Use our contact form from our 24×7 Helpdesk for sending us the files. Thank you!

How to generate the service file from your memory card:
1. Open the hörbert software.
2. Select your hörbert model.
3. Insert the memory card and wait until it appears in the software.
4. Click on “Read card”.
5. In the software menu go to “Help” ->”Service Tools” -> “Collect data for service”.
6. Choose a location to save the generated file.
7. The hörbert software will create a ZIP file and save it in the selected location.
8. Please send this ZIP file to us via email.

A firmware update may also help revive your hörbert, even if it no longer turns on. This is especially recommended if you received your hörbert 2021 model before April 2023, and have not yet performed a firmware update.

If you need further assistance, please contact our service team—ideally via the contact form.

B) Possible Solutions if You Have a hörbert with a USB-C Port and Battery Charging Circuit:

• The firmware Butterfly must be installed on your hörbert in order for the charging function to work correctly. If you have upgraded your hörbert with the USB-connection yourself, make sure that the newest firmware runs on your hörbert. See FIRMWARE UPDATE.
• Please check all connectors of the USB power supply and the battery compartment to ensure they are securely in place.
• Is the memory card fully inserted into the slot? If possible, try using a second hörbert memory card to test. You can also use any SD card between 4 GB and 512 GB, as long as it is formatted in FAT32 (or FAT, MSDOS FAT, EXFAT) beforehand and contains at least one audio file for each button.
• Does hörbert play when connected to mains power via a USB power adapter and USB-C cable? If not, do you have another power adapter and/or USB-C cable to test with?
• If rechargeable batteries are inserted: Remove one of the batteries from the battery compartment. Wait at least 30 seconds to allow any residual voltage to dissipate, then reinsert the battery.

Note: If batteries are in the battery compartment and hörbert is plugged into a power socket, the orange LED on the power supply board will blink to indicate that the batteries are charging.

If the LED blinks once and then turns off, the batteries are already fully charged.

If no batteries are inserted in the battery compartment and hörbert is connected to mains power, the orange LED will remain steadily lit.

If none of these steps solve the issue, you can check whether the problem is related to the USB connection:

• Carefully unplug the white ribbon cable that has a black connector attached to hörbert’s mainboard by gently pulling it upward.
• Now, all four metal battery clips on the mainboard will be exposed. Insert fully charged batteries – or ideally, a fresh set of four AA batteries for testing.

If hörbert now works, the issue is with the USB power supply. In that case, please contact us with your findings via the contact form.

You can find more useful information about hörbert’s USB port here:
BLOG article: hörbert’s USB connection

Please check that you have proceeded as follows:

Step 1 – Activation in SET mode:

Open hörbert’s rear panel with the help of a coin and pull it out.
Then switch hörbert on by pressing the volume control once. It will then play normally from the memory card.
2. Inside, press the SET mode button. hörbert falls silent and is now in SET mode.
3. press the light green button to activate Bluetooth. A single, bright beep must sound, which means: Bluetooth is activated.
4. Press the yellow button for pairing. A single, bright beep must sound, which means: Pairing is activated.
5. then press the SET button inside hörbert again to save. hörbert will then play back from its memory card.
6. Switch hörbert off again and close it.

Step 2 – Switching to Bluetooth Speaker Mode

7. Make sure that hörbert is switched off.
Then switch hörbert to Bluetooth speaker mode by pressing the on/off button twice. Leave a pause of only approx. 0.5 seconds between switching on and off.
hörbert will not play from its memory card after the first press. Instead, after the second press of the on/off switch, three ascending signal tones will sound as confirmation that hörbert is now in Bluetooth speaker mode.

Now you have 60 seconds to find and pair it with another player in the list of Bluetooth devices on your mobile phone.

We hope that these tips will solve the problem for you.

Please try the following after starting the hörbert software and inserting the SD card. In the software menu at the top, go to Extras -> Select destination manually. The card should then be selectable there.

If this is not possible, our development department has taken precautions:
You can simply select a file folder on your hard drive – and not your memory card. After that, the hörbert software works on the file folder as if it *were* a memory card. And if your memory card is usable with the card reader under your operating system and mounted correctly, you can simply copy the contents of this folder to the memory card afterwards. This feature is intended for when the memory card’s mount directory still doesn’t work for some reason, and when alternatives like “Sox” also fail.

We’ll agree on a price with you, because it always depends on what is broken.
If something is wrong with your hoerbert, please send us a note along with photos (<1.9 MB in size) to service (at) hoerbert (dot) com

There are two reasons for this: Either the contents of the memory card have got mixed up, or the remains of leaking batteries affect the electronics. (In this case: Problems with leaking batteries?)

• To compare problems with the memory card, you can use another suitable memory card, for example, or you can first back up all the contents of your hörbert card with the on-board resources of your computer: Simply copy all the contents of the memory card into a folder on your computer. You can use this backup later. Tip: The hörbert software can create a table of contents on page “2”, which you can save on your computer with the files on the memory card.
• The easiest way to”repair” a messed up memory card is to format it and reload it.
  • Start the hörbert software on the computer, and check if you have the latest version (at the left of the bottom of page “1”: “Search for newer hörbert software”). If necessary, install the latest software while you’re at it.
  • If you now insert your memory card into the computer and select it in the hörbert software, you can format the card with the “memory card tools”. Attention: By formatting all data on the memory card will be deleted irretrievably! Be especially careful not to select another drive of your computer or that may be plugged into your computer.
  • After formatting, you can reload the card with the hörbert software as usual. As a test, it is enough to play 2-3 songs on each playlist to test the card. If you want to try again with your previous content, simply copy your backup copy from your computer back to the card.

Attention: This tip does not apply to hörberts with a Bluetooth module. Please do not jiggle the switch if your hörbert has a built-in Bluetooth module.

hörbert has a very stable on/off switch. The manufacturer of the switch inserts a little grease into the switch. If this accumulates in the wrong place, this effect may occur. But that’s no problem: Just turn the switch on and off at least 50 times really fast and really energetically, then the grease splashes and the problem is solved.

Background knowledge: In a lamp the fat would simply go up in smoke with a spark, but there is no such amount of energy in hörbert. Therefore you may have to help mechanically. You can switch back and forth really powerfully and quickly, the switch tolerates it: We have deliberately chosen an oversized switch that resists playing children.

No, don’t worry. He just is out of power. Simply replace the batteries by new or charged ones (in case they are rechargeable batteries), then hörbert will play again normally.

If hörbert remains mute after switching on, simply check the following in this order

1. Is the device switched on? (Toggle switch to the rear and back to the front)
2. Is the volume turned up? (Turn the knob all the way to the right for testing)
3. Now, if you put your ear to the speaker at full volume: Do you hear a very quiet rhythmic chirping? (Then please keep trying One hears only soft rhythmic noises)
4. Are the batteries dead? Please insert a completely new set of 4 identical batteries from the same fresh pack. If necessary, please try a new pack again, because it often happened that an empty cell crept in when changing or the batteries from the supermarket were already empty when buying.
5. Are the batteries in contact? Please check that all battery clamps touch the metallic ends of the front and rear batteries and, if necessary, slightly bend the front and rear contact springs inwards when the battery is removed.

If this is not successful, please try again hörbert cannot be switched on or turns on or off spontaneously?

• Please insert a completely fresh set of new batteries or full batteries first, because even a poor power supply can be noticed by a croaking sound.
• Then we should exclude that it is only a loose screw, or that only the rear wall vibrates, because it should be tightened, for example. Therefore, please remove the sliding cover first. Then listen to the device at full volume with the rear panel open, whether it is still vibrating.

Is the problem still there?

• If yes, please try by laying it on the speaker grille by hand, whether it lies only on the speaker grille or the wooden frame on the speaker grille (and one of the 4 screws may be too loose there).

If you have a loose screw, you can tighten it yourself with feeling. This problem can be caused by differences in humidity and temperature when the wood”works” (expands or contracts slightly). Is the problem still there?

Could it be that you are using an extra fast Class10 card or faster? Some of these cards can have this effect. These cards perform internal clean-up or sorting functions at irregular intervals, but these disturb the data stream. That’s why the whole thing can’t be determined by a song or a playback time, the small microprocessor in the card sometimes does”its own thing”. Please test it, if possible, with a smaller/older/slower card (e.g. Class 4 or 6), then the problem should not occur. Tip: If possible use Class4 SDHC cards between 4 and 32GB. Our included cards are “Class 4” cards, recognisable by a 4 in circular “C”.