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I am desperate with this one, please, give me a hand! Pulsar no working anymore...
Posted: Fri Jan 15, 2021 4:15 pm
by Nestor
I cleaned my PC with a can of compressed air, no big deal, everything worked just fine. Then I added an equivalent to WD 40 Specialist electric contact cleaner spray.
To do this, I dissembled carefully the whole of the PC, removed the motherboard and then started the cleaning process, firs with compressed air on every item and then applied a thin coat of WD 40.
Then I put everything back happy for having a clean PC. But, when I booted up had the following errors in one of my two Pulsar cards:
Re: I am desperate with this one, please, give me a hand! Pulsar no working anymore...
Posted: Fri Jan 15, 2021 4:16 pm
by Nestor
I have two Pulsar I cards, the master one has SCOPE 5.1 software, the slave one has the 4.5 version.
Of course, as I am in Win 7 64, I have lost every function of the cards, as the loading process depends on the master 5.1 SCOP Pulsar.
I have tried the cards in different slots, loaded standard BIOS, installed one of the Pulsars at a time, cleaned contacts in the PCI slots, etc. No matter what I do, only my slave card is still alive, the master one is not.
Nevertheless, look at this, both cards are recognized in windows device manager as working properly:
Re: I am desperate with this one, please, give me a hand! Pulsar no working anymore...
Posted: Fri Jan 15, 2021 4:16 pm
by Nestor
It is very sad, but it seems that the master Pulsar card is having a hardware problem.
An obvious solution is to remove the bad card and stay with my original and very old Pulsar I Plus, buy the 7.1 SCOP software and carry on, but due to the world situation we are going through, I don’t have this amount of money right away, that is 165 euros.
What can I do? Do you think the master card could still be alive, because it is shown in the windows device manager or is it definitely lost? Thank you for your explanations and experience on this one.
Re: I am desperate with this one, please, give me a hand! Pulsar no working anymore...
Posted: Fri Jan 15, 2021 4:27 pm
by Nestor
As you will see, I am sharing IRQ in one of the Pulsar cards, but I don't think this has nothing to do with the problem, because it was before like this and it was fine, look:
Re: I am desperate with this one, please, give me a hand! Pulsar no working anymore...
Posted: Fri Jan 15, 2021 4:29 pm
by cortone
So sorry for the troubles Nestor. You may have tried this, but it's not clear from your description. Try re-installing the drivers, and then re-install the scope software. It shouldn't overwrite your projects and other data.
It sounds like you have made sure that everything is seated properly, and I am assuming you have re-checked the cables connecting the cards. Also check whether the good card works in each of your slots to rule out a mainboard problem. Inspect the gold connectors on the bad card to see if there is damage or some are scraped through. Look at the components to see if a capacitor is leaking or deformed (they are larger components, often cylinder-shaped, usually sticking up from the circuit board).
If it is truly broken, you may be able to transfer the license from the newer card to the working. I know garyb will be along with details at some point.
Re: I am desperate with this one, please, give me a hand! Pulsar no working anymore...
Posted: Fri Jan 15, 2021 4:38 pm
by Nestor
I have two Pulsar cards, one with SCOPE 5.1, which is the master card, and the other one with version SCOPE 4.5. Of course, to be able to use them in my system, win 7 64 bits, I need the first Pulsar working properly, but it seems to be death.
I have done all important checks: installed in a different slot, removed and installed them separate from each other, swapped places, cleaned the slot contacts, etc., nothing…. The master card seems to be death. Nevertheless, both Pulsar boards show in the windows device manager telling me they work properly.
Is it the end of my precious Pulsar Master card?
Re: I am desperate with this one, please, give me a hand! Pulsar no working anymore...
Posted: Fri Jan 15, 2021 4:40 pm
by Nestor
The most straight forward solution would be to remove the master card, and then leave only the slave one, but I have to upgrade to SCOPE 7.1 and with the conditions of this word, it is quite difficult right now to do so.
What do you think is going on and what should I do?
I thank you in advance for any reasons given and any guidance that you may have.
You know how much I love Pulsar, for me this is a tragedy!
Re: I am desperate with this one, please, give me a hand! Pulsar no working anymore...
Posted: Fri Jan 15, 2021 7:06 pm
by dante
Careful of WD40 - Garyb warns against using WD40 here :
viewtopic.php?f=1&t=35833&p=338387&hilit=WD40#p338387
garyb wrote: ↑Wed Jan 23, 2019 9:57 pm
plain contact cleaner. no regular WD40, EVER!
the WD40 Specialist product contains no WD40. it is Diflouroethane, Hexane and Alcohol which are the usual kinds of ingredients in contact cleaner.
But yeah, try the good Pulsar in the slot where the other wasn't working.
Re: I am desperate with this one, please, give me a hand! Pulsar no working anymore...
Posted: Fri Jan 15, 2021 9:54 pm
by valis
CAIG De-oxit rather than contact cleaner please
Re: I am desperate with this one, please, give me a hand! Pulsar no working anymore...
Posted: Fri Jan 15, 2021 10:51 pm
by garyb
it is probably a failed capacitor, one of the big filter caps around the borders of the board. a tech who can do surface mount soldering might be able to fix it.
Re: I am desperate with this one, please, give me a hand! Pulsar no working anymore...
Posted: Sat Jan 16, 2021 12:53 am
by nebelfuerst
As the cards show up in device manager, the pci-interface seems to be ok. Scope-SW talks to the hardware "behind" the pci-bridge, so this points to a problem on the cards. Be sure to use just one card in the PC to avoid interconnection problems.
I saw a scope card in the past, where a leg of a DSP was damaged due to mechanical influence. If you carefully removed/installed the cards, this shouldn't happen. With good glases/camera, you should be able to see such a damage. It can be fixed by persons with soldering skills.
I wouldn't use WD40 here. There are better ( cleaner sprays). As you already used WD40, you could do this:
Buy an isoproanol ( clean alcohol) spray. Try to "wash" the WD40 off the board. use air to move the isopropanol. Let the board dry. ( over night )
you could also use water with a litte soap. use this water to clean the board. use destilled water afterwards.. let dry over night.
All this could help if there's WD40 holding dirt somewhere. It won't help if mechanical damage is somewhere.
Re: I am desperate with this one, please, give me a hand! Pulsar no working anymore...
Posted: Sat Jan 16, 2021 6:32 am
by fra77x2
I am not sure if this could help (perhaps GaryB can comment on this) but if the chemical oxidised the connector perhaps you can try rubbing it gently with some sand paper. If the board was working before applying the chemical then this is the most obvious culprit.
If both cards are recognised then the PCI connector works alright and the STDM cable has the problem. You can try rubbing the STDM connector in this case
Re: I am desperate with this one, please, give me a hand! Pulsar no working anymore...
Posted: Sat Jan 16, 2021 7:53 am
by Music Manic
I use to get that. I think the cards aren’t seated properly and also the STDM cable needs to be pushed down properly.
Take all the cards out and put them back in again.
Re: I am desperate with this one, please, give me a hand! Pulsar no working anymore...
Posted: Sat Jan 16, 2021 8:24 am
by garyb
for mechanical cleaning, i would use a white pencil eraser(only the white plastic ones). sandpaper would take off too much material.
otherwise, i'd use a good commercial contact cleaner spray or 99% pure alcohol.
Re: I am desperate with this one, please, give me a hand! Pulsar no working anymore...
Posted: Sat Jan 16, 2021 8:49 am
by fra77x2
If the chemical developed a layer of oxidation on the STDM connector i doubt a pencil eraser or alcohol could help get rid of it. Steel wool will. I am not familiar with "De-oxit" as Valis suggested, it sounds right. Of course I don't insist and I haven't tried it, I only know that conductors can become insulators or develop high resistance with oxidation layers and it is common in electronics to apply steel wool to clean the upper layer of oxidation so to reach copper or gold so the connection to be good. I don't believe gentle apply of steel wool will take away too much material (as my little experience with diy PCB's has taught me).
https://electronics.stackexchange.com/q ... lectricity
Re: I am desperate with this one, please, give me a hand! Pulsar no working anymore...
Posted: Sat Jan 16, 2021 12:53 pm
by Nestor
cortone wrote: ↑Fri Jan 15, 2021 4:29 pm
So sorry for the troubles Nestor. You may have tried this, but it's not clear from your description. Try re-installing the drivers, and then re-install the scope software. It shouldn't overwrite your projects and other data.
It sounds like you have made sure that everything is seated properly, and I am assuming you have re-checked the cables connecting the cards. Also check whether the good card works in each of your slots to rule out a mainboard problem. Inspect the gold connectors on the bad card to see if there is damage or some are scraped through. Look at the components to see if a capacitor is leaking or deformed (they are larger components, often cylinder-shaped, usually sticking up from the circuit board).
If it is truly broken, you may be able to transfer the license from the newer card to the working. I know garyb will be along with details at some point.
Yes, everything has been done.
Re: I am desperate with this one, please, give me a hand! Pulsar no working anymore...
Posted: Sat Jan 16, 2021 1:00 pm
by Nestor
dante wrote: ↑Fri Jan 15, 2021 7:06 pm
Careful of WD40 - Garyb warns against using WD40 here :
viewtopic.php?f=1&t=35833&p=338387&hilit=WD40#p338387
garyb wrote: ↑Wed Jan 23, 2019 9:57 pm
plain contact cleaner. no regular WD40, EVER!
the WD40 Specialist product contains no WD40. it is Diflouroethane, Hexane and Alcohol which are the usual kinds of ingredients in contact cleaner.
But yeah, try the good Pulsar in the slot where the other wasn't working.
I have never used regular WD 40, no, it is another trademark and it is like the "specialist contact cleaner", the one you can literally spray onto your motherboard without any problem, it dries very fast too.
Re: I am desperate with this one, please, give me a hand! Pulsar no working anymore...
Posted: Sat Jan 16, 2021 1:11 pm
by Nestor
nebelfuerst wrote: ↑Sat Jan 16, 2021 12:53 am
As the cards show up in device manager, the pci-interface seems to be ok. Scope-SW talks to the hardware "behind" the pci-bridge, so this points to a problem on the cards. Be sure to use just one card in the PC to avoid interconnection problems.
I saw a scope card in the past, where a leg of a DSP was damaged due to mechanical influence. If you carefully removed/installed the cards, this shouldn't happen. With good glases/camera, you should be able to see such a damage. It can be fixed by persons with soldering skills.
I wouldn't use WD40 here. There are better ( cleaner sprays). As you already used WD40, you could do this:
Buy an isoproanol ( clean alcohol) spray. Try to "wash" the WD40 off the board. use air to move the isopropanol. Let the board dry. ( over night )
you could also use water with a litte soap. use this water to clean the board. use destilled water afterwards.. let dry over night.
All this could help if there's WD40 holding dirt somewhere. It won't help if mechanical damage is somewhere.
I understand your point, but, the fact is that I can put the broken card in any given PCI slot and yet not loading SCOPE. In the other hand, the good Pulsar, the salve, does work regardless of the slot I insert it in, so it must be the card that is broken.
Nevertheless, I have cleaned the connections in similar ways as you suggest here, and nothing, the master card does not load the software.
Re: I am desperate with this one, please, give me a hand! Pulsar no working anymore...
Posted: Sat Jan 16, 2021 1:20 pm
by Nestor
fra77x2 wrote: ↑Sat Jan 16, 2021 6:32 am
I am not sure if this could help (perhaps GaryB can comment on this) but if the chemical oxidised the connector perhaps you can try rubbing it gently with some sand paper. If the board was working before applying the chemical then this is the most obvious culprit.
If both cards are recognised then the PCI connector works alright and the STDM cable has the problem. You can try rubbing the STDM connector in this case
I don’t think I have oxidized the board, on the contrary, I took out some oxidation instate, as it is a product to remove oxidation.
Yes, it seems obvious but it is not, because if I insert the broken card in any PCI, it does not work but it is recognized by Windows, and the older one works regardless of the PCI slot used, so it must be the card that is broken.
The STDM cable, I guess, cannot be the problem either, why? Because the broken card is the master card, and I have tried it alone in all slots, and it does not work, all error messages are exactly the same regardless of having or not the STDM cable connected. So everything points to that specific card.
I went through rubbing every contact surface with care then removed the dust produced with precaution, but it didn’t help.
Re: I am desperate with this one, please, give me a hand! Pulsar no working anymore...
Posted: Sat Jan 16, 2021 1:23 pm
by Nestor
Music Manic wrote: ↑Sat Jan 16, 2021 7:53 am
I use to get that. I think the cards aren’t seated properly and also the STDM cable needs to be pushed down properly.
Take all the cards out and put them back in again.
Well, everything you suggest has been done already. The prove is that both cards seat properly into their slots is that they are both recognized by windows, no matter which slot you put them in.