Scope died on me - need help

[Tau]

Hey, so yesterday Scope crashed in the middle of a session. It was late already, so I just turned everything off and went to bed. Today, I start SFP and it doesn't recognize one of the Scope cards, showing only the other two. Windows Device manager also shows 2 cards only.

I took the cards off, reseated them, swapped PCI slots, tried different STDM cables, but there's no response from that one card. It seems to be dead. When I power up the computer, though, the ADAT ports light up - but after the OS (and sfp) loads, it's gone.

Unfortunately, it's also the one to which all 3rd party and optional plug-ins are registered to, so it makes a very big difference.

My questions to Z: - Any ideas to check or recover my board? I didn't change anything in the OS yet, might that do any difference?

- What is the fastest way to get this board serviced? Should I contact SC, or are there other authorized repair-shops? I cannot be without it and I have work that's due for delivery... soon. If this takes more than 4 weeks to fix, I don't know what to do...

Any input is appreciated. Time is of great importance to me right now.

Thanks,

T

[garyb]

you can try swapping i/o plates.

if that doesn't work, you'll have to send the card to S/C for service, sorry....

[astroman]

can you plug the board into any other (non-Scope) system and see if Windows will detect it ?
otherwise you might completely power down the PC, unplug powercord from the wall outlet, wait some time and then start up the machine with only the suspect board - just to be sure it's really unrecognizable.
A 'true' full powercycle sometimes does wonders - fingers crossed...
If you absolutely need the plugins, Ralf may be able to reassign them to one of your other boards in advance, if this board is really dead and you have to send it in for service.

cheers, Tom

[Tau]

Well, changing the I/O plates didn't work... My other DAW cannot fit a 15 DSP card, so I would have to reinstall XP on the Scope machine and see how it goes. I did try power-cycling the unit (switched off for about 10 minutes) and starting up with only this card, but still nothing.

I guess it's dead... or maybe in a coma...

But thanks for your concern and helpful ideas.

I already mailed soniccore's support, so I'll wait for a response. But even if I can manage with less DSP for a while, I cannot do without the plugs, especially the synths, as I make practically all my sounds with scope. For example, the project I'm working on has 3 instances of Pro-Wave (all poly) and a custom modular patch with SpaceF/Flexor components on standard Wavetable oScs. No chance to emulate that with what I have here (not to mention delays, reverbs and other fx). But also no chance of doing it with 21 DSPs either

And if the card really is "dead", and the XCITE doesn't come out... wow, that's something I hadn't thought about...

Anyway, if I had nailed my system-to-system delay issue, I would have already rendered these tracks to audio, and I would be working on the mix, instead of looking at silent MIDI parts...

Thanks again, let's see what karma has in store for me, this time.

T

[Tau]

Right, so,

The week is over, and no response from Sonic Core to my 3 e-mails on the subject. Almost one week down (and a weekend to go) is way too long for me...

I would like to ask you guys your opinion on the Waldorf Blofeld as a replacement for the Pro-Wave synth. I absolutely love the ProW, but I can't get to it right now, and I'm getting tired of all this crap - I need something dependable!!! Since the XCITE is not coming, and I'm out of Scope, I might just break the XCITE fund and go for a Blofeld (yes, I'd rather have a Solaris, but it's not out yet, and I'm also out of space here).

I've been using the ProW mixing Wavetable and and CEM oscs, poliphonically. I also use filter modules and insert FX. What I'm looking for is for a synth that has the same wavetables (or similar enough), good filters and decent modulation, and the Blofeld seems quite OK, and not that expensive. I have a desktop evolver, but that's mono only... I have no room for more keys (I still have a Z1, a yamaha SY77, a prophecy and a Nord G2, so...), but I could really use a wavetable synth.

So, has anyone ever compared the Blofeld to Creamware synths?

Thanks in advance,

T

[next to nothing]

If this is important to you i would rather make a phonecall. It aint nececarily that expensive (check your phone rates to confirm) and an answer will be quick.

Ive talked to Ralph on the phone a couple of times, he's a very helpful dude.

[Mr Arkadin]

Did you use Ralf's email address? i always found that emailing him got me instant responses (same night!) rather than the support@ address.

rb(at)soniccore.com

[Shroomz~>]

Same here, contacting Ralf directly has always been great. He's always got back to us within 24 hours.

Mark

[Tau]

Today is a public holiday in germany......

Could be that... I have tried all those e-mail addresses, but to soniccore.de, not .com... That's what's on the website. I usually get a response in one or two days tops, so this is a bit unusual. But I'm not angry - kind of getting used to this. Will try again with .com

Could be their anti-spam filter, or something like that. Would be easier if one could register as a client (providing the serial number of the boards), and be able to login for support requests - that's an idea for the future!

Anyway, nothing will happen until Monday. Not even the Blofeld But if the card really is gone, I might consider getting one - I'm certainly not going to buy another 15 DSP board, and the remaining 21 DSPs are not enough for what I (want to) do.


Thank you all,

T

[Tau]

Wish I was in germany today...

Anyway, I just got a response from Ralf, and I'm going to send the board in and think about what to do about the keys in the meantime. Probably the best thing to do is to transfer everything to one of the remaining ones, and patiently wait for this one to return as extra DSP - this way, I can keep my projects running (after certain adjustments), and won't be mailing SC each day asking "is it done yet?"...

I'm sure they're getting plenty of that right now...

Let's see how it goes.


Cheers,

T

[braincell]

I have been using my Nord G2 recently. That is a great synth!

[Tau]

I have been using my Nord G2 recently. That is a great synth!

You got one too? It is very very good. I bought mine 2nd hand from a friend who used to come in and play in my studio. I always thought its sound complemented the Scope synths very well, being somewhat "thinner" (but not wimpy), so when he told me he was going to sell it, I took it up straight away, and even got an expansion board for it.

I am a sucker for synths. I have more than I can use, but I don't like selling them (cheap ), and so I have a roomful of those things. Not many people here make electronic music, and even fewer use hw synths, preferring MPCs and Reason and all sorts of warez... But I really like these machines, they feel real, and very rarely break down. Scope synths are paradoxal - they are inside a computer, but it's really hardware, so you get that sound, with the benefit of a 100% digital environment, so it's clean, sharp, precise... I miss it already.

I never really got why they discontinued the G2, though, and it would be interesting if there was some sort of SDK so that devs could code new modules, as they do for CW. But I guess that would require new firmware upgrades and other exciting stuff...

Tell me something, does your G2 also suffer from low output levels? Mine does, even switching the pads to +6db in the modular editor, I never get levels as high as with the other synths... Not sure if it's just mine



T

[Tau]

Ok, just an update on the situation, the card is still dead, but I transferred all relevant keys to another one, and I have my Scope system back

Now, I'll just send it to S|C and hope for the best.

Thanks are due to Ralf for an excellent service, and to all Z members that helped me solve this thing quickly.

You rule!

T