Nord User Forum

Previously, the patches on my PCMCIA card all sounded corrupt so I assumed it was the card and purchased a new one. (Pretec PCMCIA 256kb 8-bit SRAM Memory Card with Attribute Pn: S65256-8)

The new card formatted properly and is working, however, the patches I load from the DAW make some sounds but also sound corrupt (very freakin weird noises or no sound) just like on the original PCMCIA card.

I can modify and save patches correctly on the internal memory slots (1-40) but if I save a patch from the internal memory to the PCMCIA card it does not sound anywhere near the same. It sounds like only the oscillator type is saved - ALL other parameters are not saved AT ALL !!!

So now I know it's the synth and not the card, is there any way to fix this or any ideas I can give to a repairman? Thanks

"very freakin weird noises" can result from failing DSP or flashes on mainboard. Given that NL2 is ~20 years old, wouldn't be surprising.

bless, pablo

Could also be corrosion on the pcmcia card pins. Try using Deoxit D5 to wet the socket well (protect the board from overspray, though) and plug/unplug the PCMCIA card a bunch of times to loosen the corrosion and "sweep" it out. Use your old card for this. Then rinse the sockets again with D5, wipe down any excess, and see if the new card works any better. You'll need to reformat and re-save - for instance, take a working onboard patch you know is good, and save it to the card, then try loading it again from the same location.

Bumping this thread as I'm having similar issues with the exact Pretec card purchased here. It formats ok, seems to save patches but when reloading them it seems like only some settings like osc type and lfo destination are saved. Envelope and filter settings all seem to reset. Has anyone found a solution?

Did anyone get this solved?

I purchased a card from the original PCMIA supplier for NORD and am having the exact issue as stated above. eveything formatted properly but the patches are only partially stored.

I had the same problem when using an 8-bit SRAM PC card I bought new.

Apart from patches not reloading correctly, I also had to re-format the card every time I inserted it in my Nord Rack 2.

I strongly suspect this problem is caused by using a modern SRAM PC card that only supports 8-bit data access. Get another PC card. Either an old one, which usually is compatible with both 8 and 16 bit access, or if you buy a new card, get a 16-bit card.

Also see this FAQ https://www.synchrotech.com/support/faq-sram-pcmcia-pc_cards.html#Q012.

... PCMCIA PC Card SRAM in two separate categories. 16-bit cards, which are the most prevalent in use by most host systems, and 8-bit cards for systems with that requirement. The cards are not interchangeable. Because auto switching had always been available in the past, most devices don't specify which type they require.

It looks like the Nord Lead requires 16-bit cards. The Nord Rack 2 has an MC68331 MCU which has a 16-bit data bus, so it is likely that the MCU uses 16-bit access for the PC card.

I don't know the details of how PC card access works, but it is likely that with an 8-bit card, every other byte comes back empty. The Nord Lead would be reading 2 bytes (16 bits) at a time but an 8-bit card only returns 1 byte. That could explain saving some but not all parameters.