IM368 key scanner... I'm 100% screwed, right?

[njosnari]

So I have an EIII that came to me with a busted screen and bad HD, so no boot. Rebuilt the PSU, new oled, and Rascsi inside. Now it boots fine, but with most of the panel buttons not functional, it's looking like I have a shot IM368.

I did some research and find this is a CPU running a custom mask rom, that was trashed by Creative when they took over EMU in the 90's, so the code is lost forever, and cannot be dumped or read from an existing unit.

Is my only option to hope for a working IM368 from a parted out EIII?

I find that Ensoniq used the same microcontroller, with different software, and a guy has been able to produced working replacements. Is this not an option for the EIII (and all other EMUs)?

Exactly how hopeless is this situation? 

[Deft]

I`ve got several messages regarding this chip on FB group as well, I`m not a deep expert, and was trying to find some docs on this chip without any success. My guess is that its simply impossible to copy-clone the chip, and the only way is to find "dead" EIII and cannibalize it.

[njosnari]

Yes, unfortunately it seems to be a very, very long shot to have this chip replaced...
I'm curious if it might be a possibility to reverse engineer the IM368/R6500-1 by logging the i/o communication across the pins somehow and using AI to piece together the code for the correct environment with another programmable microcontroller? Perhaps AI aided coding is up to the task?

[Synthesizer.repair]

Yes, unfortunately it seems to be a very, very long shot to have this chip replaced...
I'm curious if it might be a possibility to reverse engineer the IM368/R6500-1 by logging the i/o communication across the pins somehow and using AI to piece together the code for the correct environment with another programmable microcontroller? Perhaps AI aided coding is up to the task?

Reverse engineering is a fools errand.  The IC was made by Rockwell.  A Rockwell R6500/1EAC with some customizations.
But if you wanna buy a replacement, we have several on hand:

https://shop.synthesizer.repair/product/emu-im386-keyscan-ic

[Deft]

Someone is selling emax for 300$ on facebook,

https://www.facebook.com/marketplace/item/335695912899830

I consider it worth buying for IM368 cannibalization for EIII...

 

[Synthesizer.repair]

We just added a few more IM386 IC to our available stock.

https://shop.synthesizer.repair/product/emu-im386-keyscan-ic