emusonacid! legacy

So I recently brought an E5000 Ultra off ebay

it worked fine, then I brought an IDE drive for it and the Upgrade to E0S 4.7, both went in fine. although when I was plugging in the hard drive I think i may have plugged the power in the wrong way briefly, but it still works

then the IDE drive works fine, and everything is good.

Then I turn it off & its off for like 4 days maybe

then I just turned it on and the LCD screen is blacked out, all the button lights are on & there is just no response from it

I can hear the fan & I think the IDE drive going, but its just not responding

so annoying as I pumped a load of cash and time into this unit & just thought i got it working perfectly

has anyone else had any trouble like this? is there anything I can do or is it just dead now?

Classic power supply issue. I think it may have been caused by the reverse wire job.

I posted my Emu to vintagesynths.co.uk and they built me a power rail and posted it back fixed
link... http://www.vintagesynths.co.uk/?gclid=CK6q7bH6mrMCFePHtAodjCkAbw

Get Ben onto it, he's a good guy.
Tell him Mark from Wales sent you.

hey mark thanks for the reply, when you say classic power supply issue what do you mean exactly?

cheers!

I had the same issue as you. The main lights all lit up, fan and drive still turning, , not exactly dead but "lights are on but no one is home."

Ben told me that inside the rack the mains supply sub-divides into different lanes, with different output values, these all feed the correct voltages to the boards, these distribution lanes are called rails and they feed the required voltages to the components, until POP one goes down (CLASSIC)
Often certain components work but the main processor doesn't.
Sound Familiar ?

Sorry Mark I never got back to you about this, thank you for your advice!

I actually just got hold of an e64000 Ultra as I wanted more outputs on the back, Installed the IDE Drive and it all works fine, although Ive noticed that the LCD screen is now really dark, Im really worried, I dont want to have another one die on me (cant afford it either!!!)

do you use an IDE with yours?

Im gonna take it out and email Ben I think

so annying, I just want to get to work!!!!

Find the serial number of your e6400, from this you can tell the internal power unit fitted. Earlier models had the smaller psu.The first 4 numbers tell you the month and year, if it's above 0901 (September 2001) then that should be OK to use add-ons.
What type of IDE drive are you using (make & model)?
I'm using the western digital bev 80gb laptop drive in mine with no probs,
Make sure you are using a drive with a low pull on the psu or you could be in for problems.

It might be an idea to try the sampler with another HD before you send it to Ben as this drive has proved problematic in 2 machines now.

Cheers for all the advice mate!

is the serial number on the white sticker on the back? if so I think they are both before the date,

the E6400 Ultra is 0999
& the E5000 Ultra that broke is 0501 (just missed it!)

So they must have the old PSU in, do you think thats the problem?

what are the power differences between the two PSUs? do you know where I can source a new one?

The IDE drive Im using was brought off Ebay as an Emu sampler hard drive loaded with all the old Emu sounds so if it is wrong its super annoying!

I just spoke to Ben on the phone and he was saying it might be worth trying to get a separate power supply for the IDE drive

sounds like it could be a viable option, that way the sampler wouldn't be struggling

have you ever heard of anyone else doing something like that?

I think adding the power seems a bit frankenstien to me!

or I could get a new PSU from somewhere

or I could try to get some sort of other storage in place and sell the IDE on

what do you think would be best???

I just want the safest option, I really cant afford to have another EMU die on me!

I just want safe storage im not looking for my EMU to talk to my Mac

Im getting proper confused by it all, so if you could speak to me in simple language it would be massively appreciated

thank you so much for your time!

Here is the IDE that I have

some people are saying to use a compact flash drive / card with IDE adaptor, has anyone had any experience of this working?

it looks pretty simple, just get an CF card & an IDE adaptor

this seems like it could be a good solution as it draws a lot less power, does anyone have any experience with this working?

I just really want to get this sorted out!

thanks for your time!

As your E6400 has the lower rating PSU and it's 13 years old, it could be the beginning of a power supply failure ( the old bird is fine as long as you don' t over tax her)

Over time the capacitors weaken. You might find telltale signs of this by removing the outer casing and the PSU casing. What you are looking for are capacitors that are bulging or rounded on top.
If so you might find that the drive requirements are just too much for the PSU.

You could try using a laptop drive like the WD beve IDE ones, as they only pull about 2 watts instead of the 5 watts of your current desktop model.

Or instead You could try a card reader, but I don't know the PSU drain of these (although I would imagine it to be very low as there are no moving parts), however this will cost perhaps in excess of £100 with no guarantee of success, whereas you could pick up a WD Beve ATA HD from eBay for about £30.

Regarding the Frankenstein approach, the extra PSU could be fitted internally (bags of room inside) feed from the existing power cord, and not be at all obvious. This solution would extend the life of the old power supply by reducing the burden placed on it.

Or you could just source a new PSU with a bit more welly and all should be good for expansions for many years.

So many choices ...

Some guy on the other forum is suggesting I get a CF card, then a CF to IDE converter, which I can then power from the IDE power thing inside the EMU and it plugs into the IDE drive slot instead of a Hard drive but uses 5 / 10% of the power of an IDE

he said he has never tried it with an EMU but it works fine with his MPC

do you think this would work?

looks like a pretty cheap option as CF cards are like 20 quid and the converter is like 3 quid, then I already have the power cable and ribbon from the IDE drive

Ive been googling and I see people using CF card readers into the SCSI port, but nothing about into the IDE drive

looks like a pretty ideal solution if it will work, I only need 20 odd gig of storage really & if i fill that up I can always open it up and put a new card in

I dont want my bird to die but equally im under a few deadlines and I need to get to work, maybe I could look into sourcing a new PSU for the long run, where do you think i could get one from?

whats your opinion matey?

thanks for your time!

The one thing I would be most inclined to diagnose is that the PSU is slowly dying. You may find that a low power demand storage medium works ( for a little while) but then again perhaps it won't and you will still need a new PSU.

Source a beefy PSU and all your troubles should go away. The existing drive should work and serve you well, and you will always have the option of a card reader/writer should you want to explore this form of storage later.

I would imagine that the PSU option will be £100+ once fitting is included in your bill, so it is not the cheap option compared to the £30 WD beve 2.5 drive tryout, but it is sure to solve your problem for the long term. You pay your money and make your choices.

I have no idea about suitable replacement PSUs ...manufacturers....models....spec.....prices.....fitting schematics,
but if you search this forum with replacement PSUs type search phrases I'm sure you will find answers. I know I have read threads about this topic here.

Re the CF to IDE converter
I think other users have failed to do this other than with certain units costing £90-£130
Again I think you would be best to search this forum for your answer. It's all here but takes a fair bit of searching and reading.

Maybe someone reading this has the info?

Sorry I can't help you more than this.

cheers for all the info mate! im still proper confused with it all haha

gonna mill it over for a few days