Akai S3000XL "Test Memory" Boot up screen...

Hi,

Looking for some advice on an S3000XL rack, where I'm getting a screen reading "Programs in memory 1 Test program" on boot up.

Have linked a picture of the actual screen, any advice much appreciated!



L.

larold wrote:Hi,

I'm getting a screen reading "Programs in memory 1 Test program" on boot up.

Can't see your picture but that sounds normal to me.
If you press ENT/PLAY or play the keys on a connected midi keyboard you will hear a sine tone. This is what you get when it boots up.

When "WAITING FOR HARD DISK" disappears, PROGRAM 1 (the tone) will be active.

If the message doesn't disappear, you may have blown the SCSI fuse.

You haven't really explained what your problem is though.

Thanks, sorry for the late reply... The message doesn't disappear and pressing any of the buttons doesn't seem to help. Is the SCSI fuse an easy fix?

Cheers

Ah sorry, yeah I should've explained that it doesn't actually boot up, this screen is as far as it gets...

larold wrote: Is the SCSI fuse an easy fix?

It would mean some taking apart and soldering a new one to the printed circuit board.
Not sure what the specs for the fuse are but you can usually find them offered on ebay

Have you tried powering on the sampler with a floppy disk inserted? This should enable you to at least get past that 'waiting for hard disk' screen. You would be able to use the sampler and save/load to floppy disk.

Replacing the SCSI fuse is a bit of a job on the S3000XL since you need to remove the 8-out board to get to the mainboard, where the fuse sits. The fuse is a 1 amp time-delayed fuse. The fuse in the Akai looks like a transistor, it has 2 'legs' soldered to the board. I have the fuses if you need one.

There can be a workaround for this. That fuse (when it isn't blown) passes termination power to the SCSI chain. Some SCSI drives can supply termination power to the SCSI chain - a lot of CD-ROM drives can be configured to do this. If you can get a SCSI device to supply termination power, everything will look just fine to the Akai (and any other devices in the chain) and you will not get stuck on that screen.

What model of SCSI drive are you using with the S3000XL? I might be able to tell you how to make the drive send term power to the Akai.

Apologies for the delayed post... To be honest I'm looking at selling it, I just wanted to make sure it was fully working before I listed it on ebay...

I'm not using a scsi drive and don't think I have any floppy discs to check... Hmm... thanks so far with the help guys.

It definitely looks like a blown SCSI fuse then. It's not a particularly difficult fix, it's removing the 8-out board to get to the mainboard, then removing that to replace the fuse that's the time consuming bit. The fuse itself is a simple 2-leg component that is easy to desolder and replace.

Or you could just sell it with the fault advertised, it's a fairly well known issue and won't make a difference to someone who has a SCSI drive that can supply term power to the sampler.

Yup, booting with floppy will do it.

Cheers guys, much appreciated... Selling as is, is the way I think, done too much messing around with taking things apart recently! Cheers...