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Resurrecting an Emax HD rack - Issues keep mounting

Resurrecting an Emax HD rack - Issues keep mounting

2014-02-04 by picabostreets@...

Hi all,

I bought an Emax hd rack back in October, only to discover that it would not turn on. I finally had the PSU repaired recently, and it booted. Diagnostics did not indicate anything wrong on start-up, but hard drive issues became apparent... the HD light was activated but it wasn't initializing/spinning. I got it spinning by disconnecting it from the PSU and carefully swivelling it in hand, exerting a light stopping force with my other hand in an attempt to lightly jolt it into action (as suggested by a computer tech friend). It finally came to life, but then gave me the message "please insert floppy"... I went and formatted a 720k DSDD disk with the OS 1.1 for the HD version, and it still came up as disk error on the emax when I tried booting from it.

I went to try and load the floppy, but the hard drive wouldn't boot again, I performed the same maneuver as before, and when I reconnecting the PSU and turned it on, it suddenly booted fully from the HD without the floppy! I went and attempted recording with it, and the VU showed up and I went ahead with starting to sample, but then it failed at the end. It then prompted "please insert disk" again, and it won't get back to where it was.

The floppy drive spins if the floppy disk is detected at start up, but it says "disk error"... when I know that it is properly formatted with the 1.1 pre-SE HD OS using EMXP. I'm going to assume the hard drive likely needs to be replaced... Any other ideas/tips would be greatly appreciated. I've been trying to fix this for a few months now and I could really use some help.

Thanks
Ian

Re: [emax] Resurrecting an Emax HD rack - Issues keep mounting

2014-02-04 by Ted Summers

Sounds like the floppy is bad too.

Get a PCD-60B or a PCD-50b and slim floppy.
So you can use CF card or SD using a PC Card adapter.

That's my opinion.

For info on slim floppy, go to my website: djtbs1.wordpress.com

-Ted




On Feb 3, 2014, at 4:35 PM, <picabostreets@...> wrote:

Hi all,



I bought an Emax hd rack back in October, only to discover that it would not turn on. I finally had the PSU repaired recently, and it booted. Diagnostics did not indicate anything wrong on start-up, but hard drive issues became apparent... the HD light was activated but it wasn't initializing/spinning. I got it spinning by disconnecting it from the PSU and carefully swivelling it in hand, exerting a light stopping force with my other hand in an attempt to lightly jolt it into action (as suggested by a computer tech friend). It finally came to life, but then gave me the message "please insert floppy"... I went and formatted a 720k DSDD disk with the OS 1.1 for the HD version, and it still came up as disk error on the emax when I tried booting from it.

I went to try and load the floppy, but the hard drive wouldn't boot again, I performed the same maneuver as before, and when I reconnecting the PSU and turned it on, it suddenly booted fully from the HD without the floppy! I went and attempted recording with it, and the VU showed up and I went ahead with starting to sample, but then it failed at the end. It then prompted "please insert disk" again, and it won't get back to where it was.

The floppy drive spins if the floppy disk is detected at start up, but it says "disk error"... when I know that it is properly formatted with the 1.1 pre-SE HD OS using EMXP. I'm going to assume the hard drive likely needs to be replaced... Any other ideas/tips would be greatly appreciated. I've been trying to fix this for a few months now and I could really use some help.

Thanks
Ian


Re: [emax] Resurrecting an Emax HD rack - Issues keep mounting

2014-02-04 by picabostreets@...

Thank you for the reply Ted, I really appreciate it.


I tried the maneuver again and got it to boot. When I went to sample again, both the VU gain and recording threshold reference meters were peaking at the limit without any audio input... which would suggest internal noise, or perhaps a bad chip somewhere? I found this odd, as the VU gain and threshold levels were fine the previous time I had it booted and attempted sampling.


I ran an HD scan and it reported no bad sectors. I turned it off again, put the casing back on, and turned it on again. Then it returned to the problem of the OS not booting from the HD. Once again it asked for me to insert a disk... each time I put the formatted disk in, it refers to a disk error.


What would be suggested by a poor boot sequence & OS access, but a passed scan?

Is it possible that the VU is associated with the hard drive? (I imagine that would be tough to diagnose)


I'm trying to weigh out my options... I don't have a lot of available funds, and the HD replacement alone would be expensive, let alone both a HD + floppy drive emulator or replacement. Further, is it likely that the VU issue suggests additional issues with any chips?


Sorry for all the questions, but again, any advice is greatly appreciated.

Re: [emax] Resurrecting an Emax HD rack - Issues keep mounting

2014-02-04 by Ted Summers

If the machine is being erratic it could be losing it's calibrations or something.
Usually, start with re-seating all ICs and connectors.

As to the floppy drive replacement- slim floppy adapter about $10, and slim drives can be had for $5 (used) to $15 (new).

It is possible to jumper and not have a floppy- but I think a floppy is good to have for diagnostic purposes.

-Ted


On Feb 3, 2014, at 7:03 PM, <picabostreets@...> wrote:


Thank you for the reply Ted, I really appreciate it.


I tried the maneuver again and got it to boot. When I went to sample again, both the VU gain and recording threshold reference meters were peaking at the limit without any audio input... which would suggest internal noise, or perhaps a bad chip somewhere? I found this odd, as the VU gain and threshold levels were fine the previous time I had it booted and attempted sampling.


I ran an HD scan and it reported no bad sectors. I turned it off again, put the casing back on, and turned it on again. Then it returned to the problem of the OS not booting from the HD. Once again it asked for me to insert a disk... each time I put the formatted disk in, it refers to a disk error.


What would be suggested by a poor boot sequence & OS access, but a passed scan?

Is it possible that the VU is associated with the hard drive? (I imagine that would be tough to diagnose)


I'm trying to weigh out my options... I don't have a lot of available funds, and the HD replacement alone would be expensive, let alone both a HD + floppy drive emulator or replacement. Further, is it likely that the VU issue suggests additional issues with any chips?


Sorry for all the questions, but again, any advice is greatly appreciated.



RE: [emax] Resurrecting an Emax HD rack - Issues keep mounting

2014-02-04 by Lorne Hammond

is there a short in your input jacks or something mechanically bridging them or taking the input to ground?  Lorne
Show quoted textHide quoted text
From: emax@yahoogroups.com [mailto:emax@yahoogroups.com] On Behalf Of picabostreets@...
Sent: February-03-14 7:04 PM
To: emax@yahoogroups.com
Subject: Re: [emax] Resurrecting an Emax HD rack - Issues keep mounting

 

  

Thank you for the reply Ted, I really appreciate it.  

 

I tried the maneuver again and got it to boot.  When I went to sample again, both the VU gain and recording threshold reference meters were peaking at the limit without any audio input... which would suggest internal noise, or perhaps a bad chip somewhere?  I found this odd, as the VU gain and threshold levels were fine the previous time I had it booted and attempted sampling.

 

I ran an HD scan and i! t reported no bad sectors.  I turned it off again, put the casing back on, and turned it on again.  Then it returned to the problem of the OS not booting from the HD.  Once again it asked for me to insert a disk... each time I put the formatted disk in, it refers to a disk error.

 

What would be suggested by a poor boot sequence & OS access, but a passed scan?

Is it possible that the VU is associated with the hard drive?  (I imagine that would be tough to diagnose)

 

I'm trying to weigh out my options... I don't have a lot of available funds, and the HD replacement alone would be expensive, let alone both a HD + floppy drive emulator or replacement.  Further, is it likely that the VU issue suggests additional issues with any chips?

 

Sorry for all the questions, but again, any advice is greatly appreciated.

Re: [emax] Resurrecting an Emax HD rack - Issues keep mounting

2014-02-05 by Gary Doty

I had one that would crash when sampling and the vu would jump around with no input. My case turned out to be a faulty timing control chip. As for the hard drive make sure it is a clean drive (f disked) or you will format it and it will still ask a boot disk. It won't load system files to the hard drive if there is already sys files on it.

Sent from Yahoo Mail on Android


Show quoted textHide quoted text
From: Ted Summers ;
To: ;
Subject: Re: [emax] Resurrecting an Emax HD rack - Issues keep mounting
Sent: Tue, Feb 4, 2014 3:14:55 AM

If the machine is being erratic it could be losing it's calibrations or something.

Usually, start with re-seating all ICs and connectors.

As to the floppy drive replacement- slim floppy adapter about $10, and slim drives can be had for $5 (used) to $15 (new).

It is possible to jumper and not have a floppy- but I think a floppy is good to have for diagnostic purposes.

-Ted


On Feb 3, 2014, at 7:03 PM, <picabostreets@...> wrote:


Thank you for the reply Ted, I really appreciate it.


I tried the maneuver again and got it to boot. When I went to sample again, both the VU gain and recording threshold reference meters were peaking at the limit without any audio input... which would suggest internal noise, or perhaps a bad chip somewhere? I found this odd, as the VU gain and threshold levels were fine the previous time I had it booted and attempted sampling.


I ran an HD scan and it reported no bad sectors. I turned it off again, put the casing back on, and turned it on again. Then it returned to the problem of the OS not booting from the HD. Once again it asked for me to insert a disk... each time I put the formatted disk in, it refers to a disk error.


What would be suggested by a poor boot sequence & OS access, but a passed scan?

Is it possible that the VU is associated with the hard drive? (I imagine that would be tough to diagnose)


I'm trying to weigh out my options... I don't have a lot of available funds, and the HD replacement alone would be expensive, let alone both a HD + floppy drive emulator or replacement. Further, is it likely that the VU issue suggests additional issues with any chips?


Sorry for all the questions, but again, any advice is greatly appreciated.



RE: Resurrecting an Emax HD rack - Issues keep mounting

2014-02-05 by picabostreets@...

I got it to boot again and it successfully sampled and played back via midi... then it eventually failed again, prompting me to insert a disk. The OS will sometimes load successfully on start up, but it will work for a given period, then suddenly the HD's access to the OS will fail. When it is loaded, it seems to have full functionality.


So it sounds like Ted is right... both the HD and floppy drive have to be replaced. If I understand correctly, I have 3 options... 1) install a replacement HD that is formatted with the emax hd pre-se 1.1 OS and not replace the floppy... 2) install a floppy drive replacement and slim floppy and load the OS from there, 3) replace both. I'm on a student budget so money is a concern...


Would anybody out there have a spare hard drive they could sell me? Or for that matter, a spare floppy drive? I'm located in London (Canada), but I'm near the US border and could pick up there...


Again, any tips or advice is greatly appreciated. I don't want the emax to sit in my closet anymore...

Re: [emax] RE: Resurrecting an Emax HD rack - Issues keep mounting

2014-02-05 by Windrum Scoggin

Problem with people getting rid of their spare hard drives is the fact that the Emax tries to boot off it first and if it doesn't see the FDD and is a SCSI HD model will then go to look for the SCSI HD. If neither or present, it won't boot. If it is a NON SCSI HD model it has to have an FDD or it just won't boot. Its a moot point but I have no idea why EMU NEVER opted to have the OS on flash rom so the damned machine would load off the internal Flash ROM like all their later units did. Ensoniq did the same stupid thing. No FDD with OS on it, NO Load. Machine useless. Stupid.
Anyway, that's neither hear nor there. If I were you, I would go HxC Floppy emulator then use your laptop running EMXP and load your stuff onto an SD card via EMXP and screw the the FDD. I am eventually going to do the same. Plus, you are in Europe and the HxC is made there by Lotharek, who is in Poland. Check out this youtube link and I am sure our buddy RetroSound could steer you the rest of the way in making this happen. I certainly am going this route, even if I keep SCSI HD and PCD-50B's in my Emax cause I am just sick of the FDD nightmare on these machines.
Show quoted textHide quoted text
On Wed, Feb 5, 2014 at 9:50 AM, <picabostreets@...> wrote:

I got it to boot again and it successfully sampled and played back via midi... then it eventually failed again, prompting me to insert a disk. The OS will sometimes load successfully on start up, but it will work for a given period, then suddenly the HD's access to the OS will fail. When it is loaded, it seems to have full functionality.


So it sounds like Ted is right... both the HD and floppy drive have to be replaced. If I understand correctly, I have 3 options... 1) install a replacement HD that is formatted with the emax hd pre-se 1.1 OS and not replace the floppy... 2) install a floppy drive replacement and slim floppy and load the OS from there, 3) replace both. I'm on a student budget so money is a concern...


Would anybody out there have a spare hard drive they could sell me? Or for that matter, a spare floppy drive? ;I'm located in London (Canada), but I'm near the US border and could pick up there...


Again, any tips or advice is greatly appreciated. I don't want the emax to sit in my closet anymore...




--
Le Sociere Des Oscillateurs Mystere

Re: [emax] RE: Resurrecting an Emax HD rack - Issues keep mounting

2014-02-05 by Windrum Scoggin

correction in firs paragraph I meant the problem with people getting rid of their spare Floppy Disk Drives NOT spare Hard Drives...sorry for the typo

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On Wed, Feb 5, 2014 at 10:48 AM, Windrum Scoggin <windrumscoggin@...> wrote:
Problem with people getting rid of their spare hard drives is the fact that the Emax tries to boot off it first and if it doesn't see the FDD and is a SCSI HD model will then go to look for the SCSI HD. If neither or present, it won't boot. If it is a NON SCSI HD model it has to have an FDD or it just won't boot. Its a moot point but I have no idea why EMU NEVER opted to have the OS on flash rom so the damned machine would load off the internal Flash ROM like all their later units did. Ensoniq did the same stupid thing. No FDD with OS on it, NO Load. Machine useless. Stupid.
Anyway, that's neither hear nor there. If I were you, I would go HxC Floppy emulator then use your laptop running EMXP and load your stuff onto an SD card via EMXP and screw the the FDD. I am eventually going to do the same. Plus, you are in Europe and the HxC is made there by Lotharek, who is in Poland. Check out this youtube link and I am sure our buddy RetroSound could steer you the rest of the way in making this happen. I certainly am going this route, even if I keep SCSI HD and PCD-50B's in my Emax cause I am just sick of the FDD nightmare on these machines.


On Wed, Feb 5, 2014 at 9:50 AM, <picabostreets@...> wrote:

I got it to boot again and it successfully sampled and played back via midi... then it eventually failed again, prompting me to insert a disk. The OS will sometimes load successfully on start up, but it will work for a given period, then suddenly the HD's access to the OS will fail. When it is loaded, it seems to have full functionality.


So it sounds like Ted is right... both the HD and floppy drive have to be replaced. If I understand correctly, I have 3 options... 1) install a replacement HD that is formatted with the emax hd pre-se 1.1 OS and not replace the floppy... 2) install a floppy drive replacement and slim floppy and load the OS from there, 3) replace both. I'm on a student budget so money is a concern...


Would anybody out there have a spare hard drive they could sell me? Or for that matter, a spare floppy drive? I'm located in London (Canada), but I'm near the US border and could pick up there...


Again, any tips or advice is greatly appreciated. I don't want the emax to sit in my closet anymore...




--
Le Sociere Des Oscillateurs Mystere



--
Le Sociere Des Oscillateurs Mystere

RE: Resurrecting an Emax HD rack - Issues keep mounting

2014-02-05 by picabostreets@...

Unfortunately I'm in London Ontario (Canada)... so it might turn out to be a pricey option to ship from Poland. Would the HxC option require modding or is it basically plug and play?


It seems that replacement HD prices are really inflated, so an affordable fix might be impossible... Also, if it came clean and unformatted (as it should), I would still need to use the floppy drive to format it...


Windrum you're right, it's regrettable that E-mu didn't have the OS stored on internal ROM...


- Ian

Re: [emax] RE: Resurrecting an Emax HD rack - Issues keep mounting

2014-02-05 by jammie

its not stupid they did it for a reason if back then you had a machine that had the os on rom
if any updates you had to remove roms and add new ones
with os loaded by floppy any new os implimentation it just had to be written to floppy as extra code and it would load the new set
when emu went onto upgrading to se and hd bigger roms were needed and why you have to remove and put in the bigger chip
memory and roms weere expensive so if you could get away with a rom with an instruction set that the os pointed to you could use smaller roms cheaper and use floppy disks very cheap to impliment new features
it ok by todays standards as memory is cheap
and if they had cf cards and usb back then they would of used it like new synths do today
but we are talking about 1986/7 and why machines had tiny ram it was so expensive
a 4mb simm back then for a mac was £300 they are pennies now nut back then it was expensive
kurzweil introduced the k2000 in 1990 and it had fixed roms when you upgraded it cost £100 each time there were many rom upgrades you had to send in your own roms and they would send you back used roms with os on updated to latest spec
many years later they did the k2500 and the later models allowed you to use the floppy to upgrade the os by flashing flashrom
but most samplers i have use a flioppy for loading the os from disk if not a hd connected
most sampler types today are hybrid romplers and batched on sampler players so require rom os
Show quoted textHide quoted text
----- Original Message -----
Sent: Wednesday, February 05, 2014 6:48 PM
Subject: Re: [emax] RE: Resurrecting an Emax HD rack - Issues keep mounting

Problem with people getting rid of their spare hard drives is the fact that the Emax tries to boot off it first and if it doesn't see the FDD and is a SCSI HD model will then go to look for the SCSI HD. If neither or present, it won't boot. If it is a NON SCSI HD model it has to have an FDD or it just won't boot. Its a moot point but I have no idea why EMU NEVER opted to have the OS on flash rom so the damned machine would load off the internal Flash ROM like all their later units did. Ensoniq did the same stupid thing. No FDD with OS on it, NO Load. Machine useless. Stupid.
Anyway, that's neither hear nor there. If I were you, I would go HxC Floppy emulator then use your laptop running EMXP and load your stuff onto an SD card via EMXP and screw the the FDD. I am eventually going to do the same. Plus, you are in Europe and the HxC is made there by Lotharek, who is in Poland. Check out this youtube link and I am sure our buddy RetroSound could steer you the rest of the way in making this happen. I certainly am going this route, even if I keep SCSI HD and PCD-50B's in my Emax cause I am just sick of the FDD nightmare on these machines.


On Wed, Feb 5, 2014 at 9:50 AM, <picabostreets@...> wrote:

I got it to boot again and it successfully sampled and played back via midi... then it eventually failed again, prompting me to insert a disk. The OS will sometimes load successfully on start up, but it will work for a given period, then suddenly the HD's access to the OS will fail. When it is loaded, it seems to have full functionality.


So it sounds like Ted is right... both the HD and floppy drive have to be replaced. If I understand correctly, I have 3 options... 1) install a replacement HD that is formatted with the emax hd pre-se 1.1 OS and not replace the floppy... 2) install a floppy drive replacement and slim floppy and load the OS from there, 3) replace both. I'm on a student budget so money is a concern...


Would anybody out there have a spare hard drive they could sell me? Or for that matter, a spare floppy drive? I'm located in London (Canada), but I'm near the US border and could pick up there...


Again, any tips or advice is greatly appreciated. I don't want the emax to sit in my closet anymore...




--
Le Sociere Des Oscillateurs Mystere

No virus found in this message.
Checked by AVG - www.avg.com
Version: 2014.0.4259 / Virus Database: 3684/7065 - Release Date: 02/05/14

Re: [emax] RE: Resurrecting an Emax HD rack - Issues keep mounting

2014-02-05 by jammie

the reason why most spare floppy drives were thrown was because they were shot

and postal can also damage them making the heads become misaligned in korgs they used to give you a special disk that parked the heads so they did not move when in transit

the hxc is plug and play remove old floppy cable from old floppy drive remove the drive put the cable upside down in the hxc  fit the hxc drive

put the sdcard in the pc format it fat 16 and use hxc software to create images from emxp images thats it

but for how much your going to pay for a hxc you can get a pcd-60b for t he same amount in usa/canada and a slim floppy for $5-10 and a slim floppy adater for $6 you will need to do the mods on that

but you will have a great sytem
Show quoted textHide quoted text
  ----- Original Message ----- 
  From: picabostreets@... 
  To: emax@yahoogroups.com 
  Sent: Wednesday, February 05, 2014 7:06 PM
  Subject: [emax] RE: Resurrecting an Emax HD rack - Issues keep mounting


    

  Unfortunately I'm in London Ontario (Canada)... so it might turn out to be a pricey option to ship from Poland.  Would the HxC option require modding or is it basically plug and play?  




  It seems that replacement HD prices are really inflated, so an affordable fix might be impossible... Also, if it came clean and unformatted (as it should), I would still need to use the floppy drive to format it... 




  Windrum you're right, it's regrettable that E-mu didn't have the OS stored on internal ROM...




  - Ian


  
  No virus found in this message.
  Checked by AVG - www.avg.com
  Version: 2014.0.4259 / Virus Database: 3684/7065 - Release Date: 02/05/14

RE: Resurrecting an Emax HD rack - Issues keep mounting

2014-02-05 by picabostreets@...

Thanks for the reply Jammie, that makes sense, it's just a matter of perspective now that memory is so cheap. Just makes it difficult for my unit, which has both HD and floppy issues. Not sure whether to replace the HD or just get an HxC or slim floppy (given budget issues). I have been unable to find a replacement HD for an affordable price in my searches, and I would also have to get it formatted with the OS as my FD is unreliable. I'm looking to buy either one or both of those items if anyone has spare...


- Ian

Re: [emax] RE: Resurrecting an Emax HD rack - Issues keep mounting

2014-02-05 by jammie

pcd-60b is your best bet

you dont have to fit a floppy if you dont want you can fit just the cf drive you need to jumper the floppy cable only so that the emu gets the floppy drive return cable signal to say there is a floppy drive present

as you can create a img of 35 banks with the correct os and burn that to a cf card

but  for getting the se disk you will need a floppy drive a hxc is £100+ + postage and customs to your country so your looking at about £20 vat + custom paperwork which is usually about $12

postage your looking at £25 from eroupe

so all in about £150

you can get a pcd-60b for about £100 all in including postage from usa to canada 

which is about $150 so that will be cheaper + you get 35 floppy banks on one cf fast loading about 20 seconds max fast unlike floppy which can take upto 1 minute plus you can scroll through banks in seconds i mean load a bank in 5 secs not a minute every time either floppy or floppy emulator

the hxc just emulates the floppy

so as yours is a hd moel then its best to use a scsi device

20mb miniscibe hd are all failing every model i service that has one is in for service because of it and and when they fail and stop spinning they can cause psu to fail also 

as it creates a short in the dc motor which goes direct to the 12v rail

but as ted said for diagnostic reasons its best to fit a slim floppy as its hard todo the service routines with out it 

and as i said most problems are with the emax drives not being able to read the disks as the same os is put on the cf cards and boots no problem
Show quoted textHide quoted text
  ----- Original Message ----- 
  From: picabostreets@yahoo.ca 
  To: emax@yahoogroups.com 
  Sent: Wednesday, February 05, 2014 7:39 PM
  Subject: [emax] RE: Resurrecting an Emax HD rack - Issues keep mounting


    

  Thanks for the reply Jammie, that makes sense, it's just a matter of perspective now that memory is so cheap.  Just makes it difficult for my unit, which has both HD and floppy issues.  Not sure whether to replace the HD or just get an HxC or slim floppy (given budget issues).  I have been unable to find a replacement HD for an affordable price in my searches, and I would also have to get it formatted with the OS as my FD is unreliable.  I'm looking to buy either one or both of those items if anyone has spare...




  - Ian


  
  No virus found in this message.
  Checked by AVG - www.avg.com
  Version: 2014.0.4259 / Virus Database: 3684/7065 - Release Date: 02/05/14

Re: [emax] RE: Resurrecting an Emax HD rack - Issues keep mounting

2014-02-05 by Niklas Ehrlin

Are you or anyone else handling orders on full kit (pcd-60, slim floppy, cf-reader + well written installation guide)?

Den 5 feb 2014 21:23 skrev "jammie" <jammie.emma@...>:
>
>
>
>
> pcd-60b is your best bet
>
> you dont have to fit a floppy if you dont want you can fit just the cf drive you need to jumper the floppy cable only so that the emu gets the floppy drive return cable signal to say there is a floppy drive present
>
> as you can create a img of 35 banks with the correct os and burn that to a cf card
>
> but for getting the se disk you will need a floppy drive a hxc is £100+ + postage and customs to your country so your looking at about £20 vat + custom paperwork which is usually about $12
>
> postage your looking at £25 from eroupe
>
> so all in about £150
>
> you can get a pcd-60b for about £100 all in including postage from usa to canada
>
> which is about $150 so that will be cheaper + you get 35 floppy banks on one cf fast loading about 20 seconds max fast unlike floppy which can take upto 1 minute plus you can scroll through banks in seconds i mean load a bank in 5 secs not a minute every time either floppy or floppy emulator
>
> the hxc just emulates the floppy
>
> so as yours is a hd moel then its best to use a scsi device
>
> 20mb miniscibe hd are all failing every model i service that has one is in for service because of it and and when they fail and stop spinning they can cause psu to fail also
>
> as it creates a short in the dc motor which goes direct to the 12v rail
>
>; but as ted said for diagnostic reasons its best to fit a slim floppy as its hard todo the service routines with out it
>
> and as i said most problems are with the emax drives not being able to read the disks as the same os is put on the cf cards and boots no problem
>>
>> ----- Original Message -----
>> From: picabostreets@...
>> To: emax@yahoogroups.com
>> Sent: Wednesday, February 05, 2014 7:39 PM
>> Subject: [emax] RE: Resurrecting an Emax HD rack - Issues keep mounting
>>
>>
>>
>> Thanks for the reply Jammie, that makes sense, it's just a matter of perspective now that memory is so cheap. Just makes it difficult for my unit, which has both HD and floppy issues. Not sure whether to replace the HD or just get an HxC or slim floppy (given budget issues). I have been unable to find a replacement HD for an affordable price in my searches, and I would also have to get it formatted with the OS as my FD is unreliable. I'm looking to buy either one or both of those items if anyone has spare...
>;>
>>
>> - Ian
>>
>> No virus found in this message.
>>
>> Checked by AVG - www.avg.com
>> Version: 2014.0.4259 / Virus Database: 3684/7065 - Release Date: 02/05/14
>
>

Re: [emax] RE: Resurrecting an Emax HD rack - Issues keep mounting

2014-02-05 by Ted Summers

No, there is no person or company that is selling "kits" pre-configured.

There are several very logical reasons for this.

For one thing- the drives are only available as NOS (new old stock) or used in varying condition / quantities.
There is no guarantee of continued availability for the drives, or even stable pricing.

Second- Emax owners aren't the only people looking for these drives. Other sampler model owners, Amiga and Atari computer users, and digital photography enthusiasts buy these drives also.
So they are usually sold as bare drives able to be used in any number of applications.

Some people want to do internal, others external. Some may want 2 slots and willing to pay $350 for a MicroTech PCD-25B that will give you 70 banks. So it is really a matter of choice and availability.

Last- often making something into a kit increases the overall cost as there isn't sufficient interest / quantity to get any price breaks.
So then whomever builds up the "kits" incurs some substantial costs, which they can (if they are lucky) recoup.

I know this last one as I setup the OLED display group buy.
If I didn't have $900 availabe to make it happen, it wouldn't have happened.
I got my money back- but it took a full 3 months or so to do it.

-Ted
Show quoted textHide quoted text
On Wed, Feb 5, 2014 at 1:42 PM, Niklas Ehrlin <niklas.ehrlin@...> wrote:

Are you or anyone else handling orders on full kit (pcd-60, slim floppy, cf-reader + well written installation guide)?

Den 5 feb 2014 21:23 skrev "jammie" <jammie.emma@...>:


>
>
>
>
> pcd-60b is your best bet
>
> you dont have to fit a floppy if you dont want you can fit just the cf drive you need to jumper the floppy cable only so that the emu gets the floppy drive return cable signal to say there is a floppy drive present
>
> as you can create a img of 35 banks with the correct os and burn that to a cf card
>
> but for getting the se disk you will need a floppy drive a hxc is £100+ + postage and customs to your country so your looking at about £20 vat + custom paperwork which is usually about $12
>
> postage your looking at £25 from eroupe
>
> so all in about £150
>
> you can get a pcd-60b for about £100 all in including postage from usa to canada
>
> which is about $150 so that will be cheaper + you get 35 floppy banks on one cf fast loading about 20 seconds max fast unlike floppy which can take upto 1 minute plus you can scroll through banks in seconds i mean load a bank in 5 secs not a minute every time either floppy or floppy emulator
>
> the hxc just emulates the floppy
>
> so as yours is a hd moel then its best to use a scsi device
>
> 20mb miniscibe hd are all failing every model i service that has one is in for service because of it and and when they fail and stop spinning they can cause psu to fail also
>
> as it creates a short in the dc motor which goes direct to the 12v rail
>
> but as ted said for diagnostic reasons its best to fit a slim floppy as its hard todo the service routines with out it
>
> and as i said most problems are with the emax drives not being able to read the disks as the same os is put on the cf cards and boots no problem
>>
>> ----- Original Message -----
>> From: picabostreets@...
>>; To: emax@yahoogroups.com
>> Sent: Wednesday, February 05, 2014 7:39 PM
>> Subject: [emax] RE: Resurrecting an Emax HD rack - Issues keep mounting
>>
>>
>>
>> Thanks for the reply Jammie, that makes sense, it's just a matter of perspective now that memory is so cheap. Just makes it difficult for my unit, which has both HD and floppy issues. Not sure whether to replace the HD or just get an HxC or slim floppy (given budget issues). I have been unable to find a replacement HD for an affordable price in my searches, and I would also have to get it formatted with the OS as my FD is unreliable. I'm looking to buy either one or both of those items if anyone has spare...
>>
>>
>> - Ian
>>
>> No virus found in this message.
>>
>> Checked by AVG - www.avg.com
>> Version: 2014.0.4259 / Virus Database: 3684/7065 - Release Date: 02/05/14
>
>


Re: [emax] RE: Resurrecting an Emax HD rack - Issues keep mounting

2014-02-06 by Windrum Scoggin

I don't know, Jammie, that all sounds plausible but by the time my E5000 and the ESI's came out SIMMS were still pricey....In 1992 -1998 maybe things got cheaper but for the list price of a new EMulator II or EMAX they could have budgeted for flash ROM so all they had to do was just load the floppy, update the EPROM then the machine would boot off that EPROM without the disk in the future. for what EMU was charging for their machines, its the least they could do. I wonder if the fairlight and the synclavier had to have THEIR floppies loaded into the machine to get it to boot and operate? I don't know cause I never owned or used one...anyone here on the forum know is a $125,000 dollar Fairlight needed a floppy to boot itself up?
Perhaps the fact that we need an OS disk to get the machine to boot is what has kept the second hadn used market prices so low on them for people that are NOT synth and particularly, EMU enthusiasts: They just don't know what to do witht he machine when it rolls in without an OS disk and it won't work. So, they sell it to people like us for chump change.
Perhpas that makes us very lucky, or very cursed, depending on how you look at these machines. I tend to think it very lucky of me to find them. I love the way they sound.
Ian, find a used PCD60b SCSI card reader and your worries will be gone.
(save for unless you need to trouble shoot again like Ted said but if you are like most of us, you will send it to a repair shop if things have to get THAT; deep, anyway)
Cheers\
Greg
Show quoted textHide quoted text
On Wed, Feb 5, 2014 at 11:15 AM, jammie <jammie.emma@blueyonder.co.uk> wrote:

its not stupid they did it for a reason if back then you had a machine that had the os on rom
if any updates you had to remove roms and add new ones
with os loaded by floppy any new os implimentation it just had to be written to floppy as extra code and it would load the new set
when emu went onto upgrading to se and hd bigger roms were needed and why you have to remove and put in the bigger chip
memory and roms weere expensive so if you could get away with a rom with an instruction set that the os pointed to you could use smaller roms cheaper and use floppy disks very cheap to impliment new features
it ok by todays standards as memory is cheap
and if they had cf cards and usb back then they would of used it like new synths do today
but we are talking about 1986/7 and why machines had tiny ram it was so expensive
a 4mb simm back then for a mac was £300 they are pennies now nut back then it was expensive
kurzweil introduced the k2000 in 1990 and it had fixed roms when you upgraded it cost £100 each time there were many rom upgrades you had to send in your own roms and they would send you back used roms with os on updated to latest spec
many years later they did the k2500 and the later models allowed you to use the floppy to upgrade the os by flashing flashrom
but most samplers i have use a flioppy for loading the os from disk if not a hd connected
most sampler types today are hybrid romplers and batched on sampler players so require rom os
----- Original Message -----
Sent: Wednesday, February 05, 2014 6:48 PM
Subject: Re: [emax] RE: Resurrecting an Emax HD rack - Issues keep mounting

Problem with people getting rid of their spare hard drives is the fact that the Emax tries to boot off it first and if it doesn't see the FDD and is a SCSI HD model will then go to look for the SCSI HD. If neither or present, it won't boot. If it is a NON SCSI HD model it has to have an FDD or it just won';t boot. Its a moot point but I have no idea why EMU NEVER opted to have the OS on flash rom so the damned machine would load off the internal Flash ROM like all their later units did. Ensoniq did the same stupid thing. No FDD with OS on it, NO Load. Machine useless. Stupid.
Anyway, that's neither hear nor there. If I were you, I would go HxC Floppy emulator then use your laptop running EMXP and load your stuff onto an SD card via EMXP and screw the the FDD. I am eventually going to do the same. Plus, you are in Europe and the HxC is made there by Lotharek, who is in Poland. Check out this youtube link and I am sure our buddy RetroSound could steer you the rest of the way in making this happen. I certainly am going this route, even if I keep SCSI HD and PCD-50B's in my Emax cause I am just sick of the FDD nightmare on these machines.


On Wed, Feb 5, 2014 at 9:50 AM, <picabostreets@...> wrote:

I got it to boot again and it successfully sampled and played back via midi... then it eventually failed again, prompting me to insert a disk. The OS will sometimes load successfully on start up, but it will work for a given period, then suddenly the HD's access to the OS will fail. When it is loaded, it seems to have full functionality.


So it sounds like Ted is right... both the HD and floppy drive have to be replaced. If I understand correctly, I have 3 options... 1) install a replacement HD that is formatted with the emax hd pre-se 1.1 OS and not replace the floppy... 2) install a floppy drive replacement and slim floppy and load the OS from there, 3) replace both. I'm on a student budget so money is a concern...


Would anybody out there have a spare hard drive they could sell me? Or for that matter, a spare floppy drive? I'm located in London (Canada), but I'm near the US border and could pick up there...


Again, any tips or advice is greatly appreciated. I don't want the emax to sit in my closet anymore...




--
Le Sociere Des Oscillateurs Mystere

No virus found in this message.
Checked by AVG - www.avg.com
Version: 2014.0.4259 / Virus Database: 3684/7065 - Release Date: 02/05/14




--
Le Sociere Des Oscillateurs Mystere

Re: [emax] RE: Resurrecting an Emax HD rack - Issues keep mounting

2014-02-06 by Windrum Scoggin

You gotta look and look hard for PCD's.....everyonce in a while, they come up for sale on eBay..getting rather hard to find IMHO....
You can look for an internal SCSI zip drive on Ebay and format to it using EMXP and another ZIP drive connected to your XP PC. So far I have written to ZIP drives on my XP using EMXP then loaded the disk via exteral SCSI Zip on my Emax just fine...BUT....
the option of using an external SCSI Zip drive means you will have to update to the Plus OS and the catch-22 ; to this is if you don't have a working floppy you can't update to the Plus OS on your Emax. Thefore, you will have to have someone make you a plus OS disk or use EMXP and make one yoruself, providing your floppy works on your Emax. Mine didn't so that put me into a dilemma but I was lucky enought to find a PCD and that saved me from having to find a new FDD or retrofit a slim floppy then load it into your Emax to update it. Once the Emax is updated the Plus OS then the Emax can 'see' external SCSI drives and you can load up off your external SCSI ZIP.
If ;your EMAX doesn't have an external SCSI connector, you can install one yourself if you have the time and wherewithall to do it and your internal Emax Main Board is a PC 333 board . Its REAL easy to install an external DB-25 SCSI conector on a PC 333 board....if not and you have Rev 2 boards its more difficult for sure (cuts and jumps you have to have some skillz with a soldering iron and a good eye) and its simply not possible with a Rev 1 board.
Hope this info helps. You can find internal SCSI ZIPS all over on eBay
Show quoted textHide quoted text
On Wed, Feb 5, 2014 at 8:59 PM, p. hendricks <ph@...> wrote:

On 2/5/14 12:23 PM, jammie wrote:

pcd-60b is your best bet
so, where's the best place to currently buy one in the US?

thanks!!!




--
Le Sociere Des Oscillateurs Mystere

Re: [emax] RE: Resurrecting an Emax HD rack - Issues keep mounting

2014-02-06 by niklas.ehrlin@...

If the PCD's are getting hard to find - is it still the best option? Compared to HxC I mean.

And as the HxC is basically just plug and play (no hardwire mod) - you can always switch to a working FDD if you find one and need it for diagnostics.

Ok, loading time might be slower (as someone mentioned, dont know myself) but this would only give some authenticity I think...;)


But as I called for in a seperate post; I'm looking for people who have installed an HxC on their Emaxes to get more info on how it worked out for them.

Re: [emax] RE: Resurrecting an Emax HD rack - Issues keep mounting

2014-02-06 by Windrumscoggin

Contact RetroSound in this video
http://youtu.be/vZ-bdwX-DyA
He installed one on his SE and obviously has it working
Cheers


Le sorcière des Oscillateurs mystère
Show quoted textHide quoted text
On Feb 5, 2014, at 11:04 PM, <niklas.ehrlin@gmail.com> wrote:

> If the PCD's are getting hard to find - is it still the best option? Compared to HxC I mean.
> 
> And as the HxC is basically just plug and play (no hardwire mod) - you can always switch to a working FDD if you find one and need it for diagnostics.
> 
> Ok, loading time might be slower (as someone mentioned, dont know myself) but this would only give some authenticity I think...;)
> 
> 
> 
> But as I called for in a seperate post; I'm looking for people who have installed an HxC on their Emaxes to get more info on how it worked out for them.
> 
>

Re: [emax] RE: Resurrecting an Emax HD rack - Issues keep mounting

2014-02-06 by jammie

there was no flash rom in 1984-1987
it came out later in the 90,s
scsi was only just invented and was very expensive and was only as standard in the early 90,s also
e5000 your talking 2000 thats nearly 16 years after the first production of the EII
the esi is a rebadged EIIIX with an updated add on memory controller as a turbo upgrade
i worked for ensoniq as a repair tech up until 1998 where we were dispanded because emu decide to source out the servicing causing me a career change
yes they used floppies to boot until scsi came along and the synclaviar got a pci card with os to do all the work
the rolands all the samplers up to the s760 flagship they never really did another they just added the engine to there romplers still use floppy for os
even akai even though they could boot from rom if there was an update you wanted to use the later features you still needed o boot from floppy
flash in is a newer thing and it became standard in synths like the trinity later kurzweils but we are talking nearly 15 years after the EII was introd
Show quoted textHide quoted text
its ok saying they should of been able to do it but floppy drives was cutting edge technology in 1984 it was a quick way to save and load user sounds and os
i mean the 5.25" floppy was standard on every thing fairlight used that format was not until version3 that they added scsi
i mean the fairlight did not even have multisampling it was a 1 sample only at a time
and they were small samples 8bits i know as i owned one and a fairlight 3
----- Original Message ----- uced
Sent: Thursday, February 06, 2014 1:02 AM
Subject: Re: [emax] RE: Resurrecting an Emax HD rack - Issues keep mounting

I don't know, Jammie, that all sounds plausible but by the time my E5000 and the ESI's came out SIMMS were still pricey....In 1992 -1998 maybe things got cheaper but for the list price of a new EMulator II or EMAX they could have budgeted for flash ROM so all they had to do was just load the floppy, update the EPROM then the machine would boot off that EPROM without the disk in the future. for what EMU was charging for their machines, its the least they could do. I wonder if the fairlight and the synclavier had to have THEIR floppies loaded into the machine to get it to boot and operate? I don't know cause I never owned or used one...anyone here on the forum know is a $125,000 dollar Fairlight needed a floppy to boot itself up?
Perhaps the fact that we need an OS disk to get the machine to boot is what has kept the second hadn used market prices so low on them for people that are NOT synth and particularly, EMU enthusiasts: They just don't know what to do witht he machine when it rolls in without an OS disk and it won't work. So, they sell it to people like us for chump change.
Perhpas that makes us very lucky, or very cursed, depending on how you look at these machines. I tend to think it very lucky of me to find them. I love the way they sound.
Ian, find a used PCD60b SCSI card reader and your worries will be gone.
(save for unless you need to trouble shoot again like Ted said but if you are like most of us, you will send it to a repair shop if things have to get THAT; deep, anyway)
Cheers\
Greg


On Wed, Feb 5, 2014 at 11:15 AM, jammie <jammie.emma@blueyonder.co.uk> wrote:

its not stupid they did it for a reason if back then you had a machine that had the os on rom
if any updates you had to remove roms and add new ones
with os loaded by floppy any new os implimentation it just had to be written to floppy as extra code and it would load the new set
when emu went onto upgrading to se and hd bigger roms were needed and why you have to remove and put in the bigger chip
;
memory and roms weere expensive so if you could get away with a rom with an instruction set that the os pointed to you could use smaller roms cheaper and use floppy disks very cheap to impliment new features
it ok by todays standards as memory is cheap
and if they had cf cards and usb back then they would of used it like new synths do today
but we are talking about 1986/7 and why machines had tiny ram it was so expensive
a 4mb simm back then for a mac was £300 they are pennies now nut back then it was expensive
kurzweil introduced the k2000 in 1990 and it had fixed roms when you upgraded it cost £100 each time there were many rom upgrades you had to send in your own roms and they would send you back used roms with os on updated to latest spec
many years later they did the k2500 and the later models allowed you to use the floppy to upgrade the os by flashing flashrom
but most samplers i have use a flioppy for loading the os from disk if not a hd connected
most sampler types today are hybrid romplers and batched on sampler players so require rom os
----- Original Message -----
Sent: Wednesday, February 05, 2014 6:48 PM
Subject: Re: [emax] RE: Resurrecting an Emax HD rack - Issues keep mounting

Problem with people getting rid of their spare hard drives is the fact that the Emax tries to boot off it first and if it doesn't see the FDD and is a SCSI HD model will then go to look for the SCSI HD. If neither or present, it won't boot. If it is a NON SCSI HD model it has to have an FDD or it just won't boot. Its a moot point but I have no idea why EMU NEVER opted to have the OS on flash rom so the damned machine would load off the internal Flash ROM like all their later units did. Ensoniq did the same stupid thing. No FDD with OS on it, NO Load. Machine useless. Stupid.
Anyway, that's neither hear nor there. If I were you, I would go HxC Floppy emulator then use your laptop running EMXP and load your stuff onto an SD card via EMXP and screw the the FDD. I am eventually going to do the same. Plus, you are in Europe and the HxC is made there by Lotharek, who is in Poland. Check out this youtube link and I am sure our buddy RetroSound could steer you the rest of the way in making this happen. I certainly am going this route, even if I keep SCSI HD and PCD-50B's in my Emax cause I am just sick of the FDD nightmare on these machines.


On Wed, Feb 5, 2014 at 9:50 AM, <picabostreets@...> wrote:

I got it to boot again and it successfully sampled and played back via midi... then it eventually failed again, prompting me to insert a disk. The OS will sometimes load successfully on start up, but it will work for a given period, then suddenly the HD's access to the OS will fail. When it is loaded, it seems to have full functionality.


So it sounds like Ted is right... both the HD and floppy drive have to be replaced. If I understand correctly, I have 3 options... 1) install a replacement HD that is formatted with the emax hd pre-se 1.1 OS and not replace the floppy... 2) install a floppy drive replacement and slim floppy and load the OS from there, 3) replace both. I'm on a student budget so money is a concern...


Would anybody out there have a spare hard drive they could sell me? Or for that matter, a spare floppy drive? I'm located in London (Canada), but I'm near the US border and could pick up there...


Again, any tips or advice is greatly appreciated. I don't want the emax to sit in my closet anymore...




--
Le Sociere Des Oscillateurs Mystere

No virus found in this message.
Checked by AVG - www.avg.com
Version: 2014.0.4259 / Virus Database: 3684/7065 - Release Date: 02/05/14




--
Le Sociere Des Oscillateurs Mystere

No virus found in this message.
Checked by AVG - www.avg.com
Version: 2014.0.4259 / Virus Database: 3684/7065 - Release Date: 02/05/14

Re: [emax] RE: Resurrecting an Emax HD rack - Issues keep mounting

2014-02-06 by jammie

ebay
Show quoted textHide quoted text
  ----- Original Message ----- 
  From: p. hendricks 
  To: emax@yahoogroups.com 
  Sent: Thursday, February 06, 2014 4:59 AM
  Subject: Re: [emax] RE: Resurrecting an Emax HD rack - Issues keep mounting


    

  On 2/5/14 12:23 PM, jammie wrote:



    pcd-60b is your best bet
  so, where's the best place to currently buy one in the US?

  thanks!!!



  
  No virus found in this message.
  Checked by AVG - www.avg.com
  Version: 2014.0.4259 / Virus Database: 3684/7065 - Release Date: 02/05/14

Re: [emax] RE: Resurrecting an Emax HD rack - Issues keep mounting

2014-02-06 by jammie

the problem with external zip drives is they are scsi 5/6
even if you load the + os on them they wont boot as every time the emax is switched of
it wipes the memory were the os is stored and does not keep a record of the external scsi id
so you need a working floppy drive the reason for the scsi plus os is if you had more than one scsi device in the chain ie 2 you can the choose to change the id for a different device to load banks into the emax it was a quick way of getting banks on the internal hd
instead of using a floppy disk
Show quoted textHide quoted text
----- Original Message -----
Sent: Thursday, February 06, 2014 5:42 AM
Subject: Re: [emax] RE: Resurrecting an Emax HD rack - Issues keep mounting

You gotta look and look hard for PCD's.....everyonce in a while, they come up for sale on eBay..getting rather hard to find IMHO....
You can look for an internal SCSI zip drive on Ebay and format to it using EMXP and another ZIP drive connected to your XP PC. So far I have written to ZIP drives on my XP using EMXP then loaded the disk via exteral SCSI Zip on my Emax just fine...BUT....
the option of using an external SCSI Zip drive means you will have to update to the Plus OS and the catch-22 to this is if you don't have a working floppy you can't update to the Plus OS on your Emax. Thefore, you will have to have someone make you a plus OS disk or use EMXP and make one yoruself, providing your floppy works on your Emax. Mine didn't so that put me into a dilemma but I was lucky enought to find a PCD and that saved me from having to find a new FDD or retrofit a slim floppy then load it into your Emax to update it. Once the Emax is updated the Plus OS then the Emax can 'see' external SCSI drives and you can load up off your external SCSI ZIP.
If your EMAX doesn't have an external SCSI connector, you can install one yourself if you have the time and wherewithall to do it and your internal Emax Main Board is a PC 333 board . Its REAL easy to install an external DB-25 SCSI conector on a PC 333 board....if not and you have Rev 2 boards its more difficult for sure (cuts and jumps you have to have some skillz with a soldering iron and a good eye) and its simply not possible with a Rev 1 board.
Hope this info helps. You can find internal SCSI ZIPS all over on eBay


On Wed, Feb 5, 2014 at 8:59 PM, p. hendricks <ph@...> wrote:

On 2/5/14 12:23 PM, jammie wrote:

pcd-60b is your best bet
so, where's the best place to currently buy one in the US?

thanks!!!




--
Le Sociere Des Oscillateurs Mystere

No virus found in this message.
Checked by AVG - www.avg.com
Version: 2014.0.4259 / Virus Database: 3684/7065 - Release Date: 02/05/14

Re: [emax] RE: Resurrecting an Emax HD rack - Issues keep mounting

2014-02-06 by windrumscoggin@...

Right 
I was just suggesting he install an internal SCSI Zip with ID set to 0 then when the bad FDD won't load the Emax can load the OS off the internal SCSI Zip
He can make the EMAX OS ZIP disk using EMXP and an internal IDE ZIP drive in his XP PC.
I've done it works fine
If you can't find a PCD 50 B then buy one of these more them 10 available now will work fine in A SCSI capable Emax
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Winstation-5-25in-SCSI-50pin-250MB-Zip-Drive-WFS7E5W13-/390764585487?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item5afb62620f

PS- only problem is you waste a lot of space using a 100 or 250 MB Zip disk when Emax can only read a 20 MB partition. Too bad there isn't a way to partition the Zip disks 5 times and tell the Emax which partition to read...that would be very nice!

Sent from my iPad
Show quoted textHide quoted text
> On Feb 5, 2014, at 11:31 PM, "jammie" <jammie.emma@...> wrote:
> 
> the problem with external zip drives is they are scsi 5/6
>  
> even if you load the + os on them they wont boot as every time the emax is switched of
>  
> it wipes the memory were the os is stored and does not keep a record of the external scsi id
>  
> so you need a working floppy drive the reason for the scsi plus os is if you had more than one scsi device in the chain ie 2 you can the choose to change the id for a different device to load banks into the emax it was a quick way of getting banks on the internal hd
>  
> instead of using a floppy disk
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: Windrum Scoggin
> To: emax@yahoogroups.com
> Sent: Thursday, February 06, 2014 5:42 AM
> Subject: Re: [emax] RE: Resurrecting an Emax HD rack - Issues keep mounting
> 
>  
> You gotta look and look hard for PCD's.....everyonce in a while, they come up for sale on eBay..getting rather hard to find IMHO....
>  
> You can look for an internal SCSI zip drive on Ebay and format to it using EMXP and another ZIP drive connected to your XP PC. So far I have written to ZIP drives on my XP  using EMXP then loaded the disk via exteral SCSI Zip on my Emax just fine...BUT....
>  
> the option of using an external SCSI Zip drive means you will have to update to the Plus OS and the catch-22  to this is if you don't have a working floppy you can't update to the Plus OS on your Emax.  Thefore, you will have to have someone make you a plus OS disk or use EMXP and make one yoruself, providing your floppy works on your Emax. Mine didn't so that put me into a dilemma but I was lucky enought to find a PCD and that saved me from having to find a new FDD or retrofit a slim floppy  then load it into your Emax to update it. Once the Emax is updated the  Plus OS then the Emax can 'see' external SCSI drives and you can load up off your external SCSI ZIP.  
>  If your EMAX doesn't have an external  SCSI connector, you can install one yourself if you have the time and wherewithall to do it and your internal Emax Main Board is a PC 333  board . Its REAL easy to install an external DB-25 SCSI conector on a PC 333 board....if not and you have Rev 2  boards its more difficult for sure (cuts and jumps you have to have some skillz with a soldering iron and a good eye) and its simply not possible with a Rev 1 board.
> Hope this info helps. You can find internal SCSI ZIPS all over on eBay
> 
> 
>> On Wed, Feb 5, 2014 at 8:59 PM, p. hendricks <ph@...> wrote:
>>  
>>> On 2/5/14 12:23 PM, jammie wrote:
>>> 
>>> pcd-60b is your best bet
>> so, where's the best place to currently buy one in the US?
>> 
>> thanks!!!
> 
> 
> 
> -- 
> Le Sociere Des Oscillateurs Mystere
> No virus found in this message.
> Checked by AVG - www.avg.com
> Version: 2014.0.4259 / Virus Database: 3684/7065 - Release Date: 02/05/14
> 
>

Re: [emax] RE: Resurrecting an Emax HD rack - Issues keep mounting

2014-02-06 by jammie

they you go again to bad you cant partition a drive

emaxes back then a 20mb drive back in 1996 was £800 and why fixed drive sizes was used akai had a fixed drive size of 600mb right up until the middle 2000,s

because the cdrom standard was that size same for rolands

the bigger hd sizes did not come out until many years later 

ensoniq had the bigest for years as standard a 2gb drive then through software tricks 8gb

but most wre fixed to 2gb the kurzweil did partitions but many years later

back in 1986 a 20mb drive was huge for a sampler as the emu range was the only types to have them it was not until the advent of sysquest removable media in the late 80,s that removable disks was introduced and the carts used to cost £200 each

the problem with zip drives is there to big so if fitting one you have to file the sides to insert and remove the zip disk 

but you cant expect the 30 years old tech to have new features

if the os code was released then yes these things can be addressed if theres room on the rom usb could be incoporated easily but disaembling code takes a long time 

where as having the code as a written text as they used to back then would make life easy

but the addage is fit a cf card drive and use 32mb cards as i do its quick and easy and not noisey like a zip drive which is also very old tech failing
Show quoted textHide quoted text
  ----- Original Message ----- 
  From: windrumscoggin@... 
  To: emax@yahoogroups.com 
  Sent: Thursday, February 06, 2014 8:03 AM
  Subject: Re: [emax] RE: Resurrecting an Emax HD rack - Issues keep mounting


    

  Right 
  I was just suggesting he install an internal SCSI Zip with ID set to 0 then when the bad FDD won't load the Emax can load the OS off the internal SCSI Zip
  He can make the EMAX OS ZIP disk using EMXP and an internal IDE ZIP drive in his XP PC.
  I've done it works fine
  If you can't find a PCD 50 B then buy one of these more them 10 available now will work fine in A SCSI capable Emax
  http://www.ebay.com/itm/Winstation-5-25in-SCSI-50pin-250MB-Zip-Drive-WFS7E5W13-/390764585487?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item5afb62620f


  PS- only problem is you waste a lot of space using a 100 or 250 MB Zip disk when Emax can only read a 20 MB partition. Too bad there isn't a way to partition the Zip disks 5 times and tell the Emax which partition to read...that would be very nice!

  Sent from my iPad

  On Feb 5, 2014, at 11:31 PM, "jammie" <jammie.emma@...> wrote:


      

    the problem with external zip drives is they are scsi 5/6

    even if you load the + os on them they wont boot as every time the emax is switched of 

    it wipes the memory were the os is stored and does not keep a record of the external scsi id 

    so you need a working floppy drive the reason for the scsi plus os is if you had more than one scsi device in the chain ie 2 you can the choose to change the id for a different device to load banks into the emax it was a quick way of getting banks on the internal hd

    instead of using a floppy disk
      ----- Original Message ----- 
      From: Windrum Scoggin 
      To: emax@yahoogroups.com 
      Sent: Thursday, February 06, 2014 5:42 AM
      Subject: Re: [emax] RE: Resurrecting an Emax HD rack - Issues keep mounting


        

      You gotta look and look hard for PCD's.....everyonce in a while, they come up for sale on eBay..getting rather hard to find IMHO....

      You can look for an internal SCSI zip drive on Ebay and format to it using EMXP and another ZIP drive connected to your XP PC. So far I have written to ZIP drives on my XP  using EMXP then loaded the disk via exteral SCSI Zip on my Emax just fine...BUT....

      the option of using an external SCSI Zip drive means you will have to update to the Plus OS and the catch-22  to this is if you don't have a working floppy you can't update to the Plus OS on your Emax.  Thefore, you will have to have someone make you a plus OS disk or use EMXP and make one yoruself, providing your floppy works on your Emax. Mine didn't so that put me into a dilemma but I was lucky enought to find a PCD and that saved me from having to find a new FDD or retrofit a slim floppy  then load it into your Emax to update it. Once the Emax is updated the  Plus OS then the Emax can 'see' external SCSI drives and you can load up off your external SCSI ZIP.  
       If your EMAX doesn't have an external  SCSI connector, you can install one yourself if you have the time and wherewithall to do it and your internal Emax Main Board is a PC 333  board . Its REAL easy to install an external DB-25 SCSI conector on a PC 333 board....if not and you have Rev 2  boards its more difficult for sure (cuts and jumps you have to have some skillz with a soldering iron and a good eye) and its simply not possible with a Rev 1 board. 
      Hope this info helps. You can find internal SCSI ZIPS all over on eBay



      On Wed, Feb 5, 2014 at 8:59 PM, p. hendricks <ph@...> wrote:

          

        On 2/5/14 12:23 PM, jammie wrote:



          pcd-60b is your best bet
        so, where's the best place to currently buy one in the US?

        thanks!!!







      -- 
      Le Sociere Des Oscillateurs Mystere 

      No virus found in this message.
      Checked by AVG - www.avg.com
      Version: 2014.0.4259 / Virus Database: 3684/7065 - Release Date: 02/05/14



  
  No virus found in this message.
  Checked by AVG - www.avg.com
  Version: 2014.0.4259 / Virus Database: 3684/7065 - Release Date: 02/05/14

Re: [emax] RE: Resurrecting an Emax HD rack - Issues keep mounting

2014-02-06 by windrumscoggin@...

And what is your point again?
Right fit a PCD and 32mb card
And alllll your troubles go away
Not.

I can't understand a word you write.
Jammie, you need to seriously go decaf
Or go back to night school
Over and out.
Show quoted textHide quoted text
> On Feb 6, 2014, at 12:16 AM, "jammie" <jammie.emma@...> wrote:
> 
> 
> 
> they you go again to bad you cant partition a drive
>  
> emaxes back then a 20mb drive back in 1996 was £800 and why fixed drive sizes was used akai had a fixed drive size of 600mb right up until the middle 2000,s
>  
> because the cdrom standard was that size same for rolands
>  
> the bigger hd sizes did not come out until many years later
>  
> ensoniq had the bigest for years as standard a 2gb drive then through software tricks 8gb
>  
> but most wre fixed to 2gb the kurzweil did partitions but many years later
>  
> back in 1986 a 20mb drive was huge for a sampler as the emu range was the only types to have them it was not until the advent of sysquest removable media in the late 80,s that removable disks was introduced and the carts used to cost £200 each
>  
> the problem with zip drives is there to big so if fitting one you have to file the sides to insert and remove the zip disk
>  
> but you cant expect the 30 years old tech to have new features
>  
> if the os code was released then yes these things can be addressed if theres room on the rom usb could be incoporated easily but disaembling code takes a long time
>  
> where as having the code as a written text as they used to back then would make life easy
>  
> but the addage is fit a cf card drive and use 32mb cards as i do its quick and easy and not noisey like a zip drive which is also very old tech failing
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: windrumscoggin@...
> To: emax@yahoogroups.com
> Sent: Thursday, February 06, 2014 8:03 AM
> Subject: Re: [emax] RE: Resurrecting an Emax HD rack - Issues keep mounting
> 
>  
> Right 
> I was just suggesting he install an internal SCSI Zip with ID set to 0 then when the bad FDD won't load the Emax can load the OS off the internal SCSI Zip
> He can make the EMAX OS ZIP disk using EMXP and an internal IDE ZIP drive in his XP PC.
> I've done it works fine
> If you can't find a PCD 50 B then buy one of these more them 10 available now will work fine in A SCSI capable Emax
> http://www.ebay.com/itm/Winstation-5-25in-SCSI-50pin-250MB-Zip-Drive-WFS7E5W13-/390764585487?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item5afb62620f
> 
> PS- only problem is you waste a lot of space using a 100 or 250 MB Zip disk when Emax can only read a 20 MB partition. Too bad there isn't a way to partition the Zip disks 5 times and tell the Emax which partition to read...that would be very nice!
> 
> Sent from my iPad
> 
>> On Feb 5, 2014, at 11:31 PM, "jammie" <jammie.emma@...> wrote:
>> 
>>  
>> the problem with external zip drives is they are scsi 5/6
>>  
>> even if you load the + os on them they wont boot as every time the emax is switched of
>>  
>> it wipes the memory were the os is stored and does not keep a record of the external scsi id
>>  
>> so you need a working floppy drive the reason for the scsi plus os is if you had more than one scsi device in the chain ie 2 you can the choose to change the id for a different device to load banks into the emax it was a quick way of getting banks on the internal hd
>>  
>> instead of using a floppy disk
>> ----- Original Message -----
>> From: Windrum Scoggin
>> To: emax@yahoogroups.com
>> Sent: Thursday, February 06, 2014 5:42 AM
>> Subject: Re: [emax] RE: Resurrecting an Emax HD rack - Issues keep mounting
>> 
>>  
>> You gotta look and look hard for PCD's.....everyonce in a while, they come up for sale on eBay..getting rather hard to find IMHO....
>>  
>> You can look for an internal SCSI zip drive on Ebay and format to it using EMXP and another ZIP drive connected to your XP PC. So far I have written to ZIP drives on my XP  using EMXP then loaded the disk via exteral SCSI Zip on my Emax just fine...BUT....
>>  
>> the option of using an external SCSI Zip drive means you will have to update to the Plus OS and the catch-22  to this is if you don't have a working floppy you can't update to the Plus OS on your Emax.  Thefore, you will have to have someone make you a plus OS disk or use EMXP and make one yoruself, providing your floppy works on your Emax. Mine didn't so that put me into a dilemma but I was lucky enought to find a PCD and that saved me from having to find a new FDD or retrofit a slim floppy  then load it into your Emax to update it. Once the Emax is updated the  Plus OS then the Emax can 'see' external SCSI drives and you can load up off your external SCSI ZIP.  
>>  If your EMAX doesn't have an external  SCSI connector, you can install one yourself if you have the time and wherewithall to do it and your internal Emax Main Board is a PC 333  board . Its REAL easy to install an external DB-25 SCSI conector on a PC 333 board....if not and you have Rev 2  boards its more difficult for sure (cuts and jumps you have to have some skillz with a soldering iron and a good eye) and its simply not possible with a Rev 1 board.
>> Hope this info helps. You can find internal SCSI ZIPS all over on eBay
>> 
>> 
>>> On Wed, Feb 5, 2014 at 8:59 PM, p. hendricks <ph@comcast.net> wrote:
>>>  
>>>> On 2/5/14 12:23 PM, jammie wrote:
>>>> 
>>>> pcd-60b is your best bet
>>> so, where's the best place to currently buy one in the US?
>>> 
>>> thanks!!!
>> 
>> 
>> 
>> -- 
>> Le Sociere Des Oscillateurs Mystere
>> No virus found in this message.
>> Checked by AVG - www.avg.com
>> Version: 2014.0.4259 / Virus Database: 3684/7065 - Release Date: 02/05/14
>> 
> 
> No virus found in this message.
> Checked by AVG - www.avg.com
> Version: 2014.0.4259 / Virus Database: 3684/7065 - Release Date: 02/05/14
> 
>

Re: Resurrecting an Emax HD rack - Issues keep mounting

2014-04-19 by jaumemod@...

I think the best moneysaving first option it's to try catching and old Mac drive (Conner 20 MB from an Mac LC II) maybe 50 or less dollars (50€ cost me) other SCSI drive up to 7200rpm 500- 512+/-MB (upper capacity will right if you make a good partition on it ) Try to install a new OS on a new Floppy (can be an HD floppy with cover hole). Floppies formatted with EMXP sometimes did fault me.
If your floppy runs OK, install your new drive and copy OS to it after have been formatted with Emax. Set up your BOOT ID.

Move to quarantaine

This moves the raw source file on disk only. The archive index is not changed automatically, so you still need to run a manual refresh afterward.