D8B Booting Partially

[csp]

Markd,

I spent quite a bit of time tonight going through the initial topic looking for the Brain Board information and found what I have posted below.

I should have advised earlier that with the initial topic, because it has reached the maximum viewing limit, if you want to look at it you will unfortunately have to go backwards, by starting at about page 58 (or a page around that number that opens) and then progressively go backwards and if you get a failed page, then open a pge a couple of pages higher and then slowly open the lower pages again. A shame that I can't save and export the entire 60 pages and then print them off as it would then be reasonably easy for me to flip through them to supply information, I could also possibly copy the lot so as to be able to supply anyone who needs the topic information to help them with a problem obtain the topic via a file transfer programme, USB stick or whatever.

Around page 53 I came across the below. I have not edited it so most of it will probably make no real sense, but there is a good description of the Brain Board LEDs and what they should be doing and how they change in colour when they become faulty and what I discovered when they did.

The posting:

The Brain Board booted OK with the sold Red and flashing Green LEDs alight and the DSP board was super good in that it only showed the Red LED ---- could this extra cable clean have solved the problem !!!!!

After checking that there was mic signal on Fader 1 and on the Master Fader, I let the desk run for about 5mins, during which time I changed the Clock (Mackie Clock Card) from its 44.1k default to 48K. All LEDs were still OK.

I then swapped banks to the Tape Bank and via the external monitor raised all 24 faders (25 - 48) to about -30db. LEDs still OK and if speaking into the MIC (Fader 1 left open) I still had signal on the Master Fader, so all still OK.

While the desk was off I had re-installed the optical cables into OPT-8 card 1 - 8 .

I then turned on the HD24 --- all still OK --- so I hit play and played the song (all 4im 55secs of it) and at the end, all was still OK with the LEDs.

Leaving both the desk and recorder working, I connected the second optical cables to inputs 9 - 16 and then hit play on the same song.

At about 3mins into the song, for no reason all three LEDs on the Brain Board started showing --- super major fault as that indicated that the Brain Board's electroinics could not read or recoginse the presence of the board's EPROM, although there was still audio, none of the desk's faders did anything if moved, but if on the external monitor where everything looked as if there was no problem, raising/lowering any fader made that channel's level change acording to the fader's position. Why did the Brain Board for no reason fail while the DSP board still showed the Red LED.

I then shutdown the desk, waited a few minutes and re-booited. After booting the Brain Board showed only the Red and Green LEDs (all OK), but this time the DSP card showed both the Red and Green LEDs (an OK working state), BUT why was the Green LED showing this time ????

On checking, I had audio on the Mic. I then changed the clock to 48K and swapped inputs to the TAPE Bank and from the monitor raised all 24 faders to about -30db. I then left the desk running (the HD24 was off) for about 90 mins, checking the LEDs about every 10mins --- OK throughout.

During this standing time I connected the third set of optical cables, so that I now had all 24 of the HD24's tracks connected to the desk.

That is the end of the posting.

Combining this information with what I previously detailed for the DSP card should give you a fair idea as to what to look for if the two boards are preforming correctly or otherwise.

Trust all of this has helped you in your quest.

David

[markd]

Thanks for the suggestions and information. Some progress:
I have abandoned the V3.0 HDD that came with my D8B for now.
I cleaned all the connectors inside the D8B mixer.
After much frustration, I finally got the CF setup working in the D8B CPU. CF devices are cheap but mostly crap I found out. Cheap adapters and readers are not built for continuous plugging and unplugging during extended troubleshooting efforts, even though much care was taken.

So I have been able to get the AOMEI V5.1 backup downloaded from the Forum and restored to a 2GB CF card. Once installed into the D8B, the Mackie OS booted correctly (as far as I can tell). I have not started audio tests on the D8B yet.
I was sure that onscreen mouse controls - clicking switches, moving faders, pots etc. - were communicated to the control surface and were duplicated on the hardware. e.g. moving the fader on the screen resulted in the physical fader moving.

I purchased a Floppy Emulator and wrote the three V5.1 disks and three Plug-In Service Pack 3 disks downloaded from the Forum to a USB thumb drive. I installed the emulator / USB into the D8B CPU and ran the V5.1 install from the emulator, then ran the Service Pack install. When I rebooted the D8B, Mackie OS correctly booted and asked for an authorization code for V5.1. I did not have one, so I continued in Demo mode. Again onscreen mouse operated controls onscreen were duplicated on the control surface, except after several reboots due to Demo Mode (only runs for 7 minutes at a time), I noticed the physical faders no longer moved when adjusting a fader with the mouse onscreen. Also, moving the physical faders did not show associated movement onscreen. It appears now none of the fader motors are working, although they definitely were previously, or fader comms is no longer working correctly. I am not sure if I have finger trouble or something has been dislodged inside the D8B. Faders are also not moving during boot, but I am sure they were previously.

I have another D8B board and although its CPU is faulty, the control surface seems to be intact. I will try running V5.1 connected to the secondary board in the next few days.

[Phil.c]

Check that the fader motors are not switched off in settings just to eliminate.

[csp]

Markd,

As I think I stated, with the desk that I am having all of the problems with, when the LEDs on the DSP board give the incorrect reading there is not only no audio but the entire desk (ie control surface) freezes and the mouse will not move any physical fader nor will any switch will operate, BUT the mouse will still move the faders on the screen. This sounds to me exactly like what you are now experiencing. Have you done as I suggested looked at the DSP LEDs to see if they have changed when the desk freezes !!!!! To refresh your memory (if it is anything like mine !!!) you require a solid Red LED with some desks for no published reason, also showing a Green LED, BUT you must have the Red LED. I will guess that when the desk freezes you will probably only have the Green LED.

Re the no Authorisation Code, this can be fully overcome by installing the HACK 2 option (see info in the Database or somewhere in my long post), as it effectively removes the requirement for any code (OS, Effects, etc).

Again, I hope that the above helps a bit in your quest.

David

[markd]

Phil.c, I checked the Setup screen and cannot see where the fader motors can be switched on or off. There is a fader motor calibrate under Mix Opt. in the Setup menu. The calibrate process runs & completes but the physical faders do not move.

David, I have abandoned the OS 3.0 and focusing on OS 5.1. The switches and pots etc. are being duplicated and the system is not "locking up" under the new V 5.1 OS. Only the faders are now not responding - as if the Fader Motor switch was ON, but it is not. I will apply Hack 2 as you suggested to resolve the 5.1 authorization issue. I will check the LEDs in any case and report back.