KRONOS X - Catastrophic Failure - no course of repair

billbaker · Post by **billbaker** » Wed Sep 25, 2019 7:33 pm

Words cannot express my disappointment in learning that I now own a $3000 piece of sculpture that once was a great keyboard.

My Kronos X is unrepairable. Dead. It lives no more. It pines for Mt. Fuji.

There are no spare parts available; motherboard out of stock and no longer made, and not replaceable with upgraded/current Korg board (is the "new" that different from the "X" complete redesign and zero compatibility? Zero? Really? Fire that engineer.)

The simple doable stuff has been ruled out; PS, cable connections, etc. It's already cost me $100 to arrive at the go/no-go decision point and there are no incremental next steps. It's all-in or walk away.

The next diagnosis will cost me an additional $600/labor materials to confirm one of two alternatives; that it is either the motherboard or the disc drive.

If it's the motherboard I'm (only!) out a total of $700 just to absolutely confirm that it's "really most sincerely dead".

Replacing the disc drive and the system upload and testing is an additional $300/$500 parted & lsbor. And that is not a guaranteed solution either - so then I'd be out over $1000 to $1200 with no confirmed outcome going in.

[Duh. I have a computer, and Komplete IS Kronos, more or less. I could at least fix whatever goes wrong with the hardware, and upgrade hardware and software as needed.)

The Kronos is essentially a computer and you'd think (OS aside) that there'd have been be some foresight regarding interchangeability with standard PC boards. Since this doesn't appear to be the case my next buy will NOT be anything in the Kronos family or its offspring.

I didn't buy the Kronos because I thought it was a disposable POS with a 7-year shelf life. But that appears to be what was delivered.

I say all this with great reluctance, because I actually HAVE and still USE 20 year old stuff from Korg that I LOVE, and I'm a 40+ year user and loyalist. This old dinosaur will stick with his TrEX's.

BillBaker

GregC · Post by **GregC** » Wed Sep 25, 2019 7:38 pm

that is shi%$%% for sure.

Lets clarify, you are unable to find or purchase components on your own ?

And the Korg Auth center can ? which is why its expensive to repair ?

Thanks

Falcon2e · Post by **Falcon2e** » Wed Sep 25, 2019 7:40 pm

That's terrible news. I would think somebody could supply parts, that's scary stuff. I guess one option would be to find a used one so you could use your backup files and continue to play your custom sounds. Please let us know if this story has a happy ending.

Xenophile · Post by **Xenophile** » Wed Sep 25, 2019 8:20 pm

According to what I've read, the Kronos X used a standard Intel Mini-ITX motherboard, the D525MW. A quick Google search found a few for sale used on eBay for less than $100. New from Amazon for around $200. https://www.amazon.com/gp/offer-listing/B0041RSC94

Eduardo_Arg · Post by **Eduardo_Arg** » Wed Sep 25, 2019 8:40 pm

Hi Billbaker:

I can understand your frustration, but be sure that this could happend with any other brands.-
I've myself in last 30 years lots os different keyboards, and i've experiment your frustation (no parts, high technician costs, etc. etc.).-
So i learnd that after no more than 3 years (or warranty time)i must upgrade my workstations, otherwise everything could happend.- No mather how good they are, are machines and they were created (market rules) to "live" a short period of time (practically the same with cars obviously new ones technologies).- Old keyboards live for ever (i've a Roland A-90 "the tank") that till today, new owner, enjoys it withouth any issue.
My suggestion, don't lose time and money repairing X, and go for a new Kronos 2 or any other keyboard pleases you.-
In my country (Argentine) as all new products arrives 1 year later, we must feel confort with the not latest ones. Here Kronos 2 is a best seller over Yamaha and Kurzweill.-
With regards.
Eduardo

rod_proteus · Post by **rod_proteus** » Wed Sep 25, 2019 8:46 pm

I'm sorry to hear that !...

I found a motherboard for Kronos 2. Maybe it could be "adjusted" for ....

https://www.fullcompass.com/prod/532135 ... r-kronos-2

About the hard drive...you can buy it and install it by yourself ....

KK · Post by KK » Wed Sep 25, 2019 9:13 pm

billbaker wrote:The next diagnosis will cost me an additional $600/labor materials to confirm one of two alternatives; that it is either the motherboard or the disc drive.

Way too much for such a simple test. For about 120$ you can buy a brand new top quality SSD and do the diagnostic yourself. If the Kronos doesn't wake up, the SSD can then be used in any computer.

musiccankill · Post by **musiccankill** » Wed Sep 25, 2019 9:49 pm

Does it show anything on screen?
If yes then your problem most probably isn't the motherboard...

GregC · Post by **GregC** » Thu Sep 26, 2019 12:43 am

1 of the big frustrations is that { I believe Bill B completely } is the Korg auth center cannot accurately diagnose the Kronos failure.

And its not the fault of the Auth repair center, I think they have a process that they are stuck with , and it sounds potentially very costly.

IOW, it makes zero sense to spend $1200 for this " try as you go " repair process. I consider $1200, $1000, to be a 'tipping point '.

Keep in mind , I am speaking of the 7-8 yr old Kronos. And I am not inclined to get involved in a major " DIY " or my amateurish skill at a DIY.

Realistically, this saga suggests the possibility that very old K's will experience some component failure.

Somewhat related, my Mac's , devices only last 5-7 years.

I disagree, or have little faith that my Kronos will last 20 years.
I would bet on a major repair at some point. It will be very inconvenient.

Electronic co's do not make this stuff today as if it were 1995. So this history does translate to today or the Kronos. I don't expect history to repeat like 1995.

SeedyLee · Post by **SeedyLee** » Thu Sep 26, 2019 6:32 am

A couple of things.

Firstly, I'm not sure why the fault is costing so much, or proving so difficult, to diagnose. Any tech worth their salt should be able to diagnose whether it's the motherboard or the disk drive in a matter of hours.

Secondly, it's generally up to each distributor to keep stock of parts based on their estimate of requirements, and individual country's laws around warranty and merchantability. These requirements can differ greatly from country to country. Some manufacturers, like Yamaha, seem to be much better at keeping a pool of common stock at their Japanese warehouse. Korg do push a lot of this responsibility onto distributors, which kinda sucks for consumers.

The Intel D525 motherboard should be readily available from a number of sources. It's not a Korg specific part, and this may very well be why many distributors don't hold a lot of stock of spares. The motherboard from the Kronos 2 is *not* compatible with the Kronos X (without significant modification).

Liviou2004 · Post by **Liviou2004** » Thu Sep 26, 2019 11:40 am

rod_proteus wrote:I found a motherboard for Kronos 2. Maybe it could be "adjusted" for ....

https://www.fullcompass.com/prod/532135 ... r-kronos-2

It is out of stock !

billbaker · Post by **billbaker** » Thu Sep 26, 2019 11:40 am

Many thanks to all who replied, both with sympathy and especially with information on possible motherboard & drive replacement.

I will, trust me, pass along the info to my tech.

[Anyone with a line on replacement set-up/restoration disks or who can burn me a copy, please IM and I will provide contact information. Thank you.]

I am more hopeful now that I can get stock parts to replace any worn/damaged parts. A $500-$600 restoration is both within my current and future budget.

In the mean time I will hang on to (and maybe pick up a spare) "tank" while checking into computer based alternatives.

Best regards,

BillBaker

SeedyLee · Post by **SeedyLee** » Thu Sep 26, 2019 12:06 pm

I hope you get it sorted l!

It's highly unlikely that your Kronos is irreparable. Replacing the whole motherboard is an extreme solution, even if the motherboard is at fault. Chances are it's nothing major and it's a single bad cap, or a bad power supply or something similar. In any case, a *good* tech should be capable of a board level repair.

There are third party techs that do component level repairs for laptops and phones on a regular basis - perhaps you could get your current tech to take the motherboard out and take it to one of them?

Liviou2004 · Post by **Liviou2004** » Thu Sep 26, 2019 12:26 pm

I think this motherboard should be the right one for the Kronos X :

https://fr.aliexpress.com/item/32813044223.html

qqquartzzz · Post by **qqquartzzz** » Thu Sep 26, 2019 1:48 pm

I don't know if this will help, or, hopefully give you some peace of mind.

I bought a Kronos-61 that I fought with trying to get updated and working.
The light went on when I (thanks to the fine minds on this board) realized that the original MB that should have been the D510, was replaced with an IMB-140D motherboard.

In short, if you can't get the old D series MB, the new one might work as well.
Just putting it out there...

See the whole twisted story here.
http://www.korgforums.com/forum/phpBB2/ ... c&start=30

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KRONOS X - Catastrophic Failure - no course of repair

KRONOS X - Catastrophic Failure - no course of repair

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