Patches and discussion for Ensoniq VFX family

Hi guys,

I have an SD1 that will not calibrate it's keyboard. Keeps 
saying "calibration failed" - then a message saying the keyboard was 
not recognised.

Anyone else had this problem - and is there a common reason..?

Cheers,
Tom

If you transport the SD-1, could simply be one of the cables got loose....

Bob
El Segundo, CA


-----Original Message-----

>From: Quazimodo <noddyspuncture@...>
>Sent: Jun 13, 2008 10:00 AM
>To: Ensoniq-VFX-SD@yahoogroups.com
>Subject: [Ensoniq-VFX-SD] Re: SD1 won't 'recognise' keyboard...
>
>Hi Claus,
>Thanks for the ultra quick reply. Just been doing exactly that - 
>reading through all the old posts about this problem.
>
>Thing that worries me is that this is the newer SD1, which supposedly 
>had all that fixed - no...?!?
>
>I will open her up and take a look, anyway.
>
>Thanks again,
>Tom
>
>
>
>--- In Ensoniq-VFX-SD@yahoogroups.com, Claus <clauzii@...> wrote:
>>
>> You probably have the infamous keybord connector problem. Please 
>search the forum, since there is a zillion of posts regarding that. 
>In the files section there is a service sheet, explaining how to fix 
>it. You'll need to solder so if You know how to do that, You're one 
>step ahead.
>> 
>> - Claus, DK.
>> 
>> 
>> 
>> -----Original Message-----
>> From: noddyspuncture@...
>> Sent: Friday, June 13, 2008 1:13 PM -07:00
>> To: Ensoniq-VFX-SD@yahoogroups.com
>> Subject: [Ensoniq-VFX-SD] SD1 won't 'recognise' keyboard...
>> 
>> Hi guys,
>> 
>> I have an SD1 that will not calibrate it's keyboard. Keeps 
>> saying "calibration failed" - then a message saying the keyboard 
>was 
>> not recognised.
>> 
>> Anyone else had this problem - and is there a common reason..?
>> 
>> Cheers,
>> Tom
>>
>
>

> 
> Thing that worries me is that this is the newer SD1, which supposedly 
> had all that fixed - no...?!?

I happen to remember the history.  They THOUGHT they had the problem
licked, and renamed the keyboard (I've always assumed that it's the
SD1 and not the VFX-SD III because they changed the name to avoid the
reputation of unreliability of the VFX).  

But they didn't get to the real bottom of the problem until after the
SD1 had shiped for some time (6 months?).

That said, I have a VFX-SD that I bought used, cheaply beacuse it had
keyboard calibration problems.  I thought I knew what was wrong, but
to my chagrin I discovered that the keyboard had already been
hardwired when I opened it up.  

However, I re-flowed the solder on the hardwiring work, and cleaned up
the remaining connectors in the keyboard assembly.  After that, it has
functioned perfectly for years (over 10 years, I think).

So, anyway, your problem could be oxidation on the connectors that
still remain after the hardwired keyboard mod.  Have someone you trust
with this sort of thing (only you know if you yourself are qualified!)
take it apart and clean the connectors.

--> Steve

-- 
Steve Wahl    steve@...

<classyhorse23>  I had to google "jfgi" to see what it meant. The irony
is overwhelming.
    -- bash.org #761884

Thanks for your reply Steve,

OK, I dissmantled the keyboard - removed all the keys.
It has the multi-ribbon installed connecting the two boards. Looks
like a factory-fit. I re-soldered all the points on the cable but I
still get the same error message... "calibration error, keyboard not
recognized"

Do I have to replace all keys before checking again - or can I test it
without doing so? Should it 'calibrate' without the keys in place..?

What next..? Has anyone here had component failure on the keyboard
boards..?

Thanks again,
Tom



--- In Ensoniq-VFX-SD@yahoogroups.com, Steve Wahl <steve@...> wrote:

>
> > 
> > Thing that worries me is that this is the newer SD1, which supposedly 
> > had all that fixed - no...?!?
> 
> I happen to remember the history.  They THOUGHT they had the problem
> licked, and renamed the keyboard (I've always assumed that it's the
> SD1 and not the VFX-SD III because they changed the name to avoid the
> reputation of unreliability of the VFX).  
> 
> But they didn't get to the real bottom of the problem until after the
> SD1 had shiped for some time (6 months?).
> 
> That said, I have a VFX-SD that I bought used, cheaply beacuse it had
> keyboard calibration problems.  I thought I knew what was wrong, but
> to my chagrin I discovered that the keyboard had already been
> hardwired when I opened it up.  
> 
> However, I re-flowed the solder on the hardwiring work, and cleaned up
> the remaining connectors in the keyboard assembly.  After that, it has
> functioned perfectly for years (over 10 years, I think).
> 
> So, anyway, your problem could be oxidation on the connectors that
> still remain after the hardwired keyboard mod.  Have someone you trust
> with this sort of thing (only you know if you yourself are qualified!)
> take it apart and clean the connectors.
> 
> --> Steve

On Sat, Jun 14, 2008 at 03:11:56PM -0000, Quazimodo wrote:
> Thanks for your reply Steve,
> 
> OK, I dissmantled the keyboard - removed all the keys.
> It has the multi-ribbon installed connecting the two boards. Looks
> like a factory-fit. I re-soldered all the points on the cable but I
> still get the same error message... "calibration error, keyboard not
> recognized"
> 
> Do I have to replace all keys before checking again - or can I test it
> without doing so? Should it 'calibrate' without the keys in place..?

I think you may need the keys in place!

You notice how there are metal plates in each key, and the keybed has
funny shaped "antena" traces?  I think this keyboard works like 61
tiny metal detectors, each detecting how close the metal piece on the
corresponding key is.

The "calibration" would probably require those metal pieces to be in
rest position.

So, is it failing calibration because you don't have all the keys in
place, or are you asking because you did put all the keys back this
time, but would rather not have to do so each time?

If you had all the keys in place, where to go from here... Did you
disconnect and reconnect every conector from the ribbon connection on
the mother board, to the smaller mezzanine board, to the larger boards
under the keys?  The idea is to clear any oxidation that may be
present by exercising the connections a few times.

If that still fails, your problem is beyond my level of experience,
and off to general electronic troubleshooting.  You could take an OHM
meter to each connection -- following traces, making sure everything
that should be connected is.  

You could visually inspect the traces on the board, too.  I had an
apple computer keyboard recently that got pop (soda) in it, and that
actually ate through a trace on the flexible circuit board.  The
printed circuit traces in the VFX are more substantial, but stuff may
have had more time to eat through.

Oh, I just forced a calibration error on my keyboard.  The message I
get is "KEYBOARD CALIBRATION ERROR" "RECALIBRATE" "IGNORE".  Does
yours really say keyboard not recognized?  If your error message
differs from mine, it could be a clue.  But I'm assuming you were
probably just going from memory and didn't quote it exactly...

--> Steve

-- 
Steve Wahl    steve@...

I write to make people think. Sadly, in many cases my writing makes
people think, "Man, this guy is really an idiot".
   -- Nizo, on Slashdot

Thanks for all your suggestions so far, especially Steve.
Here's how I stand at the moment....

All keys replaced after checking all the circuitry beneath them.
(Soldered over the connecting ribbon joints to make sure and cleaned
the board surface of crud and dust)

Still the same message - calibration error. After pressing
re-calibrate about 6 or 7 times I get the keyboard not
found/recognised message.

** If I press 'ignore' (to get the patches displayed) and then do the
're-initialize' function - it all goes dark, permanently, with disc
drive light flashing once every 5 seconds or so, until I switch it off.

Powering back up starts the whole thing over...

Should I just give up..?

Thanks,
Tom

Jonas,

The 7 times power up reset thing is somewhat documented.

http://www.mcwest.org/~mccreary/vfx/

To quote:

------------------------------------------------------------
My VFX is completely frozen! What do I do?

    Talking about turning power on/off seven times to get a reset,
    Nick said he couldn't believe it.

    Well, Nick, here's what I remember of it. Someone had the problem
    that the diplay would come up, and then only partially draw the
    "initializing" display, and then hang. They called Ensoniq and
    were told to power-cycle seven times, always turning off the
    machine at a particular point in the power-up sequence. On the
    seventh time, the display came up with something like
    "RE-INITIALIZE?" and if you answer yes, everything gets wiped.

    I no longer have my back issues of the Hacker, and I haven't saved
    the notes string that mentioned it, but I believe Johnny Klonaris
    was involved in the string.

    As for ridiculous, well, sometimes firmware designers do require
    strange interactions to hide functions that they don't want the
    customer to accidentally execute. Why, here at HP, .... anyway, I
    wouldn't put it past 'em. Haven't tried it, but it IS in the
    Hacker, sometime in 1990. In the letters section.

Jim (I see no cave here...) Smith <smithj@...> 
------------------------------------------------------------

This sort of thing is usually for hanging type problems, where
something prevents the system from responding to button presses at
all.  I doubt it will help Tom's problem, but I guess he has nothing
to lose by trying it.

--> Steve

On Mon, Jun 16, 2008 at 09:42:04AM +0200, Jonas H\ufffdkansson wrote:
> Hi!
> 
> Once a long time ago my VFX SD hung up in a strange way. It was so
> long ago that I don't remember properly but it was something like
> this: I turned it on and it locked and did not start up as
> normal. Some kind of start up process lockup. I did not know much
> about electronics back then so I did not dare to open it and start
> to look for errors. But after some days I got tired of the situation
> and in desperation I turned the VFX SD on and off several of times
> rapidly. And guess what! When I have done that 6-7 times the
> software lockup was gone!! In some way the keyboard rebooted and it
> worked like normal again. It has never been any problem since. So
> switching the powerbutton on-off several of times is some kind of
> signal to the software to reinitialize or what do you guys think???
-- 
Steve Wahl    steve@...

<classyhorse23>  I had to google "jfgi" to see what it meant. The irony
is overwhelming.
    -- bash.org #761884

On Sun, Jun 15, 2008 at 07:54:41PM -0000, Quazimodo wrote:
> Thanks for all your suggestions so far, especially Steve.
> Here's how I stand at the moment....
> 
> All keys replaced after checking all the circuitry beneath them.
> (Soldered over the connecting ribbon joints to make sure and cleaned
> the board surface of crud and dust)
> 
> Still the same message - calibration error. After pressing
> re-calibrate about 6 or 7 times I get the keyboard not
> found/recognised message.
> 
> ** If I press 'ignore' (to get the patches displayed) and then do the
> 're-initialize' function - it all goes dark, permanently, with disc
> drive light flashing once every 5 seconds or so, until I switch it off.
> 
> Powering back up starts the whole thing over...
> 
> Should I just give up..?

Depends upon what you mean by give up.  Don't send it to the landfill!

But it may be time to find some help (someone local to you who has
electronics troubleshooting experience), or to sell it off to someone
else who wants to try to resurect it, or have it as a parts machine.

Do you know how to check the output voltages of the power supply?
That might be something to check, given the bizarre behavior.

--> Steve

-- 
Steve Wahl    steve@...

"On this employee survey form, it asks, 'Do you trust your manager?'
If I trust him to do the wrong thing, is that a 'yes'?"

The bug is infamous!  machine just sits there... looking back at you like your some kind of dummy? make sure everything is turned off.
take a duster to the cartridge slot and try different cartridges?
MAKE SURE YOUR ELECTRICITY IS GOOD.
You NEED a good current.
look for something simple like a potato chip stuck under one of the keys...
 


--- On Fri, 6/13/08, Quazimodo <noddyspuncture@...> wrote:

From: Quazimodo <noddyspuncture@hotmail.com>
Subject: [Ensoniq-VFX-SD] SD1 won't 'recognise' keyboard...
To: Ensoniq-VFX-SD@yahoogroups.com
Date: Friday, June 13, 2008, 6:13 AM

Hi guys,

I have an SD1 that will not calibrate it's keyboard. Keeps 
saying "calibration failed" - then a message saying the keyboard was 
not recognised.

Anyone else had this problem - and is there a common reason..?

Cheers,
Tom


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