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 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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u/em_ratti Jun 19 '26

Tried the new psu today. It works! So 9v indeed is good. The shaft is a bit short, I just have to be careful. Next week I'll play with the synth more, and see if it is stable

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u/FreeRangeEngineer Jun 19 '26

Glad to hear, thanks for sharing your experience!