Does anyone own a Yamaha DX7II that can help me out

[c+t in b]

So i just got one in the mail today. It came equipped with the grey matter card already. the seller had no idea, so im happy. however when i power it up, i cant get a sound out of it. Only normal white noise with the master cranked. Same thing on the headphone out. There is a long string of 'fffffffff's on a portion of the screen when i switch a bunch of things on or off

 

what should i do? it only came with the data rom card

[Elektronik78]

It could be a dead internal battery.

[c+t in b]

i dont think so. i can navigate features and everything. however when ever i try to load anything, it says write protected or copy protected?

[happwith12strin]

Google and find the Firmware. If you can find the firmware, try reloading it via midi, if possible. Replace/Check internal battery voltage. Go to badcaps.org and look at pics of bad capacitors. Oen case and see if you have any bulging or leaking caps. Is your power supply correct..check it with voltOhm meter. Must have correct voltage/millAmps/ polarity on power supply. Is the rom card inseted correctly?

First: Download manual, did you set up the device correctly? Download service manual. Check power supply. You may have to leave it on for 15 hours (in a safe place in the event of electrical faults..bad caps..ect) to recharge the cmos battery..if it has a lithium battery..those kind are not rechargeable..

Manuals: http://ebooks-free-download.com/yamaha-dx7-service-manual.html

[happwith12strin]

Could also try a factory reset: http://www.gearslutz.com/board/electronic-music-instruments-electronic-music-production/458332-internal-battery-reset-resource-page.html

More info at:

Dave Bensons DX7 page:http://www.maths.abdn.ac.uk/~bensondj/html/dx7.html

[Bad Dog Max]

I have one with the same problem. There is a long procedure in the E! manual for resetting memory locations after a power failure.

 

Basically: you turn off memory protect, then load all internal memory banks from the cartridge, including system and microtunings. Then turn local ON, then set the destination midi channel to 1.

 

There is also a procedure for clearing out the sequencer memory etc. but that does't seem to be essential.

 

Then the system will work again.

 

The manual used to be available online, but I was only able to find the original DX7 (not II) E! manual in a quick search.

http://www.polynominal.com/site/studio/gear/synth/yamaha_dx7/dx7e.zip

 

However, even after replacing the battery (twice!) and following the procedure to a T, my DX7 IIFD won't hold the memory when the power is turned off. I can get it fully working, but once the power is off I have to do the whole procedure again. Searching this forum and the web for a solution leads me to believe that there are others with DX7II E! systems that also have the same problem... something gets lost on the E! board when the battery dies that is not restorable.

 

I hope you have better luck than I did - mine has been in the garage for years because of this.

[c+t in b]

{censored}KKKKK. well i just bought a brand new, never used, e board that is coming in a few days. do you think if i uninstall the current E!, replace the battery and then install the new one it will work?

 

i think im starting to understand how to navigate this however i cant find out how to turn off memory protect

[Franz Schiller]

I just dropped mine off at the shop, so I'm trying to remember but...

 

To turn the write protection off, I think you have to press "edit" and then select "tune" (in the Utility area). You may have to press it several times to get to the write protection page.

 

When I got my DX7II with E!, I had a similar problem but realized this: when you are in "performance"mode, you are often dealing with a SEQUENCE not just layered sounds. So if there is no sequence recorded, often no sound will come out while that Performance preset. I *think* that when a DX7IIFDE! is reset, that ALL of the Performance banks are reset to empty sequences, which is why there may be no sound.

 

If I'm right about that, then try pressing "Single" in the Voice Mode area, and then pick one of the regular presets.

 

The E! upgrade adds huge functionality to the DX, but it also make it way more complicated. Often in the Edit menus, you have to make several presses to access features.

[c+t in b]

 

I just dropped mine off at the shop, so I'm trying to remember but... To turn the write protection off, I think you have to press "edit" and then select "tune" (in the Utility area). You may have to press it several times to get to the write protection page. When I got my DX7II with E!, I had a similar problem but realized this: when you are in "performance"mode, you are often dealing with a SEQUENCE not just layered sounds. So if there is no sequence recorded, often no sound will come out while that Performance preset. I *think* that when a DX7IIFDE! is reset, that ALL of the Performance banks are reset to empty sequences, which is why there may be no sound. If I'm right about that, then try pressing "Single" in the Voice Mode area, and then pick one of the regular presets. The E! upgrade adds huge functionality to the DX, but it also make it way more complicated. Often in the Edit menus, you have to make several presses to access features.

 

 

i get no sounds in single dual or split. no performance either. i dont find it to rough to navigate like the stories ive heard over the years. i have an andromeda and surprisingly knowing how to use that is helping me navigate this. i dont know if my batteries dead but im going to buy one and replace ater i try anything i can all day to get it working. i need it for a show saturday so if i have to boot up and do a process from scratch at the show then so be it. id rather do that than surgery in a rush

[Spleencage]

Its the battery.

[c+t in b]

alright well im gonna buy one today and replace it tomorrow. i just hope i dont have to take out the e board and get a new one

[c+t in b]

yeah every time i try to load w write protection off i get an error that it cant do it and it asks me to try again.

 

again there is a long string of fffffffff's and i cant select any operators. ill open her up later tonight

[DINpluggedIN]

See Dave Benson's DX7 Page:

http://www.maths.abdn.ac.uk/~bensondj/html/dx7.html

 

In particular:

http://www.maths.abdn.ac.uk/~bensondj/dx7/dx7IIe-manual.zip

This is the DX7-II E! manual in TIF format. It's supposed to be printed out and stapled together, so trying to read it on your computer page by page will probably just be frustrating. After unzipping it, take a look at the "readme" file first, which explains what's there and how to put it together.

 

Review of E! for DX7-II:

http://www.dx7.nl/downloads/greymatter%20uitleg%20voor%20gebruik%20in%20dx7IID%20en%20S%20uitvoering.pdf

[c+t in b]

i just discovered that myself thanks

 

i bought a battery holder to solder that can take the standard batteries to make easier replacement in the future im just worried about the e card working again

[daleyjf]

I know this is several years late, but I found this thread in my searches and thought I would report my issue. I have a DX-7 IIFD with Grey Matter E! installed. The battery died about 10 years ago and I replaced it with a new one in a holder, but since the battery change it has never retained settings after power off.

 

My DX will power up in a completely useless default; not the best design. To get sound you need to do:

 

1. Press [Edit] [14 Tune] and set Master Tuning to 0 (my default is -64), in same menu set "INT memory protect" to OFF

2. Insert a ROM cartridge and press [Cartridge] until "Bank 1 Load" appears, select Load then Yes - No - Yes (Yes to Load, No to w/o System, Yes you're sure)

If you don't have a cartridge, you'll have to fix MIDI (below) and then load patches from PC.

3. Press [31 MIDI 1] and make sure Local is ON (this is your main problem: Local Off means "make no sound, only send MIDI, except that MIDI is also off by default)

4. Press [31 MIDI 1] until you see Channel Messages and make sure you have a channel (1 or fine) selected for send and receive. The default will have both to "Off" so you won't send or receive MIDI.

5. Last but not least press

[28 Voice Mode] until you see Total Volume which will default to 0; set that to 99.

 

It's almost as if they designed it to make it as difficult as possible to get it going again after battery failure. My battery is good, but it still won't hold any settings after power off. I found a PDF of the E! installation manual with initialization procedures (relevant excerpt below), which still didn't fix my problem. I pull it out of the basement once every 5 years or so and jump through all these hoops to play with around it, but it's basically useless.

 

IMPORTANT!!! To properly initialize the E!quipped DX7II:First load a ROM Voice Cartridge into E!

[wesg]

I just replaced the battery on my own unit. No problems. I used an OEM cell.

 

Did you accidentally Melt the solder bridge by the battery? Is the battery line to the E! connected properly? The "tech" who installed my E! Left me some cold solder joints....

 

Wes