Emu XL-7 & MP-7 User's Group

Hi All,

First off, I would like to thank anyone who reads this for their time.

My issue is that when I first powered up the xl-7, it was on OS 1.3 
or so (I forget the exact number), and it was locking up while 
playing sequences.  I had heard in many places that OS v. 2.0 solves 
most problems, so I decided to get online and update the OS.

It was a huge task to even get the OS to download correctly to the xl-
7 in the first place.  The download kept failing at random places 
during the transfer, and it took me until late at night to finally 
get the whole OS into the machine.  When it finally worked, E-loader 
said the download was successful, and I followed the instructions on 
the xl-7 screen, and it compressed the OS and rewrote the flash rom.

The major issues started as soon as I booted into 2.0.  It would 
crash on startup 4 out of 5 times I powered up the unit.  The few 
times I was able to boot all the way into the sequencer, it would be 
a matter of minutes into writing a sequence or messing with 
parameters that the xl-7 would freeze with no explanation, or report 
one error or another.  It seemed like a diff. error that caused the 
freeze each time.

So, I decided to try to download os 2 again, and that time around 
things looked more promising.  However, The unit is back to locking, 
giving me strange errors, and generally being an expensive paper-
weight.

With all of these factors, it seems like something is going wrong in 
the OS download process between the xl-7 and my PC, perhaps with the 
MIDI data transferring too fast or something.  This is a really 
strange, extremely frustrating issue that I would really love to 
resolve.  I have used this box before, and I can easily say it is one 
of the greatest pieces of gear ever.  The sounds are stellar, the 
sequencer is one of a kind, etc.  I have 6 days  more to report DOA 
to the person who sold it to me for a full refund, so I would love to 
get this fixed before then.  Here are the specs on everything I am 
using:

Windows XP
Roland UM-2 midi interface
E-Loader 1.1

I really don't know what else I should put on that list.  If anyone 
can help me it would be greatly appreciated, and thanks again for 
your time!

- Nick Maxwell (who desperately wants the XL-7 to show him some love!)