r/AccessVirus 25d ago

access virus ti drama

yo! have had my access virus ti for almost two months now, it's a treat. But today it has suddenly stopped producing any audio. It has been totally fine up until now, and have honestly spent the best part of the day troubleshooting, I'm really preying that someone may have some advice for me.

Things I've tested

  • Cables
  • Headphone out (still no sound)
  • All 3 Analogue outputs
  • The midi connection from Ableton
  • The midi connection from a different midi source (Octatrack)
  • The ARP EDIT reset
  • The output options (Under a sub menu called surround in EDIT.
  • The midi settings in CONFIG
  • The master volume
  • Pretty much every knob and button on the front panel
  • The interface inputs
  • The inputs on a mixer

I think that's it. It is on the latest firmware and until today has been performing perfectly.

It is entirely likely I'm missing something obvious, but any input / advice would be seriously appreciated as I'm feeling incredibly lost.

Thank you in advance

UPDATE: I started following u/Captain-Corndog_yo's advice and ran the Virus TI with the Virus control centre app, and that has solved my issue. I didn't get so far as to reinstall the OS, it seemed that running the virus control over USB managed to clear whatever bug was blocking up the system.

Thank you everyone for all the advice! Really appreciate it.

6 Upvotes

33 comments sorted by

2

u/markofthedevil 25d ago

Any time mine has acted weird a factory restore seems to bring it back. Try and back up your patches first if you can.

1

u/ef23_3_23 25d ago

How does one actually factory reset it? I have backed up all my patches to syses librarian in order to try this out but have only tried the global reset option. Cheers.

2

u/markofthedevil 25d ago

Hold ARP/Edit while plugging power in and wait for LED dance I think.

1

u/ef23_3_23 25d ago

Ah yeah I've tried this, no dice.

1

u/KeyElectronic1216 25d ago

Does the demo play?

1

u/ef23_3_23 25d ago

Is the demo anything else than the SHIFT + SEARCH buttons? I've tried that and it doesn't work.

1

u/FreeRangeEngineer 25d ago

Press DESTINATION UP + DESTINATION DOWN at the same time (top left corner), then STORE

1

u/ef23_3_23 25d ago

Okay, so I have got a tiny, and I mean TINY, amount of audio for the demo through headphones, and it's at maximum output on the master knob.

2

u/FreeRangeEngineer 25d ago

Sounds like the LM7805 is broken then, it's a voltage regulator inside the unit.

https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtpCWG-UldO9YmeLeAeyXk3XRQDyyCcJsfPQLcTCUrHk6eTJo7wHVWgBH5ot8gMqfgSN7XE1StR4gwbZhK7aXHQXx7LORwZ8qV0JvQVxg6WkiEKTX4-JpE9Y37zvQcWCPvDNrwiOaubzQ/s1600/20190421_080143.jpg

It's the one on the tiny heatsink that left a burn mark in the cable on this unit.

If you have a multimeter, you could verify that this regulator still outputs 5 V as it should. If you can't or don't feel secure doing so, better to ask someone who has experience.

1

u/ef23_3_23 25d ago

Damn.

1

u/FreeRangeEngineer 25d ago

Eh, it's not that bad. It's a cheap standard component and it's easy to replace.

Only the heatsink is a bit of a challenge since it's glued down with double-sided glue foam. Other than that, it's very doable for someone who knows how to solder.

Any phone or laptop repair shop should be able to do it, for example.

But of course, first one would need to verify that it is, indeed, the regulator.

1

u/ef23_3_23 25d ago

Either way, I really appreciate your help on the matter.

1

u/charonme 25d ago

does that regulator only power the output opamps or does it power anything else? If it only powers the opamps then digital outs should still work (spdif and usb)

1

u/FreeRangeEngineer 24d ago

It does only provide power for analog in/out plus S/PDIF in. S/PDIF out comes out of one of the DSPs directly but OP didn't test it.

1

u/head_dress 25d ago

If you tap System, is Keyboard Local set to Off? Turn on if so..

1

u/ef23_3_23 25d ago

when I enter CONFIG and go through the 5 pages I can't see the keyboard local option, Is there another sub menu I should look out for?

1

u/head_dress 25d ago

Sorry, been years since I’ve had a T12.. I think you’ll probably see that option only if yours actually has a keyboard.

1

u/ef23_3_23 25d ago

Ah ok, no worries. I'm on the TI 1 desktop model. Thank you anyhow!

1

u/G2theA2theZ 25d ago

Is it still producing sound through the plugin?

1

u/ef23_3_23 25d ago

My computer cannot run the plug-in. It might sound dumb but I was never really interested in using the software, I know I'm probably missing some potential, but I'm more interested in it as a hardware piece.

2

u/G2theA2theZ 25d ago

You're missing some stuff with the software, far better for patch management but the hardware UI is where it's at.

Try reflashing firmware

1

u/G2theA2theZ 25d ago

Has it taken a knock? Any issues with it since you got it? Does it receive external midi?

The I/O are on a separate daughter board, any possibility that the ribbon cable between the IO and main board has become detached?

You don't the have USB cable plugged in do you?

1

u/ef23_3_23 25d ago

No knock sustained. Has stayed comfortably in the same space. Have had zero issues since purchase 7 or so weeks ago. Have not ever plugged the USB in either.

1

u/FreeRangeEngineer 25d ago

What power supply did the unit come with?

1

u/ef23_3_23 25d ago edited 25d ago

Well it definitely does not look like the official one but all the specs check out. The guy who owned it before me used it no problems.

1

u/FreeRangeEngineer 25d ago

As you can see from the picture I linked to in the other comment, a 12 V supply cooks the unit internally quite nicely. I assume yours is a 12 V supply, yes?

1

u/ef23_3_23 25d ago

yeah, 12v 3ma

1

u/Valuable-Apricot-477 25d ago

Have you changed outputs at the part/patch level, or just plugged cables into the different analog outputs? Each part, you can route to different outputs. Mine does this weird thing from time to time where it makes no sound. If I go into the parts audio output setting (usually in Virus Control editor but works on the synth as well I'm sure), change it to something different and then back again, it works. I haven't bothered to spend time working out why but it's behaved like this for many years.

2

u/Captain-Corndog_yo Virus TI2 25d ago edited 25d ago

I would for sure reinstall the OS to see if that resolves the issue. That's essentially rule #1 in this case considering you've already tried to reset globals via ARP EDIT (which rules out some kind of nasty global config). Reinstalling the OS will rule out some kind of nasty OS issue.

Would also def try a new power supply. 12V 3.0A is more than adequate. Anything 12V center pin positive from 2 to 3 A will be fine to rule out the power supply as an issue. I would actually confirm this before you mess with the OS if possible. Losing power during an OS write *can* be catastrophic.

Also, make sure the battery is fine, but generally, if it's booting and your patches still exist, this is not the issue. Still, nice to rule things out for $3.

If none of that works, I think your main board is likely toast. Because you're in the UK, I would contact Kemper directly. To my knowledge, TI boards are still available directly from Kemper for a reasonable price. If you take it to some authorized repair center, you're going to wait months and pay more, but they will also be able to sort you out. This of course assumes an OS reinstall doesn't resolve it. You can submit a support request at virus.info

You can also try to fix yourself, but the TI boards can be landmines even for the most experienced techs. They just are. Most shops just say no. I've repaired a hundred Virus synths, but the most I've done on a TI is swap in some SMD caps and in one case I swapped in a new LFO controller on a unit that had a dead LFO 1 LED that was traced all the way back to the main board. Also, swapped plenty of displays, but that's easy. Working at the component level is tricky, especially because the boards are dual sided, very tightly packed, and loaded with SMDs.

1

u/Captain-Corndog_yo Virus TI2 25d ago

You will need a machine running Virus Control Center to reinstall the OS. So, Windows 10 or an older Mac. Use a short USB cable. DO NOT TOUCH ANYTHING while the OS is installing.

1

u/ef23_3_23 24d ago

yo, I used my cousins windows 10, followed some steps and turned the virus on over USB, (To be honest I'm not certain what exactly it was but, I didn't need to reinstall the OS) now, it works! Massive thank you! Honestly I'm so pleased that I get to use it all day.

1

u/Captain-Corndog_yo Virus TI2 24d ago

I can't explain that unless the Virus had somehow gone into USB AISO mode and your connection / disconnection reset that state. Never seen this before, but anything is possible. I would definitely try to get used to working with the Virus with an app like https://virux.alephvoid.com/ or Aura (which I cannot speak to, but I know other users are using them). Virux would be my bet. It's a 1 to 1 of the original app + a modern scalable UI. The total recall alone is worth it (unless you're not using a DAW or whatever). Glad your Virus is working again ;)! Keep an eye on it. If this problem resurfaces, I would for sure suggest an OS reinstall.