Hi Alan,
Are you executing the MIDI channel programming on the H9 itself or the H9 Control software? Any time it’s set directly on the pedal, the setting is stored forever; no save process is necessary. If you are using H9 Control, however, sometimes you need to double check that the setting is in place before moving on. I usually make the change, exit the menu and then re-enter to make sure the change stuck. It’s not uncommon for the app to take a second or two longer for the change to stick, but once again, no save process is necessary.