Andromeda Troubleshooting

[fireroasted]

Hello,

I have purchased a used non functioning Andromeda. Again. I used to own a new one of the first ones when I lived in Boston in 2001. I loved it, but had to sell it a few years later. Recently I have pressed to get another, and could only afford a non working unit, hoping that I could fix the issues on my own.

 

This unit is hung on the splash screen. I have done all of the soft button resets, no change. I also reloaded the .13 OS, no change.

 

I have read about reloading just the bootloader, but I can't identify how to do that. I am not able to find just the bootloader file online or specific instructions, however I have read mentions to try that, implying that the bootloader is a seperate piece than the OS. Any help here would be greatly appreciated.

 

I have read many posts here, including KPATZ's great one on replacing the Battery in the Andy. I don't think however the battery is my issue, but I am open to any troubleshooting paths folks can provide.

 

I also see that urbanscallywag must live a couple blocks from me, but he has not posted in a couple years. I am in San Juan Capistrano, CA now.

 

I have decent soldering and troubleshooting skills, a background of electrical engineering, but more useless a wall full of music degrees. I love my synths, and my friends can't figure out why I would pay so much money for a broken relec. They are all softsynth guys. Damn them!

[mildbill]

I'd say try loading up the latest OS, 1.40.12 from here: http://www.alesis.com/andromeda?tt=5

 

 

Also, grab the manual and try all of the reset/reboot/initialize procedures listed towards the back. Hope you have some luck getting it working.

[wwwjd]

mine used to hang on splash screen while booting, but I reloaded ALL the presets both user and preset and that fixed it.

[Awake77]

 

mine used to hang on splash screen while booting, but I reloaded ALL the presets both user and preset and that fixed it.

 

 

Same with mine - ended up being a corrupt patch. Wipe everything and reinstall the OS + factory presets, that might do it.

[fireroasted]

YUp, I have tried reloading the OS. I actually had .12 on there, and then reloaded the .13 which most folks are using. Its an unofficial release, or a beta that just became the commonly accepted version.

 

I had completed all of the resets and initializations that are listed in the manual. No change.

 

Does anyone know where I can find the bootloader sysex? And, how to install just that (there is no softbuttom for bootloader option, etc)

[sprinklerhead]

Soft Button 7. Enables the A6 to receive software Syx Ex dump (OS or bootloader).

 

Here's a link to the full PDF of the service manual.

 

http://www.gearslutz.com/board/attachments/electronic-music-instruments-electronic-music-production/176128d1275504402-andromeda-spare-parts-andromeda-a6-bom.pdf

 

After looking around for other suggestions online it almost sounds like it might be a bad chip which doesn't seem to be too uncommon for these. Good luck and sorry I can't help out with the boot loader, but it might be packaged with the OS.

[wwwjd]

I'd never heard of this bootloader. I didn't just reinitialize the factory presets, I completely reloaded via external dump in. Reinitalizing the patches did nothing for me, and I tried every kind of initialize that was there. Only when I redumped all the patches back in did it fix things. I can't explain why, it just did.

I'm running .13 also - no issues for me with it

[realtrance]

I had this kind of problem with the first Andromeda the store sent me back with, back in 2001; fortunately, exchanged it for a working one, which has been good ever since.

 

Unfortunately, if reloading doesn't help, this can be a sign of electronics trouble which will require replacing one of the more expensive circuitboards inside the unit. Cost of repair including parts is around $600.

[fireroasted]

WWWJD - I tried to reload any of the presets from the alesis sight, thinking they are going to be the best to use for this scenario. However, since I can't get past the splash screen I can only use soft button 7 on boot to receive sysex, and that is asking to load the OS.

 

This may be really basic, but since it doesn't boot I can't go to menu items that would allow to load patches or banks. Can you let me know exactly the steps you took to load the factory presets while you were stuck on the splash screen?

 

The manual or the other docs I have only mention reloading the presets, but not how that would be accessible from either of the soft button boot up modes, which is all I can get to.

[fireroasted]

OK, quick update. I found and used SysEx Librarian.

http://www.snoize.com/SysExLibrarian/

The patches on the alesis site are MIDI files, which were causing me issues. Only the factory preset came in a non parted out syx file that I could predictably play from this utility. I put the Andy in soft button 7 mode to receive the OS and then played this file. I gave me the download OK, and then flashed. However the unit is still stuck on the splash screen on boot up. So unless I did something different here than WWWJD I still need to find the bootloader before I open it up.

[wwwjd]

one more trick I did to get past hung stuff, is hammer away on one of the PROGRAM CHANGE buttons during boot. sometimes, I got past system lockup by selecting the next patch up while it was trying to load them. may have to do that a couple times to get to a clean part of the bank. maybe switch from USER to PRESET banks or MIX mode might help als. I can't say reinstalling fresh patches is for sure your problem, but could save you big bucks if that is all it is.

 

another thing to try is to let it sit there stuck for 30 or 60 minutes. so it warms up fully. then power down, back up see if it works warm. or try power back up warm while hammering on the patch change button

 

if soft button 7 mode works, at least SOMETHING is working ok so that's a plus. Here's hoping you get her working.

[wwwjd]

http://www.electro-music.com/forum/forum-90.html

 

is a good ANDROMEDA forum

[Andy's Eyebrow]

I had similar problems with my Andy late last year.... though the initial trouble was having it lock up with any kind of MIDI input (keyboard, knob or signal). About 50% of the time it would hang on the boot screen, though.

 

The only thing that finally fixed it was getting a new mainboard installed. I had a keyboard tech do the job, but in hindsight it's an easy job to do yourself if you are comfortable tinkering with things like upgrading or building a PC. Alesis sells mainboards still at $600 and are easy to contact and deal with via email.

 

Apparently it's a common problem, having the mainboard go out on these things.

[fireroasted]

Thanks guys, I tried dancing around with all the program and patch change buttons, and all the rest actually, No change. I also had the unit fired up all night when I first got it to 'warm' it up and change the behavior. nothing different. I am reading that the main board is what folks have done. I didn't realize I could buy it from Alesis. The inside looks pretty simple, and my background is in IT and electrical engineering, so replacing seems straight ahead based on the post of the battery replacement thread, which is pretty detailed.

 

If I invest another 600 in the board, is there a way through some test that I could be more certain its that board? Is there a logical reason based on being stuck on that screen that its the main board, and not one of the other ones. I guess I am trying to make sure I don't burn the 600 on an unscientific guess. Not looking for a guarantee just a logical path.

 

Thanks for all your input on my synth drama.

[wwwjd]

sorry man that stuff is beyond me. good luck

[Andy's Eyebrow]

Thanks guys, I tried dancing around with all the program and patch change buttons, and all the rest actually, No change. I also had the unit fired up all night when I first got it to 'warm' it up and change the behavior. nothing different. I am reading that the main board is what folks have done. I didn't realize I could buy it from Alesis. The inside looks pretty simple, and my background is in IT and electrical engineering, so replacing seems straight ahead based on the post of the battery replacement thread, which is pretty detailed. If I invest another 600 in the board, is there a way through some test that I could be more certain its that board? Is there a logical reason based on being stuck on that screen that its the main board, and not one of the other ones. I guess I am trying to make sure I don't burn the 600 on an unscientific guess. Not looking for a guarantee just a logical path. Thanks for all your input on my synth drama.

 

Well there's only 4 parts to the Andy... the power supply, the controller board, the analog board, and the main board. I'd think the boot up is wholly a software thing on the main board and that the other boards haven't cycled on yet at that point (if that makes sense).

[realtrance]

You could take a chance on just installing the mainboard yourself (after buying a replacement one); however, if you send the synth (very carefully and thoroughly packaged, as if it's going through a warzone!) to an authorized repair tech, they'll do the analysis of the problem and fix it for you with a guarantee of the work done.

 

It might be a little more than the price for the replacement part, but then again the end result will be a working A6.

[Andy's Eyebrow]

You could take a chance on just installing the mainboard yourself (after buying a replacement one); however, if you send the synth (very carefully and thoroughly packaged, as if it's going through a warzone!) to an authorized repair tech, they'll do the analysis of the problem and fix it for you with a guarantee of the work done. It might be a little more than the price for the replacement part, but then again the end result will be a working A6.

 

Yeah, that's the reason I sent mine to a tech... fortunately I live in a city that had one and didn't have to do any shipping.

 

But, in the end, I had to wait over two months for a fix that would have taken me a week to do myself... with most of that time just waiting for Alesis to ship the part out.

 

Yes, it is scary to buy a $600 part that you don't know won't fix your problem for sure, but like I said before, the Andy only has four internal boards and if buying the mainboard doesn't fix your problem I'd think it would be easy to re-sell that part on eBay in the future (especially after Alesis runs out of extras).

 

The only benefit I got from using the tech was that Alesis happened to have sent them a used mainboard that had its own problems that the tech was able to discern, and they had clout to set Alesis straight in getting a new board. That was nice.

[fireroasted]

Here is an update,

Just wanted to update here,

 

I could not find any information on the bootloader, not even from Alesis.

 

I contacted the shops provided by alesis and a few others about a repair that included some level of troubleshooting to identify the actual problem and which specific board, but no luck. They all simply just replace the Main board and 'see' what happens. I couldn't get any shop to guarantee the work/price.

 

I therefore purchased a main board from Alesis, which was easy enough. The price was 600 bucks, and it arrived in 2 days. Surprising was the fact that it was clearly a used board. Dirty and marked up in various ways. The board that was in my used A6 was super clean by comparison. The pins of the board from Alesis were also in bad shape, so a little prep work was needed.

 

Once installed the A6 booted as expected and seems to be working well now. Need more time to complete loading patches and tuning and all that. I will update when I have logged some time on it.

 

Just a note, not sure it matters, the A6 has a Left, Center, and Right upper boards, a display unit, power supply, Main board, and two analog boards on top of each other. I just wanted to clarify the amount of ribbon connected boards in the unit are more than 4. I haven't found any information on any board except for the main one failing, with the exception of a voice chip going 'bad' in the sense that it can't be tuned well enough any longer.

 

I will post photos of my repair when I get an additional minute. For now I need to go through the thing to make sure all my fixing is done.

 

Thanks for all the input!

 

I do now have a main board that doesn't work, but would likely serve as good spare parts if a component level analysis was done.

[wwwjd]

cool. thanks for the update

[fireroasted]

Here are some photos of the A6

 

This is one of the ribbon cables from the main board to the ASICs controller board. As you can see somebody glued inside of the connector. This wasn't possible to get completely clean I made and then replaced the cable. Most of these cables were not available in their sizes, but you can buy the ribbon and the connectors and crimp your own cable. You can also test it to make sure it works the cheapo way, by using two needles, inserted into the holes and a regular ohm meter for continuity.

 

This was the other cable that went from the Main board to the Main ASICs board. It also had a lot of glue debri, but I tried cleaning it first. You can see the residue of where it was in the plug on the cable still.

 

Here is a rather large photo of the Main Board. I left it a bit bigger so you could better see the individual components.

 

This is the ASIC PCB with all the analog chips. It was the connection between these two boards that I suspected was causing my issue.

 

This is the A6 with the above two boards removed. Its a bit blurry, but you can see that even now there are 4 specific PCB boards still in the unit, and the powersupply board. So include the two missing that would make 7. Its a very neatly laid out unit compared to other older synths, and very easy to work on/in.

 

This last one is of the ASIC controller board that reside underneath the ASIC main board. This one provides all the outputs.