1 Topic by gyro_gearloose

  • gyro_gearloose
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Topic: X-Frame 88 errors

I've got an X Frame 88 which is having a few issues. I've owned it for a few years and have always worked perfectly. I was always able to connect to it with my laptop, and all of the inputs and outputs worked correctly. I had two 8802 breakout boxes attached to it and they also always worked perfectly. I also replaced the internal Lithium battery, as it no longer held a charge. I have done this to a couple of other X Frames as before, so I knew it would work.

I hadn't used the X Frame in question for a year or so when I sold it to a friend of mine. A day or so after selling it I get a phone call saying that the X Frame is completely dead. It was almost a week until I could look at it, and in that time the guy who bought it has determined that the power supply in the X Frame is at fault so had swapped it for one out of one of the three breakout boxes I also sold him (I know the X Frame can only use two, but I had the third box sat on the shelf from another X Frame I've installed).

This got the X Frame sort-of working as he could still connect to it with his laptop and program it, but it would no longer appear to store programs and the outputs didn't seem to work. He brought the X Frame back to mine so we could both look at it, and he could no longer upload or download programs to it however the X-Ware program could still test the connection and report which version of the firmware was installed. The display on the X Frame read something like 'Config error A7'.

After some head scratching, and swapping from a Windows 7 laptop to my old Windows XP laptop I managed to re-upload the X Frames firmware. This enabled me to program it with X Ware, but the outputs still weren't working, the display read 'Sync err: Lost clock', and pressing the 'Next' button resets the X Frame!

Is there anything I can do to fix this, or did the dying power supply fry some of the electronics? I take it that the loss of output and the sync error would suggest that there is a fault with the output card? Can I swap it with one from the spare BoB?

Thanks

Last edited by gyro_gearloose (2015-12-07 10:09:24)

2 Reply by Duane

  • Duane
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  • From: Meridian
  • Registered: 2009-01-12
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Re: X-Frame 88 errors

Typically, the bad power supply would not have fried the electronics so
the residual problems after replacing the supply are basically age
related issues.  The Config Error A7 is a corrupt file stored in memory
and you did the correct thing by flashing it with the Xware firmware.
A Sync Error: Lost Clock error indicates that the Link A External Sync
option has been checked in File/Compile Options.  This feature is
only used when connecting two Xframes together.  Disable this if
it is enabled and recompile and this should get you back in operation.
On a side note: if you have an issue with the Xframe outputs, they
are not modular, so you can't swap over outputs from a Bob.  Only
the four channel inputs are modular cards.

Thanks,
MM Tech Support

3 Reply by gyro_gearloose

  • gyro_gearloose
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Re: X-Frame 88 errors

I've had another look at the unit today. The power supply is giving 5v, 5v, -15v, and -14.9v on its outputs which are close enough to spec not to worry about. There are four lit LEDs on the main board marked D600, D700, D800, and D900 which I assume are to show each of the DSP cores are working?

The Link A External option had been checked, so I unchecked it, recompiled, and now I no longer get the sync error. However the Next button still resets the unit. I have discovered that if I re-flash the firmware then the Next button functions as it should. But if I load a program, even if I don't save it to the X Fame, the Next button goes back to being a reset button. Odd.

4 Reply by Duane

  • Duane
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Re: X-Frame 88 errors

Did you notice the condition of the internal battery while the lid was off?  It's a 3.6v barrel type battery.  Check for any signs of leakage.  Is the file you are trying to load an old project file or a simple test file you just created?

5 Reply by JoshM

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Re: X-Frame 88 errors

Also, the power supply voltages should be +5VDC, +5VDC, -15VDC, and +15VDC.

If you have two -15VDC outputs from the power supply, that is incorrect and should be causing a host of issues.

Josh Millward
Burnt Orange Studios

JoshM's Website

6 Reply by gyro_gearloose

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Re: X-Frame 88 errors

Oops. Typo alert! The PSU is actually outputting +15 and -14.9 v. I replaced the battery earlier in the year. The project file is one I created from scratch using version 2.3 of XWare.

Could the fault be related to the fact that I'm using an FTDI USB to serial converter? I only ask because of the problem with the Next button only appearing after I load a program onto the XFrame. I can only think that either the program or the firmware gets corrupted somehow by the serial converter. I've got an ancient Windows XP machine which I've used to program other XFrames in the past. Its got a 'proper' serial port so I'll try using that and see what happens.

One other oddity I've noticed is that when I reflash the firmware and step through the XFrames menu with the next button it reports that the unit is at -1 degrees!

Last edited by gyro_gearloose (2015-12-15 09:41:24)

7 Reply by phils

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Re: X-Frame 88 errors

-1, that's very cool!
I've found some USB/serial converters have difficulty doing firmware/flash upgrades although they can handle the config and control aspects. In those cases the upgrade has failed.
Which version of 2.3 are you playing with? Current is 2.3h.

"The single biggest problem in communication is the illusion that it has taken place."
                                                                                        - George Bernard Shaw

8 Reply by gyro_gearloose

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Re: X-Frame 88 errors

I'm using version 2.3h of xware. I haven't had much time to look at the xframe, but I have it working now using the breakout boxes for output. It seems that the xframe outputs don't work. I did find that the person I sold the unit to had soldered the output XLRs the wrong way round! He had wired + and - to pins 1 and 2, and ground to pin 3!! Could this have damaged the xframe somehow?

9 Reply by JoshM

  • JoshM
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Re: X-Frame 88 errors

I highly doubt that miswiring the XLR connectors would have damaged the outputs on the XFrame 88. Those outputs are capacitor coupled with 100V caps. So, if somehow an amplifier output was run into it, it would have to be a pretty big amplifier to damage the outputs, but it is possible. However, just wiring the outputs wrong would have not been a problem at all.

Josh Millward
Burnt Orange Studios

JoshM's Website