OASYS Motherboard - Status on support and availability?

Kevin Nolan · Post by **Kevin Nolan** » Fri Mar 21, 2008 12:31 pm

An issue is arising on the OASYS II thread that I know has been addressed before but which seems to be a current and significant concern is the Korg OASYS motherboard.

If and when that dies, are we already stranded? I realise some posted pointers to where to get replacement motherboards before, but is this already a real priority for all OASYS owners given suggestions onthe OASYS II thread that a replacement motherboard is now not available?

This is something that I feel I should have addressed personally by buying a backup motherboard, but never got around to. Hence I'd be grateful for formal comment from Korg on the issue, as well as any user base advice that may help all concerned:

1. Can Kork fix a motherboard if it blows?
2. How long will that suport last?
3. Can we purchase motherboards ourselves and if so are there available pointers to sellers, spec/part numbers and so on.

I suspect this could be of significant importance to all OASYS users and something we should move on ASAP.

Cheers,
Kevin.

Post by **Sharp** » Fri Mar 21, 2008 6:43 pm

I guess I better start looking for a motherboard too as I have no intentions of ever selling my OASYS.

Regards
Sharp

ldascanio · Post by **ldascanio** » Fri Mar 21, 2008 7:02 pm

Sharp wrote:I guess I better start looking for a motherboard too as I have no intentions of ever selling my OASYS.

Regards
Sharp

Hope the BIOS in the motherboard is also standard and not a proprietary development for KORG (i.e to check the proprietary PCI card installed or things like that). Anyway, it should be much easier in the future to have a BIOS update (software) from KORG once you have the Hardware than get the hardware itself from KORG if it's not available anymore.

Rgds.

danatkorg · Post by **danatkorg** » Fri Mar 21, 2008 7:36 pm

In my opinion, this is not a matter for concern. I have only seen one motherboard "blow" in any of my equipment over 20 years, and that was in a laptop computer. I am currently running a 16-year-old Mac as part of my studio setup, with all of its original parts.

Over the years, I've had a number of power supplies go bad. As is generally the case, the OASYS power supply is separate from the motherboard.

I am not aware of anything which particularly distinguishes the lifespan of a "computer" motherboard vs. the motherboards in my Emu and Roland samplers, my Eventide and TC effects processors, etc.

For service and replacement purposes, I would expect that standard motherboards would offer a much longer potential time-span, due to their production having been orders of magnitude greater than the specialized motherboards and chips in custom-built MI products.

The motherboard for the OASYS was chosen, in part, because it is designed and sold for "embedded" use. Among other things, this means a longer life-span for parts availability, in comparison to normal consumer PC parts. It would not surprise me if parts were still available for industrial/embedded use, even if they are not commonly available at the consumer level.

Korg reserves parts for all its products, for use in service long after production has ceased. In some areas, laws require that these parts be available for a specified amount of time. Korg Distributors may have different policies in place concerning the guaranteed service span; if you're curious, consult yours for details.

Best regards,

Dan

Kevin Nolan · Post by **Kevin Nolan** » Sat Mar 22, 2008 10:05 am

Hi Dan -

Thanks for your informed answer. It's reassuring to take on board the points you have made here. I realise I've felt a little alarmist about this - due to the general perception that 'computers can develop faults', without of course realizing that every other synthesizer I own has similar motherboards (or in the case of the CS80, about 70 of them, all interconnectred by bundles of 30 year old wire!!).

Cheers,
Kevin.