Can't get past boot up on SX-1 LE Plus

[Adam42]

Hey everybody! I just picked up a Tascam sx-1 le plus from a friend studio. It was plugged in when I picked it up and the screen was displaying the menus. Got it home, plugged it in, and now it won't make it past the boot up screen. The farthest it's gotten in the boot up , is all the way till it says "Error hard disk recorder load failed"
I have tried resetting with cancel, shift, and shutdown, but still can't get past boot up screen.
Any help is GREATLY appreciated. I'm guessing I'm gonna need a new drive? If so, what and where do I get it? (I'm not great with fixing/building computers) and I also don't have the OS disc.........

 

[Dice]

We're working on a machine with the same issue. The HD is checking out fine, the power supply is fine. We're suspecting some of the option cards at this point. M4,UIF and DSP. When we find it, we'll keep you posted.

 

[Adam42]

Any luck with finding the solution? Should I just buy a new hard drive?

 

[Dice]

Yes! ThrillBilly replaced the M4 card and his SX-1 is booting happily again.

 

[Dice]

I would definitely do a reload of the OS, follow the service manual on checking the power supply, checking motherboard battery voltage, reseating the RAM, M4 cards before ordering another M4 card.

 

[Adam42]

I agree, a reload of the OS would be first, but I didn't get the OS Disc when I got the board. Any ideas how I can get the OS Disc? Thanks.
Adam

 

[Dice]

Tascam may still sell those, or you could offer to cover the cost of a forum member copying their CD and shipping it to you. I have only full version OS, so I'm afraid I won't be able to help you out.

You say it was booting, you moved it and now it's not booting. Sometimes the option card to motherboard connections get sketchy on these units when they're hauled around, so it's worth popping the top and reseating the cards along the back and attempting start up.

 

[RussD]

I suggest you follow the advice from Dice: reseat all the cards and if you have a good contact cleaner like Caig DeOxit D5 and use it on all the board connectors. Iuse DeOxit on all the cables and connectors in my studio to keep everything noise free anyway so it’s good to have around - Amazon carries it.

If you PM me your address I will mail you a copy of the OS disc for an LE Plus. I have been using two LE Plus machines in my studio for over ten years and they have been great, however, I am a retired electronics engineer so I don’t mind dealing with some of the normal issues you encounter as these machines age.

If you haven’t already done so, I also suggest you download the service manual from the documentation section of this forum.

Hope reseating your cards cures your problem.