Used 2488 nightmare

[Mickey]

I bought a 2488 off craigslist for 200 bucks. He brought it to my work, showed me it functions and I bought it.

This was a mistake.

IlFirst I got error code 01 so I disassembled the unit, cleaned all the dust out with canned air, made sure all connections were solid and removed the wire tires that were causing unnecessary stress on the connectors. I also went ahead and used contact cleaner and cleaned the transport because it was not functioning correctly. Then I reassembled it and it booted through everything fine and I started to record. I managed to record 5 songs of 6 tracks. Then I got system error code 02 Then I did a hard reset and started over. I set up to record again and about 2 mins into tracking today I got the message “ MTR STOPPED!!! HOST-DSP in error state. “ I then exited out of the prompt and the unit was locked up. I tried to shut down but it said cannot shut down while transport is playing. So I manually shut down and now I’m here. I’m stumped. I need to record tomorrow it’s there anything I can do short of replacing the hard drive? I can’t order one until next weekend

 

[Steven L. Stevens]

Is this a Neo? When you opened it up did it have a PATA (IDE) or SATA hard drive installed? Did you happen to note what firmware is running?

 

[Mickey]

It’s not a neo, also a mistake I had used a neo for a few Months but left that band and has to return it. I believe the firmware is ver:1.01 and I’m pretty sure it has the SATA but I’m not super up on that side of this tech yet. Still learning

 

[Dominik]

Hi Mickey....
First of all: the 2488 is not damaged.
The error codes are typical for HDD issues.
Best thing is you get a new harddrive. I think yours is gone.

Yes, it is SATA. Look for a new HDD

 

[Mickey]

Yea that’s what I gathered. I was just really hoping I wouldn’t have to haha

 

[Dominik]

Well remember how hold the machine is. And if it is the first HDD then this could happen. And you don't know how the old owner handle the machine.
A new harddrive should help

 

[Lasvideo]

Todays lesson - Buying used items off of Craigs List is a crap shoot....so tell me, do you feel lucky?

 

[Mickey]

the saga continues though not thoroughly documented. In a pinch we used a hard drive a friends dad had laying around while I waited for our new drive in the mail. we were able to track a few sort songs before the flood of errors came back. so then the new hard drive is here in the mail and I swap it out no big deal. now we can't even make it passed 30 seconds with 6 inputs. that being said changing through menus appears to be faster.

It has been brought to my attention these machines really want their factory power cable, and there is also a firmware update I can do.

 

[hilltopstudios]

I also have a Roland VS880-EX and have spent plenty of time with the VSplanet group. Years ago there were many discussions on converting their old HD via a ATA to CF card adapter. There are newer posts now about using ATA to SD adapters with success. Don't know why it shouldn't work with he 2488 machines (I have a working MarkII in studio B) and with adapters going fairly cheap it might be worth a shot.

 

[David Porter]

Hey Hilltop - I'm also a long time VS Planet guy.

Gave my 880EX to my son. Still have my original first gen. VS840 - which used 100MB zip discs.

 

[hilltopstudios]

David

Nice to see another old VS user here. My 880-ex HD recently died so I'm currently using it as a mixer for my Moog corner (Sub37, Minitaur, Mother 32 and Slim Phatty) along with its nice VS8F effects board. I plan on resurrecting it by digging up my old SCSI Jaz drive or try the SD converter route.

 

[JB Mel]

I've just been through the same problem, but I changed back to the original power cable, and it's back to normal... at least for the moment! Thanks for the tip.

 

[JB Mel]

OK, so I'm back to the "DEVICE ERROR CODE : 01 / DSP INITIALIZE ERROR" on my MKII 2488 which I bought for cheap, it's old but was never used. I've had some success with changing the power cables, but now it no longer seems to do the trick. Do you think this is a hard drive issue, or is it perhaps the IN jack in the back where one plugs in the power?

 

[Mark Richards]

Just about everyone who posted in this thread hasn't been seen on this forum for 3 or 4 years. Have you tried contacting TASCAM Support?

 

[JB Mel]

Hi Mark,

Thanks for this. No I haven't thought of contacting them. I've recently met a young sound engineer who might be able to take off the lid and change the internal hard disc. The operation would be something like this:

. It's worth a shot. All my best, JB