emulatorII-list

I'm getting all kinds of erratic display readings upon freeze-up 
depending on the sound disks I insert.

Here are some goofy ones I just got:

Emulator 2***
ust a momen!t


another one was

Insert Diskette
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


Arrgh! Heeelp!

--- In emulatorII-list@yahoogroups.com, "George" <trickstar303@...> wrote:
>
> I'm getting all kinds of erratic display readings upon freeze-up 
> depending on the sound disks I insert.
> 
> Here are some goofy ones I just got:
> 
> Emulator 2***
> ust a momen!t
> 
> 
> another one was
> 
> Insert Diskette
> !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Have you verified that the Power Supply is putting out the correct
voltages, that the power connectors are intact, clean, making good
contact, and that the correct voltages remain stable during and after
warm-up? 

I have seen many unexplained errors and just plain wonky behavior
(including display problems as above) traceable to faulty power. Your
E-II power supply is 20+ years old now; always make sure the power is
clean, correct, and consistent before chasing down other causes.

> I have the boot chip v.2.1 installed. At least the sticker on the
> chip says so. The sounddisks that came with the EII were made with
> different OS versions as stated on the disk labels. Some are in V1.8
> some in various versions of 2.x and then there is one disk that says
> EMU Software V.3.0. I tried to put all these disks in but the 
> machine continues to freeze up.

> Why does my EII ask for Software 3.1 when the boot rom I have
> installed is V2.1? And why is it freezing up now? Can anyone shed
> light on this?

A single or dual floppy E-II loads its OS from diskette upon first
boot, not from ROM. Every performance disk also contains the OS. A
disk with the *same* OS version as was booted needs to remain in the
drive as the machine requires constant access to the OS depending on
called function. For Example: If you boot (sucessfully) using a
version 3.0 diskette, you will experience a overlay error if you
replace the 3.0 diskette with another diskette with a different
version (ie: 1.8 or 2.x). The solution is to update all your diskettes
to the latest OS version available -or- always leave the version you
booted with in the top drive. Hope this makes sense or helps you somehow.

See above comment on power supply verification before going further on
the freezing problem.

Good Luck.

--- In emulatorII-list@yahoogroups.com, "hexafuzz" <gclip@...> wrote:
> Your E-II power supply is 20+ years old now; always make sure the 
> power is clean, correct, and consistent before chasing down other 
> causes.

PS for all list members: Always be super careful dealing with
electricity. If in doubt, take your repairs to someone qualified. A
working brain is WAY more important than a working sampler. Dont get
ZAPPED! ;)

When I got my EII and the drives wouldn't kick into action, the
engineer I use tweaked some pots on the replacement PSU he fitted anhd
the drives came to life immediately. 

Sorry that I can't advise any more detailed than this. The engineer
was James Walker at Synth Repair Services in UK.    

http://www.synthrepairservices.com/

Good luck. 


--- In emulatorII-list@yahoogroups.com, "hexafuzz" <gclip@...> wrote:
>
> --- In emulatorII-list@yahoogroups.com, "George" <trickstar303@> wrote:
> >
> > I'm getting all kinds of erratic display readings upon freeze-up 
> > depending on the sound disks I insert.
> > 
> > Here are some goofy ones I just got:
> > 
> > Emulator 2***
> > ust a momen!t
> > 
> > 
> > another one was
> > 
> > Insert Diskette
> > !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
> 
> Have you verified that the Power Supply is putting out the correct
> voltages, that the power connectors are intact, clean, making good
> contact, and that the correct voltages remain stable during and after
> warm-up? 
> 
> I have seen many unexplained errors and just plain wonky behavior
> (including display problems as above) traceable to faulty power. Your
> E-II power supply is 20+ years old now; always make sure the power is
> clean, correct, and consistent before chasing down other causes.
> 
> > I have the boot chip v.2.1 installed. At least the sticker on the
> > chip says so. The sounddisks that came with the EII were made with
> > different OS versions as stated on the disk labels. Some are in V1.8
> > some in various versions of 2.x and then there is one disk that says
> > EMU Software V.3.0. I tried to put all these disks in but the 
> > machine continues to freeze up.
> 
> > Why does my EII ask for Software 3.1 when the boot rom I have
> > installed is V2.1? And why is it freezing up now? Can anyone shed
> > light on this?
> 
> A single or dual floppy E-II loads its OS from diskette upon first
> boot, not from ROM. Every performance disk also contains the OS. A
> disk with the *same* OS version as was booted needs to remain in the
> drive as the machine requires constant access to the OS depending on
> called function. For Example: If you boot (sucessfully) using a
> version 3.0 diskette, you will experience a overlay error if you
> replace the 3.0 diskette with another diskette with a different
> version (ie: 1.8 or 2.x). The solution is to update all your diskettes
> to the latest OS version available -or- always leave the version you
> booted with in the top drive. Hope this makes sense or helps you
somehow.
> 
> See above comment on power supply verification before going further on
> the freezing problem.
> 
> Good Luck.
>

From time to time I get this kind of behaviour also.
If this occurs, I open the EII, I disconnect/clean/connect all molex 
power supply connectors and I check (=push) the connector between the 
two main PCBs. Most of the time that's sufficient, well at least for 
a few months :-) Might be a PSU problem of course...

///E-Synthesist

--- In emulatorII-list@yahoogroups.com, "George" <trickstar303@...> 
wrote:
>
> I'm getting all kinds of erratic display readings upon freeze-up 
> depending on the sound disks I insert.
> 
> Here are some goofy ones I just got:
> 
> Emulator 2***
> ust a momen!t
> 
> 
> another one was
> 
> Insert Diskette
> !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
> 
> 
> Arrgh! Heeelp!
>

Oh man that's terrible...

Mine works so fine ever after I did all that stuff...