EIII on the way...Help?

[liquidzen]

I just bought an EIII that has a 1.xxx OS. Does anyone have the 2.42 OS on a floppy I can buy? Also needed are a manual and sounds on floppy (as it has no sounds on the HD and comes with no floppies at all, I'll take anything I can get. Please e-mail me at  liquidzen@worldnet.att.net

Thanks, Roland.

www.liquidzen.org
www.seventythreerecords.com
www.rolandperezmastering.com

[dlmorley]

http://www.emulatorarchive.com/Manuals/manuals.html

As for the OS disk, you'll need a user to send you a disk. Any US user should be able to do this or failing that one of us Euro EIII people!
Maybe check it all works first as you may need more than just an OS disk!

Hope it arrives in fine and keep us updated

[liquidzen]

i got it!!! it is the 8 meg version. it came with a 2.21 OS Floppy disk. It looks mint in and out, but the problems i have are... if i don't intert the disk. it reads through the SCSI channels and starts again over and over. I guess this is a bad hard drive problem. i just ordered a IBM Apple WDS-L80 80MB 3.5" SCSI Internal Hard Drive off of ebay for $45. I will wait to get it and install it. I tried to sample something with the OS disk inerted. I went to Sample Setup... selected the L input, set it up for 12 seconds (it showed 95 seconds total available). I then went to Arm Sampling... it qucikly went back to the Main screen. I tried it again and again. it always went to the main screen without sampling anything. Is that because I did not insert a blank formatted disk. I just had the OS in the drive. Anyone? Thanks!!!

[liquidzen]

ok... i'm starting to think this e's in bad shape. i set it up again for sampling... 10 seconds worth. i then clicked on Force Sampling. it went right back to the main screen. If I go to Place Sample, it shows it did something. i now have 4 samples with ZERO seconds in length. What's worse... throughout all these tests, i could not even hear the source coming from my Waldorf into the Left Sample Input. I could see the bars moving in the Sample Set up area, but could not hear. Just now, after 5 hours of having it on. I hear this really bad noise.. digital noise as if a synth's arpeggiator was set to 250BPM. this happens even if no sample source is plugged it. is it beyond hope.... i really hope not. i was looking forward to using it. any help would be great. thanks.

[dvdborn]

Hi Roland,

You should be able to sample when the internal hard disk isn't found.

It's normal that you don't hear the sample source through the EIII's outputs. The EIII has no sample monitoring function. The fact that you see the bars move when your sample source is playing means that the EIII 'hears' the signal.

First thing I'd do is open the EIII and remove the upper board out of the card cage. This is the board with the memory modules. Remove all the memory modules and clean their contact points with a dry cloth and some contact cleaner spray. Most of the time these sockets become dirty/corroded.

I had the same behavior with my EIII when I got it. It had been in storage for several years.

If that didn't help. Remove all the cards and cables and clean their connectors. Then put everything back together and make sure that all connectors are firmly seated. Of course you're going to have to keep track where each cable was connected. Take some pictures with a digital camera before you start pulling everything out of the EIII.

Hope this help.

David

[dlmorley]

Yes, David is right I think. It probably just requires a good clean. David cleaned mine up and it sorted any issues mine had.
In any case, if you clean everything up and it still has problems it makes troubleshooting easier as you have ruled out one major source of issues.

[liquidzen]

thanks guys. will do. i'm so glad i found this forum!!!

[liquidzen]

ok.. here's an update. i opened her up, pulled all the cards, re-seated the connector cables and cards, re-seated the ram... i also got the new HD and installed it... I STILL get the same problem... when I Force Sample... I just get back to the main screen. it shows it sampled something.. just at zero length. argh! also, I cant monut or format the HD. When I go to either function, it tells me to select a drive. I try the Data slider to change from Floppy to HD... nothing.... it stays on Floppy. I have a feeling it's beyond hope. Does anyone here know a good repair tech in the US?

[liquidzen]

update on the update... i just noticed one of the cards was not totally inserted. I clicked it well into place. After that I was able to sample at length. one of the plastic frames that hold the cards is cracked. I am pretty sure that's why it could not be inserted 100%. Now I just have to figure out what's up with the HD. I'm thinking of buying the CF to IDE adaptor kit. I think the HD i just bought is Dead as well.

[liquidzen]

*******************ok... i tried setting the jumpers on every pin set... nothing. i can hear the drive power up and spin, but when i select drive 1 D1 for formatting, I get INVALID DRIVE. Of all the jumper settings, I could only get the LED screen to display and boot on one of the 7 sets. otherwise I just get a blank screen. Has anyone had this happen to them? Thanks... I'm so close to getting a 100% EIII.*********************

[liquidzen]

btw... i thought you might like a little history on this EIII. I bought it from an uncle's friend. He bought it brand new when first released. He was a music hobbiest and, according to him, only used it a few times the first year. he then boxed it up and left it in a cooled closet for years. There is not a single scratch on it. the under panel is also free from scratches and fingerprints. the inside is without dust. it really looks brand new. i guess the hard drive died from being still for so many years. the serial is 1190288 and is a 6081 model. I am really looking forward to building a library for it as i own many analog synths (minimoog, multimoog, oberheim ob8 and obmx, korg mono poly. I plan to sample these and once i have a good assortment of sounds, i'd be more than happy to give anyone on this forum sound for free... to spread the EII love!!! I am also looking forward to using it as a main sequencer for my digital synths. Thanks, Roland.

[Elmbeatz]

that would be sooooooooooooooooo great man!

If my EIII had the problems you face, I DEFINITELY would build in the flash card. Anything that makes this beast a bit more quiet should be done... I think the HD doesn't make too much noise, but any less is better

The sequencer is very cool btw. Although I miss some possibility to push whole tracks tickwise.

Greetz,
Elm.