Hey everyone, new to the forum but not the Elektron gear.
I have a Machinedrum SPS1-UW+ MKII that won’t startup. It just gives me a black screen. Are there solutions to this problem?
Here’s a video of the issue.
I’d perhaps contact Elektron support, they are quite helpful. The one issue people regularly reference is the ribbon connector getting unseated inside. Be careful in there though as it’s not trivial to open if you aren’t used to doing that sort of thing, could be worth paying a professional or sending back to Elektron if they’ll do it if you are not comfortable (they serviced my out of warranty mk2)
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Great, thank you for the response 
I actually remember now that I indeed did open it once and disconnected the ribbon connector and connected it back again. It actually did start up for a bit after doing that, but the problem always comes back.
I’ll contact Elektron about this then! Thanks again.
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Having this same issue on mine. Bought in mint condition and hasn’t had one issue in the 2 years I’ve had it. 
Did you ever solve this problem for good ?
That sucks to hear.
Unfortunately, I never dared to send it out with the pandemic going on. Mail seems to take absolutely ages to arrive right now from where I live. So there hasn’t been any progress with this problem for me.
not sure this is something that happens on all units but there’re some pixels on the screen when you turn it on that are not lit, also on the top left corner of the screen.
have you tried testing things out in test mode?
Another cheap easy thing to try is to get another ribbon cable. I have not stuck my head in there for a very long time but you should be able to get another compatible one for a few bucks/euros/pounds etc. it does not have to be the perfect length either - it just needs to be longer than the current one. If a new cable fixes it, you should be able to cut and strip the ribbon and connectors to taste.
Check the solder joints for connector pins while in there.
Make sure that the new cable is 100% pin compatible before using it of course. Very important. Preferably with a multimeter.
Yep yep yep, had the same.
Open it, detach the control/UI pcb (be careful and slow, check the cables underneath it), then detach the cables from power pcb to cpu pcb, and detach the cables from input/output pcb to cpu pcb.
Reattach everyhting, try to start.
I cleaned with isopropylic alcohol the male ribbon connectors, dunno if affected, but never had again the problem since 1 year.
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