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Channels 1-12 & 13-24 - interference


PSLX

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Hi There,

We have an early version of the Fat Frog (S/N:0073301 xxxxxxx, April 2001)which we now have a few problems with and the desk is unusable.

1) The first problem appears to be with the patching. Everything is patched 1 to 1 but none of the channels will go to full and when you bring up one channel another channel responds aswell, though not to full. Also, when you bring up a channel fader a different channel responds. The fixture section for movers is fine.

2) The second problem arose when I tried to resolve the first. I thought I would install the new software release. It took several attempts for the disc to actually read and virtually complete but when it gets to the end it falls over with the following message: Validating:dxk.exe Failed System Terminated.

The desk will now not boot up as it has not got an operting system on it.

I was reading on the forum that some of the early desks had disc drive problems which could be why this is happening but am puzzled as to the other reason.

Any advice would be appreciated as we cannot use the desk at the moment.

 

Thanks

 

Moderation: serial number removed.

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Your first problem sounds like some internal DIP switches may be set incorrectly. Inside the desk, on the back of the 2 PCBs for the channel preset faders, there are some 3-way DIP switches.

 

On the PCB for channels 1-12, all 3 switches should be in the off position.

 

On the PCB for channels 13-24, switch 3 should be in the on position, with the other two being in the off position.

 

Check that these switches are set correctly. Whilst the desk is open, also check that all the ribbon cable connectors are securely plugged in.

 

Your desk is of the sort of age where it may have a Panasonic disk drive fitted. These have been known to cause problems. If you have another type available (we use TDK/Teac now) then try swapping it out.

 

Another thing to bear in mind with the floppy - the desk likes to have freshly formatted floppies with the upgrade software on. Simply deleting any files previously on the disk leaves behind some hidden garbage which can confuse the desk. Brand new out the box floppies tend to work best if you're having problems.

 

The desk should never get into an unrecoverable state during an upgrade. The BIOS will always look for an upgrade disk before it looks at anything stored in the desk. So if you put a good upgrade disk in the drive, it should recover. What you're probably experiencing is the desk failing to recognise that it has a valid floppy in the drive.

 

Eject the floppy, pop it back in again, power cycle the desk and try again. Repeat this a few times and hopefully the desk will see the upgrade disk.

 

If non of this works, then you'll probably have to return the desk to the factory.

 

Let us know how you get on!

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Your desk is still in the 3 year warranty period.

 

In the first instance, you should contact the Zero 88 dealer you bought the unit from, they will be able to sort out the warranty return for you.

 

If you send it to the factory, send it for the attention of the service department.

 

You will need to fill out a warranty fault report form in order that it gets sorted out properly.

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  • 4 years later...

greetings

 

after taking the desk (leap frog - original !) apart to clip the thumb wheel backi n place, i noticed that the flash button LEDS 13-24 and the timed fade LED were permenantly on.

I am not sure, but may have nudged the 3 posn dip swithes at the top the PCB when sliding it all together

please can you

 

1. confirm the dip switch settings (would this of caused the problem?)

2. any of 1 is ok, shed any light (arggghh) on the LED problems

 

many thanks

 

Tony

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  • 1 month later...

The DIP switches on the original Leapfrog are set as follows:

 

PCB for Channels 1-12: All 3 switches off.

PCB for Channels 13-24: Switch 1 & 2 off, switch 3 on.

 

While you've got the desk open, check all the ribbon cables are securely plugged in - this may be the cause of the fading LED problem.

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  • 1 month later...

dear sirs,We are encountering the following problems with the A & B preset faders:

 

When in 2 preset operation the faders 1 to 12 are working as 1 to 12 DMX channels as they should when for some reason the faders 13 to 24 are working as 1 to 12 DMX chanels as well for some weird reason.

 

The same thing happens to preset B.In Wide oeration the above described thing happens to the preset A,the presets B however the faders 25 to 36 work as 26 to 36 DMX chanells as they should.but the 37 to 48 faders work as 25 to 36 DMX chanells.

 

We have already cleared Default and cleared DMX patch and resumed default patch .When we check the patch in manual patch mode the patching looks normal (meaning ch1<1>...ch2<2> .....and so on) but the flash buttons are lit in pairs(1&13..2&14..and so on).our other problem is that all the faders are not working normally(meaning by lifting the fader to it's 90% we get a 20 % result when after the 90% of the fader we get almost full on and if let's say the fader is numbr 1 is lifted to it's 100%,when we lift the 13 fader to it's 100% we still get a very slight increase. please get back to us if anyone knows anything that could be of help.

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  • 1 year later...

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