MPC 60 crashes randomly with freeze and 06H system error

Hello Guys,

My MPC 60 II is my latest nightmare since i purchased it a few months ago. It has OS 3.10, Maxxed Out Ram & Recently installed the SCSI add-on from Roger Linn's website.

My Problem happened before and after i installed the SCSI and before and after i removed a non-working Floppy drive that was only constantly lit-up from start up.

Description of the problem:

1. If the MPC is running & looping a beat, after an hour, or 10 minutes or 2 hours (very random) it starts freezing and the loop starts to sound more and more random with high pitch noize and rumble accelerating until i have to shut down manually since all buttons are locked & frozen.

2. Usually it shows a System Error message, usually a 06H TYPE error asking me to save programs etc..( iv seen this problem on the forum before but no real solution)

3.Sometimes it freezes the same way but without showing an Error on the screen. Just keeping the last seen screenshot.

4.Sometimes the error message has a weird display and text looks a bit funked up with missnig word and bad alignment;

5. Somtimes it happens without doing anything while the beat is playing, sometimes it will happen at the same type i tap a pad or press a button.

6. Has happened a few times while pressing soft key 1 for 16 levels activation.


Experimentations :

1. I bought this mpc said to be working fine with a non working floppy that was always with the light on. I Couldnt save or load.
2. I bought and installed the roger linns SCSI option fine. But crashes appeared again.
At times, after the crash, when i shut down then started it up again, it failed to recognize the SCSI drive.

My first sign of hope was that my damn useless floppy which was powered, may have been causing electric interferences or something, that created a conflict and caused the MPC to crash.

Since i disconnected the floppy (only the power cable - couldnt remove the cable to the board, i was afraid to bend/break the Mother board and thought since its not powered, it wont send any messages (?) ) the mpc always finds the SCSI with flying colors even after...crashes.

I thought that it didnt crash as much since i disconnected the floppy, but it seem that its crashing more and more again.

Im sooo gutted as i really want to keep this MPC and work with it, i love it so much even for the bits that im able to do by saving as much as possible etc.... its SO frustrating to spend hard earned money for a piece of non working . bugged equipment.
I dont even think i can get it "fixed" or "checked up" here in Paris, France. There is a guy that is known to fix up analog synths, moogs, sequential circuits stuff etc... but how much does one need to know to operate on a mpc60 ?

After reading a couple of threads and searching here, it seems that power supply could be an issue? Or maybe loose cables (even tho i triple check everything after opening up the mpc. Maybe cracked OS or RAM? Would a picture help u guys confirm the authenticity of it?

I hope the people who had similar problems and techos will be able to show me the light

Much peace
D.

UP !!!!!!! Please help fellaz

HNY

If you remove the backlight and/or RAM, does this fix the issue?

You said it sometimes crashes when you press a button -- there may be a short in one of the sensor PCBS at the top of the unit.

Where did you purchase this MPC 60 from?

Since you are in France, does this MPC have the European Power Supply inside or has this been converted to run on European Power? There should be a sticker on the back of the unit that says what the voltage is set up for.

There may be something shorting out inside -- could be a cable, capacitor or other component. With the machine off, look at the cables inside the machine, make sure none of them have pinches or are smashed or have exposed wires.

Deepahmusic,

call the store Musical Service :

http://culture.118000.fr/v_paris_75/c_reparation-entretien-d-instrument-et-d-accessoire-de-musique/e_musical-service_0142850012_C0002610811

I ve changed some eletronic stuffs on a 3K and a SP12 over there.

Nice people, and hopefully pro on a MPC 60.

Call them, maybe on the phone they can tell you if they know the bug.

Peace

HI

I bought the MPC60 on ebay with 3.10 without scsi and installed a brand nu kit on Roger linn's website. The problem was already happenin before, and after. I had a faulty disk drive that gave me an error FF60, so i disconnected it. Only using Scsi with ZIP 100 ext.drv.

Can you take a look a picture i took before installing the scsi-kit. Does the ram look like a bootleg one???


https://images.weserv.nl/?url=i221.photobucket.com/albums/dd84/brawther/IMG_0101.jpg

At least i'll know if the problem is from a booleg ram.
It should narrow a bit the search for the cause of the problem.

The MPC, is a US voltage, so im using a converter. A decent one, same one i use for another vintage sampler.

Thanks for the Musical Service TIP. I actually called them a month ago and they told me that such freezes could come from a software probblem, like faulty RAM. But i suspect something else.

No i havent replace the backlight or ram. It's so much hassle and pluggin, depluggin, that i dont want to risk more, and loose my patience.
if i can get it fixed properly and sleep soundly ever after, i prefer that solution !

thanks for the help. More help welcome too !

Deepahmusic wrote:
Thanks for the Musical Service TIP. I actually called them a month ago and they told me that such freezes could come from a software probblem, like faulty RAM. But i suspect something else.

No i havent replace the backlight or ram. It's so much hassle and pluggin, depluggin, that i dont want to risk more, and loose my patience.
if i can get it fixed properly and sleep soundly ever after, i prefer that solution !

So you called Musical Service for help and they suggested taking out the RAM, but you say it's too much of a hassle to unplug it?

Unfortunately, unless you put some effort into isolating the problem there's not much help that anyone can do for you.

The RAM looks like other RAM I've seen in other MPC 60s so I wouldn't worry about it being a "bootleg." Take out the RAM and see if the problem goes away. There may be a bad module on there. If removing the RAM doesn't fix the issue, then you can assume the RAM is OK.

Unplug the backlight at the inverter. If the problem goes away, then you will know the backlight is not causing the issue.

What are the specs for your power converter? What is the wattage rating? What is the make and model of it?

Ur right, MPC HUNTER, im gonna try to unplug the ram. For a moment i thought that the SCSI option was built on top of the RAM
& that it would have to unscrew eeeevrything and rescrewww everything. But in fact i dont think it is.

Also how can i unplug the backlight at the inverter (assuming i find it, but i think its gonna be dead easy) and be able to "see" while de mpc is on ? I need the backlight running so i can navigate. i'm not an expert yet i think, and i need to load samples, sample stuff, make beat, to see if its gonna happen? A sound should be played in order the hear a stuttering problem and screen to see the "frozen" screen...

I'll try the ram first

thanks.

Sam

The small board that is directly above the disk drive is the inverter board. There are two sets of wires on this board, disconnect the wires that goes up to the LCD screen from the board. In your picture it looks like the brown colored wire with the clear tubing overtop of it. This will isolate the backlight foil from the inverter.

You will be able to see the display, but you may need more light in the room to see what you are doing.