EPSm rack mount

[sPrause]

I have a EPS classic generation 13 bit rack mount sampler EPSm. I have purchased the HxC SD floppy emulator in the case, and have been very excited after viewing successes with EPS. I have a stack (200) of floppies, and my floppy drive and disks still work. I am using my Dell Inspiron laptop running WinXP with the standard floppy drive (note only USB-1). I am having some problems that I need help with.

I have insured that the power connector is oriented correctly, the EPS orange (5v) towards the center, the original floppy cable with red (#1) towards the center (non-twisted). The jumpers were configured for (A: / DF0) looking from the back the only jumper is on top left. That is Shugart ID0 drive A.

I have a downloaded image for EPS OS v2.49 (zipped, attached) that is an EDE suffix type file (Geibler). I had also tested using OmniFlop read of my EPS OS v2.40 that is an img suffix type, I used this (with settings from EPS16+ topic) with settings (10 sectors/track, 0 sector ID start, 40 GAP3 length).

My SD card of 256MB was formatted fresh as FAT32. The HFE file interface mode was set to "generic shugart", (auto disabled) and file saved to SD card. The "disable disk selector" was selected, all other defaults then saved floppy emulator config file to SD card. This created two separate files on the SD card.

I was able to sucessfully load the EPS v2.49 EDE file, status was correct and then exported to SD card as an HFE suffix file. I also was able to successfully raw load the EPS v2.40 image file, status was correct and exported and saved to SD card as an HFE suffix. See attachments for format.

Upon powerup, the HxC device boots up and finds the SD card with the configuration. However, when I select and load the EPS OS HFE files, the EPS says the "floppy is not formatted". I have tried virtually every configuration of jumper, twisted cables, config files and options. In other wrong cases it says to insert a disk (cause it can't find it). I have updated the firmware to the latest rev, and also attempted the latest Beta build, no joy.

I booted from my SCSI HD successfully and tried to format one of the selected floppy images. The display will show "RA", "SD:1", and the track may momentary change from 0 to 2, but fails the format. I am quite confident the connections and jumpers are correct, and the EPS floppy interface is working. I was hoping someone could mail me a working config file for the EPS.

I am hoping we can resolve this issue as I have spent a lot of time testing and banging my head. Lastly, have you considered using the OmniFlop image format for the Ensoniq EPS? I have backed up all my floppy images with OmniFlop and would like to batch them, instead of having raw load each one separately. Also the Geibbler EDE tools are DOS based and not open. Thanks in advance for all the good effort and results with the product.

[Jeff]

Can make me a small video ? i want to see how the floppy emulator react (message on the lcd + leds).

And have you tried another SDCard?

Which Floppy cable are you using ?

[sPrause]

I am using the original floppy cable. Also have tested with another SD card. I got some working HFE test files from "jeffe" (from EPS16+ topic). I did a new format, set up config, verified jumpers (top left, looking from back) and copied HFE files. Still no joy, says disk is not formatted. I took some video and tried a couple of attempts.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=29nHN4Kadok

[Jeff]

I am using the original floppy cable. Also have tested with another SD card. I got some working HFE test files from "jeffe" (from EPS16+ topic). I did a new format, set up config, verified jumpers (top left, looking from back) and copied HFE files. Still no joy, says disk is not formatted. I took some video and tried a couple of attempts.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=29nHN4Kadok

Can you read/dump the OS floppy disk ?

[jeffe]

Howdy
I have been helping sPrause diagnose his problem with the HxC device and his EPSm rackmout sampler. I have a keyboard EPS and the HxC device works wonderfully for me.

First, I provided him with known-working disk images to use on his SD card. His HxC screen reads 'Disk not formatted'.
Second, he mailed me his sd card to see if I could recreate my working sd card. His card worked fine in my device, and I copied my files over to his card and mailed it back to him. His HxC still read, 'Disk not formatted'.
Finally, he mailed me his actual HxC device. I have plugged it into my EPS, and guess what, it reads 'Disk not formatted'. This is with both his sd card (which I made), and mine. I tried various combinations of jumper settings, but if the jumper is set to drive B it just doesn't find the device (this is normal, I think).

So I think we have narrowed it down to a faulty device. Is there anything else we can do to get it to work, or should it just be sent back to Lothratek for replacement?

Thank you.

edit: I too would appreciate a 'batch' convert raw image function in the software, but things are working fine for me otherwise.

[Jeff]

Howdy
I have been helping sPrause diagnose his problem with the HxC device and his EPSm rackmout sampler. I have a keyboard EPS and the HxC device works wonderfully for me.

First, I provided him with known-working disk images to use on his SD card. His HxC screen reads 'Disk not formatted'.
Second, he mailed me his sd card to see if I could recreate my working sd card. His card worked fine in my device, and I copied my files over to his card and mailed it back to him. His HxC still read, 'Disk not formatted'.
Finally, he mailed me his actual HxC device. I have plugged it into my EPS, and guess what, it reads 'Disk not formatted'. This is with both his sd card (which I made), and mine. I tried various combinations of jumper settings, but if the jumper is set to drive B it just doesn't find the device (this is normal, I think).

So I think we have narrowed it down to a faulty device. Is there anything else we can do to get it to work, or should it just be sent back to Lothratek for replacement?

Thank you.

edit: I too would appreciate a 'batch' convert raw image function in the software, but things are working fine for me otherwise.

Firmware version of the sPrause device and your device ?

Boxed version ?

[jeffe]

Firmware version of the sPrause device and your device ?

Boxed version ?

i hadn't thought about firmware...
mine is the most recent.
will check the other one later. his is a newer model that came in the box...mine is, i believe, the rev before that...just an exposed circuit board. bought in january of this year.

[Jeff]

Firmware version of the sPrause device and your device ?

Boxed version ?

i hadn't thought about firmware...
mine is the most recent.
will check the other one later. his is a newer model that came in the box...mine is, i believe, the rev before that...just an exposed circuit board. bought in january of this year.

i need the versions numbers.

Also please send me some of the files images.

[jeffe]

both devices are at firmware version 1.6.0.0.

i just updated his, im not sure what it was before.

no change, whenever it tries to read a disk, it says 'disk not formatted'.

ive tried with the floppy cable flipped both ways.

here is a zip with the os disk + a disk with just samples on it (950k):
http://www.divshare.com/download/15743583-19a

[Jeff]

both devices are at firmware version 1.6.0.0.

i just updated his, im not sure what it was before.

no change, whenever it tries to read a disk, it says 'disk not formatted'.

ive tried with the floppy cable flipped both ways.

here is a zip with the os disk + a disk with just samples on it (950k):
http://www.divshare.com/download/15743583-19a

So both device have the same firmware, the same jumper setting, the same SDCard and one is working and not the other?

[jeffe]

So both device have the same firmware, the same jumper setting, the same SDCard and one is working and not the other?

yes. same sd card, same firmware, same sampler. my device works, the other says 'disk not formatted'.

[Jeff]

So both device have the same firmware, the same jumper setting, the same SDCard and one is working and not the other?

yes. same sd card, same firmware, same sampler. my device works, the other says 'disk not formatted'.

So this is an pure hardware problem. You should contact Lotharek for an repair/exchange service.

[jeffe]

So this is an pure hardware problem. You should contact Lotharek for an repair/exchange service.

thanks thats kind of what we figured.

thanks for your help.

-j

[Jeff]

So this is an pure hardware problem. You should contact Lotharek for an repair/exchange service.

thanks thats kind of what we figured.

thanks for your help.

-j

and about the jumper ?

[jeffe]

and about the jumper ?

i'm sorry, what about the jumper?

i tried with the same jumper setting as mine, i tried with the drive-b jumper setting. neither of them work. is there something else i should try?