Just bought a blue 4k for £195!!!

Unfortunately that's where the excitement ends...

It was bought as a "not working" unit, so I didn't expect to get home and have it magically jump into life, but hopefully it can be fixed either way as the external condition is immaculate.

When it is switched on the screen lights up and the fan starts, but the OS doesn't load and no LEDs light up. There's obviously an intermittent problem somewhere because when I got to the guys house the main screen was showing fine, although the buttons were inactive.

When I got back I opened it up to have a quick look (not that I really know what I'm looking for), and I noticed that the power cables running to the HD and CD drive were completely disconnected, as was a crappy looking interconnecting ribbon cable that presumably loops from one drive to the other and then onto a board somewhere? It wasn't obvious on first look where it goes to be honest...

I've spent the last few days reading old threads, looking at the service manual and chatting to Arkyve about it, but I've only just got hold of the unit to try and assess the actual problem.

I'm stumped if truth be told, so if anyone can suggest anything it'd be much appreciated.

First rule of thumb I'd do for anything like this is check everything for dry joints on the soldering in case something is a bit sketchy.

Sounds great though Coz great snipe, what are you going to do with it? Pimp it out and sell it on in true Ark-style?

scoobylol wrote:First rule of thumb I'd do for anything like this is check everything for dry joints on the soldering in case something is a bit sketchy.

There's a lot of circuit boards and components in this thing, so that would be quite a mission to go over every single joint, but I see what you're saying. If it's something else I just hope there's a straight forward fix that someone has experience with on here. The reality may be that it's got a defective logic/main board - and I assume these are as rare as hens teeth now - so I've got my fingers crossed for a better solution. I don't mind spending some cash on it seeing as I got it so cheap though.

scoobylol wrote:what are you going to do with it? Pimp it out and sell it on in true Ark-style?

If I can fix it I can see me keeping it and selling my 2500. What it lacks in speedy chopping compared to JJ, it gains in better filters and sound manipulation etc. This may suit me better in the long run. We'll see... first things first...

For that price you wont take a loss, worst case scenario you can part it out and make some money. I'm gonna re-read your post and think about the problem, somebody here will have the answer. Def. hook up the two disconnected power cables, the screen may be just a loose cable since it comes on and off at random start up times. Try taking out both ram chips, (upper right hand corner near the inputs) and see if it effects its reaction at all.

There was only one ram chip in the board and I removed it and powered it on. The same problem was there.

I'm gonna crack it back open in a bit and have another play around. Hopefully I can work out where the ribbon cable connects to the board...

Yeah man, take out any and all expansions.. or things that aren't vital to the machine booting... that takes a bit out of the equation while narrowing down the location of the problem.

Maybe you could report exactly what it then does and does not do etc..

Coz wrote:Unfortunately that's where the excitement ends...

It was bought as a "not working" unit, so I didn't expect to get home and have it magically jump into life, but hopefully it can be fixed either way as the external condition is immaculate.

When it is switched on the screen lights up and the fan starts, but the OS doesn't load and no LEDs light up. There's obviously an intermittent problem somewhere because when I got to the guys house the main screen was showing fine, although the buttons were inactive.

When I got back I opened it up to have a quick look (not that I really know what I'm looking for), and I noticed that the power cables running to the HD and CD drive were completely disconnected, as was a crappy looking interconnecting ribbon cable that presumably loops from one drive to the other and then onto a board somewhere? It wasn't obvious on first look where it goes to be honest...

I've spent the last few days reading old threads, looking at the service manual and chatting to Arkyve about it, but I've only just got hold of the unit to try and assess the actual problem.

I'm stumped if truth be told, so if anyone can suggest anything it'd be much appreciated.

I'm thinking that cable that hangs down from PCB operation assembly area may be disconnected. Which becomes disconnected real easily when you pop the hood.

mr_debauch wrote:Yeah man, take out any and all expansions.. or things that aren't vital to the machine booting... that takes a bit out of the equation while narrowing down the location of the problem.

Maybe you could report exactly what it then does and does not do etc..

I had other shit to do last night, and I'm back at work tonight, so it'll be a few days before I have another look. My plan is to have a very quick play to rule out anything obvious, and if that fails I will get it sent off to be repaired properly. I've already put the feelers out by emailing a few companies, so I should have a better idea in a few days. I text a guy who's number I found on here, and he suggested a thorough fault find of the power supply and connecting boards, and also reinstalling the OS. That makes sense, but I'm not equipped with the right tools or know-how to properly test the electronics unfortunately.

If I can get this thing working again I'll be well chuffed. The external build quality is phenomenal coming from a Nukai machine.

MPCWeapon1 wrote:I'm thinking that cable that hangs down from PCB operation assembly area may be disconnected. Which becomes disconnected real easily when you pop the hood.

When I popped it open that cable became disconnected, so I just reconnected it the way it appeared to go back in. It wasn't immediately obvious what way it should go as it just looks like a bare ribbon cable, so I just followed the natural curve of the cable... The same problem was still there anyway, and I didn't think reversing the connection would be wise.

Coz wrote:
If I can get this thing working again I'll be well chuffed. The external build quality is phenomenal coming from a Nukai machine.

Give it a week...

Give it a week for what?

Coz wrote:Give it a week for what?

Until three pads fall off, the screen cracks for no reason and 92% of the tact switches fail. I'm just jehsting Coz don't worry dude.

If I get the chance I'll pop the top on mine and take pics so you can kinda have a map of how it should look

scoobylol wrote:

Coz wrote:Give it a week for what?

Until three pads fall off, the screen cracks for no reason and 92% of the tact switches fail. I'm just jehsting Coz don't worry dude.

I actually landed on an old thread yesterday titled something like... 'MPC 4000 shoddy build quality'

There's no pleasing some people!

Ah yeh Coz as Ark says if you need any pics just PM me mate, I've got a 1000 black but the inside bar the pads should be the same I'd have thought.

In regards to build quality half the reason I love anything outboard is the fact that the bits go wrong and produce "odd" results. No emulation can match serendipity.