Nord User Forum

[yeemsplitter]

Hello, first time poster hear.

I have come across a few similar posts but nothing exactly matching my situation.

Never have had an issue with this board until today. Out of nowhere today it just froze during practice, no sound, nothing. Restarted and it worked fine for another 10 minutes, then froze up again. Went to try to update and it froze during the update. After trying to update a few more times all of the lights came on and there were solid bars all the way across the screen. I did check the fuse, which looks like it is brand new. Now every time I turn it on all the lights turn on and that is how it stays.

I have emailed Clavia/Nord support, but have yet to hear back.

Anyone experience anything like this? Am I screwed? Is there hope for this keyboard? Is there any way to insure that this will not happen during a show?

Thank you, any help is tremendously appreciated!

[yeemsplitter]

Oh ya, if it helps any it already had the latest firmware update installed.

[mjbrands]

A firmware issue isn't suddenly going to make it unstable, if it has been running fine for a long time. The fact it crashed during the update may have made matters worse, but I can't say that for sure.

I think the instability issue must be caused by some issue with analog electronics, such as perhaps some components in the power supply. What you describe with the display might be explained by the main processor not starting up properly anymore; this may have been caused by the crash during the firmware update. When a display like that starts up, it displays those bars and initializing the display (which gets rid of those bars) is normally one of the first things the processor would do (which is why I think it isn't starting up properly).

Since you're in the US, I suggest contacting the people doing Nord tech support for the US and Canada directly. If you search the forum for Pablo Mastodon, you should find his contact details including email and direct phone number.

I don't think your Wave is beyond repair, but I do think it really needs to be looked at by someone with the right tools and (Nord-specific) knowledge.

Good luck, hopefully you'll have your red friend fixed soon.

[yeemsplitter]

Thank you!

[yeemsplitter]

froze again

[mjbrands]

froze again

So it is still working? From your earlier message I understood it didn't do a thing anymore.

Maybe you can test something: turn on your Wave and plug in a vacuum cleaner very close to the Wave (ideally in the same power socket, maybe via an extension cord). Then start turning the vacuum cleaner on and off a few times and see if the Wave resets.

If it does reset, it is caused by a power issue, which could either be the power supply in the Wave or more generally the power in your house; specifically, I suspect short brownouts. If it has no impact I think it is not the power supply that is causing this.

My Nord Lead 3 resets with the test I describe above; you can find quite a number of posts of people having similar issues, especially in the US (maybe the 110 volt is a factor in this?). Anyway, in practice I've never had my NL3 reset on my, but I can cause it to. If I plug the vacuum cleaner into another wall socket 1-2 meters away from the NL3, I can still measure the effect of turning the vacuum cleaner but it no longer is big enough to cause the NL3 to reset.

I really think you need to get your Wave serviced; posting here it crashed won't get anything fixed, but of course you're free to do so

[Mr_-G-]

But if it is a brownout, what would you service? Maybe some kind of UPS would be of some use.

[mjbrands]

But if it is a brownout, what would you service? Maybe some kind of UPS would be of some use.

Maybe I used the wrong term; I meant very short power dips which cause the digital electronics in the Wave to crash. I my Nord Lead 3 (well, actually Rack 3) I've seen the voltage on the 3.3 volt line dip to 1.4 volt for very short periods and the DSPs don't like that (i.e. they hang).

As far as I know, the Wave shouldn't really have an issue with these short power dips, not in the way the NL3 did. If it does have issues with those, there's a good chance something's wrong in the power supply (a tech could measure this).

It is of course possible that there are issue with the power in the house; testing at a different house might rule those out. It is indeed possible there's nothing wrong with the Wave and a UPS might help in that case (maybe a power conditioner would to like one of those Furmans - I'm not sure).

[yeemsplitter]

I am sorry about being so brief there. That was the curse word free edited version of my post.

I did take it in to get 'serviced'. The tech cleaned the all of the contacts on the board and it began working again.
He was unable to identify why it was freezing, but suspected a few different things after it began working once being cleaned.
It worked everyday this week until yesterday. Then during practice it took a poo again. It loads up, and moments later just freezes and does nothing

Having it "serviced" was very expensive, and I do not have an unlimited budget to work with to get a very expensive keyboard in working order.
Basically right now I have a very pretty and very expensive red paperweight that is defective for reasons that no one can explain.

I REALLY hope that there is something that Nord tech support can do to resolve this situation.

[yeemsplitter]

Mjbrands, I do appreciate the advice!
I tried the vacuum cleaner test just now to see if it would reset, and it just freezes up regardless. It does not reset.
It boots up, plays fine for a minute or two, then freezes.

It was running through a Furman power conditioner when it froze.
If it was a power issue in the house, why would it function fine for two years in the same house then start freezing out of nowhere last week?

The tech suggested that it may be due to a defect in the solder work on the motherboard, but he was only speculating. He listed a number of potential causes. At $80/hr I cannot afford to have him keep poking around until he stumbles upon what the problem is. It is far too open ended and the only guarantee that I have is that I will be paying him more.

The unit has been VERY well cared for and is still very young. It should not be nonfunctional after only 2 years.