Nord User Forum

Hi I'm getting a bulk write 20 error everytime I try to update the keyboard

it's now unusable as it has no firmware on it (the procedure made it through the erase part)

has anyone experienced this? i was going from an old version to 2.04. does anyone have a mac download for an earlier update version to try that too?

Many thanks

danbpiano wrote: ↑07 Mar 2025, 19:36 Hi I'm getting a bulk write 20 error everytime I try to update the keyboard
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it's now unusable as it has no firmware on it (the procedure made it through the erase part)

has anyone experienced this? i was going from an old version to 2.04. does anyone have a mac download for an earlier update version to try that too?

Many thanks

Verify that the firmware version 2.04 is compatible with your specific Nord keyboard model. Using an incompatible firmware can lead to update failures.​ Ensure you're using the most recent version of the Nord Sound Manager, as it includes improvements and bug fixes that may resolve update issues.

If you can get a hand on (or has stored) an older OS version, try installing it instead. If this is successful then there’s a bug in the 2.04 version you have downloaded.
If the procedure fails with every OS version, then maybe the NS manager has a bug. Try to erase and perform a new install of the NS manager.
If none of these actions resolves the issue, then it points towards a hardware issue.

That “bulk write 20” error often means the firmware transfer gets interrupted or the device doesn’t respond properly during the write phase. Here are a few things to try:

Use a different USB cable (especially a high-quality data cable, not just charging).

Try a different USB port (preferably a direct one on your Mac, not through a hub).

On your Mac, temporarily disable other USB/Thunderbolt devices and make sure “Nord Sound Manager” was quit properly.

If you can find an earlier firmware version (1.xx or 2.03), trying that might help you get it back stable, then update to 2.04.

If you like, I can help look for archived Mac download links for a previous version.

Thanks for the tips! I’ve also had the bulk write 20 error before, switching to a high-quality USB cable and trying a direct Mac port usually solves the issue. If that doesn’t work, rolling back to an earlier firmware version often gets the keyboard working again before updating to the latest version.