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.

[csp]

Markd,

If you are sure that the fader motors are turned on and if you are going to check the DSP LEDs it would also pay to check the voltage/s going to the fader boards just in case something is wrong.

I haven't just checked the service manual but from memory I think that there are possibly three voltages that are something like (+5, +12, +16). I know that the OS 5.1 Service Manual has a good description of the three boards and their voltages.

Also definitely check the connections between the CPU and the desk to ensure that all is correct, because to me it sounds as if you have some form of voltage problem that is across all three boards.

As a matter of further testing, have you tried to disconnect two of the boards to see if the faders work if only one board is connected as this might show something or narrow down where the problem could be.

As I have not experienced this problem (thankfully !!!) I have very little experience in this area but hopefully others might have experienced the problem and will chime in to help.

David

[Y-my-R]

See screenshot for where to turn the fader motors off... is that button lit up for you?

FaderMotorsOff.jpg (Array KiB) Viewed 3140 times

[markd]

An update - I have good news: the fader motor issue has been resolved and the D8B is booting correctly and fader motors are working as intended. A few sticky faders but otherwise motors calibrating and working OK.

To answer Y-my-R's last post on this topic, YES the motor fader button was NOT engaged, hence motors were enabled.

It was an interesting one to fault find. Following David's last post on this topic, i decided to knuckle down and check all the voltages going into the console from the Rack Mount PC. The following voltages are sent to the console:
+5v, +12v, +16v, -16v & +48v. Referring to the service manual, I checked all the voltages at J1 (BFC) before connecting to the console and they were all present and correct. I then switched off and connected J1 to the rear of the console and re-checked the voltages inside the console. +16v was +1.2v and all other voltages were present & correct. Referring to the schematics in the service manual again, I noted that the +16v was distributed to a number of boards/sub=assemblies inside the console and I was able to disconnect them one by one and check voltages each time. Eventually I found by disconnecting the backplane assembly, the +16v stayed up. After re-connecting the backplane, one-by-one I extracted the installed cards and pinpointed the Sync card - a genuine Apogee device was pulling down the +16v. I fitted another Apogee card from my spares system and immediately all the fader motors reacted at boot and began to move normally. I verified the extracted card was faulty by trying it in a second D8B system and seeing the same motor fader problem in that console with the same CPU.

After completing the above, I re-checked the LEDs as per David's suggestion and found the following:
Brain Card: Red LED fast flashing, Green LED moderate flashing at the same time.
DSP Card: Red LED solid on.

From what I can tell, observed LED status confirms correct operation.
Now I am going to test audio and then learn how to use the D8B.
The next thing I want to do is to get the now working D8B connecting to my desktop DAW using three optical in/out cables via an M-Audio Profire Lightbridge to Cubase.

As an aside, my secondary D8B (spares) console is also working now as well, although the motherboard is faulty in the secondary Rack Mount CPU. I have located a short on the +5v line to Gnd on P8 & P9. U1 has a hole blown in it. Not sure what I will do with this, but the rest of the motherboard looks to be in good condition. I will be looking for a motherboard component repairer in the Sydney region of Australia as I am not competent to do the repair myself.

Thanks to all for your help and suggestions to assist me in getting my first D8B going. I really appreciate it.

Mark

[csp]

Markd,

That is definitely great news and the LED lights are correct.

Let's now hope you get much use and enjoyment from the desk AND without any more failures.

What you said about your voltage discovery made me think that when I take the donated desk out of its box again and set it up in the spare room (divorce papers will probably arrive the next day !!!!!) I will have to really undertake a full voltage check, especially comparing when the desk freezes. I don't think that I have done a complete desk voltage check, so if there is a problem that could be the ultimate fix.

Thanks in advance for your perseverance and all that you need to do now (if not already) is possibly the HACK 2 !!!!!

David

[markd]

David,
Yes I forgot to advise I implemented hack2 and copied the mackieos.exe file to the CF card, so I always get my correct ESN displayed and can simply switch the one v5.1 Rack Mount CPU unit between two consoles now without any issues. Makes troubleshooting much easier!! Thanks again.
Mark