Frog not booting at all

[jphdor]

Hi,

 

I recently bought a zero88 console on ebay (I think FAT frog).

 

 

The console doesn't boot up

disk drive doesn't make any sound

all led flashes once at power up

only LCD are on with displaying Frog 2005 zero88.support.com

 

Battery CR2032 was completely empty

 

I checked power supply +12v +5v and -12V are present.

Red led on mother board STMAIN 2 (EM7000) is on.

Voltages are present 2.5V and 3.3V

 

I removed the RAM and connectors to FDD but that doesn't change anything.

It seems that bios is defect.

 

The table is in perfect cosmetic shape and I would be very happy to be able to repair it to replace my old Zero88 alcora.

Any advice ? Ideas?

Is it a common failure on those consoles ?

 

THX

JP

Belgium

[kgallen]

Hi,

 

Since you've got power and some activity on the LCD your desk can't be in too bad a shape, so we should be able to get it going.

 

Did you replace the CR2032 with a new/known good battery? http://zero88.com/forum/topic/7384-internal-memory-issue/#entry28968

 

Did you fiddle with any of the DIP switches when you were in there?

Looking at the back of the fader PCBs, the DIP top left should be off-off-on, the DIP top right should be off-off-off. (off-down, on=up)

 

Are the DRAM modules seated correctly on the STMAIN2 PCB? (EM7043?) You have STMAIN2 if looking at the back panel, the floppy disk is to the left of the power inlet (not next to the DMX connectors).

 

When booting does the Wheel LCD say it's a Fat Frog? Google "zero88 fat frog" images to check which type of Frog you have. Fat Frog has 12 fixture buttons. The giveaway is also that it says "Fat Frog" on the lower left of the front panel .

 

Power on the desk whilst holding F1 to enter the Test Mode. If you can, channel flash buttons 1 thru 14 select sets of faders and pots to test. Flash 1-8 = Faders, Flash 9-10 = Submasters, Flash 11 = other pots, Flash 13 = Wheels, Flash 14 = Buttons.

 

Can you connect a monitor? This is needed for further debug as there are some messages that can appear on the monitor.

 

Let us know how you get on.

 

Kevin

 

ps Once you get it up and running, it looks like you're on old Firmware from the 2005 date. Latest firmware is 10.12 from 2009.

[jphdor]

Hi

 

Thanks already for your tips

 

Yes the battery was replaced

Ram is well placed

Dip switches are ok

 

It's indeed fat frog displayed on second display with 12 fixtures buttons

 

Attaching a screen on vga out stays black so no more info.

 

Starting with F1 key pushed doesn't do anything more.

 

Do you know wich ic is responsible of the POST power on self test ?

 

Do you know if the is a service manual available ?

 

Thanks for helping.

 

Jp

[kgallen]

Hi JP,

 

POST will not be "one IC". POST will form part of the boot firmware running on the CPU subsystem which will check various hardware functions on the desk.

 

If you haven't, it's worth reconnecting your floppy drive as POST will likely check this, and at least will be trying to load the software driver for this device.

Can I check you are waiting a little time before deciding that POST or boot has failed? I just fired up my FF and it took 25 seconds between power-on and the desk being ready, having loaded the in-memory show file. However from your report it looks like the BIOS boot is happening, but the application firmware is not loading. Can you get a copy of 10.12 (http://zero88.com/support/index.php?/de/Knowledgebase/Article/View/56/0/frog-range-operating-software-release-1012) firmware onto a floppy disk and insert this into your floppy drive before powering on the desk? It may be that something is corrupt due to the dead battery.

 

The only externally available Service information I know of just has the details I added in my post. Schematics are not released for this product. I'm not Zero88 myself so I don't have access to any more information, sorry.

 

If these ideas fail, since your Fat Frog is starting to boot, but is getting stuck I think you ought to give Keith Rogers at Zero88 a call on Monday. He'll be more than happy to help you and will know what to check given the symptoms of your desk. Here are his details:

 

Keith Rogers
Service Manager - Eaton's Lighting Systems
keithrogers@eaton.com
DD - +44 (0) 1633 833 101.

 

Sorry I can't help you any more at this stage. However feel free to post again if you have more info and I'll see if I can suggest anything.

 

Regards,

Kevin

[iank99]

Of course - ultimately it might be the simplest reason - the mainboard has failed and is un-repairable, this is one of the reasons that the Solution range & ZerOS was designed...

 

It may have been listed on eBay by a user who obtained it via a car boot sale or it was being scrapped and it looked too good to throw away but it was in fact already dead. To be honest - this is one of the reasons I recommend folks stay away from Fat Frogs on eBay unless the seller can show they're working and will boot in to the software.

 

That the desk isn't entering FP test (there isn't any POST available apart from this) would suggest a fundamental problem - it might be worth trying to swap our the memory SIMM but don't use a larger module - it simply won't be recognised - but the issue is going to be finding a suitable SIMM.

 

I've just had a look in the service info for the desk and can't see a spec for the SIMM's but from my memory something like 4MB rings a bell but I can't remember a speed - Keith might have some notes about this. You might be lucky if you have an old computer about the place or you could take your chance with eBay to source one but I have a feeling that this might not end well

[kgallen]

JP did you make any progress with this?

[Marco Italia]

I've the same problem...from Italy...

Keith may you help me please?

[Edward Z88]

Hi Marco,

We have received your support email regarding this, so will continue over email.

If you have any questions just let us know.

Edward