[sdiy] Roland Jupiter 6 issues

Thu Aug 15 04:15:29 CEST 2024

 Ok, finally have something to report. Sorry for the radio silence!Thank you for clearing up the confusing, to me anyway, patch layout.I was using a PC to try loading the patches originally, with and without a preamp to boost the signal.I then tried loading the factory patches with that eprom file that is out there, According to the instructions the message I got back from the synth was that the patches were successfully loaded in to the ram. Still crashed the machine though and the patches didn't sound right.So I took a break from the digital/cpu side and decided to attack the multiple issues I had on one of the voice boards. 2 3340s, 1 3360, several 4051s and an opamp later and the voice board was fixed.I tried loading the patches from a Macbook and amazingly it loaded first time.Now I'm not sure if it was the playback device or the issues on the voice board somehow playing havoc with the patch memory. I'm too nervous to verify by trying the PC again. It works so I want to leave it!!Anyway, thank you for all the suggestions. It definitely helped me maintain some sanity during this repair!CheersAl

    On Thursday, August 8, 2024 at 02:43:59 PM PDT, Nathan Trites <nathan at idmclassics.net> wrote:  

 Yup - the memory naming on the 6 is confusing and obscures the relationship. Patch Preset and Patch Memory have what gets called a Performance/Patch or Patch/Tone relationship on some other synths. 
Expanding on what Adam said since I had this typed up yesterday but never sent... "Patch Preset" (Preset switch ON. Bank A/B/C/D & memory 1-8) remembers the split/layer configuration, arp settings, and the sound assignment to the lower/upper, etc. Patch Memory (Preset switch OFF, then your bank & memory slot selection) is the actual sound being used on the Patch Preset. A Patch Preset calls 1 or 2 tones from Patch Memory. 
I'm not 100% on this and would need to check my JP6 sometime, but I believe the behavior Al is seeing is normal because if you modify Patch Preset A1, which is calling Patch Memory A1 and A2, when you make changes and save it to Patch Preset A2 its also overwriting Patch Memory A1 and A2.
Al, what's your playback device for the tape backup?
Nathan
On Wed, Aug 7, 2024 at 11:13 PM Adam (synthDIY) <synthdiy at adambaby.com> wrote:

When you say "Patch led" are you referring to the Patch Preset LED?I don't own a JP6 but on the JP8 Roland employ a potentially confusing terminology, and I think they persisted with the JP6:A "patch" is a single memory slot containing the synth voice parameters for VCO VCF VCA etc.A "Patch Preset" is a special memory that holds two such patches along with their voice assignments/splits/glide etc
A

On 8 Aug 2024, at 12:24 PM, al spitzley via Synth-diy <synth-diy at synth-diy.org> wrote:
A quick question for Tony. When you say to program all the patches with an Init patch are you referring to that the Factory patches with the Patch led lit?Cheers Al

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On Wednesday, August 7, 2024, 2:08 PM, al spitzley <kogz23 at yahoo.com> wrote:

Thanks for the ideas.I tried cranking the gain and no luck. Different results each time. Aargh!When it “freezes” with the Tape button lit it will not go into load. The only way to get out of it is to hit the Tape button. Occasionally it completely locks up and I have to restart.I’m having issues saving to the factory patch area. If I create a patch on A1, save it, create a different one on A2 (for example) it will save but also save into A1 or any previous patches I’ve just created. So I can’t create different patches when the Patch button is lit. I’m thinking this could be user error and confusion over factory patches vs user patches.I’m going to try loading factory patches using a utility eprom I found on the internet. I’ll be away for a few days and will report back.Thanks again Al

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On Wednesday, August 7, 2024, 11:55 AM, Nathan Trites <nathan at idmclassics.net> wrote:

On one Jupiter 6 I did, I was convinced the RAM was bad because no matter what there would always be a few corrupt patches that would lock up the synth. Eventually I figured out the patches that failed had to do with the level I was doing the playback at, and it was consistent across every interface I have - the only solution was giving the tape signal an absurd amount of gain thru a preamp. If I recall the dump I got online was already normalized, and the cassette interface on the synth had no issues, so unless the CPU had a problem, it was possibly due to the frequency response of the specific dump or something like that. Ever since then I've done cassette restores on Jupiter 6's by giving it a ton of gain thru a mixer channel, and haven't had any patch dump issues yet. All that to say - don't rule out cranking the gain like crazy. 
I've also had to do what Tony describes to get JP-6 memory to work correctly 

Nathan
On Wed, Aug 7, 2024 at 3:28 AM Tony Allgood via Synth-diy <synth-diy at synth-diy.org> wrote:

I have seen similar behaviour before with various JP-6 units over the 
years. What has always fixed it is going into manual mode. Create a 
simple standard 'init' patch, something like a classic analogue pluck 
sound will do. But it doesn't matter - just something you know the sound of.

Then program that same patch into *every* memory location.

Now check every patch still sounds the same and no crashes occur.

Reload the factory patches via tape if you wish.

However, if it is your own patches you are trying to load, then it could 
be that it is those that are corrupted. In this case, it is probably 
better to reprogram those sounds in manual mode.

Tony

www.oakleysound.com
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