Strange Communication Error I have for about 3 years..

[tomylee]

hi guys...

I am still with scope - just cant give it away, too much flexibility

But in about 3 years I tried to pin down a problem that I never really could understand, cause I never thought that thermal issues could be the problem, but in my case looks like to be happening only when the cards are cold!

So whats happening: every morning I start the PC up and run scope, I get a DSP error (can not connect to dsp2 on board x) but if I let the PC run for about half an hour the problem disappears.

Well in the last 3 years I first thought it was a software issue, then I suspected my PC PSU, which I swapped, then I expected to be a heat problem, but the Idea that a part like a capacitor could be the problem never came up..

I really want to check into that - how can I check my boards for faulty parts like capacitors or resistors around dsp 2? do you have any ideas how to appoach this? I have not much ideas on how and where to check on a scope board, does it have to be running btw?

Any info would be welcome, I really suspect a part around DSP 2 to be the problem, if I could change it everything would be fine everytime I start the PC even when it is not on temperature...

Do you know similar problems btw? maybe the reason is yet another...BTW it is always DSP2 on board0 which makes the problem, and it always disappears after some runningtime of the PC

greets
tomylee

p.e. the thing is: i have 3 boards, and I dont even know which one of those is board0, is there a way to find out? if the board is a scope pro, I could compare all components to my other scope pro board, and any difference it an faulty part, sounds logical?

[garyb]

it's only at powering up the computer?

it's just a timing issue. too many peices of software needing to do something at the same time and the Scope software gets tired of waiting. ignore it.

[tomylee]

no it does not sync, looses sync or drops out for about 15mins after each "cold" boot, cold meaning here that the machine is not thermally hot, or on temps

example: if I boot the pc in the morning after a night where it could completely cool down to room temperature I have to wait about 15 minutes until I get a stable scope, if I then shut down the PC and immediatly turn it on again the problem is still absent, but if I let it shut down for a couple of hours and then turn on again, I get the same phenomenon as in the morning...

It is not that much of a deal, but kind of scares me, and sometimes, if I return to the studio with a client (= hot singer) I need to entertain her for 15 minutes with my balls, juggling balls of course after that time scope is usually ready and syncing without any dropouts

if not thermally it must have to do something with unloading capacitors, it is so strange that I have this problem only after a long time (more than about 3 hours) of not using the PC..

[garyb]

i'd try cleaning the s/tdm and card contacts and also try reseating the i/o boards.

you can inspect the cards and i/o cards with a magnifier and look for cracked solder. if there is any, just reflowing the solder should fix it.

[dante]

Yes there could be a hairline loss of connection which heat expanded metal fills.

[tomylee]

Yes there could be a hairline loss of connection which heat expanded metal fills.

sound like it´s impossible to find out if that is the case...arent there any soldering tricks to get rid of such things? I heard of some burn in or put pcb into oven stuff from graphics card manufacturers

[garyb]

if you have a steady hand and are careful, you could just use a soldering iron to reflow any cracked solder.

[the19thbear]

I have some of the same problems, and I am going to transfer all my plugins from my faulty card to another card I have and then bake the card in the oven (there are numerous descriptions on the net - I'm going to follow some "Mac-laptop broken, repair in the oven"-directions).
I'll report back later (when sc replies to my email and I can get the transfer done..

[t_tangent]

Be very careful if you decide to bake the card. I tried that once with a graphics card and although the first time I tried and it worked briefly afterwards, the second time the card started playing up and I thought I would try again but left it a bit longer to bake and several components on the underside fell off and I never managed to figure out how they went back on. Luckily was a cheap old video card so baking was a last resort anyway, but I would be a bit more cautious with a Scope card. Like Gary says it might be better to try just reflowing using a soldering iron. Best of luck with that though and hope you manage to sort it. Cheers. t_t

[tomylee]

i'd try cleaning the s/tdm and card contacts and also try reseating the i/o boards.

you can inspect the cards and i/o cards with a magnifier and look for cracked solder. if there is any, just reflowing the solder should fix it.

I stumbled upon a tip to clean them with pencil erazer (rubber) damn, i think I solved my issues...it seems to be working now, but still have to test

[garyb]

great! i hope that's it!

[tomylee]

I could never immagine stdm connection to be so flimsy

[tomylee]

still working, no dropouts or sync losses since I did that, it was kind of stable before too but that was just luck I guess now I tested with a large project...wo even cutting some virtual cables where he has to rearrange dsp seemed to work flawlessly, cant believe it im so happy right now )) I just hope this will stay! I got problems since 3 years now, and im with scope since 5 years I guess

first it was the motherboard, then a 1st gen card, then a faulty PSU and now stdm, seems to be over...

now I just have to do the cold boot test...if that works too it is so great.. DD

[garyb]

even one fingerprint on the gold contacts will make trouble.

[tomylee]

uhm, is this irony? actually I touched them gently with my finger after the erazer method to clean the rest of the rubber away...but I think I did not leave a finger print

aand while I was writing it: sync error, seems like I still left something on it but it seemes like a one time issues cause I was loading a game

edit: what a bummer, after a cold boot I have the same issues again. looks like the cards need to heat up before the function properly..