Nord User Forum

My instrument is a Stage 2EX HP76
1. Using Sound Manager I tried to replace Grand Faz by White Grand in GRAND Location 1 (used L version as XL was too big). I used the command SUBSTITUTE.
The processed started okay but stuck at 77% with the message "Substitute failed: Bulk pipe write failed"
2. I then tried replacing with the original piano sound and this locked up again, this time with the message "Time out: no reply from synth"
3. At this stage, with all the programmes using the Location 1 Grand Piano now having no sound at all, I tried a full factory restore which locked up in the middle of the process again, this time with the message "USB error: Bulk pipe write failed"
What is going on, am I doing something wrong?

Hi and welcome!

First of all - make sure you are using the latest OS version on your stage and the latest version of Sound Manager on your computer.

Did you use a direct USB connection between your computer and the Stage 2 Ex, or do you have a USB hub in between? If so please try a direct connection. If you already have hooked up the Nord to the computer I suggest to try a different and maybe a shorter USB cable. If the problem still persists then try a different computer as well (If available).

Thanks for the reply. YES I downloaded the latest OS (v3.00) and Sound Manager (v7.54) before doing anything.
The USB connection is direct between computer and Stage 2EX.
The USB cable is the one supplied with the Nord.
I have a couple of PC/laptops and used my latest and best computer with top specs so I am sure that is not the problem.
I am wondering what the error messages are trying to tell me?

The error message seem to refer to a USB data connection problem (but I’m not really sure), these are typically caused by faulty USB ports or data error due to wrong/bad quality cables. Do you have some free space in the piano memory to load a S version of a piano (not substitute, just add another piano at the smallest size available) just to check if less data is transferred OK? You may also try to load a sample to the sample synth memory and see if this is transferred without problems, so you can check if data is transferred correctly in general. If these fail as well you might have a faulty USB port on the Stage 2 which needs service, but I don’t think so if you updated the OS recently which goes via USB as well....

You are on Windows, right?

Thank you again Schorsch. Having mentioned the possibility of a USB connection problem in your last your reply, I searched downloads on the NORD website and, scrolling to the bottom, found something called a Clavia USB driver. I installed this on my PC and have been able to complete a successful factory restore! (I didn't find anywhere the fact this had to be done). Hope this is the problem solved.
I feel bound to mention that I bought the Stage 2EX new January 2017 but found it really difficult to use. The manual was poor.
Where was the list of Programmes?
Were samples the same as programmes? Recently realised they're not but how do I know what and where they are? Where is the list of samples?
What was Slot B and how do I know what was in it?
Making layers and splits was just not as easy as on many of the other instruments I had owned.
In fact there were so many other questions and things I did not understand that I put the keyboard back in the cardboard box and it remained there for 4 years.
Sad, but that's how poor I regarded it.

Have you already found out about all those questions?

I'd say you must have installed that Clavia USB driver already 4 years ago - but it got updated along with the software and the instruments's OS. So it wasn't good any more.

You have a beast of an instrument with 6 sound engines each of which can be on or off in a given program. The engines are organised in two slots (in Stage 3 speech, they are 'panels') consisting of 1 piano, 1 organ and 1 synth engine each. Where the piano will always have a piano sample loaded (can be harpsichord or mallets, too), the organ engine will always work on its own (with the drawbars), the synth engine can have an additional sample loaded or work with built-in wave forms. If you want, you can have two slots prepared with a certain sound and just switch between them or enable both at a time.

Built-in programs aren't built-in, but only pre-loaded - you are free to manipulate them or rebuild one from scratch. Or you load one from our Nord users sounds website or from a supplier. Which is why there isn't a list of programs or sounds.

If ever you want a list of programms, you can use the Nord sound manager on your computer to generate a list of momentary programs in a html file (like a web page). Which changes from time to time because that's what the Nord world is made for: Changes and development. Like the White Grand piano sample from 2019 or some quite recent strings for the synth engine. Indeed, quite unique, that cosmos.

Gibbs59 wrote:I installed this on my PC and have been able to complete a successful factory restore!

I am glad you solved, but I just wanted to add, for anyone ever finding himself in this sort of situations, that bad USB cables 1) can definitely produce this kind of behaviour, and 2) are way more common that one would imagine.

I have had something similar happen to me recently, where a bad USB cable would send data correctly but in one direction only.

Gibbs59 wrote:Thank you again Schorsch. Having mentioned the possibility of a USB connection problem in your last your reply, I searched downloads on the NORD website and, scrolling to the bottom, found something called a Clavia USB driver. I installed this on my PC and have been able to complete a successful factory restore! (I didn't find anywhere the fact this had to be done). Hope this is the problem solved.
I feel bound to mention that I bought the Stage 2EX new January 2017 but found it really difficult to use. The manual was poor.
Where was the list of Programmes?
Were samples the same as programmes? Recently realised they're not but how do I know what and where they are? Where is the list of samples?
What was Slot B and how do I know what was in it?
Making layers and splits was just not as easy as on many of the other instruments I had owned.
In fact there were so many other questions and things I did not understand that I put the keyboard back in the cardboard box and it remained there for 4 years.
Sad, but that's how poor I regarded it.

Hi Gibbs59,

the Nords are actually very easy to handle once the general concept has been understood, here is a (although quite simplified) display of the basic concept:
You may start by imagine that a Nord Stage 2/3 has two independent "areas" called slots: Slot A and Slot B (also called Panel A and Panel B sometimes like in the drawing above).

Each of the Slots can contain the three instruments available on the Stage: Organ, Piano, Synth. The slots can be used independently or combined, which would give you up to 2 Organs, 2 Pianos and 2 Synths working simultaneously if you wish.

You select a slot by pressing the respective button (Slot A or Slot B), combining both Slots together to create layers works by pressing both buttons at the same time, splitting them works by creating different split zones and assigning them individually to the slots/instruments.

You then have programs - these hold the individual settings of a slot / both slot's including the instuments, effects and others (some effects are global and be used commonly for both slots, different from the simplified drawing above).

Hope that helps clarifying it a bit - I recommend to watch some tutorials on Youtube, just look for "Nord Stage 2 Tutorial" or "Nord Stage 3 Tutorial", the basic concept is very much the same for both the Stage 2 and Stage 3.

Thank you for those who have replied to my initial problem.
The information has clarified several issues.
I can see I will need to have other aspects explained but probably better to address them as individual queries.