Howdy...
How is accesses? Firmware 3.11
Thanks!
I was awaiting someone from ETC to chime in....
To my knowledge, there is no built in access to any kind of diagnostics or to the firmware.
The console series (Expression/Insight/Express) did not have hard drives. The OS booted from 3.5" floppy when installed and the OS then ran in bios.
What exactly do you need to do, and can I assume trouble shoot a problem ?.
Steve B.
just picked up a console used and wanted to run whatever tests built in I could to ensure it's in good working condition. I'm surprised there isn't a function available to do this. What's the "reserved" #12 in the setup then believe it's option's menu?
There must be a way for it to run a system's check? no?
Thanks for the deep clear tip - no I'm not new to the console at all... I've got four of them running in our facility right now. Just wanted to do a more thourough test and run through than simply loading one of my existing shows and hoping everything works.
Now lets get back to that "reserved 12" item.... what is it for and what does it do.
thanks.
Reserved 12 goes nowhere and does nothing - it's a placeholder in case we needed to add something to the menu.
It turns out that we didn't need to.
how about a diagnostic function.. that would be convenient to add in there, wouldnt it? Lock it out similar to the CEM module's login?
Console is long out of manufacture, so don't plan on it.
SB
so how about making the diagnostic tool downloadable for people to use since the console is too old, out of production, and no longer supported? not an unreasonable request by any means.
I wouldn't go so far as to say that it's unsupported. ETC still supports L86 dimmer racks which they actually never made - they just acquired the company that made them before they came out with the sensor rack.
Being that the console is out of production, I doubt that any more R&D dollars are going to be spent on getting a diagnostic tool out to the end users. As Mike said before, there's really not that much to the console that you couldn't spend about 10 minutes and do a pretty full diagnostic yourself.
who said they needed to create a diagnostic tool? It already exists... simply load it in the download section of the website so console owners can make make their own floppy disks with the tool on it and check their units for correct operation...
again... not much to ask.
b_valkyrie said:so how about making the diagnostic tool downloadable for people to use since the console is too old, out of production, and no longer supported? not an unreasonable request by any means.
The console is still supported, but your request was to add in a diagnostic tool, into the operating system software, for a console that is no longer manufactured. I would suspect that this is not going to happen and quite frankly ETC tech has other things to do besides adding software to the OS to a 20 year old computer.
Your request to make the diagnostic tools available as a separate piece of software makes sense.
SB
Actually my initial request was NOT to "add" a diagnostic tool, but instead to simply access the prexeisting tool. As was demonstrated in this topic, the tool does exist however it's not installed resident on the console and instead needs to be loaded separately... so then again I ask politely if this diagnotsic tool can be made available for download for all of us Expression owners who want to perform periodic routine checks on our units.
sound of crickets chirping from ETC as diagnostic tool does not yet appear in download section of site.
Hi there -
We are considering your request. We cannot simply post a 15-year-old diagnostic software tool on our web site since it was never designed for use by anyone other than manufacturing and repairs techs. There's no documentation, no instruction sheet, and very little user interface on it and we need to make sure that all that is in order before we post something like that. Please stay tuned...
In the mean time, here are some old-school tricks to use to test your console:
1) Use the HELP key. I know it sounds a bit odd. but before the diagnositc tool existed we used the HELP key to test that all the keys were working. Pressing HELP and any other key should provide a message - if the message appears and it's the right one for that key, then the key is working.
2) Use the Submaster List view and the playback areas on screen to test the faders. You should see the % level of each fader as you move them. For the Grand Master, you can see its level on screen as well. All faders should fade smoothly from 0-100, as I expect you know.
3) Test the quality of the keys using the triple-hit method. Press each key three times quickly in rapid succession. You''ll quickly get a feel for how good keys react and sound. When/if you hit one that's marginal, it will feel "softer" or "deader" and will sound dead as well - not CLICK-CLICK-CLICK rather CLACK-CLACK-CLACK as you go.
4) Testing outputs/Inputs is going to require other gear than the facepanel diagnostic we may provide - a DMX Tester for the DMX outputs and input, MIDI equipment for MIDI stuff. I cannot remember if the diagnostic tool has any loopback tests in it at all, in which case you would only need cables. We will have to wait for Tech Service to provide that information once they look into the feasibility of letting the tool loose into the wild.
Thanks much -
Sarah
Sarah,
This is a little off topic, but does the sales department still sell the Expression 3 manual?
Thnx!!!!
-Lightingguy1
Hi there -
Contact tech support or customer service. If we have any, I'm sure we'd be happy to sell one. Or, it is available free on the Web site as a PDF download as well.
Thanks -
Sarah
After spending a bit of time with the diagnostic tool it seems like it is far from the best thing to make available to the public. Please follow me on this. I was thinking on Sunday that this would be ok to post but I hadn't looked at it in over 10 years.
There is a semi-useful facepanel test that allows you to check and see if buttons and faders are working. There is also a DRAM and SRAM test but they can erase your OS as well. There are no instructions, no guides or menus, you have to know how to run it and it really does not diagnose much. If you wanted to check CPU temps, bus speed, clocking, parallel port functions, disk drive access, etc, there just isn't anything in the diag disk.
I get the question from time to time stating that there must be a diag box at ETC for each piece of gear that we hook up to that tells us what's wrong with stuff. Truth is, no, we just have a really smart repair department and a lot of good folks on the phone. Maybe it would be cheaper to do this in the products, and we have added more stuff ito the newer products over time, but some of the older gear just doesn't have that level built in.
I hope you understand,
David
There is a quick easy way to test to see if your console is running in good shape. This is a test repairs does.
1) Create a Macro with the following commands:
<Live> <Blind> <Patch> <Setup> <M_>
The <M_> is the macro number your creating. This macro will switch displays on the desk and run continuously until you hit M*.
2) Create a subroutine of a couple of cues.
3) Run the subroutine on a playback, then run the macro.
What this does is put a heavy load on the desk. You will know pretty quickly if the desk is in good working order. I usually run this test for about 10 minutes.
Hope this helps
P-
There is a quick easy way to test to see if your console is running in good shape. This is a test repairs does.
1) Create a Macro with the following commands:
<Live> <Blind> <Patch> <Setup> <M_>
The <M_> is the macro number your creating. This macro will switch displays on the desk and run continuously until you hit M*.
2) Create a subroutine of a couple of cues.
3) Run the subroutine on a playback, then run the macro.
What this does is put a heavy load on the desk. You will know pretty quickly if the desk is in good working order. I usually run this test for about 10 minutes.
Hope this helps
P-
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