PlanetZ forums - scopeusers.com

Guys,

It's been a long time I suspect problems with my very old system (pulsar 2 + luna).
After an out of memory cubase crash scope was still running but I was unable to relaunch cubase "Scope Asio not running", Ialways saw that message after a cubase crash and the workarounfd is to restart scope.

Usually I always found a solution with patience/reloading dsp etc...

Today when I launch scope I get a "communication error Pulsar2" and "hardware cannot be setup properly" or it launches but the harware serial number is not the right one for the pulsar or it launches but the pulsar doesn't appear. This can't be a system issue as this computer is always offline.

I suspect 3 things:
1) Pulsar has electronic issues.
2) STDM cable issue
3) PCI issue

WHat would you recommend? I guess try to clean the pci connectors. Do you think I should also clean the STDM connectors?

Should I test without the STDM cable?

Please if you can help!!

Sounds like the board has a failed component somewhere, but I'll defer to Gary for support of course. STDM cable won't be a dealbreaker, unless it's severely corroded reseating it fixed things typically. Reseat the card as well of course, and some of use keep DeOxit Gold and similar conditioners on hand for this (NOT tuner cleaner).

One thing to check before moving forward is your power voltages, make sure there's enough Amperage on your 5V line from the power supply to supply power to all devices, This is typically shared with all internal and external devices (3.3V tends to be internally used only), including USB. So a few high power USB 2.0 devices or a recently added very high power USB 3.0 might adversely affect other 5V components in the system (like your Scope cards).

Some things to help while you wait on gary....

thanks Valis!

I used to buy some deoxit gold because as I said I expected this issue one day... So yes I should be able to try that.

Regarding the power supply how can I check ?

+ how would you proceed with the deoxit gold? I mean use some tissue to clean the connector? Or just spray?

guess the goal is NOT to touch the gold contact even with a q-tip?

I use q-tips for contacts and recepticles and face wipes (cotton) for things like 1/4" (phono) connectors. Try to avoid leaving cotton strands behind, but a single strand on PCI contacts or 1/4" connectors isn't a deal-breaker. They very well might be on very fine electrical contacts for things like modern mini-PCIe/NVME connectors and the like where you might block and entire pin, but our scope cards have legacy contacts that are huge. That being said, I never leave debris behind and this is why I don't even use 99% iso if I can help it.

On the subject of the power supply, it depends somewhat on what your board exposes for voltages. I use AIDA64 but without a license I think that blocks some voltages. HWMonitor (non-pro is free) should show the same sensors, and your BIOS really should as well. Depends on the board maker though to expose things properly on all of those options...

in the BIOS I can see this:

VCORE : 1.216V
+3.30V : 3.280V
+5.00V : 4.968V
+12.00V: 12.249V

For Gary, when the pulsar is recognized this is not the good serial and model in the registration popup.

Sometimes it is 00000000 Sonic Core or another serial (something I never saw before) and model (could be PSampler or other).

5V looks fine, card has worse issues sadly. Just giving you a few things to check until Gary drops by. Good luck!

@Gary do you think I should clean both pci and STDM?

That's not likely to be a determining factor in that card showing up with a bad serial. Again, just covering a few basics before Gary responds with your options. Btw you can reach support faster with the support email on the scope website: http://scope.zone/index.php?lg=en&id=1425

I guess sonic core will just reply this product is not supported anymore...

I can try.

your guess is only partially correct, as SonicCore cannot fix your card. it appears to be broken.

it doesn't hurt to try cleaning the contacts.

That was my concern, and gary would know better if the product has a chance of being repaired. And suffice it to say that we all understand the immediate need and desire to have things working.

Well, I'll try the cleaning...

garyb wrote: ↑Mon Nov 23, 2020 6:58 am your guess is only partially correct, as SonicCore cannot fix your card. it appears to be broken.

it doesn't hurt to try cleaning the contacts.

I think this is the best answer. I started experiencing similar problems on my Pulsar 2 intermittently. Then they became more frequent. I tried cleaning, reseating and sometimes that worked but for a short time (pun intended), Finally nothing worked and I was lucky enough to get a card in excellent shape and no more frustrations. I would just replace the card, move the licenses, and be done with it.

In my case, the card had paid for itself, many times over, so squeezing the money out for a replacement was a no brainer.

Thanks Ronnie, you're right I had the same conclusion and luckily I found another one

Can't wait to test it, hope everything will be ok.

If DHL does its job right, everything should be ok soon.

Glad you found one, having a harder time stateside.

Thanks guys!
And special thanks to Nebelfuerst!