Kronos randomly rebooted itself 6 times during live gig

drb32856 · Post by **drb32856** » Fri Jul 25, 2014 3:18 am

I had an issue on a 4th of July party gig. A local business owner held a party for suppliers, clients, and their families at his (very large)home. It was outside, and power was the homes normal outlets. It was hot out (90s) but we were shaded. I had my Kronos and my Karma plugged into the same power strip/box as always. During the 1st set the Kronos rebooted 2x, next set 1x, next set 3x, final set no reboots. Karma was never affected. Note I never received any error messages on screen.

I have seen others recommend UPS units. But I'm wondering if that would have prevented the reboots since the Karma was never bothered as it would have been if power had failed. How about a voltage regulator instead? or both? If anyone knows which would be a good(not to expensive) model of UPS and voltage regulator please reply. Help is much appreciated

Thanks

danmusician · Post by **danmusician** » Fri Jul 25, 2014 4:12 am

I also played outside on the 4th in the shade.

I don't know if a UPS would have helped in your situation or not. I use this simple UPS:

http://www.amazon.com/APC-BE350G-UPS-Sy ... ack+UPS+ES

I've never had a restart issue with it.

StephenKay · Post by **StephenKay** » Fri Jul 25, 2014 6:35 am

The (original red) Karma Workstation is a much simpler processor and system. It's not really a computer motherboard; it's just a chip. Note how long it takes the Karma to boot up: I don't know exactly, but it seems to be about 10 seconds.

Meanwhile, the Kronos is a full-blown computer motherboard, takes 2 or 3 minutes to boot up, and YES - it would benefit from a UPS. You can't really compare the two keyboards. One of them is about 10 years older (and 10 years simpler). End of story.

apex · Post by **apex** » Fri Jul 25, 2014 7:38 am

So a ups is the solution?.... This wasn't just a fault of the kronos? So everyone that plays outside in the heat should use one then, right?

SanderXpander · Post by **SanderXpander** » Fri Jul 25, 2014 8:01 am

Since I've gotten a UPS, I've been paying more attention to voltage levels and the like. Our regular sound company has readouts on their main PSU. It's frightening how much variety there is. It's definitely a good idea to use a UPS since the Kronos unfortunately seems more easily affected by fluctuations than other boards.

jeremykeys · Post by **jeremykeys** » Fri Jul 25, 2014 11:16 am

Truthfully, we should all be using regulated power with a UPS. Computers really don't like power fluctuations at all. If you were to plug a meter into your wall outlet and watch it for a while you'd be amazed at just how much and how often the power voltage changes. At your home just having your refrigerator turn on will cause a dramatic drop in power.

jeebustrain · Post by **jeebustrain** » Fri Jul 25, 2014 1:34 pm

apex wrote:So a ups is the solution?.... This wasn't just a fault of the kronos? So everyone that plays outside in the heat should use one then, right?

I've only gigged outside with my Kronos once and I use a UPS. I've had too much gear over the years (one being a laptop) fried by bad club power, even thru a Furman (admittedly a cheap one at the time).

Bertotti · Post by **Bertotti** » Fri Jul 25, 2014 1:45 pm

I have the previous version of this Cyberpower825AVR

I got it on sale for 50$ and so far even during a power failure it had my Kronos and both QSC speakers running for 5 minutes when I shut down the Kronos but I hooked up an iPod to the QSC and went 10 more at reasonable small room volume not ear blasting before it shut itself down. I am very happy with it. I have also not had any of the weirdness I had early on. I had it where out of the blue I would play a combi and on the first note it would turn into a strange screeching, horrible sound then going through different combos and programs there where others doing the same thing. I first blamed it on a kid tripping over the peer cord but after fixing it the problem came back and I had one instance where the Kronos restarted itself. Since the UPS none of this has happened. I would say about 9 months now, give or take a month or two, sorry I loose track of time.

Derek Cook · Post by **Derek Cook** » Sat Jul 26, 2014 12:28 am

Hi, the question I asked on Kronos reliability a few days ago, seem to indicate that a UPS is a must for these computer based keyboards....

Bertotti · Post by **Bertotti** » Sat Jul 26, 2014 12:41 am

Agreed. I think people should consider it a must, at the very least it is good insurance against power related problems. Even my computers give me less hassle when running through a UPS, and I thought we had pretty good power here.

fuse · Post by **fuse** » Sat Jul 26, 2014 7:51 am

Better to blow up an UPS than your synths.

But wouldn't those problems be related by temperature?
Maybe the cooling inside the Kronos isn't that optimal in higher temperature venues. Maybe installing a more powerful and less noisy fan may help a bit.

dfahrner · Post by **dfahrner** » Sat Jul 26, 2014 4:45 pm

Kronos operating temperature range is specified as 41 - 95 degrees F...as long as the instrument is not in direct sunlight, you should be OK for most outdoor summertime gigs...I'm not sure that I could play very well at above 95 degrees, anyway...an external fan would help both instrument and player too...

df

Bertotti · Post by **Bertotti** » Sat Jul 26, 2014 4:58 pm

drb32856 which kronos do you have. I have the X61 and can keep it cooler, just like suggested, with an external fan I direct at the bottom. The X61 has a metal bottom. The 88 does not and I do not know what the 73 has for a bottom.

edit to add; as to an earlier question will a UPS fix your problem, unknown, we don't know what caused the reboots. I would say if it was power related yes a UPS would fix it, if it is related to heat no the UPS will not make a lot of difference.

phil55 · Post by **phil55** » Sat Jul 26, 2014 7:19 pm

StephenKay wrote:The (original red) Karma Workstation is a much simpler processor and system. It's not really a computer motherboard; it's just a chip. Note how long it takes the Karma to boot up: I don't know exactly, but it seems to be about 10 seconds.....

I loved the KARMA and had one with MOSS and a couple of extra cards. My only complaint was lack of a ribbon or logwheel. I wish I kept it to MIDI with my M3. At the time I sold it, there was no M3.

On an asides, any news on maybe updating the PROPHECY.

dfahrner · Post by **dfahrner** » Sat Jul 26, 2014 8:12 pm

Bertotti wrote:...I have the X61 and can keep it cooler, just like suggested, with an external fan I direct at the bottom. The X61 has a metal bottom. The 88 does not and I do not know what the 73 has for a bottom...as to an earlier question will a UPS fix your problem, unknown, we don't know what caused the reboots...if it is related to heat no the UPS will not make a lot of difference.

The 73 has a thick wood bottom like the 88, but directing the external fan at the back / across the front panel will probably help just as much (and will help the player too)...and a UPS probably has its own temperature restrictions (they're meant for indoor use, next to the computer) although the cheap CyberPower units that I use are good to a little over 100 degrees F...

df