It looks like I'm going to have to open it up myself.

[Xenophile]

I'll check to be sure it is out of warranty first. I've had my Kronos2 61 for about a year and a half.

It embarrassed me on my 2nd gig with it when it was less than 2 months old when it went silent on me during a gig... Everything appeared normal on the display, but no sound from any outputs despite several reboots. Service under warranty found some loose connectors inside. The tech re-seated the connectors and all was well for over a year.

But Mr K embarrassed me once again on a gig a couple weeks ago with the "An error had been detected... Please restart your Kronos" message coming up mid-song. After holding up the show for 3 minutes waiting for it to reboot, it was fine again for the rest of the night. Yes, I do use a good UPS.

Last weekend I had it set up at home for practice, and it had been working fine. It was powered on for a few hours when I came back to it and found the "Please restart your Kronos" message on the display again.

So I guess I'll open her up and re-seat all the connections/DIMMs again and hope for the best.

I had switched from a MacBook Pro / soft synth setup to the Kronos because I was worried about potential stability issues with a laptop on stage (plus, I also wanted to reduce the number of things I have to plug in). But I used the laptop rig for 4 years, and it never let me down. This Kronos rig has embarrassed me twice in less than two years.

[GregC]

I'l


So I guess I'll open her up and re-seat all the connections/DIMMs again and hope for the best.

I had switched from a MacBook Pro / soft synth setup to the Kronos because I was worried about potential stability issues with a laptop on stage (plus, I also wanted to reduce the number of things I have to plug in). But I used the laptop rig for 4 years, and it never let me down. This Kronos rig has embarrassed me twice in less than two years.

that's what I would do.

No backup keyboard at gigs ?

[DJCobbSalad]

Pretty sure Korg warranty is 3 years (as long as you're the original owner). Plus an extra year if you register in the first 90 days after purchase.

[pedro5]

Definitely check the warranty !!
In the UK,a Kronos can have an extended warranty for a total of three years(Initial 1 plus additional 2)….if it’s registered within 28 days of purchase.
(Not sure if this is universal, though,it may vary in differnet countries).

I suggest you contact Korg support for further advice.

Meanwhile,if you’re fairly competent and comfortable with opening it up, checking for component security could be beneficial.

Good Luck.

[DJCobbSalad]

Oh bummer, yeah looks like just 1 year warranty in the USA unless you got the bonus year by registering in the window.

[Xenophile]

I’m competent and comfortable enough. I just don’t want to void whatever warranty I have left. If they want to be pissy, just opening the cabinet can void the warranty. If it is still under warranty I may have an authorized tech do it. But they’ll probably make me leave it at the shop for 2 weeks, and then say that it worked fine when they turned it on. Intermittent issues are a PITA.

I’ve been carrying my laptop to gigs, so I could plug it into my Studiologic controller and run soft synths if the Kronos dies, but I don’t have it set up so I can switch over on the fly if Kronos has a brain fart in the middle of a set. I’d have to take a break for 10 minutes to switch over to a backup rig.

It’s looking like Kronos might not have been the best choice for an old gigging guy looking to lighten his load.

[GregC]

It’s looking like Kronos might not have been the best choice for an old gigging guy looking to lighten his load.

Lots of folks gig the Kronos for years. Possibly pros or folks having good paying steady gigs have a 2nd K. I realize a 2nd K is not always practical.

I am likely close to your age and can imagine a loss of confidence with the K.

IMO, I would put more effort into getting your K to a more reliable status.
Work on getting the facts/conditions where it potentially locks up, then mitigate those conditions.

For example, bumping it around, jarring it, excessive vibration might be a cause. I really don't know how much can cause issues as there are numerous variables

and an experienced service rep might be able to better quantify whats what.
Thus it might be a worth while time investment.

[psionic311]

Sorry to hear your Kronos is acting up. Mine freaked out on me a year ago, but it was at an outdoor sidewalk gig in direct sunlight on a hot and humid Florida day. First it was sluggish, then non-responsive, then it put out a high shriek. I vowed never to play a gig like that again with my keys. Luckily, my main is bass guitar, so the show kept going despite the momentary noise blast.

It sounds like you have either some loose parts (RAM, ribbon connectors) or else perhaps parts of the hard drive are corrupt and a backup and restore might help.

As for your backup plan B, might I make a suggestion? Since you already bring a laptop and controller, maybe you could duplicate your Kronos Set List on your laptop and MIDI them together with Kronos as master calling out the program changes.

For example, I bring an Integra and another controller to my gigs. On the Kronos, Set List slot 5, I've got a combi for Just What I Needed by The Cars. Correspondingly, on the Integra I've also got Studio Set #5 programmed with Just What I Needed. I layer the Integra and Kronos not only for added thickness and variety, but if either one dies mid-song, I can keep going. No need for cutover time because there is redundancy. I'm thinking you could do something similar with your laptop.

[Xenophile]

Great suggestions!
My laptop + rack has been super reliable. I’ve got a Motif Rack ES and a Focusrite Scarlett 18i 20 in the rack, and Ivory, Kontakt, Omnisphere/Keyscape and Logic/Mainstage on the Mac. I’m falling in love with the expressive standalone power of Kronos, but it’s still hard to justify the weight when I’ve got so much horsepower in the rack.

Gotta find the balance between reliability, portability, power and flexibility.

Or maybe just pour another glass of wine.

[kronoSphere]

Am I the only one not to be for this "Do It Yourself" about Kronos ???
It's since I've seen how professional Korg staff are with my Kronos.
Each his trade.

[GregC]

Am I the only one not to be for this "Do It Yourself" about Kronos ???
It's since I've seen how professional Korg staff are with my Kronos.
Each his trade.

you don't have to follow the herd [ a favorite expression]

[Xenophile]

Opened it up yesterday. There are a LOT of screws to remove.
It is kind of strange the way the front rail is attached to the bottom plate.

Anyway, nothing appeared loose. I removed and re-seated the SO-DIMM, and jiggled/tightened several other connectors.

I was kind of concerned about a delicate-looking ribbon cable that connects to the small board in the center. Perhaps it is for the LCD or touch screen?

Anyway, I put it back together and practiced for a few hours... Didn't have any issues. I guess time will tell if re-seating the DIMMs made any difference.

[GregC]

Opened it up yesterday. There are a LOT of screws to remove.
It is kind of strange the way the front rail is attached to the bottom plate.

Anyway, nothing appeared loose. I removed and re-seated the SO-DIMM, and jiggled/tightened several other connectors.

I was kind of concerned about a delicate-looking ribbon cable that connects to the small board in the center. Perhaps it is for the LCD or touch screen?

Anyway, I put it back together and practiced for a few hours... Didn't have any issues. I guess time will tell if re-seating the DIMMs made any difference.

to be clear, at least on the original Kronos, not all screws on the bottom cover need to be unscrewed- to remove the cover.

For example on my 8 year old K88, there are 5 round rubber feet with screws - no need to remove these guys.

I vaguely recall there are 22 or 24 wood screws to be removed.

Martin Hines , from a 2011 post did a perfect step by step , including photos about removing the cover { and inserting more RAM.

Possibly , Korg did some attachment changes on the 2015 Kronos or Kronos 2

[Xenophile]

Yeah, I saw a couple of the videos. The screws holding the rubber feet were the only ones that I didn't remove. But I'm wondering if the screws holding the front rail (beneath the keybed) could have been left in place, just keeping the rail attached to the bottom plate. Still, 20-some screws is a lot, IMO. Don't lose them!

[Xenophile]

By the way, I'm planning to bring my rack and laptop back into my gigging rig.
That way I'll have plenty of redundancy to fall back on if Kronos or the laptop go south. No more standing there with my pants down.

Now I have to decide if Kronos is worth hauling all that extra weight around, when I have so much power in my laptop/rack rig. Kronos would be very happy to stay home with my old Yamaha Motif ES8.

But I'll need a synth-action 61-key controller with lots of assignable faders, knobs and buttons to drive the rig (via Mainstage on the laptop). I have a Nektar Panorama P6, which has great controls, but I don't like the keyboard at all. I need waterfall synth keys that I can do big Hammond smears on without launching the keyboard off the stand. After-touch is a must-have. The Kronos-61 keyboard feels excellent... but it is so damned HEAVY!