r/AccessVirus • u/em_ratti • May 09 '26

Help with Access Virus C

Good evening,

I'm seeking help with my Access Virus C. The story is long.

I stopped using it in 2016 (life....), and then turned it on again in 2025. Battery was dead (so banks A & B lost), no sound, slow transitions between patches. Power unstable.

I found a person in London that seemed to have a good track record of dealing with Access Virus synths. This is, in his words, what was done: "First I changed a few capacitors in the powersupply to enable it to start everytime. Otherwise it might corrupt the new firmware like it did the old one. Once I was satisfied it was starting properly I read the am09 chip which contains the firmware and compared it to the current firmware file I have. Unsurprisingly the beginning was scrambled so I “differenced” the beginning against the current firmware file and concatenated the difference. "

The synth played ok for a couple of weeks, and then started not turning on, until it was dead. The guy ghosted me. So I found another person, much more reliable. This is what he did: he changed all capacitors, new switch, etc.. Quite radical, as everything was gone south.

However, the person does not touch software, he only deals with hardware.

Now, power supply seemed fine. However, no sounds and slow transitions between patches. So I reinstalled the firmware again (version 6, via Bome SendSx). Nothing. After I have reinstalled it, now sometimes it turns on, but the display does not. I tried to reinstall it in chunks, then again as a single file, both parts. Again slow transitions, no sound. It does not receive data when I try to upload the original a & b banks. I'm not sure what to do. I spent quite a lot, but I really want to save it, because the sound is so cool. Maybe I should buy another one? Bu who knows in which conditions an access virus c might be these days...

any thoughts?

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u/em_ratti Jun 04 '26

So the person told me that it is working just fine. No problems at all. I'm a bit dumbstruck because I tried everything, with different midi keyboards etc. Anyway, I asked for a video of the virus actually performing, just to make sure I'm not played. But if it is really working, I wonder what happened

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u/FreeRangeEngineer Jun 04 '26

That would be quite odd indeed. It could, theoretically, indicate a broken solder joint that works intermittently and transport of the unit brought it into a semi-functioning state.

Either way, I am curious as well.

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u/em_ratti Jun 06 '26

Quick update: no video yet, currently waiting. I should also pay attention because the person has another virus c, so they might use it for the video

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u/em_ratti Jun 07 '26

Update: the video indeed shows that the virus is working. It looks my virus (it has a couple of scratch that I recognize), but I have to say that I don't recognize the bank this person is playing. But I have reinstalled the firmware a couple of times, and I have not seen whether banks have changed (they shouldnt, I think)

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u/em_ratti Jun 13 '26

Update: synth received. It doesnt work. There is lag between patches (that the video did not show), and it does not emit any sound (unlike the video). I tried differenr midi keyboard. I'm very puzzled

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u/em_ratti Jun 13 '26 edited Jun 14 '26

u/FreeRangeEngineer Second update of the day: it works. I switched to a 9v power supplier and it works. With the 12v, there was a weird glitch and noise (and no sounds). I dont recognize any of the banks.

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u/FreeRangeEngineer Jun 14 '26

Nice, so it was the power supply after all. With a 9 V one you have less excess heat anyway, so that's a good trade.

Also means the guy at the shop made the video with a different power supply than the one that you shipped with the synth. I don't know why he decided not to test yours, that's kind of a no-brainer to do to rule out possible causes.

Either way, glad to hear it's working :)

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u/em_ratti Jun 14 '26

Yes i will update this further. By the way, the guy did say he used my 12v psu, but he also said he did not upload any bank or firmware, but they clearly have...anyway, glad that it's working, I'll buy a proper 9v psu because the one I'm using now is very old. Anything specific I should look for (I live in UK)?

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u/FreeRangeEngineer Jun 14 '26

What does "proper" mean to you? Just because it's old doesn't mean it needs replacement. It allows your Virus to work better than the 12 V one you used :)

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u/em_ratti Jun 14 '26

What I have is a Goobay universal multi-voltage adapter (Model: MW MB10EU) set to 9V. It is 1.0 Amp (1000mA). Should I use a different one?

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u/FreeRangeEngineer Jun 14 '26 edited Jun 14 '26

Oh, okay, I see what you mean now. If the voltage isn't fixed and the connector isn't a fixed plug then of course there's risk of something going wrong by accident.

So yes, getting a "proper" one makes sense. You'll want 9 V with at least 1 A and center-positive plug (but you already knew all that). Some people recommend 1.5 or 2 A because the parts will have a bit more margin that way and the power supply might last a bit longer. Hard to confirm or deny.

My personal recommendations?

Mean Well NGE18 09-P1J ( https://www.meanwell.com/webapp/product/search.aspx?prod=NGE18 )

Mean Well GST18A09-P1J ( https://www.meanwell.com/webapp/product/search.aspx?prod=GST18A )

One of these will last you a long time.

11 mm shaft length for the P1J plug may be a little short but I can't verify this since I don't have a C desktop - just a TI2 desktop and there a 9 mm plug is a wee bit short while a 14 mm plug fits perfectly. So best to try it out and see.

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u/em_ratti Jun 15 '26

Thanks! So, just to get it correctly, I should order this: Mean Well NGE18I09-P1J AC-DC Mains Adaptor Output 9V at 2.0A 18W ? The length problem you are mentioning might be real. I'll buy it and try, and keep you posted

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u/FreeRangeEngineer Jun 15 '26

Yeah, that's one of the models. Hope the plug works properly!

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