I'm getting mine tomorrow...I got it!

[Elmbeatz]

Watcha mean - it went "bang" ?

[ProudEmaxOwner]

Like a pop from inside it somewhere. You know the noise when you plug it into an amp? Like that, but coming from somewhere around the disk drives. For about 5 seconds the LCD lit up bright blue like new, then it went blank, rebooted and defaulted back to its 60% brightness- and I had sound.

[Elmbeatz]

Like a pop from inside it somewhere. You know the noise when you plug it into an amp? Like that, but coming from somewhere around the disk drives. For about 5 seconds the LCD lit up bright blue like new, then it went blank, rebooted and defaulted back to its 60% brightness- and I had sound.

Somewhere around the drives?
If you ain't have your power supply on the right side (early models), then it shurely was it. It didn't blow the thing, so whatever...   or?!?  Experts?

[ProudEmaxOwner]

It's getting worse. No sound again last night, today it rebooted itself twice and all the led's came on- and stayed on.

[Elmbeatz]

Take two or three days off work, buy some cleaning alcohol, open the unit, and reseat and clean each and every connector and IC inside (all those that are in sockets - use a thin screwdriver or a dedicated IC calipper). This sucks, but...
Of course - unplug the thing before, stay grounded (touch radiator here and then) and STAY AWAY from the power supply, even if it's unplugged.

You wanted to be in "the club"   

[ProudEmaxOwner]

Lol course I do, I just don't want it packing up on me. I know they're temperamental. Just asking in case it was a symptom of something that could possibly go catastrophically wrong- and I'm skint. Will try what you suggested over the weekend.

[Elmbeatz]

I hope it's going to work out.
When I did that, the thing was cured. At least for two years or so.
As I played around with it about a month ago, it flipped again - some voices crackled, drives didn't respond as they should... (okay - it stood still for more than half a year before...).

GOOD LUCK!!!

[rtech]

For a long time I have been trying to get into the club, but now I am having second thoughts. I have owned several EMU equiptment from a SP12, SP1200, Emax I, Emax II (both Emax were Rackmount), but have always wanted an EII. The only one that gave me problems was the Emax I, but that was back when I purchased it from a pawn shop in LA(Hollywood) around 1994. That was a long time ago and since the EII was manufactured a few years before and now more then 15 years later, the EII seems to be even more prone to issues.

  I hope you solve the issues with yours. Good luck with the cleaning and reseating the chips. Just dont clean the unit to hard as you might create a bigger problem than the current one.

rtech

[Elmbeatz]

Yeah, any EII has or will have issues. You have to get along with that, that's how it is.

edit:  I'M ALSO LOOKING FOR THE KNOB COVERS - IF YOU FIND A SOURCE, PLEASE LET ME KNOW...

[Elmbeatz]

"Mine does that, too, from time to time."

I think yours is busted, Elm.

I think so, too.
That's why I'm glad to have a second one for swapping parts just in case..

[Elmbeatz]

Nothing to be added. Well said!

EDIT:  Dimensional - you edited your post? It was really good...

[rtech]

I'll email and will try to call them. I asked a local shop in the San Gabriel area and they said they couldn't fix it. They don't have a tech that is knowledgeable on Old Emu gear.  I hope to get my sampling ability back on my eii.

[ProudEmaxOwner]

Still haven't had a chance to look at mine. Here's what's happening now- no sound for 40 mins, it 'sort of' reboots, the LCD goes all funny with unreadable characters and all the red LED's come on across the top. I turn it off and on and I have sound, but only if I do this after all the LED's come on. Rebooting it at any other time makes no diff.

[esynthesist]

Before starting the full IC reseating process, it might be a good idea to first unplug/replug all connectors inside the unit.
If my EII is instable and has problems like yours or Elm's, I unplug the ribbon cables, clean a little bit the pin contacts and reconnect the cables. Espcially the keyboard ribbon cable connector is causing this kind of trouble with one of my EIIs.
I sometimes do the same thing with the power connectors (a few molex ones, and a few other ones). Especially the molex connectors (with 8+1 pins) can cause problems. I know I shouldn't be saying it, but cleaning the molex pins and then using a little bit of contact spray on them might help. Just don't do that too often 
One last thing that I sometimes do is pressing on all ICs, and pushing a little bit on the connector between the two main boards - because this connection bridge can also cause instabilities.

It's also possible of course that your power supply is not good anymore...

Anyway, I think your EII is not in that bad shape. It worked when you bought it at the owners place, so probably something went wrong during transportation or after moving it around in your room/studio. Probably no big deal...

[dimesional space]

Whatever you gotta do to get it going again I say.  If it's gonna be
$500 to get it going again, I say it's worth it.  Which it won't, I am just
saying.  This unit doesn't spec out on paper with anything modern or
even near a softsynth, but nothing sounds this good either.  I think the EII
sounds better than the EIII.  I cannot believe the textures I get out of this thing.
There isn't anything in the Ambient genre I am not able to do with the EII and DP4 processor.  The ADSR and LFO control is absolutely mind blowing.  I think most people who have this synth get some OMI sample library and play some Music For the Masses riffs and the fun ends there.  I am not saying that is lame, but there is so much more to this big machine.   The filters are just so dark and deep.  Depends what you're doing I guess.  I sat there with the lights off last night after an hours worth of carving tones and all I did was shake my head in disbelief.  The EII blows my mind.  Out of the 4 or 5 I have had, this is the only one that has worked 100%.  The other one is in the shop, and I am looking for another.  You gotta think long term on these things. No manufacturer will ever come out with another synth like this.  Ever.   I'll never go back to cheeseball VST's and be satisfied.   Sample the sampler is my motto.  But make sure the EII is in there somewhere though.  I'll get a 3rd job for another EII or do whatever I gotta do to fix mine. Acquiring one is only half the battle.  Getting them to run is another mountain to climb sometimes.  You either buy a cheaper one that needs work or you buy a gem at $1500+ and then you still have to say a little prayer for it to run right, and sometimes wave a little chicken foot around the unit in order for it to turn on and load and work.  (lol)

My favorite synth.  If you have one or several feel lucky.  Be thankful when you look across the room.