Akai Force Forum: Everything relating to the Akai Force, the new 64 pad, clip-based standalone sampler/groovebox from Akai. While not an MPC, it shares many similar software features to the MPC X/MPC Live including the same underlying code-base.
By Videodrone68 Thu Jan 27, 2022 11:33 am
Hello! Hope fully someone can assist me with my problem.
When I turn on the Force, a series of lights will come on for a moment and then it just shuts down. I've tried three different power cables, with no luck in getting the machine powered up. Any suggestions?
By Videodrone68 Thu Jan 27, 2022 1:25 pm
Yes, it worked previously. I have had no power issues that I know of. It was a little after the upgrade. The machine was bought second hand but seemed to be almost pristine. I contacted AKAI they said they would try to fix it if I sent it in. Seemed expensive. I was trying to find a solution on my own for now. I'm thinking since the lights come on, it is getting power. Just not enough?? The adapter is good.
Here is the real kicker. This is my second Force to go down like this. It acts like it wants to be reset or something.
By Videodrone68 Thu Jan 27, 2022 2:37 pm
Yes everything is removed. I try to start it up every so often, in hopes it will right itself. It seems there would be a special boot mode, or a string of hot keys I could push, but I can't find any information on that. When I took it apart to observe the pcb boards, I saw a Small recovery button, I haven't done anything with it, as I know nothing about what it would do.
By misterflibble Sat Jan 29, 2022 1:39 pm
Videodrone68 wrote:Hello! Hope fully someone can assist me with my problem.
When I turn on the Force, a series of lights will come on for a moment and then it just shuts down. I've tried three different power cables, with no luck in getting the machine powered up. Any suggestions?

I wonder if the internal microSD drive in your Force has failed. If the machine is trying to boot but the BIOS equivalent on the board can’t load an OS then it may default to shutting down. Besides the physical controls, the SD card is really the only other “wear and tear” part in the machine AFAIK.

Did you ask Akai if there is a special key combo you can try to get it to load in some kind of debug mode and give you an error message? I wonder if it’s possible to load the Force OS on to a USB thumb drive and have it boot from that like you’d dual-boot a laptop. You might also want to hit up the Hakai Force guys to see if they know how to get diagnostic info off the MPC or have any other suggestions.

If you’re already out of warranty and comfy opening up your Force, you could try re-imaging a microSD card with the Force OS and swapping it into your Force. You could also start by seeing if you can get the microSD card in the Force to mount and be read by your computer to test if it’s the card - you’d take out the card and plug it into your computer with the appropriate adapter. Akai can provide you the original system image for the Force to do the re-imaging on a new microSD card.

More details on swapping out the SD card here. This is for MPC but the guts of the Force are very similar.

viewtopic.php?p=1818377

This guy might also be able to help, he has a Force tear down video.

https://youtube.com/channel/UChYg5JqFG474HTR5J9nYVFA

You could also ask the guys at mpcstuff.com for help or to get a competitive repair quote versus Akai.
By misterflibble Sat Jan 29, 2022 3:31 pm
Also wanted to say that the recovery button is probably for resetting the firmware on the SoC itself - I definitely would not mess with that unless Akai tells you to. For all we know, Akai has a custom build for that firmware.

EDIT: actually, this might be handy for you after all. According to this guy, pushing the recovery button will put the Force into the mode it needs to go into for a firmware update.

https://niklasnisbeth.gitlab.io/mpc-internals/

There is a button called “recovery” on the left side board. Pressing it while booting puts the Live into the same update/recovery mode that can be reached from software.

Should be the same for the Force. Just be careful if you test this out while the unit is plugged in, you don’t want to electrocute yourself.
By Videodrone68 Sun Jan 30, 2022 11:51 am
Thank you for the advice!
I am going to go over it with my multimeter, and see if I can locate any issues before I hit the recovery button/ software debug scenario. It's so weird that I have two units that have gone down like this, and haven't found anyone else with a similar problem. If my memory serves me, The last thing I remember doing was setting up external synth through a usb hub. Could that have fried the system? I called the people at mpcstuff and they said a new PCB board would not be in until JULY. This is all very frustrating as I was finally getting over the learning curve and was starting to really take off with it.
Thanks again for the advice and the article. Much appreciated!!
By dstengle Sun Jan 30, 2022 9:01 pm
Videodrone68 wrote:Thank you for the advice!
I am going to go over it with my multimeter, and see if I can locate any issues before I hit the recovery button/ software debug scenario. It's so weird that I have two units that have gone down like this, and haven't found anyone else with a similar problem. If my memory serves me, The last thing I remember doing was setting up external synth through a usb hub. Could that have fried the system? I called the people at mpcstuff and they said a new PCB board would not be in until JULY. This is all very frustrating as I was finally getting over the learning curve and was starting to really take off with it.
Thanks again for the advice and the article. Much appreciated!!


I definitely had a problem with a startup hang that I traced to a synth in the last couple of weeks. At first I thought it was because I had been playing with USB audio but after some debugging where I disconnected everything and got it to boot I isolated it down to the network mode on the korg modwave making it hang IFF the modwave was on before the force (which it usually isn't).

So there is definitely weirdness possible with USB devices, although I had a hang, not a boot failure. I would think it is unlikely that you could fry it with a USB device but maybe it is possible if the device itself has some short issue. Do you have your devices connected directly or through a hub? I've never thought twice about connecting directly on occasion, but a hub does potentially add some protection.
By SuperKonquer Tue Feb 01, 2022 4:03 pm
Since you say you have had two die like this have you considered if it may be voltage spikes in your power outlets. Ive lost several computers and music gear over the years from voltage spikes after neighborhood power outages, even when buffered by power conditioners.
By Videodrone68 Wed Feb 02, 2022 7:18 am
The first device died randomly and didn't notice until I walked over to use it, and saw it couldn't start. The second one died not long after I was plugging synths into a USB hub. Both died not vey long after installing the latest update. ( Not sure that was the issue, but it is a coincidence.) Yes it could have been a power anomaly but I have so many other synths plugged up in here, never had an issue with them bugging out on me. `I was also trying to be as careful as possible with it as I didn't want it to kick off like the first one.
UghI miss my Force!!
By Marten Meij Thu Apr 21, 2022 5:50 pm
Hi There,

Just got home, ready for a creative session. Starting my Force..... nothing :x
Yesterday it was just fine. Nothing has changed since. Out of the blue, just dead...
Never had this, with any device.

Read all the kind and helpful comments above, so I'm not asking a new question here.
Just wanted to share with Videodrone68 that you're not the only one. And what I read from your experience sofar, I'm not very hopeful :(
By Csé Tue Feb 21, 2023 6:06 pm
"Matrix + Load+ Save" together and power on.
The Force is now on upgrade mode. Connect the USB cable to PC or Mac. Run the downloaded firmware update file from "akaipro.com". Ready.