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

So I'm repairing this EII+ HD for someone, this has quite a lineage and is well worth the effort.
I've found the reason the PSU got fried, and replaced the faulty part on the Output Board. New PSU is on it's way to me and it boots from my Bench supply. So I'm making progress.

It's been in storage for 20+ years and not touched, sadly, it has rusted a bit.
in particular the FDD and HDD have suffered from Rust.
(I couldn't work out how to upload pictures)

the FDD is a Panasonic JU-465-5
the HDD is a miniscribe 8425

My thoughts;
Get a new FDD
Remove HDD
Install one of the HxC adapters as a second floppy drive.

Questions;
Where can I buy a new FDD? The one I found on ebay as £174!
Are there alternative FDDs that work? if so does anyone have model numbers?
Are there any HDD emulators that would work?
A few people have installed the HxC adapters, looks pretty straight forward but are there any 'gotchas' to be wary of?

Finally, if I'm removing the HDD, will it boot from a FDD? or will it always try and boot from HDD?

Buying a new Floppy Drive makes no sense.
Just put a HxC in it to boot and use a EMuSer to load sounds.

I agree.  About the only reason you need the original drive is if you have a custom library on floppy.

Thanks, this one used to belong to Midge Ure from ultravox and I was hoping to get sounds off the HDD, or from the floppy library.
However it seems that there are no floppies, so replacing the FDD with an HxC and removing the HDD.

Question;
Can I leave the Adaptec card in there, without a HDD, and still boot from the HxC?
Could someone supply me with the boot image file needed for the HxC SDCard please?

Paula

Paula - the hxc boot files and various instructions for the Emulator II can be found here: http://users.skynet.be/emxp/HXC.htm Replacing the dead FDD with the SD card reader is a great choice... it literally holds thousands of banks.. the only drawback is the navigation of folders on the hxc, it is cumbersome but then again so would swapping out 5.25" disks every time you wanted a new bank loaded...

more info on the sound conversion process for the hxc and some handy EII bank files can be found here: https://www.muffwiggler.com/forum/viewtopic.php?p=1657619

signed your synth-friendly librarian, alka

http://www.magicksquares.com

Hi,

 This is the one I can find online, is this suitable?
http://lotharek.pl/product.php?pid=121 (http://lotharek.pl/product.php?pid=121)

 I've got a 3.5" adapter plate, and cable suitable for replacing the floppy cable in the EII from ebay.

Many thanks in advance
Paula

that's the one! good luck.

Hi,

 So I've got it powering up.
But it won't boot :(

 On the EII LCD I see ;

*** EMULATOR 2***
Boot in Progress

 On the  HxC emulator, I've put a bunch of things on the SD Card and selected this -
"emuii_os_3_1HD.hfe"
the HxC display shows the name and -

"RA T:000/080 S:1"  which I assume is the current track number (0 of 80) and side (side 1)
Both LEDs are permanently lit, no "clicks" from the HxC

so, I'm wondering, is the EII trying to boot from HDD? if so can I stop it (the HDD is frozen solid).

Do I need load an OS from disk? I was kind of under the impression I did, but maybe I don't?

Any advice very gratefully received (I've never used ans EII before).

Paula

Done some digging, I suspect my EII+ HD is trying to boot from the HDD which is defunct.
So I need to find an EPROM image for a non HD EII+, I notice the latest version seems to be 3.1, does anyone have the file they can share with me? (I have a friend with an EPROM burner).

Many thanks
Paula

Yup.. all EII OS's can be found here: http://users.skynet.be/emxp/Additional_downloads.htm

Alka,

 thanks, but these don't seem to be copies of the EPROM image inside the EII :(

Paula

oops sorry misread that.. you can find all the EPROM binaries at the yahoo group files section.. you will need to join the group to access: https://groups.yahoo.com/neo/groups/emulatorII-list/files/Technical/EPROM%20Binaries/

Alka,

 Thanks, but I don't have a yahoo account and I really don't what them to have my mobile number.
Is there anyway of getting the file without giving yahoo my mobile?

paula

I don't recall having to put that info in to gain access to the group... hmm... private message me your email.

Bit of an update;

 I got a couple of ROM images from Alka (thank you). And sadly that hasn't solved the problem, the LCD still shows "booting" and there is not disk activity on the HxC drive.

 Here's the ROM that is in the EII in the main rom position and also the scanner ROM.
I also removed the adapter board and took the Z80 SIO out and popped it in the slot the adapter board was in (Someone else on here did the same thing).

 has anyone got any suggestions where to start next?
 Has anyone got details of the jumper settings on the HxC (just in case I got them wrong) ?

Many thanks
Paula

Is it freezing at Boot in Progress? If so it might be a Z80 issue... have you tried swapping the Main and Scanner Z80A CPUs?

I would also check your PSU molex soldering and harness connections and also check/swap the first of the bottow rows of 4164 DRAM chips.... Here is a comment from Rob on an old Yahoo group post that was helpful to me...

"You can diagnose the failure points as follows:

If the LCD says Boot in Progress the main boot ROM is ok.
If the drive clicks 3 or more times and the EII stalls with Boot in Progress
it is RAM failure or RAM access failure - provided the drive is ok!
If the drive does not click at all and the EII stalls with Boot in Progress
its a main CPU failure.
If the drive clicks 3 times and the LCD is blank and random LED's light its
a Scanner ROM failure.
An Insert Diskette message means the EII cannot see a valid diskette in a
drive - bad media or drive or cable or controller chip
A floppy drive out of alignment or with dirty heads can cause OS loading
failure (Boot in Progeres stall)
A failed floppy drive controller chip will cause OS load failure.
Failed RAM will cause the OS to crash mid session too.

The EII scanning and main CPU's both have local SRAM as well as the main
DRAM. The main DRAM gets used for the OS and samples.

It is important that the PSU has been checked first before starting to
replace components and that you leave the EII to settle for a minute or two
between power on attempts. The Memory Test diskette is really handy for
sorting this type of problem out, but we don't have a copy. The debug ROM we
do have, but you need a RS232 terminal to use it!!

I suggest the following...
1) Check the PSU rails are on spec.
2) Recheck all SRAM, DRAM and ROM is seated.
3) Clean the diskette heads.
4) Check with the list above and see what problems you have still.
5) Check memory by swapping the SRAM chips around and the DRAM chips around.
6) Try a new boot and scanner ROM."

Quick update.

It now boots :)

things to note;

I had to swap the main ROM from ver 2.5 to 2.3
I also didn't have the +12V running (I bought a +/-15 V PSU) and I though the "+12V high current for disks" wouldn't be needed as the HxC only uses the 5V rail... WRONG... seems without it the Adaptec card doesn't start properly.

Now I'm hunting for a couple of .HFE files so I can load a sample bank and check keymech, analogue outputs, etc.

So I'd appreciate a link to a couple of disk images if at all possible :)

Thank you for everyone's help
Paula

Found some, she sounds wonderful :)

excellent!