Yamaha RX11 Repair Thread

[dagnabbit]

I’m sure you’re right. It was indeed a mono cable.

It never occurred to me that that could be the issue. Thanks!

[NoordSynth]

Hey there,

Reviving this old thread.

Great info at the beginning of this post, thanks for all the info.

I recently acquired an RX15. When going into the test mode, it said battery level something), so I decided to replace it (I was looking for an ideal timing to desolder and solder my first battery, so let's do it).

Solderjoints are pretty clean and I think I did a pretty good job. However when powering the machine on, it says Change Battery!! (damn).

I saw that a lot of yamaha CR2032 are 210 mAh, mine is 235 mah... that? Can I check if a chip is getting power from the battery?

After clearing all patterns/songs (found it on a forum and in the manual apparently)
----
In the RX15 User Manual on page 37 it goes thru how to clear all Patterns or Songs hit CLEAR then hold ACCENT and STOP and it will display "Clear ALL Songs?" then hit Yes. Sploosh. Same for Pattern clear. Easy Peazy.
---

Everything works, except that all factory patterns are gone (euh yeah!), I can save patterns and they are kept in memory even after powering off and unplugging....

Live with it I think?

[Rasputin]

I saw that a lot of yamaha CR2032 are 210 mAh, mine is 235 mah... that? Can I check if a chip is getting power from the battery?

The 235 versus 210 doesn't matter. Use a voltimeter to check that the battery is outputting proper voltage. Triple check your battery polarity.

[kazehei]

Mr.NoordSynth

Has the RX15 No battery problem been resolved?
Even if it looks like it has been soldered well, it may not stick to the land on the board. As advised by Mr. Rustin, you should try measuring the voltage with a tester.

At the same time, I am also repairing the RX15.
I know how to reset the RX15, but I don't know how to enter test mode.
You write “When going into the test mode”.
Can you tell me how to enter the test mode?
I can't put it in test mode on RX15 even if I do it the same way as RX11.

[Rasputin]

Can you tell me how to enter the test mode? I can't put it in test mode on RX15 even if I do it the same way as RX11.

If you can read the firmware ROM and post it here, it may be possible to figure it out. I'm not 100% sure there's a test mode in the RX15. If there is, I suspect it's entirely undocumented.

[kazehei]

Mr. Rusputin
Thank you for your reply.
Your request to tell me the Firemeware ROM number, where should I look?

I'm sorry I'm still a beginner in technical matters.

By the way, if you know it, I would like you to tell me.
After replacing the built-in battery, the LCD display will change to "■■■■■■■■" and the operation will not be accepted.
There are 8 ■, and the rest are blank.
Is there a way to get it back?

[Rasputin]

After replacing the built-in battery, the LCD display will change to "■■■■■■■■"

That means the RX is powered on, but not able to boot. The reason it will not boot could be many things.

The biggest question: Did the RX work before the battery swap?

If the RX booted before the battery swap then something about the battery swap is now causing the RX to no longer boot. This could be because the RX was not reassembled properly, or because the battery was put in with reversed polarity. It's possible that there is a cable which was not connected properly, or a connector was mis-pinned. It's hard to say.

As far as the firmware goes: You'd need an EPROM programmer such as TL866 MiniPro. That's just an example, as there are many, many devices which can read/write EPROMS.

[kazehei]

Mr.Rusputin

Thank you for politely teaching me.

“■■■■■■■■” is a message that RX hasn't boot.

It was working fine before the battery was replaced. There is no mistake in the polarity of the battery.
I have replaced some RX's battery, but some of them have been replaced without any problems.

I will investigate various things.

[teevee]

Question: is it possible to convert a Yamaha RX11L to Yamaha RX11 [non-L]?

I dont know anyone in the real world who actually use latin percussion....

[madtheory]

Yes it is, if you have a compatible EPROM reader/ writer so you can rip the ROM from an RX-11 to replace the wave ROM in an RX-11L.

[teevee]

Yes it is, if you have a compatible EPROM reader/ writer so you can rip the ROM from an RX-11 to replace the wave ROM in an RX-11L.

But I guess that you will both have to replace the wave rom and the firmware rom? (Wave offset is coded into the firmware rom, correct?)

[madtheory]

Yes it is, if you have a compatible EPROM reader/ writer so you can rip the ROM from an RX-11 to replace the wave ROM in an RX-11L.

But I guess that you will both have to replace the wave rom and the firmware rom? (Wave offset is coded into the firmware rom, correct?)

Yes good point. Although I guess it's possible Yamaha divided the ROM into equally sized sections so the offsets don't change like in the Roland TR-505. If I understand correctly how it works...lol.

Why not just sample it? Does anyone really like the UI on these Yamaha drum machines?

[teevee]

Why not just sample it? Does anyone really like the UI on these Yamaha drum machines?

That is a good question, I actually like old clumsy UIs and it gets more interesting, when you combine them with other clumsy UI to see how to work together aka “the charm of still using hardware”.

[Ralis]

Hi all, I could use your assistance.

I got a nonfunctioning RX11. Took it apart cleaned it up and all the button contacts.
I found a penny from 1988 lodged under the main board!

Put in a battery holder and new battery, put in a new display. I got all the buttons working and the new display. Everything was working until I tried to write a pattern. It said all the patterns were full but they were not. I did the self test hard reset and it says Proms OK! then “Ram Error! IC219” and stops there

Can this be fixed? And if so how?

[Ralis]

Hi, I am working on repairing my second RX11.

I am having problems with the display. It only shows 8 solid blocks, factory reset does not change it and full reset with test mode does not change it.

This is a display upgrade. The original display was doing the same thing. I changed the battery. Cleaned the button contacts and the display was working for a few days.

I replaced the display with a new LED one it worked fine for a day. It was off for few days and the dreaded 8 blocks returned to the display. I opened it up unplugged the display, unplugged the battery plugged them both back in, turned it on and the display worked. I turned it off closed it up, turned it on again and the display worked fine. It was left off for 5 days. I turned it on and the 8 blocks are back and resets do nothing.

Any ideas?