US2400: no MIDI or indicator light

[JoeyM]

Hi all,
I understand this is a legacy product; I bought mine around 2004 and it has very light use in spite of it working fine. I set a protective cover over it the last few years, and last night tried it with Windows 7 x64 and REAPER/Studio One.
The lights all otherwise look like they're normal, but there's no communication in or out and there's no MIDI light. So I tried it on my personal museum, a Hackintosh Snow Leopard 10.6.8 and same problem of no communication.
At this point I'm about ready to open up and see if anything is obviously wrong like a bad solder joint on the USB jack or something. Not yet though.
thought I'd check here and see if anyone can lend some insight what could be wrong,a workaround, a service manual, or any hope forward.
Greets!
Joey

 

[SomeGuy]

A couple things come to mind as I have recent history with these...
1. Since it's been setting for a while, it might have forgotten who/what it is. Try to set it to the mode / interface you want to use... I'm using it with Studio One also.. both HUI mode and Digital Performer seem to work ok. I have no experience with Reaper.. The steps to change modes changed with different firmware versions... so not knowing which one you have, I wouldn't hazard a guess.

2. Do you have the right power adapter? The original power supply was 7.5 or 8 volts and 6 amps. That's a very big external power adapter. I find they will work pretty well with something in the 3 amp range, but don't try to run it with a wimpy adapter. (I had some issues with a 1.8 amp power supply)

3. Be sure you're plugging it into a USB port that's capable of USB 1.1
Some of the more modern USB ports are only capable of backwards compatibility back to USB 2.0. In some cases I've heard of people getting results by first plugging in an old-school usb hub. Not sure why this works, but I suspect it's something like this: The USB port on the computer is a USB 3.0 but backwards compatible with USB 2.0. So the 2.0 Hub works fine...and then the hub is backwards compatible with version 1.0 so the Tascam is recognized??... (??)
I recently testing a Mac laptop that just made all the LEDs flash and go wonky.. I'm suspecting it's a fast USB port that's not backwards compatible.

4. Do you have the latest firmware? I think it should be version 1.31. You can download the firmware updater from the Tascam downloads site... If the firmware updater program sees the US-2400, then at least you know that much is working.

 

[JoeyM]

Hey thanks for replying!
power supply is original and otherwise the lights all work and it can be set to different modes - but no USB connection is detected, no indicator light and certainly no communication with the main computer. Luckily the firmware was upgraded to 1,31 a while back.
So I'll dig through my storage and see if I have any retro USB hubs to try.

In the meantime, my theory is that somehow stray volts zapped the 2400's MIDI interface and I'll check under the lid if it's user-serviceable.

I just don't think is lifespan is quite over. Those Mute and Solo buttons alone are very helpful.
I'll be back this week to let you know the progress - any more ideas I'm all ears - and thanks a lot again!

 

[SomeGuy]

Don't forget the bone-headed simple tests too. Like.... a different USB cable.
That one will bite ya if you don't do it.
If you have an older PC lying around, it might be worth just plugging it in to see if that will give it some life as well. It might rule out lightening strikes 'n stuff. Most USB devices are fairly immune to simple static zaps. YMMV of course.

Did your computer alert you when you first plugged it in? My Win7-64bit PC had a little pop-up next to the clock that said: "Installing Drivers for Tascam US-2400" or something very similar. So I had buckets of inspiration the moment I plugged it in.

I had mine open just a few weeks ago. I found very little in the way of user-serviceable stuff in there. Mine was sitting for a long time as well, so my buttons are about 60% usable from oxidation and I did a quick re-seat of all the ribbon cables just to clean them up a bit. Mostly, just working with it to build my tracking template has coaxed most of it to come back.

 

[JoeyM]

Great points, as I'm a huge fan of DeOxit ProGold (formerly Caig). I dearly hope it's a ribbon or something. My area is in the middle of an Ice Storm right now, which is rare and is going to keep me off this for a day or two. But I'll be back ASAP and appreciate you taking the time for me.
By the way - I learned something interesting years ago - dollar stores have shiny clear shower curtains that never get dull, and I've had one for many years over mine. It still looks mint, and when you hit he power switch all the lights flash, so fingers crossed it's something simple... back in a bit..

 

[JoeyM]

Knock on wood, if I don't get into it this week it'll never happen. Back in a bit. Forcing myself here.