Hi Everyone,
Just joined due to a kinda emergency situation - I think my AN1x is
dead! :-((((
What happens is that after a short while of being on, it will reboot
itself, and then more-or-less continually reboot itself (between every
couple of minutes and almost as soon as it has booted up). If I turn it
off and turn it back on again, this still happens. If I leave it for
half an hour or so, it seems to be OK for a few minutes and then starts
rebooting all over again.
I had previously thought that this was due to a midi error causing the
reboots, but have done plenty of testing, and there is nothing going up
and down my midi cables according to MidiOX. Also, the AN1x still
reboots itself when there is nothing except the PSU plugged into it.
I had also thought that it was due to a malfunctioning knob or wheel on
the AN1x, as sometimes when it rebooted while I was recording a
sequence, the mod wheel appears to have moved just before it rebooted.
I've tried factory resets and all the usual problem solving techniques,
and this problem is almost certainly something out of the ordinary.
My friend (who is into overclocking PCs) seems to think that the
rebooting may be due to the DSP chip getting too hot and being unstable.
This seems to make sense, since if the DSP in the AN1x mirrors the
behaviour of a PC processor that is running a bit too hot for a long
time (but not hot enough to crash) then after several years the chip can
become a lot more unstable and although it works OK some of the time,
it's tolerance for heat seems to deteriorate.
So, our theory is that the DSP has been running quite hot for the four
years that I've had my AN1x, and that now it has reached the point of no
return, where it needs cooling in order to be able to run stably.
This behaviour pattern also seems to be displayed in the fact that if I
turn it off and straight back on, it still keeps crashing. However, if
I wait a while (in which the chip would cool down a bit) it seems to be
stable for a few minutes before the crashing starts again.
So, what we are thinking of doing is opening up the AN1x and attaching a
heatsink of some kind to the DSP chip using thermal epoxy. I have a few
old Pentium heatsinks lying around which I think will probably do the
job, and my overclocker mate has plenty of other bits and pieces which
we could use.
I just have a few questions:
Has anyone else experienced a similar problem to this?
I've never opened up my AN1x - is there enough space inside for the
addition of a heatsink, or is it all very closely packed in?
Is it difficult to put back together again (am I likely to end up with a
pile of pieces and a ruined synth if I take it apart)?
Do you think my reasoning about the heat seems to make sense, or could
it be something else that I've not thought of yet?
Incidentally, if I do end up taking the case off and attaching a
heatsink to the DSP, I'll probably document it with photographs and
stick it online somewhere. Would that be useful?
OK, here's hoping that all your AN1xs are healthier than mine!
Cheers,
~Dave
--
Dave Silvester
Music Technology Junkie
Web:
http://www.mu-sly.co.uk/Email: sly at mu hyphen sly dot co dot uk
ICQ: 165159988