Akai S950

[Jeff]

Testing with a 1K is no Problem.
Is it harmless to test with a Resistor Value that low?

You think it is possible to hook up the Original Floppy again with the Pullup Mod or could it get damaged?

No with a 1Kohms you have a 5mA current (5V/1000=5mA).
Hard to damage something with this

[Juppdich]

No Luck at all until now.
I Exchanged the Pull Up for 1K Ohm --> Same Problem
Tryed another and afterwards the Original Floppy Cable --> Same Problem
Got a Class 10 SD Card --> Same Problem
Also tryed out a ATX Power Supply for the HCX2001 --> no luck

Let me make this clear, it always stucks upon the !same! Sector in an Image but this "Stucking" Sector changes from Image to Image


On Synthzone i read a post said something about Capacitor Problems in Conjunction with "Bad Data from Disk..." so i decided to exchange the 470 Elko (Marked Red in the Picture).
No Luck.

You Think i should try to exchange the small ones marked yellow in the Picture or the ones marked blue?
I don´t think that the Type of Capacitor (small ones) marked yellow do fail that often.
The ones Marked Blue, i don´t know about.
What do you think?

[Jeff]

And what about your power supply ? are you that all is ok ?

Can you try to write a floppy image on a floppy disk and try it on the S950 ?

[Juppdich]

The next Days i will try to create a Disk with the Floppy hooked up and save to it and see if it lets me load from it.
As i wrote, tryed out Atx Supply for the HCX, but didn´t messure the Akai Supply Currents for the both Boards in the Sampler.
I will do that also immediatly.
On the other hand: the Sampler was running relativly stable before. Crashed from time to time with opcodes on the display....

There is another Electrolyte Cap very in the Center of the CPU board. Maybe i should exchange that one, too.

[Juppdich]

Man I´m so frustrated.
Today I tryed the Floppy Drive and it Worked like a charm.
So the Sampler itself is really ok.

Maybe there is something wrong with my HxC Unit from Lotharek?
Or maybe am i missing some other important Detail!
We´ll see.
This whole Weekend im off for a Birthday Party and then i will rethink about the whole Stuff on Monday with a clear and fresh mind...

[Jeff]

Man I´m so frustrated.
Today I tryed the Floppy Drive and it Worked like a charm.
So the Sampler itself is really ok.

I am not so sure.... Akai S950 power supply issues seems very common. Have a look to this :

http://www.mpc-forums.com/viewtopic.php ... 4&start=58
http://www.mpc-forums.com/viewtopic.php ... 4&start=60

http://www.futureproducers.com/forums/h ... em-226410/

What is the original floppy disk drive brand/model ?

Can you try this file image :
https://hxc2001.com/floppy_drive_emulat ... fe_img.zip
i have changed some parameters.

if still doesn't work:
Can you try to shut down the HxC sound ? (have a look to the SD HxC settings into the software for this).

if still doesn't work:
-Can you show with a video how it fail (i want to see the hxc)?
-Can you try the HxC on another machine ? (a PC ?)

[Juppdich]

Hi. Tryed your Image and still doesn´t work. Even not without Sound.
Tryed Hxc on my normal PC, and it writes and reads as it is supposed to.

Original Floppy is an ALPS.

I meassured all the Voltages from the Akai Power Supply, them all seemed ok.
Besides +/- 15V was +/- 14,40 but i guess that is not that critical?
Anyway i must revert on the original Floppy running fine.
Yes it does, but just with old Disks from my Crate.
If i create a new disk now on the Sampler, then i got exactly the same Prob like with the HxC.
Saving is ok, but loading just dont work.
Btw. Thanks for the links to the other Forums, although i knew them...

Another Detail:
On the Boot screen it Says Firmware: 1.0 but i can chose Harddisk in the Diskmenu. It says something about SH 104 Extension (For Atari disk, i guess .
I assume it it normal that this shows up?

I will do a detailed Vid tomorrow.....

[Juppdich]

Oho!
The 14,4 is not normal, it should be 15V.
As you can see in the schematic on Page 8 (you need to rotate it) there is 14,4 on the out of Transistor TR901.
On the Connection Out to Mainboard there have to be 15V.
I Meassured 14,4, so my Power Suppy seems not ok.
What do you think which Cap(s) could be the faulty ones? Maybe C8/9?
As Both (+/-) Voltages are wrong in the same manner, i guess it might be C7?

Please take a Look at:
http://www.megaupload.com/?d=MSQJGO5V



########Edit:###########
I now Exchanged C5-C11 and still have 14,4 V???? What could i be doin wrong?

[Jeff]

Hi. Tryed your Image and still doesn´t work. Even not without Sound.
Tryed Hxc on my normal PC, and it writes and reads as it is supposed to.

Can you retry with this one ? :
https://hxc2001.com/floppy_drive_emulat ... ndoe_2.zip

[Juppdich]

Tryed --> Disc not mounted

Could not Att. my Config, every possible extension is dissallowed

[Jeff]

have you already tryied to change the floppy disk cable ?
are you using a twisted floppy cable ?
Have you a picture of your setup ?

[Slo.man]

Hi, i installed mine, i can load some floppys images but how can i save a new sample program ?

I tried to load an empty disk.hfe created with the software.
Then, in the DISK menu, the empty disk is given 0% full, but once i save it says OOPS! Disk sample space is full.

Can someone help please ?

[Jeff]

Hi, i installed mine, i can load some floppys images but how can i save a new sample program ?

I tried to load an empty disk.hfe created with the software.
Then, in the DISK menu, the empty disk is given 0% full, but once i save it says OOPS! Disk sample space is full.

Can someone help please ?

Try these S950 files images :
https://hxc2001.com/floppy_drive_emulat ... Images.zip

[Slo.man]

Very cool it works loke a charm, thanks Jeff.

[banksy76]

My cased HxC floppy emulator arrived today. However I am needing some assistance.

I have connected the unit to my Akai S950 using the original floppy drive cable and power cable of the Akai. The Floppy cable has been inverted as suggested.
I have formatted my 2GB SD card (FAT32), downloaded the firmware (HXCFE_V1_1_6_0_0.UPD), and placed this onto the SD card.
I have placed the SD card containing the firmware into the reader powered up the S950/HxC while pressing both the Left & Right buttons of the SD reader and installed the firmware.
The display now shows V1.6.0.0 when it automatically scrolls through the screens.

Now here is my problem...
I cannot seem to get an image of the S950 onto the card and be read. When I have placed an S950 formatted floppy into my PC and tried to read it with the HxC software I have no success (am probably making a foolish error!).
When I have tried downloading an S950 image from the HxC site and placing it on the SD card, when inserted into the HxC reader the display reads " HXCSDFE.CFG not found!"

Please can somebody advise.