Machinedrum Guts

[Automux]

I pulled apart my MD-UW to make it an MD-UW+ and took pictures.

Back of the control board. Three cables to connect to the other boards.

CPU board, PSU, and input/output daughter board.

Internal power supply

Not sure what that says. Closest Google search is Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious backwards but not spelled completely backwards

Samsung chips on CPU board

CPU and two DSP’s

+Drive

CPU board with +Drive

+Drive boot up menu, shown after the main boot up screen only minus the Elektron logo in the middle.

+Drive added

[elenacortes]

Champagne

your a champion. I would never dare to do it

[bryantalbot]

Jesus Mabel.

Hope you had fun.

No thanks.

[adUb]

Brave soul

[Mr_Hermann_Gruenber]

where did you get the +drive chip?

[Aaron2]

where did you get the +drive chip?

You can order it directly from Elektron.

[TrabanT]

congrats! … thanks for taking pics and some details here … where did you get the plus drive from? how much was it?

any future plans to change the display?

how long did it take?

[RhythmDroid]

Not sure what that says. Closest Google search is Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious backwards but not spelled completely backwards

In Mary Poppins, there’s a break in the song “Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious” where she speaks “you know you CAN say it backwards, which is ‘dociousaliexpiacticfragicalirupous’, but that’s taking it a bit too far, don’t you think?”

Her saying it backwards is really a mix of sounding it out backwards, and just speaking various syllables of it in reverse order! What a great reference…

[Mr_Hermann_Gruenber]

elektron says in the faq for the +drive they dont sell it for homemaking…

[adnauseam]

Yeah I’m curious as well.

From the pics I’ve taken apart and put together far more complicated things.

Did they offer you one cheaper because you put it in yourself? The thought of paying so much and having to ship my machine away just doesn’t make sense.

[Discom]

I can confirm that a +drive from a Monomachine MKII will work for a MD-UW MKI. At first I thought I messed up when the MD did not recognize the +drive. I eventually did a sysex flash on the OS (which took like 30 minutes at 1x speed) and it finally worked. I wouldn’t recommend risking it unless you’re already out of warranty anyways.

The +drive donor

Inside MD

Epoxy the pins and level it out while it settles, it’s never coming off.
+drive transplanted into MD-UW MKI

[Automux]

Someone was selling just a +Drive on eBay. There was no soldering or anything like that. Elektron already has a plug on one of the main boards that it just fits into. I’m not sure if this was pulled from a broken MD or what but it has been working fine.

[glitched]

Interesting!

I wonder if a +Drive could be fitted to a Monomachine SFX-6 in order to get those awesome DDraw machines!

Nah…

[PeterHanes]

Interesting!

I wonder if a +Drive could be fitted to a Monomachine SFX-6 in order to get those awesome DDraw machines!

Nah…

I don’t see why not.

[glitched]

I assume that the circuit board layout would be different and may not have the +Drive expansion headers.

I have to find those pics of the SFX-6 internals to see!

[waftlord]

Inside MD

Epoxy the pins and level it out while it settles, it’s never coming off.
+drive transplanted into MD-UW MKI

sorry for the necrobump but due to some +drive related posts earlier today and this info on the website: “The +Drive is not sold separately as the CPU-board sometimes needs adjustments for the +Drive to work, and this adjustment is only made at an Elektron service center.” i had a couple of questions.

the photos are mysteriously missing of the “epoxied” transplant job you did on your mk1 @Discom
is it possible to share these again?
when you say sysex flash does this mean you re installed the firmware at 1X speed?
how did this transplant hold up over time?
are the referenced adjustments to the CPU board to hold the +drive in place? hence your use of epoxy? (one of the OP mentioned at one time they purchased a +drive direct from elektron, perhaps people had issues installing themselves…)

can anyone identify this? is it an Elektron special or a prefab PCB and components that could be sourced elsewhere?

i know not super cool to ask considering Elektron still offer this upgrade service for a discontinued product at a fairly reasonable price.
But if there are alternatives i’m interested to know.

[Discom]

–edit–
Hey waftlord, actually I DO have some pics. It’s quite visually appealing, for some reason, I dunno.
When I epoxied the “pins”, I meant the plastic squares which can be seen near the expansion port Definitely not the I/O pins! I sold my MDUW-MK1 a couple years ago because I wasn’t using it (kinda miss it though). I’m pretty sure I posted these originally, but maybe a mod removed them due to IP (intellectual property) reasons or something. If so, then they’ll probably delete these pics again…

You may be out of luck if you want a memory module. I have no idea where to find one and I doubt Elektron will help you, but you can try contacting them.
Unfortunately, the prices for a +Drive were ludicrous at the time, which is the only reason why I dissected my Monomachine, to get a memory module.
imo, it might be a better idea to get a MDUW-MKII+ from ebay. I wish I got the MKII instead, because of the noise floor improvement AND the balanced leads. Oh well, I don’t even have any Elektron equipment anymore, but I sure had a lot of fun playing with those synths.

[phaelam]

I dont think they’ll sell you a +Drive. they have them…but they need to do the install. I think it was 200 or 300. id have to go back in my emails.

I looked…it was answered in a ticket…and the old tickets aren’t accessible. but it was around what I was saying. maybe it was 259…

[waftlord]

Thanks @Discom

This answered all the questions.

Glueing it direct to the board was ruthless but if it worked it worked… Did the monomachine need resetting also after ripping out a crucial organ?

It’s a bespoke Elektron PCB which is cool.

@phaelam https://support.elektron.se/support/solutions/articles/43000566296--drive-upgrade

tbh including postage this is a decent deal and would add value in the long term.

[phaelam]

There it is!