Korg Forums

tjwuth · Joined: 13 Dec 2009 Posts: 2

I am the Technical Director for a large church and we purchased an M50 to replace our old Roland RD700. We've had the M50 for a few months now and last week it just started acting up on us. It would freeze up and none of the buttons would work even though the touch screen stayed functional. Then we'd turn it on and it would play for a couple of minutes and then no sound. We tried initializing it by the method in the manual and it did reset but the freezing and sound problems remained. Finally I tried downloading the new OS and then had to keep pressing the global button while it was starting up just to get to the right screen. Luckily the touch screen worked so that I could navigate to where I needed to be otherwise I would have been screwed. Anyway, it seems that the OS upgrade solved the problem although I still don't know what caused the old OS to become corrupted and that kind of bothers me. Has anyone else had these issues?

On a similar note, I'm quite dissapointed with the design and programing of this board. First of all, I don't know why Korg went to the cheap outboard power supply. Both our other two keyboards (RD700 & Korg Trinity) had built in power supplies and only required a standard IEC cable (computer cable for those who aren't familiar with the correct terminology). We use this board in a live setting on stage and it gets moved around almost weekly so I'm just waiting for that cheap little DC plug to break or develop a short. Maybe when our warranty expires I'll open it up and design a mod to mount the power supply into the board. Also, if you've got a USB port, then why go through the trouble of upgrading the OS through the SD card? If your controls go out, then you need to be able to access the board through other means. It would be great if you could have total access to the board through the USB port using a laptop.

McHale · Posted: Sun Dec 13, 2009 7:27 pm Post subject:

Sorry to hear about your problems with the M50. I'm certainly not an expert but I do have a lot of experience with Korg gear AND the M50. I probably can't address all of your issues, but I can help with a few.

I think the original OS had reported lock up issues. The new version fixed that. I've had my M50 for almost a year with the latest OS and it's NEVER locked up on me.

As far as the external power supply: That one really is a head scratcher, they really couldn't have saved much money by doing it. The M3 has the exact same power supply only physically mounted on the inside. I did the same with mine. My M50 no longer has an external power supply and it made a world of difference in my confidence in the M50.

I don't recommend it as it voids your warranty though. But if you're curious, here's all the pics from the procedure:

http://s848.photobucket.com/albums/ab49/mjlarsen/m50/

As far as the OS upgrade via SD and not USB, I think it was a wise decision personally. Computers DO crash which would corrupt your ROM to the point it needs a system board replacement. But the SD card method is far less risky. I also don't have a PC anywhere near my M50. It's one of my live synths that rarely gets unpacked when not being gigged.

I gigged with the M50 alone on Friday night - no backup. I have used it live for a year and I trust it enough that it won't lock up on me or have other issues. The new OS will help your M50 immensely and hopefully Korg will release a new OS very soon to fix/add other things. It's certainly due.

-Mc
_________________
Current Korg Gear: KRONOS 88 (4GB), M50-73 (PS mod), RADIAS-73, Electribe MX, Triton Pro (MOSS, SCSI, CF, 64MB RAM), SQ-64, DVP-1, MEX-8000, MR-1, KAOSSilator, nanoKey, nanoKontrol, 3x nanoPad 2, 3x DS1H, 7x PS1, FC7 (yes Korg, NOT Yamaha).

kikedeolivos · Platinum Member Joined: 30 Jun 2009 Posts: 522

Mine, with the V 1.10 OS (latest) locked up on me while I was editing a Midi file; first time in 4 months.
_________________
Current gear

Korg M50 / Korg Nanokontrol 2

Past gear

Teisco Organ / Yamaha Electone / Casio CZ-230S / Casio CZ-3000 / Ensoniq ESQ 1 / Ensoniq SQ1 / Ensoniq SQ1 Plus / Ensoniq SD-1 /Yamaha PSR? / Hammond XM-1 / Roland RS9 / H&K Rotosphere / Yamaha S80 / Korg X5 / Kurzweil ME-1 / Korg X5D / Korg CX-3 (V2) / Hammond M111 & Leslie 147

Youtube channel

http://www.youtube.com/user/bubusdeolivos?feature=results_main

MartinHines · Posted: Sun Dec 13, 2009 10:41 pm Post subject:

Is your damper pedal polarity set correctly in Global Mode?

With the OASYS and Triton series, the keyboard can freeze up if the pedal polarity is set incorrectly.

Also, don't hesitate to call your Korg Country Distributor for tech support (in the U.S. that would be Korg USA). That is what their "product/tech support" group is there for.

fgalves · Joined: 15 Dec 2009 Posts: 2

bigbenbullet · Posted: Tue Dec 15, 2009 12:14 pm Post subject:

tjwuth · Joined: 13 Dec 2009 Posts: 2

Thanks McHale, I figured other people probably had the same idea with the power supply. It's good to know that there is enough room for everything. Other than cost, the only reason I can think to make an external PS would be the ease of replacement, however, that could also be accomplished with a removable powersupply module. Bottom line is that any keyboard in this price range that people will be using on stage should not have tiny DC plugs hanging out of it that could easily get snagged on something and break off inside. I'm just not a fan of cheap engineering. It's nice to have a two year warranty, but the down side is that I can't do any mods until then which means I'm stuck with the one it has. I still think they need to provide a computer only upgrade method since the controls can go out and then you're unable to navigate to the SD card. I've never had an issue upgrading firmware on anything else through USB so I'm not concerned with PC problems. Another option would be to do what Yamaha does with the M7CL digital sound console. They make you put the new firmware on the root directory of a USB drive and then power up the board with the drive plugged in. Then the board automatically loads the new firmware without the user having to do anything but wait. I just think it's risky to rely on the onboard controls since that might be why the user needs to load new software.

fgalves · Joined: 15 Dec 2009 Posts: 2

bigbenbullet · Posted: Wed Dec 16, 2009 8:17 am Post subject:

Alp · Full Member Joined: 09 Jan 2010 Posts: 137

I have recently obtained an M50. Had it about a month. I used it mostly in Prg mode the last few weeks, but recently started moving out into Seq and Media modes.
I also switched to "firmware" 1.1.0 recently.

The M50 froze up about 3 days ago.

I was in PRG mode and playing a little tune. It suddenly stopped playing (actually I was playing, the keyboard output stopped). None of the buttons were lit (red). Pressing buttons did nothing, the display screen was lit up but locked.... then suddenly it started to work again, but the buttons that were usually red were dark.
I powered down and turned the power back on. Everything seemed to work ok, until today.
It froze up on me again while I was (trying to get into) Seq mode.
The display screen said it was in seq. mode, but the Prg light was on ( red light on the Prg Button). I could play keys and hear them but I couldn't get Seq mode button to light (or Combi,... everything was locked up). Then the sound stopped and playing the keyboard generated no sound at all.

Again, I powered down and turned it back on... it seems ok now.

Sounds like this is a common enough problem and that the cause should be known.

I took the M50 in to the dealer today. About an hour before the second freeze-up.
I was told that there was only one keyboard (korg) service center in town, they were VERY busy and when they got around to testing the unit, if they found nothing, they would charge the dealer a service fee. I was told I had a year warranty, and if the problem happened again I could bring it in.
I decided it wouldn't happen again, one of those freak occurances, but right after I plugged it in and turned it on... a few minutes later it was frozen.

I hope the service center is aware of this issue. I can see them testing it for a few minutes, or even a few hours without sign of the problem. I can play the keyboard for hours (days?) without a problem, then ZAP. It is frozen.
I'm taking my unit in. There is definately a problem.

Alp

McHale · Posted: Sat Jan 09, 2010 9:45 am Post subject:

With firmware issues, please let us know which version of the M50 you have. I'm betting you have the M50-61. Correct?
_________________
Current Korg Gear: KRONOS 88 (4GB), M50-73 (PS mod), RADIAS-73, Electribe MX, Triton Pro (MOSS, SCSI, CF, 64MB RAM), SQ-64, DVP-1, MEX-8000, MR-1, KAOSSilator, nanoKey, nanoKontrol, 3x nanoPad 2, 3x DS1H, 7x PS1, FC7 (yes Korg, NOT Yamaha).

elpedro · Joined: 09 Jan 2010 Posts: 10

Hi,

my recently bought Korg M50-61 has the very same problem. Firmware is 1.1.0. It seems to be related with my damper pedal (or the absence of it). My damper pedal has reversed polarity. Today i was playing without the damper and the controls froze. Once this happened nothing could fix it. Even connection with PC did not get any further than selecting program or global.

For now i will leave the damper polarity on Korg standard. When it is connected i can always set the required polarity in the global page.

Elpedro.

Alp · Full Member Joined: 09 Jan 2010 Posts: 137

Correct. I have the 61 key version.
I do not have any pedals attached.

I only started to see the problem AFTER I upgraded from a lower version of the OS (was it 1.0.5 ??) but then I just got the instrument a month ago. The problem may have been lurking.

Is there any way to go back to an older OS version (I didn't save anything from the M50 prior to the upgrade).

Sending the unit back for servicing a firmware issue seems unproductive.

Alp

McHale · Posted: Sat Jan 09, 2010 10:51 pm Post subject:

Here's the 1.05 "upgrade" for the M50:

http://www.korg.com/uploads/Download/M50_V105_E1_633659328062540000.zip

Here's the instructions: http://www.korg.com/uploads/Support/HowToUpdate_M50_105_633659330185110000.pdf

Remember, you need to perform the upgrade twice. Please let us know if it fixes your problem.

Side note: I've not seen anyone with the M50-73 with this issue. And I'm not totally sure I've seen anyone with the M5-88 with it. Everybody I can remember has the M50-61.

-Mc
_________________
Current Korg Gear: KRONOS 88 (4GB), M50-73 (PS mod), RADIAS-73, Electribe MX, Triton Pro (MOSS, SCSI, CF, 64MB RAM), SQ-64, DVP-1, MEX-8000, MR-1, KAOSSilator, nanoKey, nanoKontrol, 3x nanoPad 2, 3x DS1H, 7x PS1, FC7 (yes Korg, NOT Yamaha).

Alp · Full Member Joined: 09 Jan 2010 Posts: 137

Thanks for 1.0.5
Interesting...
Installing step one was no problem.
Step 2 stopped with the message that the system files were already up to date.

The keyboard boots with message that 1.0.5 is in use.

I will see if I have any problems.

Alp