E-mu Emulator Sampler User Forum for the EIII EII EI and EIII XP

I purchased an E-mu Emulator II for $100 and it’s pretty beat up.



http://eiiiforum.com/picsfromusers/eii/IMG_0294.JPG
http://eiiiforum.com/picsfromusers/eii/IMG_0293.JPG
http://eiiiforum.com/picsfromusers/eii/IMG_0298.JPG
http://eiiiforum.com/picsfromusers/eii/IMG_0299.JPG

Here are the two big scratches above the disc drive.  I don't know if sandpaper will work in this case like what Jim Stout did for his EII.  I have to get some Chrome Bolts as well.

http://eiiiforum.com/picsfromusers/eii/IMG_0295.JPG

broken button
http://eiiiforum.com/picsfromusers/eii/IMG_0296.JPG


& broken key.

http://eiiiforum.com/picsfromusers/eii/IMG_0297.JPG



Model number #6028
serial number #1059


http://eiiiforum.com/picsfromusers/eii/IMG_0301.JPG
http://eiiiforum.com/picsfromusers/eii/IMG_0302.JPG
http://eiiiforum.com/picsfromusers/eii/IMG_0303.JPG

Here is a pic of it opened up it has the memory expansion board and the RS422 Mac interface in there for sound designer.

http://eiiiforum.com/picsfromusers/eii/IMG_0015.JPG

 The EII also a revision 1 output board.  I'm pretty happy about all of these things included inside the Emu!

I got a fuse and fuse holder and attempted to power it up but nothing came up.  On close inspection of the PSU there is a burnt blue capacitor in the lower middle

http://eiiiforum.com/picsfromusers/eii/IMG_0030.JPG
http://eiiiforum.com/picsfromusers/eii/IMG_0029.JPG



Digital board with memory expansion board.  The RS422 is hidden under the IDE cable.


http://eiiiforum.com/picsfromusers/eii/IMG_0031.JPG





Now onto the questions.

1. The EII won’t even power up.  I have the service manual, and the first thing that I'm looking into is the power supply.  The schematic for the PSU that I have doesn't have the full engineering
notes from what I understand.  There are about 3 or 4 outputs coming out of the PSU.

What kind of current for each of the voltages for the switching PSU to make a dummy/test load?

expected load current on each output?

trip point for the opto?  I would hate to destroy anything.  I'm also just getting used to electronics so I may have written down some questions that where communicated to me incorrectly.





I am working with some fellows who are helping me fix the EII and I've learnt how to solder desolder and helping them with their business, so I'm not going it totally alone but any answers or advice would help.

part two

2. What should I use to clean up the EII really well?  Simples green?  How should i clean up the panel.

After I get the outside really clean I will determine if it needs painting.  I really like Jim Stout's Black, but I'm thinking either Red, or try to match the original blue.

3.  I intend to totally refurbish this thing keyboard, backlight, re-cap all caps etc.  any advice would be greatly appreciated. 

4.  What is the best Mac I can get for soundesigner??

Here is some info from http://www.emulatorarchive.com which is the most comprehensive emu sampler site

 Suitable Mac

Supported Mac's
SD for EII was designed to run on a basic Apple Mac with just 512 Kbytes of memory.
It will happily run on a Mac with a 68000 to 68030 processor running in 24-bit addressing mode (Mac OS 7.1 or earlier). Turn off any RAM doublers etc. A Mac II or Mac Classic is ideal.

It will also run on 68040's with cache off and on PowerPC Mac's.

Proven Systems
* Mac II VX OS 7.1
* Quadra 800 OS 8.0
* Powerbook 180C OS 7.1
* Powerbook 5300C OS 8.6

The Mac MUST have a serial port

http://www.emulatorarchive.com/Samplers/E2Overview/E2SD/e2sd.html

5. anyone know a good batch way to convert images in photoshop or a link on how to do this.  I just found out irfan viewer isn't around for free.

CONGRATS! For buying the coolest sampler the world has ever seen.

Though it reeeeaaaallyy looks beaten up indeed.

After you changed all dead caps n stuff, you should plug out, clean and replug EVERY chip inside the unit. clean the chips with an electric toothbrush and isopropyl (?) alcohol (drugstore). I can tell that you'll have to do this looking at it...

I'm not sure if a mac will be able to communicate with the EII, because you still have the piggyback ram board in it (I know, you said that you have rev 1 motherboard, but.... you never know.)

I'm really no good in electronics n stuff, so I can't help you there.

I would not try to refinish the casing... I like the relic style.. just clean it..

Dunno about the broken key... hope this is fixable. the button should be an easy fix, they can be reordered. If you find out that its easy indeed, I'd think about changing all buttons, because these show heavy wear over time ( i bet you have a few dumb ones in that thing...)

THIS BEAST IS THE TITS, i got two, just in case my main one gives me stress... Can't live without it.
If you cannot build up a connection to the SD mac, there's an interface, which I think wintermute (?) has built, that establishes the connection.

There's a thread about it here on the forum somewhere I think...

greetz,
Elm.

Let's hope you get this beast alive again !

If the machine is not doing anything after switching the power on, it is most probably due to a power supply failure. "Doing nothing" should really mean doing nothing. So this even means no mechanical sounds are coming from the drives or no buzz sound is coming from the PSU ? The molex connectors are known to be unreliable, so if the actual mainboard and outputboard are not doing anything this could be caused by bad molex connections, in that case uninstall/clean/install them again.

The "blue capacitor" which looks bad is (as far as I know) not a capacitor but a special resistor.
Anyway, mine is looking bad too ! But a tech guy told me this is normal for such an old machine, this type of component tends to look "burned" after many years of operation.

Like Elm already said, I think you actually have a rev 0 board. Maybe the left board is rev 1, but probably the right one is a rev 0 of 1984 (see inscription on the main board below the memory board).

Replacing the C6 key most of the time is impossible (no spare parts), but it seems you're lucky: the Dutch spare part specialist Senso currently has this key in stock (see http://www.senso.dds.nl/)

Anyway, good luck !

///E-Synthesist

thanks, yea the classic color does look good. What do you think I should try cleaning it with?  Simple green, or just water and dry it, then wait a while then water and dry it again?



I guess I got a place to get a new key from.  Thanks for the tip about changing the buttons I’ll do that.




Esynthesist

Thanks for the tip about the key! & the memory board info.
I'll report back once i have more info

Yeah CONGRATS!!! 100$ is a real bargain even for a really messed up EII. I just purchased a EII in almost similar condition for 250€. I got it up and running, but the sounds i get out of it sounds like som early Aphex Twin distorted earkiller; wich sounds really cool but....     Maybe i sample the sampler with the EIII.

I took of the case and put it in the shower and scrubed it of real thorough with some wash-up liquid (YES). It had a spider in it and a lot of web and other stuff that i dont know or wanna know what it was.........uuuhhhhhh!!!!! But now its real clean. Some of the matt finish on the panel sticker did wash of but it looks really gloss and fine under. Maybe its possible to get of the old finish and spray on some new finish.

Thanks esynth for the tip, placed an order for two new keys just after i read it.

Gonna try to post some pictures of my EII if i get my camera working.

And please excuse the bad english!

I detached each and every key on the keyboard and washed it separetly with a spunge and wash-up liquid. Now the keyboard looks and feels brand new, except for the two broken keys.

Did order a new 3.5 drive kit  for from route66.

Hey Roukez, if both your 5.25" are working,you want to sell me one? or maybe trade it for a 3.5" kit?

These guys are selling new 5.25" and 3.5" DS/DD disks.

http://www.ggsdata.se/Datorer/se.html

possibly, I didn't know you could save to 3.5 floppy.  you just pop in a specific 3.5 floppy drive?

My main priority is getting it fired up , then cleaning it

3.5 is fine as long as its DS/DD. www.route66studios.com/ has the kit.

I see well let me think about it , I really need to get it power, then see if the drives are working, if i can hook it up to a  mac or if I need wintermute's mod. 

Judging from your pics, it looks like there is no fuse in the fuseholder (or whatever you call it) Usually there is a red cap beside the on/of switch.

I have one of the plastic fuse holders , it's white I got it from forat

ok. it would have been to easy :) But i just had to mention it just in case.

Last night I took it over to a friends and when we put in the fuse with the plastic holder and powered it up it came on and asked for the O/S from both disks.

We also fixed the one broken button.  First we cleaned it out, put a new metal dome on that gives the button its feel when pressed, then put on a new plastic top.  tested it and it was still working.  I'm going to go through it clean all the buttons, and replace all the little metal (i think aluminum) domes so the keys all have the same new response.

Then we are thinking about putting in a new backlight.  My friend is thinking about putting in a new backlight where the characters  are illuminated only and not the whole screen.


One of the buttons feels a little sunken, so we may take off the Left and Right Panel board and see if anything is causing it to be sunken in a little bit.  Maybe it just needs to be taken off cleaned and put back on screws tightened.


Has anyone here redone their keybed, or totally refurbished that?  From how filthy the EII was, I imagine there is a good amount of dust under the keybed. 

I guess my list of to do's is , go thru all the buttons, put in a new backlight, either just clean the keys, or take apart the keyboard, once my scanner diagnostic disc and eprom arrives go thru those tasks.  hopefully it has a revision 1 board so i can hook it up to a mac with sound designer .

Did anyone go out and buy a really nice mac for their sound designer rig ?  if so what did u get?

i'll try to snap some more pics it's looking a lot cleaner

oops  :D  sorry, wanted to quote...

the idea with that special backlight is GREAT!!!!!  I mean just the letters illuminated..  Should look AWSOME!

I got a mac SE:

[image removed by admin - wasn't appreciated by some visitors]

Which works great, except that i have no cd-rom drive. I have a zip connected to it, and first had to copy all EII banks i have to zip disks.

The good thing about a mac that is this old and lo-fi is that it powers up SOO quickly. I use it ONLY for sound designer and it's really stable...

That's the one I can recommend. I'm running OS 6.1.7 I think...

Greetz,
Elm.

thanks for the information Elmbeatz.   I still have to do some reading on macs, & I have to hold off on purchasing the mac for right now.

Here is a little tutorial on how to refurb  your buttons. 

First pop off the plastic top with a small flat heat screw driver and having your finger on the opposite side of the button.  The button is made out of plastic and will deform and pop out with pressure.  See pic and imagine your finger pressing against the other side of the button to squeeze it and make it deform enough to pop up and out.

http://www.eiiiforum.com/picsfromusers/eii/popoffbutton.JPG


Here is an image of a dirty EII button

http://www.eiiiforum.com/picsfromusers/eii/dirtybutton.JPG

Here is an image of the worn out aluminum dome underneath.  When you press down on the button this metal dome depresses and makes contact with the contact pieces below.  I discarded all the old aluminum domes and put in new ones.  The button comes back with much more force.

http://www.eiiiforum.com/picsfromusers/eii/dirtyaluminumdome.JPG

Here are two images of the dirty contacts, the large contact in the center and the thinner one in the upper right hand corner of the button's plastic frame.

http://www.eiiiforum.com/picsfromusers/eii/dirtycontact1.JPG

http://www.eiiiforum.com/picsfromusers/eii/dirtycontact2.JPG

To clean the contacts you take a q-tip and cut off the cotton part.  then buff off the dirty oxidization/dust whatever that stuff is and the contact should look bright and clean.  For the middle contact buff starting at the bottom left hand corner and go upwards diagonally.  For the thinner contact buff starting in the upper right hand corner and go downwards towards the left hand corner.  I did this because I didn't want to risk catching the contact and have it bend.  After you see black residue appear on the q-tip from buffing the contact cut off that little bit of the q-tip and buff it again until you stop seeing black residue.

http://www.eiiiforum.com/picsfromusers/eii/qtipclean.JPG


Here is an image of clean contacts

http://www.eiiiforum.com/picsfromusers/eii/cleancontact.JPG

Here are some new images of the cleaned up EII with refurbished buttons

http://www.eiiiforum.com/picsfromusers/eii/eiiback.JPG

http://www.eiiiforum.com/picsfromusers/eii/eiileft.JPG

http://www.eiiiforum.com/picsfromusers/eii/eiimiddle.JPG

http://www.eiiiforum.com/picsfromusers/eii/eiiright.JPG

http://www.eiiiforum.com/picsfromusers/eii/eiiback.JPG

An image before i cleaned it up

http://eiiiforum.com/picsfromusers/eii/IMG_0294.JPG

Same view but after the clean up.  I used that blue windex stuff to clean the plastic and front panel.  It worked well for getting the grime off I think.

http://www.eiiiforum.com/picsfromusers/eii/eiitopfront.JPG

I may be able to fix this key w/o ordering a new one but we will see after my friend looks at it another time.  Unfortunately the C end key at http://www.senso.dds.nl/ is sold out.  If anyone finds another for sale let met know!

I am waiting on the scanner diagnostic test disk and the testing eprom should be here in two weeks.  I still need to replace the backlight, put some new legs on this thing one of them is cracking a bit.  Very happy that it's working and sounds fine.

Has anyone ever oiled their sliders or done anything to refurbish them in anyway?


argh an update it was working last night and sounds where coming out of it.  Then when i got it home I didn't have the fuse in all the way when I turned it on and it didn't power up.  I checked the fuse by pushing it in and it popped in and out i saw a spark or two.  Now when I power it on it says Boot In Progress automatically all the lights flash for a brief second.  and it stays that way saying boot in progress :(

I put a disk in and I can hear it spin but it doesn't load and continues to say Boot in Progress.  I hear no clicking sounds at all.  If I boot it up with a disk it still says Boot in Progress.



According to the EII Diagnostics Manual I have Problem 3 and have a main CPU problem need to have eprom , check the clock signal etc

Hey Rokuez!

Don't Panic!

1. The original fuseholders of that E-Mu 1st / 2nd generation gear are crappy (as you witnessed last night...)

I replaced mine with some similar to these:

(http://www.schurterinc.com/wwwds/images/IM0005743.jpg)

There's no soldering or so, there's only plug contacts, so this is very very easy.


2. I also had the same problem with "boot in progress" and stuff.... , disk drives not clicking but turning and so on.

Try this:  Open the EII and disconnect / reconnect the power cables of the disk drives, maybe clean their contacts, too. Perhaps you should disconnect / reconnect the drives data cables, too.

After I did this, everything was okay again.

BUT:  After some time, the same bug, or other bugs occured....

Believe me ( I mean it...   ;) - if you want to use your EII in a RELAXED and sophisticated way (I mean without prayers each time before turning it on...), you have to dedicate some time to its guts as you did to its buttons. As I said - pull out ALL chips, clean their contacts and their sockets, do the same to all cable connections. Be VERY careful (chip - pins ...) and STAY GROUNDED.

I tell you: Ever after I did this (about half a year ago) the machine works PERFECTLY. It didn't give me stress in any way a single time!

I'm serious - you'll have to do it (look at the black dust in the buttons - this type of corrosion is on the ICs contacts, too. Use an electric toothbrush with isopropyl alcohol to clean their pins and sockets. You do not need to do it as properly as you did it with the buttons. Just a little will be enough.


P.S.:  By the way: Your button cleaning tutorial is DEAD HANDY!!!!  Thanks a lot for it, G R E A T !!!!!!

I'm a little worried to do all that work because it would take a good while and I'm not sure if it would fix the problem. 

Before I accidentally pushed in the fuse while the power was on the EII was working fine, loading up discs, playing sounds etc.

Then after I pushed in the fuse while the power was on saw the blue sparks, etc it went to Boot In Progress and never got past that screen.  I can start it with a disc inside and it hangs on boot in progress, I can start it w/o a disc put one in and it spins the disc (no clicking sound) but stays on Boot in Progress.  When it starts all the lights flash then it goes immediately to boot in progress stays silent too until i put in a disc it will just spin the disc for a while.

According to the EII Diagnostics Manual which can be found here http://www.emulatorarchive.com/Archives/Samplers/E2Overview/e2overview.html  under the Manuals Section on the right it looks like I have Problem 3 from page 5. 


SYMPTOM:
1. The disk won't load
2. The display shows;
***Emulator 2***
Boot in progress
3. The disk drive doesn't click and its light doesn't flash.
doesn't change. The display
BACKGROUND
:
The Scanner CPU is working since the sign-on message is on the display.
This is a main CPU problem. The Main CPU Z80 requires a clock to work, and
generates a synchronizing signal (Ml) at every opcode fetch cycle.

So based on this accurately describing my scenario and them saying i need to check the processor and clock I figured I would need the Eprom to diagnose it and fix it?

Elmbeatz your sure your EII was giving you the exact same issue as described above ^^^  Did your EII come this way or did you pull a putz-mcgee move like myself and push in the fuse while the power was on ?
 & if you had the same problems you just did the cleaning process/ reconnecting things and it got past the Boot in Progress stage? To me from the diagnostics manual it looks like I'll need the eprom.

 I just want to make sure because popping out the chips from the IC sockets will cause undue stress, that I would like to avoid.  Also when this EII was working it gave me no problems so I kinda assume the chips in the IC's might be good for now.

thanks for the headsup about the fuse too, curious to see if yours for sure had the same exact problem and your fix worked for the same problem.  I'm thinking your Boot in Progress issue may be due to a different problem then mine.  There are a couple of different scenarios where it will hang on Boot in Progress but so far it seems like your Boot in Progress scenario and mine are the same but with possibly two solutions which confuses me.

I had the exact same problem with mine when i got it. I cleaned the Z80:s and it works fine, exept for the voice problem. I cleaned with contac spray, no toothbrush needed. So pull out them chips and it will probably start up  fine.

awesome thanks elmsbeatz and prometheus now it's up and running again!!  sounding epic, the voices seem to be good.

When I had it open i took a look underneath the keybed and it was super dusty.

When I look at my keys dead on they all seem kind of tilted to the right a bit.



I'd really like to take apart this keybed put in new springs get the dust out still hoping someone will post who has done this b4 but i'm guessing not.  the action feels really light, and gives too easily I think the springs need to be replaced.

I also took a closer look at the digital board and it's a revision 0 , 1984. 

There is a much smaller board, smaller then the memory board above the digital board connected to the computer interface port.  Is it safe for me to assume I have the additional board so that I can hook this EII up to a mac for sound designer?

Hi!
Maybe that's exactly the Mod that wintermute built for his EII. Why don't you take a pic of it (you seem to be good in macro-photography ;) ?

Well, congratulations on your success in powering it up proberly again! So what did you do? Reconnect the discdrives or what?

You asked me if I had EXACTLY the same bug as you... well I can't tell for sure. BUT I remember that I accidentally pushed on the fuseholder while also pushing the power button to turn it on...

You're right, its a pain in the ass to do all the ICs, and you might skip that if your machine works fine.
Thing is, that I had several ghosts in my machine. Sometimes, I had voice problems, sometimes there was no input level, sometimes my drives didn't work and so on...

So I decided (after I was given the hint to do so in the EII yahoo group) to take three evenings off and clean that dam thing from bottom to top. Glad I did it though. It sounds AND looks brandnew.

Greetz,
Elm.

I am jealous of that EII :D

Congrats rokuez

Emax.
(DX5)

thanks Emax , I hope you find your part you are looking for in the for sale section.

Elmbeatz all I did was disconnect the power chords coming from the PSU to the different boards, and pop out the z80 processors and put them back.

When I powered it back up it said insert disk, loaded the info, and played the patch.  If I start to get ghost or random problems like you I will do the IC cleaning procedure.

I gotta do more research and find out how to refurbish this keybed, i guess first take it off the metal frame, take the keys off clean them and replace the springs.  I need to have the parts b4 I do this tho.  & I've never refurbished a keybed/keyboard.  After that is done then the backlight, then recapping, then hook it up to a mac.  then after eii is done i'll feel comfortable working on eiii.  I got another EIII rack (2 total) with the HD300 (external 300 mb harddrive unit they made for eiii).  New EIII is much better condition but that's for another thread.


Here are some images of this small board so that revision 0 digital boards can work with macs.  maybe wintermute can chime in if he has a chance.

http://www.eiiiforum.com/picsfromusers/eii/IMG_0454.JPG
http://www.eiiiforum.com/picsfromusers/eii/IMG_0455.JPG
http://www.eiiiforum.com/picsfromusers/eii/IMG_0458.JPG
http://www.eiiiforum.com/picsfromusers/eii/IMG_0459.JPG



Here is an image showing the wires gong from the small board to the computer interface port.

http://www.eiiiforum.com/picsfromusers/eii/IMG_0457.JPG

Good!

I think it's very very likely that what you got there is the expansion to establish a mac connection (as "Mac" is even printed on top of it..)

Cool!

KEY wich you need is not broken as I see it just need a spring !!!!!!

all springs are same on poly 800, polysix, EII, OB-8, Memorymoog, prophet 600.... I will try to find you as I promised you over skype!!!! and Vintage planet parts aka sendso has them also.

our search for emus II really worth...have fun with eII and congratulationd on drumulator  ;)

My key looks the same, and it's defenetly broken, the spring is fine. Are the keys same to? that would be really cool since some of the Poly 800 Mark I:s came with reversed-colored keys. Imagine that, a EII with a reversed colored keyboard........ :)

O yes, and if the EII is painted in black like Jim Stout's one, this reverse keyboard would even be more cool !

And print a Black & white front label! "Darth E-mu"! "Emulator strikes back"!

Hey Rog, you know if the keys are the same?

HAH HA HAHAHAHAHH  PHOTOS PHOTOS PHOTOS!!!!!!!!!

Well first we have to confirm that the polys keys fit. And then i have to find 2 poly800 with reversed keys and find a way to print the label. And then paint the EII Black.  So no photos this week :)

But if i were Jim Stout i definetly would! He's already halway there.

I think there exist a black (original) Nord lead 2x with reversed color keys, made by one of the guys who owns/works at Clavia. Imagine having that Nord with a Black reversed EII.

.....YOU DON'T KNOW THE POWER OF THE DARK SIDE!

HAHAHA!

(clavia not for me though, just the dark lord HAHA!)

You don't like the Nord Lead? That really breaks my Swedish heart! HA-HA-HA-HA!!!

But Elmbeatz why dont you do the "Dark force" custom paint on your empty EII case? If you get tired of the black color you can always change back to the original, same with the keys if they work (can somebody please confirm).

sorry poly 800 wont fit 100%
velocity wont work


BTW

I hate NORD LEAD BUT love girls from NORD ;)

Didn't think of the back though.......  But you have two others so why not custom one?

Roginator just killed my dreams, unless it is possible to modify the poly800 keys to fit 100%. But maybe that will be to much work. DAMN!

Yeah those girls! :)

I myself find the Nord great to make sounds for the EIII to sample. Nord samples sounds great trough the Curtis filters.

Do you think the polys keys are possible to modify?

I just like the original design best. The empty casing is supposed to being played on by Alan Wilder for DM in Hamburg back in the eighties, so that one's an icon which mustn't be touched...!

heh,and he still used on last Subhuman album...
anybody have oppinion whats wrong with my pieces of history?
i attached the sound whic came from my EII.this sounds when i push the keys.
when i bought couple of month ago was ok,but still lots of contact problems,freezing etc.these just cam worse....
my friend electric engineer but not in synths category.would be great any advice before he gonna start to fix it.
thanks!
S

Sounds weird....

My bet would be the analog board (left one).

Replug the ICs!   ;) ;D

Thanks a lot!
Otherwise i am so happy.sounds beast and so oldschool to using the funkctions...
i plan to get it trough all my drumms in my track on EII and recorded back from every 17 seconds:D

Just wanted to say a big thanks to rokuez for the detailed cleaning operation on the EMU II buttons. I was about to buy new ones ordered from the US until I saw this, followed your procedure today on all mine and now they're working perfectly,  CHEERS !!  :)

Just for info rokuez, I've cleaned the keyboard contact board and rubber contact strips on mine and all keys now work great. Patient cleaning with meth dipped Q-tips on both the track board and rubber strips did the trick. Haven't needed to replace any springs on mine.

Hope you end up with yours A1.  ;)

np, i'll find the key just low on $ right now.  I played a mint EII+ and the action was a lot better so I would like to redo mine and have always wanted to know how. 

updated pics of mac interface rev. 1 board

http://eiiiforum.com/picsfromusers/eii/board01.jpg
http://eiiiforum.com/picsfromusers/eii/board03.jpg
http://eiiiforum.com/picsfromusers/eii/board04.jpg
http://eiiiforum.com/picsfromusers/eii/board05.jpg
http://eiiiforum.com/picsfromusers/eii/board06.jpg
http://eiiiforum.com/picsfromusers/eii/board07.jpg

 one purple wire goes under the board . 
http://eiiiforum.com/picsfromusers/eii/board02.jpg

.... and has to be connected to / soldered on:

Pin25 of IC107

Am I right, Wintermute?!  :)

THANKS ROQUEZ FOR THOSE PICTURES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  :-*  HAHA

Did recieve my floppy drive kits from route66 after "just" 8+ weeks. WHooooORAAAAAAYYYYYYHHHHHHHHH!!!!!?????????

Works super on the EII!

Yes thanks for that. Very Informative !
 I think preventative maintenance is a good thing but changing out parts for new ones
can some times invite trouble. Generally I wont fix it unless it's broken but cleaning is a must.

Hello - yes... the blue device is almost certainly an NTC thermistor acting as an inrush limiter or just possibly a MOV acting as a transient suppressor.  These devices are prone to failure with age as they are heavily stressed and NTCs run very hot.  If the PSU is completely dead this is possibly the only thing that's wrong with it as the limiter and MOV are some of the first components in line with the mains input.  In the case of a failed MOV I'd expect to see the main fuse open circuit too. 

If it were me I would be tempted to replace the device and then do the following tech tip.  Carefully wire a 60 Watt incandescent mains bulb (not a low energy bulb!!) in series with the live wire to the PSU.  Then disconnect the output connector to the EII and wire a 5Watt car side marker bulb to the 5Volt PSU output to act as a dummy load.   The mains bulb will act as a safe current limit protecting the PSU and possibly you from the effects of a spectacular failure - I say this as SMPSUs are horribly notorious for going bang whilst being worked on.   They are also very dangerous - so make damn sure you don't touch it whilst it's on!   If the bulb lights to almost full brightness and stays there then the PSU is very likely to still be faulty.  If the bulb likes brightly and then dims - and with any luck your small bulb is dimly lit then the chances are you've fixed it.   I repaired a SMPSU from an old E-mu Proteus the other day using this method - it was 20 pence worth of failed cap in the controller in the end.   If this doesn't work I'd be tempted to give up and find a modern replacement PSU - this is likely to be much smaller than the original as they are much more efficient these days.

Cheers,

Dan.

i am looking for a emulator 2 for sale - i will pay up to $500 for a mint condition contact  kuffysegal@hotmail.com or call 917 584 6312  -- if you have the full cd rom drive and mac im looking for a complete set im located in nyc

please someone here put up your emulator for sale im willing to buy ----------------- $500 or better

it is not mine but just saw this for sale

http://losangeles.craigslist.org/sfv/msg/1026411647.html

500 $ for a mint condition EII ?!?!
You must be joking!

Greetz,
Elm.

Hello,

congrats on buying this beauty.  it only has some scratches, but i like it ;)

the first thing i noticed whil watching your picture:

http://eiiiforum.com/picsfromusers/eii/IMG_0299.JPG

was the missing red- fuse.

but first clean it and repair the psu.
and clean other components like the guys mentioned here in their posts.

cheers zom.

This info is so helpful. I'm going through all the IC sockets and cleaning them.  This unit is not that dirty but I've finished the Z80s and would like to see some improvement as I work through this daunting task:)

My EII now asks for a diskette (it was stuck on boot). I don't have any 5.25" that are from an Emulator II.
I do have a bunch of 5.25" disks. Can I format these in the EII?

It seems that my drives work but I'm not getting past the insert diskette message and no buttons work to engage any of the functions.

Also I have a Zip drive hooked to the Computer interface. Has anyone used this successfully?
Should I order/build the USB converter for the Computer Interface instead of messing with these drives?

any help is appreciated!

Mike

The EII won't do anything without having inserted a proper disk, as it loads the complete OS from it (also for formatting blank disks).
This fact includes that pressing any button(s) also has no effect at all.

A Zip drive is completely useless, as the computer interface is NOT an SCSI interface but a RS 422 (or a useless RS 232 in early machines) interface. This interface was intended to be used with ancient macintosh computers to edit and archive EII sounds/banks (or the so-called "E-Muser" - try a forum search on that..).

What you might consider is to get a HxC Floppy drive emulator with which you can replace a 5.25 drive and load / store thousands of banks on a SD Card that sits in the HxC. This is hat I'm going to do (hopefully soon).

You may try out a conventional EII floppy first to make sure the unit works as it should.