…aaaand now mine freezes too.

…aaaand now mine freezes too.
« on: September 25, 2023, 09:02:30 PM »
My Prophet X 61 has worked flawlessly for three years and I’m on the latest OS. Last night out of the blue it inexplicably got stuck at the boot screen (bar full).
I had a look around this forum to discover that this is apparently quite an ongoing issue with a lot of Prophet X customers… and now me too :/
I tried that external keyboard F1 key trick to no avail.
Then I read about the 4hr jumper switch/new battery swap and did that too …but no luck.
Hey, potentially stupid question here but when I read about it here in the forums, it wasn’t specified whether the synth should be turned ‘off’ or ‘on’ while the jumper sits in the ‘2/3 clear bios’ position. Yeah I get there’s a shock hazard but I have (very carefully) changed batteries on other synths to preserve saved settings/patches in the past. I just struggled to imagine what good that jumper could possibly be doing with the synth turned off and no power running thru it. In any case, to be safe (until I hear otherwise), mine sat turned ‘off’ for four hours with the jumper in the ‘clear’ position. Afterwards, and with a brand new battery, I still have the same problem.
I’ve started a formal ticket but didn’t hear anything today. I’m confident that sequential will answer at soon …they were super helpful when my Pro3SE had an issue a couple years back.
Meanwhile, anyone else got any ideas to get this supremely expensive ‘luxury synth’ operating as intended? Any other tricks that worked for you? Sounds like there are (unfortunately) a lot of us out there…
Thanks in advance.

Re: …aaaand now mine freezes too.
« Reply #1 on: September 26, 2023, 02:31:27 AM »
My Prophet X 61 has worked flawlessly for three years and I’m on the latest OS. Last night out of the blue it inexplicably got stuck at the boot screen (bar full).
I had a look around this forum to discover that this is apparently quite an ongoing issue with a lot of Prophet X customers… and now me too :/
I tried that external keyboard F1 key trick to no avail.
Then I read about the 4hr jumper switch/new battery swap and did that too …but no luck.
Hey, potentially stupid question here but when I read about it here in the forums, it wasn’t specified whether the synth should be turned ‘off’ or ‘on’ while the jumper sits in the ‘2/3 clear bios’ position. Yeah I get there’s a shock hazard but I have (very carefully) changed batteries on other synths to preserve saved settings/patches in the past. I just struggled to imagine what good that jumper could possibly be doing with the synth turned off and no power running thru it. In any case, to be safe (until I hear otherwise), mine sat turned ‘off’ for four hours with the jumper in the ‘clear’ position. Afterwards, and with a brand new battery, I still have the same problem.
I’ve started a formal ticket but didn’t hear anything today. I’m confident that sequential will answer at soon …they were super helpful when my Pro3SE had an issue a couple years back.
Meanwhile, anyone else got any ideas to get this supremely expensive ‘luxury synth’ operating as intended? Any other tricks that worked for you? Sounds like there are (unfortunately) a lot of us out there…
Thanks in advance.


Thanks in advance.

I had the same issue. Replacing the battery seemed to work for a bit, but then I would get the dreaded non booting and/or crashes.

Sequential gave me some information about adjusting the PSU voltage to 5.2V. Mine was at 4.5V. Since I adjusted the voltage the X's been fine–touch wood. I even screwed on the wood sides! It was a simple job, but yo need to be careful.

There's also a BIOS change you can do that removes the reliance on the battery, but I've not done that yet.

I'm sure they'll send you the information if you ask. But just measuring the PSU output (if you're OK with a meter) is a start.

Stephen

Re: …aaaand now mine freezes too.
« Reply #2 on: October 01, 2023, 10:54:42 AM »
Update: Sequential offered to send me a replacement motherboard and PSU. Price was totally fair considering that the synth is outside of warranty so that was a welcome surprise. Parts should arrive this week. Fingers crossed that it gets this very expensive synthesizer operating again.
Stay tuned…

Re: …aaaand now mine freezes too.
« Reply #3 on: October 01, 2023, 11:11:53 PM »
Update: Sequential offered to send me a replacement motherboard and PSU. Price was totally fair considering that the synth is outside of warranty so that was a welcome surprise. Parts should arrive this week. Fingers crossed that it gets this very expensive synthesizer operating again.
Stay tuned…

That's good service - glad, to hear that. Please report back if everything went smooth.
DSI Prophet REV 2, Prophet X

Re: …aaaand now mine freezes too.
« Reply #4 on: October 06, 2023, 08:51:09 PM »
Epilogue:
Sequential sent me the new motherboard and PSU units. The price for the replacement parts was absolutely more than fair…a sizable deposit but the actual price is minimal once you return the old parts to them. They both were very easy to remove and install (just a screwdriver and some common sense… and I am not an electronics expert by any means). I’ve powered up the synth about 10-12 times now, have left it on for a decent stretch and it’s working wonderfully …..and dare I say, slightly better than before. The patch knob had been jumping a value or two in the same spot for the last couple years and now the issue is completely gone. Might be related to the new parts …or might simply be a strand of cat hair I knocked loose from the previous owner. Either way, I am very happy with the service and results.
Special shout out to Gabby at Support. She answered my emails promptly and was patient with all my questions and sent the new parts out right away.
Hope I never have to do this again but if so, I’m feeling much better about it.👍🏼