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

Hi, I just took receipt of my Emulator II+ HD today.  (I recently restored an SP-1200 and I'm in love with the way the E-Mu of the 1980s designed instruments.)  It needs some buttons, keys, and fader knobs, but thanks to this forum I located all that stuff (Kawai K1 keys and Forat on the buttons and fader knobs).

Also, it needs a new display, but since the display looks to be identical to the SP-1200's, I plan to use a Noritake VFD to replace the Emulator II display just as I did with the SP-1200: http://search.digikey.com/scripts/DkSearch/dksus.dll?Detail&name=286-1068-ND

My EII has a 5.25 disk drive on top and an ancient Hard Drive on the bottom.  With no Floppy in, I turn the machine on and get this message on the display:


In the meantime, the HD's light is flashing and it is making the appropriate noises.  After a few moments, I am prompted with this message:


I have no EII Library or Performance disks.  I do have two boxes of NOS DS/DD 5.25", however.  Even though the EII manual PDF that I found tells me that disks may only be formatted in the bottom drive, I try putting one of my blanks in (with write protection disabled).  The Floppy Drive makes some noises for a few minutes, but the display never changes.

During this time, none of the buttons on the panel have any effect.  (I was hoping that I could switch over to the HD and try to load something from there for instance, but no luck).

Thanks for any hints on how to proceed!
rs

Appears you need an existing EII performance floppy to boot as the HD is likely knackered. The floppy also contains the OS that you need to perform the format of your blank disks. You can buy performance floppy disks from here:

http://www.northstarsamples.com/EIIFloppies.html

Depending on where you're located, maybe it could easlily be possible for a forumite to mail you a performance disk.

Thanks all.  I had seen some of those Northstar disks I wanted, so I'll get some and see if that does the trick.

Also, I spoke to Forat and he says that he's got all the original E-MU libraries as well as the 3-CD set that came out in the mid-90s.  He is going to get back with me on purchase costs for these items, copied onto new 5.25" disks.  Once he gets back to me on those costs I will post them in this forum.

rs

  ???
You're gonna buy Those 3 CDs converted to floppy disks? That will cost a lot I bet.

Not all of them.  Maybe parts of it...
rs

I had the same problem with my EII+HD. Forat fixed the hard drive for me. Maybe you could have him try and fix yours?