NEW Emulator II+, "Booting in Progress", Hrm.

[jordanpassmore]

So I recently got an Emulator II+ to accompany my wonderful Emulator III and Baldwin IKE (rebadged Emax!).  It is currently having an issue booting.  When I start it up, a series of lights turn on briefly and the top floppy drive seems to run endlessly.  The screen says "Booting in Progress", and it doesn't ever stop saying that.  I reseated all the chips (not physically removing them and putting them back in but pushing on each to make sure they're firmly in place) and cables and there is no change.  I tried booting up with just one floppy, etc, nothing.  I've read the forum up and down and it sounds like it would be a PSU issue.  I took a picture of the power board and it looks different than other ones I've seen.  The typical molex power connector has been removed and instead the cables have been soldered onto the board.  Also, it appears to not have the fuse holder.  Could that be the problem?  The soldering job done for the removed molex connecter doesn't look the best but it looks like it should be functioning.  Anyone with some experience recognize some of these issues?  Thanks so much!

[Futureman]

I've seen the wires directly soldered to the board before.. Just mean a better connection.

I would check the voltages on the main PCB. Mainly the +5v. (I had one E2 do exactly this until I bought the 5v up from 4.6v to 5v.

If you dont know how to check voltages, DON'T. As you may die! LEATHAL voltages inside.

If you do know how to measure the 5v, report back what it is and I'll tell you the trimmer to adjust.

[jordanpassmore]

Ah, I don't know how...  I've seen it done, but I've never done that.  I've soldered and what-not before and I've had to calibrate/tune a lot of old synths.  I'm going to try removing the Z80s and reinsert them once I get the tool to do so in the mail. 

[Futureman]

Trust me.

Measure (or get someone who knows how to measure) the 5v rail.

While a lot of faults on the E2 can be due to poorly seated IC's .. If the 5v rail is much below 5v no amount of reseating will make it work.
(and I saw a sagging 5v do exactly that fault to a previously perfectly working E2)

[sfbaytech]

An E-Mu II came in via Ebay that looks to be this unit. The power supply issues were the result of a bad quality previous repair, and although ugly and cold soldered, (and unsafe due to the bypassed missing fuse-holder) not the root of the problem.

The "no booting" issue was due to it not being able access memory, and the culprit was one of the Z80PIO's (not that this is a cure-all, just happened to fail in this case).

After I re-worked the power supply I figured I would complete the thread for anyone interested.

Chris
www.thisoldsynth.com