Analogue-sequencer

Colin, I got my sequencer working (still havent hooked it up via MIDI 
to anything) but was wondering if there was some protocol to getting it 
right off the bat.. Some sort of correct sequence of events..  install 
battery, count to 3 say the magic word, press the magic button then 
apply power..    It took me a couple returns under the hood to get mine 
to work properly (visually at least) and at least once I had to 
disconnect the battery for a few seconds to un-lock it up.   

searching the archives I found F1+7 while turning it on to be an 
initialisation sequence?

any words of wisdom here?
thanks
~Steve

Okey doke, sounds good.. 
 Now let me tell you what happened today.  This happened once 
yesterday, and all I had to do to remedy it was to disconnect the 
battery for a few seconds and then I was back to normal..  but I hope 
there is a traceable reason as to whats happening.. I dont want to let 
this lie.  so here goes.

 well I was playing around with p3 today (getting ready to anyway), I 
had the manual, had the P3. here's what happened.  I turn it on with 
F1+7 (how big are your hands anyway!?) and was asked whether I want to 
clear data or cancel.  F1 (clear) doesnt seem to respond..?  Maybe 
because I hand't made any changes?  Anyway I hit cancel and all seems 
well.  I get to page 9 in the manual, which talks about holding page 
while powering up to select a memory layout.  Sounds good to me, lets 
try it.  So I power down, then power up while holding page.  Nothing 
happens.  no lights, etc..  I try again and same.  Now whenever I power 
up, all that happens is the 8 mode leds light up for a second and go 
off and then it sits there looking dead.  When I flick it off from this 
frozen state, the pattern leds flash for a tenth of a second as does 
the PLED which reads <<P3 Sequencer>> for that tenth of a second.

  Now I can go in there and disconnect the battery and get it back to 
normal (probably), but Id like to go in there only one more time.  To 
fix this!!

everything seems to function when it does work. . but these spasams are 
freaking me out.  

If it matters any, I powered it up yesterday with the ram backup IC 
(1210 iirc) in backwards a few times before I saw it.  Could this be 
fried? would it cause any similar symptoms?  I doubt that the RAM has 
anything to do with the startup sequence..  but it may be causing it to 
lock up?
anyone have a clue or experience similar hiccups? 

thanks in advance for any leads or insight.

~Steve




> 
> F1+7 will initialise all pattern and config data.
> You'll be asked to select a memory layout too if the RAM has been 
powered
> down - it'll be randomised.
> If you decide you want to change the layout, hold PAGE during power-
up.
> I always use 6 bank x 8 pattern per track layout. I suspect until 
you've
> used P3 for a while, you won't really know which layout suits you 
best.

> 
> Cheers,
> Colin f

> searching the archives I found F1+7 while turning it on to be an 
> initialisation sequence?
> 
> any words of wisdom here?

F1+7 will initialise all pattern and config data.
You'll be asked to select a memory layout too if the RAM has been powered
down - it'll be randomised.
If you decide you want to change the layout, hold PAGE during power-up.
I always use 6 bank x 8 pattern per track layout. I suspect until you've
used P3 for a while, you won't really know which layout suits you best.

Cheers,
Colin f

Okay Colin,   I tried the func+page and nada.  but then when I cycled 
it off and on again, it came on as normal. (normal?)  I then cycled it 
again and did F1+7 and was able to clear data F1+F2.  Cycling further, 
with page this time to see if it would lock up again, and yes, holding 
Page upon power up loeft it blank, and now it exhibits the same 
behavior every time on power-up (a few leds lit or none, no PLED, and a 
quick flash upon power down.  

trying the FUNC+PAGE again in hopes of it working again. . nope. 
Perhaps it worked the first time because I hadnt messed with it for a 
few hours and some cap had discharged or something??  

thanks for following with me here..
~Steve



> That's certainly not normal.
> Does it boot into the firmware upload mode OK ?
> Hold FUNC+PAGE at power-on (right at power-on this time...) and see 
if it
> gives you the image checksum and boot/flash options.
>  
> > If it matters any, I powered it up yesterday with the ram backup IC 
> > (1210 iirc) in backwards a few times before I saw it.  Could this 
be 

> > fried?
> 
> I've done that myself, and it didn't fry. No guarantees though.
> 
> Cheers,
> Colin f

> I turn it on with 
> F1+7 (how big are your hands anyway!?)

Not quite big enough to hold that combination by accident, which is the
general idea.
You don't have to hold it right at the instant of power-on - it scans for
those keys after the first LED colour cycle.
So you do have time to power-on, then hold F1+7.

> and was asked whether I want to 
> clear data or cancel.  F1 (clear) doesnt seem to respond..?

[ clear ] requires both F1 and F2.
This approach is intended to prevent someone who finds themself attacked by
an alien creature just as they turn on their P3 from accidentally wiping all
their pattern data while rolling around on top of their equipment, trying to
release the creature's fearsome reptilian strangle-hold.

> I try again and same.  Now whenever I power 
> up, all that happens is the 8 mode leds light up for a second and go 
> off and then it sits there looking dead.  When I flick it off 
> from this 
> frozen state, the pattern leds flash for a tenth of a second as does 
> the PLED which reads <<P3 Sequencer>> for that tenth of a second.

That's certainly not normal.
Does it boot into the firmware upload mode OK ?
Hold FUNC+PAGE at power-on (right at power-on this time...) and see if it
gives you the image checksum and boot/flash options.
 
> If it matters any, I powered it up yesterday with the ram backup IC 
> (1210 iirc) in backwards a few times before I saw it.  Could this be 
> fried?

I've done that myself, and it didn't fry. No guarantees though.

Cheers,
Colin f

> Perhaps it worked the first time because I hadnt messed with it for a 
> few hours and some cap had discharged or something??  

It sounds like there is something causing it to only boot up successfully
for a short time.
At a guess, I'd check the polarity of the electrolytic cap on the CPU reset
pin - C3.
That might cause the CPU to go into reset if it is the wrong way round.
After that, check all component orientations and solder joints.

Cheers,
Colin f

forst of all sorry for taking up so much list bandwidth with my 
problems everyone..  Colin, if you would prefer, reply in private and 
we can continue in email.

Okay Colin, Ill check the caps and solder joints tomorrow.. But until 
then, heres more new fun weirdness for you to chew on.
  I tried it again an hour ago, after a few hours turned off.  After 
two unsucessful boots, the third was indeed a charm.  It turned on and 
played along merrily.  I didnt dare try again with PAGE to check memory 
allocation.  Instead I went through the manual like I had wanted to 
earlier today.  But after a minute, strangeness ensued.  It started 
slowing down at every button press, like my Nintendo used to do when 
there were 20 or so moving objects on the screen.  After it had 
excecuted the command, it went back to scrolling leds.  But every 
button press - paging through menus, scrolling through modes, changing 
knob values etc, the machines leds would flicker and jump and I could 
see every character appearing one after the other on the PLED.  As if 
it was trying to process tons of info or something.  I even turned 
tempo way down, mclock off, mthru off, even with the machine stopped, 
it was still doing this.  With a playlist setup, it would flash leds 
and slowdown everytime the parts would change.  Finally after about an 
hour of slow yet grinning fun (not even daring to connect it to any 
midi modules yet - this is gonna be fun, eventually) I got to the end 
of the manual and read that F1+7 MUST be performed upon first powerup 
of a P3 kit.  Ha..  well, I didnt do this, could it have gotten its 
brain garbled? Note, put this in the build pages!

could it be some sort of power issue or clock issue?  I noticed some of 
the ceramic caps I recieved were 100v and thus a bit physically larger 
than maybe optimal?..  Its odd though because It seemed to work fine 
yesterday.. for a few minutes anyway.  I put my 9v, 600ma wallwart ono 
my bench and it measures 13v..  why cant they get these right?  Maybe 
my poor 7805 is burning up?  Maybe maybe maybe?

carry on.. thanks for any replies or ideas about this anyone!

~Steve


> 
> It sounds like there is something causing it to only boot up 
successfully
> for a short time.
> At a guess, I'd check the polarity of the electrolytic cap on the CPU 
reset
> pin - C3.
> That might cause the CPU to go into reset if it is the wrong way 
round.

> After that, check all component orientations and solder joints.
> 
> Cheers,
> Colin f

"forst of all"

jeez..  lol


~Steve

> But after a minute, strangeness ensued.  It started 
> slowing down at every button press, like my Nintendo used to do when 
> there were 20 or so moving objects on the screen.  After it had 
> excecuted the command, it went back to scrolling leds.  But every 
> button press - paging through menus, scrolling through modes, 
> changing 
> knob values etc, the machines leds would flicker and jump and I could 
> see every character appearing one after the other on the PLED.

I've seen behaviour like that with a badly wired PLED display.
This is certain to be a hardware problem, most likely around the PLED
display interface or the module itself.

> I got to the end 
> of the manual and read that F1+7 MUST be performed upon first powerup 
> of a P3 kit.  Ha..  well, I didnt do this, could it have gotten its 
> brain garbled? Note, put this in the build pages!

No - the init is required so the config makes sense, but you can't harm the
CPU by no doing it, and it wouldn't explain the behaviour you're seeing.

> I put my 9v, 600ma wallwart ono 
> my bench and it measures 13v..  why cant they get these right?  Maybe 
> my poor 7805 is burning up?  Maybe maybe maybe?

13v is typical for a 9v unregulated supply - it would drop to 9v if it were
supplying 600mA, but because less than that is drawn, the output will be
higher. The regulator will run warm, but this won't be a problem.
The regulator can happily run at a higher temperature than you can touch,
assuming you have a heat sink on there.

Cheers,
Colin f