Upgrade 2nd hand Kronos to Kronos X?

[conundrum]

I did my own upgrade.

120GB SSD cost $96 usd

1GB DDR $18

Total time about 40 minutes.

...

Did you just swap the original out, or add the bigger one?

If you add a second drive, you need the cable kit from Korg?

[Ksynth]

I did my own upgrade.

120GB SSD cost $96 usd

1GB DDR $18

Total time about 40 minutes.

...

Did you just swap the original out, or add the bigger one?

If you add a second drive, you need the cable kit from Korg?

I just bought a second ssd and an 18" Sata cable with a right angle connection on one end.

That gives me two ssd drives.

[SanderXpander]

You should definitely check the tutorials when you to do it, but one especially important thing to remember is that you need to swap the SATA ports. So, the new drive goes on the port where the original drive is, and the old one is moved over to the free port.

[Kevin Nolan]

When you do this upgrade - is reinstalling the OS tricky?

I remember from the OASYS forum that this is not something the user could do because of disk formatting / reduced Linux Kernal issues;and the even the physical controllers and the screen needed to be recalibrated.

(I'm not 100% confident I'm even remembering the OASYS doscussions on this correctly - I just remember thinking it's not something I'd ever wish to try)

Is all of this necessary for Kronos or does a straight forward reinstall of the OS from disk suffice?

[Francois]

Not as simple as what SanderXpander says.

If your restore DVDs have version 1 of the OS, then there are a few things to remember.

You cannot format drives that are larger than 128 Gb with OS 1. In which case, replacing the main drive with a 160 Gb SSD, for example, is tricky as you have to do it via cloning and expanding the main partition (with CloneZilla or EaseUS for free programs capable of doing it). The easy option is to simply add the second drive and keep the old 30 Gb.

Drives under 128 Go can be formatted from the DVD containing OS 1, so it's up to you to add the new drive or have it replace the old one.

One thing to keep in mind, sometimes the SSD was wrongly fitted on the motherboard at the factory, with the SATA cable being plugged on port 1 instead of port 0. This can be a problem if you were to plug the new drive on 0 and keep the old one on 1. You need to make sure that the boot drive is on 0.

If you have version 2 of the OS on your restore DVDs, then you can easily do what you want, be it replacing the old drive with the new one, format it and have the system installed from the DVD (regardless of SSD size), or adding the second drive, restarting and formatting the new drive. Just bear in mind the potential problem with plugging the right cable on port 0 or 1 of the motherboard as explained above.

I have described the 3 different procedures on my website in French. Not sure how well Google Translate will work. Still, might be useful to get the gist of it.

http://www.kronoscopie.fr/remplacer-ajouter-un-ssd.html

[SanderXpander]

Eh huh?
It's exactly as simple as I say. Add the second SSD and put it on port 1, moving the original disk to port 0.

Worked for me. Unless, of course, you want to actually replace the factory disk as well. To be honest I see little reason for that, but yes, that's why I said to follow the tutorials. I just remember multiple users enthusiastically adding the extra SSD themselves and then panicking that their Kronos won't boot, because it's not entirely intuitive that you need to move the drive to a different port. So I wanted to point that out specifically.

[Francois]

Sorry, but not as simple as what you mention as it depends on whether you want to add or replace a drive, and whether or not you reinstall the OS or simply format the new drive.

There are different ways to skin a cat in this instance, and not all choices lead to a simple procedure.

Everyone will see the best mileage to their chosen solution and yours is to simply add the new drive. Personally, I replaced the 30 Gb drive with a 256 Gb Samsung. The reason I chose to replace my drive instead of adding to it was to keep things simple in terms of cabling, not add extra heating inside the Kronos, however small, max out the transfer rate to what the mobo is capable of, and keep a spare with a working OS in case of a drive failure. As I have an older Kronos with OS1 restore DVDs, I had to go the cloning route. Not entirely an easy solution to implement.

However, I would recommend to simply add another drive and make sure the new drive is plugged on SATA port 1 on the motherboard. That way, it is a simple matter of restarting the Kronos and formating the new drive, as SanderXpander says.

Still, I like to be thorough, particularly in matters where problems can appear quickly.

[SanderXpander]

I agree with you on being thorough. That's why I added my initial comment, which was only about adding a second drive. I thought that was clear, but apparently not. Adding a second drive is by far the simpler option.

[Francois]

I thought that was clear, but apparently not.

No worries, it could be that I didn't read your comments right.

Nevermind, what matters is for whoever wants to change the SSD to not take it lightly and think carefully about the method followed.

[Ojustaboo]

Sorry, but not as simple as what you mention as it depends on whether you want to add or replace a drive, and whether or not you reinstall the OS or simply format the new drive.

There are different ways to skin a cat in this instance, and not all choices lead to a simple procedure.

Everyone will see the best mileage to their chosen solution and yours is to simply add the new drive. Personally, I replaced the 30 Gb drive with a 256 Gb Samsung. The reason I chose to replace my drive instead of adding to it was to keep things simple in terms of cabling, not add extra heating inside the Kronos, however small, max out the transfer rate to what the mobo is capable of, and keep a spare with a working OS in case of a drive failure. As I have an older Kronos with OS1 restore DVDs, I had to go the cloning route. Not entirely an easy solution to implement.

However, I would recommend to simply add another drive and make sure the new drive is plugged on SATA port 1 on the motherboard. That way, it is a simple matter of restarting the Kronos and formating the new drive, as SanderXpander says.

Still, I like to be thorough, particularly in matters where problems can appear quickly.

According to Dan in another recent thread, there's hidden calibration data on the original SSD so if you had the version 2 os DVDs and were replacing the original SSD, you should still do it the way you did by cloaning.

Personally I'd do it the easy way and just add a 2nd SSD (which is the way Korg UK do it).

[Francois]

Yes, you're right to mention the calibration data. However, if you have the service manual, this is something you can recreate yourself.

[Davidb]

1. What serial number range should I be looking at to be sure the Kronos keybed is one of the newer ones?

Instead of reasoning based on serial numbers, I would buy a used one that has already been fixed by Korg, regardeless of whether it is 1000 or 3000 or 5000. And test it for yourself just to make sure.

I do also suggest what Francois points out, as an advice:

Do yourself a favor and Just Look for, and only buy, a fixed one, and no other.

And even so, test it yourself ptlenty, to be sure de fix was effective and there are no other issues related ( different velocity levels across the keyboard, stiff keys, etc.)

All this is necessary. Even more when theres no way to have a clue till today which serials numbers are free of keybed issues, as we (and I) have seen models to fail in all number figures, and some units fixed still may not work properly (as happened to me).

[Bertotti]

Francois how do you get a service manual?

[Ojustaboo]

I believe it was available for a very short time from parts is parts before korg stopped it being sold. At the time they said they weren't allowed to sell it as the Kronos wasn't over a year old. That was Jan 2012, but its not reappeared yet.

When I do manage to get my hands on one, first thing I will do is post the calibration instructions for all to use.

[Francois]

how do you get a service manual?

With great difficulty !