Octatrack MK2 freezing... a lot!

Elektron Gear Octatrack
#1

Hi!
I’ve just got Octatrack mk2 and hoped to have a nice evening, but the sampler keeps freezing every few minutes. Sometimes even after I turn it on again, it’s still frozen and I have to turn it off one more time. It’s a real nightmare! A few times it started with a cracking sound - as when CPU is running out of juice. Anyone else had such problem? Could this be caused by a faulty CF card?

#2

Is the power cord totally plugged in to the unit?

#3

Yes, it is. I wonder if this could have anything to do with the memory reserve length? I changed it from 16 s to 35 s.

#4

I actually had a similar thing happen a few times a couple weeks ago (sound was almost timestreched for a second or two, like what sometimes happens on a computer if you hit full CPU during playback and get buffer problems) but since it only happened a couple of times, I couldn’t reproduce and I was monitoring through a DAW, I wasn’t sure if it was the OT or something funny with my desktop. I’m running 1.25h on a Mk I and the problem happened with a mixture of flex and thru machines.

#5

Not sure if it helps, but my MKI used to freeze all the time until I disconnected the USB entirely (this was going into a hub). Never frozen since, worth a try if it applies.

4 Likes
#6

I used only flex machines and once or twice tried to use a static one. The usb wasn’t connected.

#7

Worth trying a different card, if I recall that could also be related

3 Likes
#8

Thanks! I don’t have any other CF card, but I’ll try to format the one included with Octatrack.

1 Like
#9

you could open it up to check for loose cable, had this few years back,

#10

I’m afraid it could affect the warranty… I filled the ticket. Hopefully Elektron will help to resolve this problem.

2 Likes
#11

USB caused mine to crash a lot until I removed the cable entirely. Only plug it in when needed now.

1 Like
Noob questions
#12

You can try demo mode to see if it’s the cf card…
If you take the card out and hold down yes when powering up you enter demo mode, works without card…
If that works it’s a good possibility it’s the card at fault…

3 Likes
#13

This sounds a lot like the Digitakt crash issues. I had a few crashes where I had to reboot multiple times and wait for the unit to boot up properly again.