Digitone gen 1, OS 1.42. When I flip the power switch, a bunch of the button lights flash on for less than a second — basically everything except FUNC, MIDI, Add Notes/Arp, PTN, and BANK (see photos) — then it all goes dark. The screen never lights up at all, ever.
What I’ve tried so far:
Left it completely powered off for a full 24 hours, then tried again — no change
Held FUNC while powering on to try to get into the startup menu, even though I couldn’t see anything on screen — same LED pattern, nothing different
Reinstalled the OS from scratch through the startup menu using Elektron Transfer over MIDI (not USB), since I couldn’t see the screen to confirm anything. The transfer software said it finished successfully (went up to 100%), but the unit never rebooted on its own afterward. I turned it off and back on manually and got the exact same symptom as before.
Since reinstalling the OS didn’t change anything, my guess is this is an actual hardware problem rather than a software/firmware issue. Has anyone run into this exact thing? Trying to figure out if it’s worth trying to open it up and check for a loose connection myself, versus going through Elektron support, versus a local repair shop.
Also really hoping to get my projects off the +Drive before anything else happens to it, if that’s even possible at this point — any advice there is welcome too. Photos/video below.
Measure the power supply, make sure it’s giving 12V. Try a different one if possible.
Take the lid off and have a look inside for anything nasty. It’s easy to do. There’s not really inside much to fix though. Try reseating the cables between the top and bottom halves in case they got loose (unlikely without an “event”).
Get a multimeter (or somebody that has one) and measure the voltage at the test points on the PCB when it’s powered on. Measure between 0V/GND and the various test points, make sure all the voltages are OK.
If the voltages are OK and a cable wiggle doesn’t fix it then send it off to Elektron. There’s really not much a “local repair shop” can do with devices like this.
The symptoms you describe (LEDs that are “stuck” and a black screen, despite the firmware having been successfully flashed to 100%) are very characteristic of a hardware failure in the internal memory (+Drive) or the processor responsible for initializing the device’s components. Since the startup menu (FUNC when powered on) does not appear on the screen, this confirms that the UI board (screen and buttons) is not receiving the correct initialization signal from the main board. This technical situation, where expectations and reality don’t align, is very reminiscent of my recent personal experience in a completely different field. I searched for a $4 deposit casino because I wanted to test the interface and a few games without committing a larger amount. Many results advertised low stakes but had a higher cashier minimum. The most focused resource I found was https://interacasino.com/4-dollar-deposit-casinos/. It helped me identify possible options and reminded me to separate the minimum deposit from the minimum bet. I also checked bonus eligibility, payment fees, and withdrawal limits before depositing. That solved my question and kept the experiment within a small, fixed entertainment budget.
yes tried that - Transfer doesn’t see it. Per the above I tried trhough the startup menu too
Reinstalled the OS from scratch through the startup menu using Elektron Transfer over MIDI (not USB), since I couldn’t see the screen to confirm anything.
One other thing to try after you’ve checked all the voltages is to find another one and connect the top half of that one (with screen/buttons) to your bottom half.
