NS2 Not Booting

[DeeNDee]

Hello, I'm hoping someone will be able to help.

I recently bought a NS2 which the owner said the main board was dead.
I opened up the machine and found everything inside covered in grime and an oily surface. So I stripped it down, cleaned everything with PCB/switch cleaner and put it together.
On turning the machine on, I am presented with the display showing "Nord Stage 2 Revision B" and it stays like that.
When I power on with one of the buttons pushed the display shows "Nord Stage 2 HwRev 1.1-64" and it stays like that.
I am also able to enter into the test mode (which no one talks about here?) and after a count in the model window of the piano section of 0, 1, A, the main display shows "Nord Stage 2 Booting Test [F:" and stays like that.
The NS2 never progresses further on the messages - except once when the test mode went to the next page and I was able to turn off and on and the keyboard sort of worked for a moment - this gives me hope that there is a bad connection somewhere and the main board is not dead.

What I would like to know is what is the normal sequence of boot up? Do you see the message I see before something else happens?

I imagine that maybe the software is waiting for something that should give it a message, if only I knew what that was I could continue in my debugging. BTW I am an electronic engineer, so I am not doing anything too silly. I would rather not send the board to a service centre $$$

Any help much appreciated.
David

[cphollis]

My understanding is that all the test routines tend to live in boot ROM, which seems accessible. But it's not finding a valid boot image -- either because there's a bad connection to memory controller, or there's a corrupt image there.

You didn't mention if you could connect via USB?

[DeeNDee]

Thanks for the reply cphollis.

The USB does not work. I have downloaded the Nord windows driver, but nothing recognised.

I didn't try the USB when the board briefly worked.

[DeeNDee]

Try to power on the NS2 while holding shift+Store (it should set it to Update mode) and if it does then try to run the OS Update from your Win PC with latest Clavia USB drivers installed

[DeeNDee]

Try to power on the NS2 while holding shift+Store (it should set it to Update mode) and if it does then try to run the OS Update from your Win PC with latest Clavia USB drivers installed

Thanks for that. The update actually worked!!!! However after the update the display just stays there with "Nord Stage 2 Revision 3" and the application on the PC says "Waiting for reboot to complete".

The software is not getting a message from somewhere. I will take the main board off and have a good look for dry joints and shorts. I have checked the cables to the control boards and power supply - they are all OK. Is there any "intelligence" from the keys that might need checking?

[DeeNDee]

Try to power on the NS2 while holding shift+Store (it should set it to Update mode) and if it does then try to run the OS Update from your Win PC with latest Clavia USB drivers installed

Thanks for that. The update actually worked!!!! However after the update the display just stays there with "Nord Stage 2 Revision 3" and the application on the PC says "Waiting for reboot to complete".

The software is not getting a message from somewhere. I will take the main board off and have a good look for dry joints and shorts. I have checked the cables to the control boards and power supply - they are all OK. Is there any "intelligence" from the keys that might need checking?

Not that I know, checking mainboard for issues is the next step to do actually, but if the issue is a "dead" (malfunctioning) DSP, MCU or other critical component it will be hard to fix yourself (so taking it to official service would be the last step possible)

[DeeNDee]

Update...

I have just received my main board, after sending it on a long trip to someone who tested it and found that it was working perfectly with his NS2. He suggested I try turning it on with just control panel 1 (the left one) connected. This should go into self test mode. The NS2 does go into self test mode but it sticks on the first "page" saying "Nord Stage 2 Booting Test [F:".

I am now looking for a hardware problem on control panel 1.

Any suggestions welcome.

[DeeNDee]

Update...

I have just received my main board, after sending it on a long trip for someone who tested it and found that it was working perfectly with his NS2. He suggested I try turning it on with just control panel 1 (the left one) connected. The NS2 goes into self test mode but sticks on the first "page" saying "Nord Stage 2 Booting Test [F:".

I am now looking for a hardware problem on control panel 1.

Any suggestions welcome.

Check the flat cable continuity first (or try to replace it with a new one) and/or that there is no oxidation on the Panel board connector pins (you can spray some contact cleaner on them, just in case) .

[DeeNDee]

Update...

I have just received my main board, after sending it on a long trip for someone who tested it and found that it was working perfectly with his NS2. He suggested I try turning it on with just control panel 1 (the left one) connected. The NS2 goes into self test mode but sticks on the first "page" saying "Nord Stage 2 Booting Test [F:".

I am now looking for a hardware problem on control panel 1.

Any suggestions welcome.

Check the flat cable continuity first (or try to replace it with a new one) and/or that there is no oxidation on the Panel board connector pins (you can spray some contact cleaner on them, just in case) .

Thanks for the input. have made new cables for the boards for the boards and cleaned all the contacts and the control panel itself with contact cleaner - the next step is to trace signals and try and work out which part is not working.

[DeeNDee]

I have spent a long time understanding how the control board circuit works and I changed all the digital chips - nothing changed. Then I looked at the analogue side of the control panel and connected the pitch control and a temporary resistor bridge for the mod wheel. There was a loose pad for the pitch control. The NS2 now powers up!!!!

It appears that the NS2 requires both the pitch and mod wheel in place before it will boot up properly.

I have some ghosting on the LEDs, some are glowing when they should be off. I also noticed some control inputs when playing, so some more work to be done, but I'm on the right path now.