SV: [AN1x] AN1x Continually Rebooting - Heat Problem?
2002-12-13 by James Acker
Other guys made some good suggestions already....here is another... Open it up first. Get out the vacuum cleaner and use the opposite hookup so it blows out the nozzle instead of in. First blow the hell out of all the dust and crap that has accumulated in there. Next vacuum what didn't get blown out. Then do the same thing the other recent poster who had problems did, clean the rubber strip carefully (maybe with water) and reseat or check and reseat all the connectors you see. Also (make sure you first touch some metal on AN1X (while NOT plugged in of course) to discharge any static...IF there are any chips in sockets gently push on them to make sure they are making good connections. If it is possible, I don't know, to safely turn on the AN1X with the cover off (LISTERS! Is that possible?) try it and see if the problem persists. If it still is rebooting, there is a good way to test your theory. Radio Shack or any other electronics stores sell a spray that is a "electronic component freeze spray" and it is safe to use. Read the directions or ask but it is an aerosol type can that you spray on an area and it freezes it for a short while (like butane does when you fill a lighter). I stuedied electronics for a few years and remember one of our instructors telling us that when he was studying he worked in a TV repair shop. That they hired high-school kids whose only job was to take the damaged TVs before a tech looked at them, and blow them out and then vacuum them, doing basically the steps I described. He said that there were a good percentage of tvs that actually were repaired JUST by doing that. It was like skimming...they simply cleaned them, and if they were better gave them back to the customer. Electronics HATE dust. Also connections need reseating from time to time. If the freeze spray doesn't help (so far you are out probably 3 bucks or so and a little time) then it isn't a heat problem, or you haven't found where the heat is...(you can also move your hand over the whole An1x without touching...just feel for hot areas). If this doesn't help, I would take it in to professionals. Good luck! Hope this helps! Jim ----- Original Message -----
Show quoted textHide quoted text
From: Dave Silvester <sly@...> To: AN1x List <AN1x-list@yahoogroups.com> Sent: Friday, December 13, 2002 1:07 AM Subject: [AN1x] AN1x Continually Rebooting - Heat Problem? > 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 > > > Community email addresses: > Post message: AN1x-list@yahoogroups.com > Subscribe: AN1x-list-subscribe@yahoogroups.com > Unsubscribe: AN1x-list-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com > List owner: AN1x-list-owner@yahoogroups.com > > Shortcut URL to this page: > http://groups.yahoo.com/group/AN1x-list > > > Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/ > > >