Hi,

I’ve just bought Motif XS…
when I started it for the 1st time, it hung up on its intro screen. I rebooted it, and after it starts ok, but…
many times, about ten or more for on the first day of using, Motif hung, all its functions are blocked, and the only solution is to reboot it.

it happens in the following situations :
- when Motif XS is staying without playing more then 20 minutes
- when I worked with sequencer in Song/Pattern modes
- when I switched from Voice/Performance/Master modes
- when max polyphony is reached (I guess about this case, because difficulty to control it)

Do you know what is the problem ?
Should I return it to the shop where I bought it ?
or there is the solution to this problem ?

Help me please !

This is definitely not normal behaviour.

Things that could be causing the problem:

1) Faulty DIMMs. If you have sample DIMMs installed, then if they are faulty or not properly seated in the slots then this can cause unpredictable behaviour.

2) MIDI loops. If you have the XS connected to a computer and there is some kind of clock or MIDI loop saturating the MIDI network then this can cause problems

3) A corrupted file loaded into the machine.

4) A bad power supply, or faulty mains cable.

Reaching the maximum polyphony should not cause a freeze, and it not considered a faulty condition. The XS will simply stop playing older notes in order to make room for new ones.

Before doing anything else, I would try a factory reset.

Press [Utility]
Press [Job]
Make sure that the Power on Auto Factory Set option is disabled
Press [Enter]

This will reset your XS to it’s factory state. It will also replace all the USR voices with the factory defaults, replace the Performances and Masters with the factory defaults, clear the sample RAM, reset all the Utility settings and replace the Song and Patterns with the factory demos, so if you have anything you want to keep you should save it first.

Try the factory reset, and see if that solves the problem. If it doesn’t, post back with details of your setup - what computer, if any, you have it connected to, whether you have any sample DIMM memory installed.

Also, if you do post back, can you tell us the version of the Operating System you are running.

Press [Utility]
Press [Utility] + [F1] + [Cursor Up] at the same time

... and tell us the displayed versions.

Df.

thank you for your explications!

the Motif XS version is :
- Firmware 1.51.3
- Kernel 2.6.10_mvl401-1.1.1.kbw_k2x.56
- Contents 1.51.3

as for the other things :
- I had it since Friday evening
- I tried with and without DIMMs (original from XSpanded bundle), it does not influence hunging
- I did not use Midi cables and other connections, only headphones and L-audio output to my keyboard amplifier
- I did not connect it to my computer yet
- I did not load any file
- I verified the power supply cable and all other cables used
- I use over-tension protection system

its serial number is EAPY01034, purchased in France

I save my songs and than I’ll reboot it to the factory state

i’ve just made the update to 1.55.11 OS

please, tell me what essensials things I should test in Motif XS to be sure that it works correctly in all aspects ?
Thanks!

coolweather - 31 January 2010 06:58 PM

i’ve just made the update to 1.55.11 OS

please, tell me what essensials things I should test in Motif XS to be sure that it works correctly in all aspects ?
Thanks!

Well, OS upgrades either complete successfully or they don’t complete at all, so if you have installed the latest OS then so long as the XS is not crashing any more, you can assume it’s working ok now :)

Df.

i had i similar behaviour...but with latest SO :

Yesterday i made the update to 1.55.11 OS then the factory reset and Power off....
when I started it for the 1st time, it hung up on its intro screen. I rebooted it, and after it starts ok

i’m a little bit scared....

motif75 - 01 February 2010 07:46 AM

i had i similar behaviour...but with latest SO :

Yesterday i made the update to 1.55.11 OS then the factory reset and Power off....
when I started it for the 1st time, it hung up on its intro screen. I rebooted it, and after it starts ok

i’m a little bit scared....

I dont know if it’s possible, perhaps you should repeate upgrading ?

after upgradng to 1.55 OS the mine does not crashed yet when standing alone. good sign. I had some crashes since yesterday :
3 times - when I switched rapidly the modes (voice/perform/song/pattern)
1 time - when I was inserting my USB
and 2 times - I did not understand why and how

that is already better than before with 1.51 OS

I had many cases when doing improvisation with some Performance Motif hung up!
I imagine for the live it would be terrible situation !!!!

why ?

The XS should not hang up regularly. It is a computer at its heart so you can never be 100% guaranteed that it will never crash but certainly you would not expect it to do so regularly.

Since I owned my XS (which was when they came out) I think mine has only crashed twice despite a lot of use over several years (and I use mine for development, meaning that I often abuse it with lots of strange stuff over sysex).

Things to look out for are:

- Dodgy power supplies, damaged mains cables, loose connections in the plug etc.

- Faulty or improperly installed RAM

- Corrupted data files, can be caused by damaged USB storage or corrupted downloads

- External equipment connected via MIDI, which can cause MIDI loops

- Hardware fault (least likely)

I believe there may be an issue with regards to rapidly changing between songs in the sequencer under some circumstances (although I have never suffered from this) but generally speaking if it’s crashing a lot then something is wrong, and if you cannot track it down then you should probably consider talking to a Yamaha service center.

One thing that people tend to say a lot is “try reinstalling the OS again”. This is pointless. When an OS is installed, it will either complete successfully or not at all. If the installation completed without error there is no such thing as an OS that didn’t install correctly.

A simple factory reset is just as effective as reinstalling the OS anyway.

Df.

Dreamflight - 02 February 2010 03:45 PM

The XS should not hang up regularly. It is a computer at its heart so you can never be 100% guaranteed that it will never crash but certainly you would not expect it to do so regularly.

Since I owned my XS (which was when they came out) I think mine has only crashed twice despite a lot of use over several years (and I use mine for development, meaning that I often abuse it with lots of strange stuff over sysex).

Things to look out for are:

- Dodgy power supplies, damaged mains cables, loose connections in the plug etc.

- Faulty or improperly installed RAM

- Corrupted data files, can be caused by damaged USB storage or corrupted downloads

- External equipment connected via MIDI, which can cause MIDI loops

- Hardware fault (least likely)

I believe there may be an issue with regards to rapidly changing between songs in the sequencer under some circumstances (although I have never suffered from this) but generally speaking if it’s crashing a lot then something is wrong, and if you cannot track it down then you should probably consider talking to a Yamaha service center.

One thing that people tend to say a lot is “try reinstalling the OS again”. This is pointless. When an OS is installed, it will either complete successfully or not at all. If the installation completed without error there is no such thing as an OS that didn’t install correctly.

A simple factory reset is just as effective as reinstalling the OS anyway.

Df.

I guess that it is hardware fault,
because after the factory reset I’ve just been playing piano voice and Motif hung, only one voice and I did nothing more.
I begin to be nervous!

coolweather - 02 February 2010 08:58 PM

I guess that it is hardware fault,
because after the factory reset I’ve just been playing piano voice and Motif hung, only one voice and I did nothing more.
I begin to be nervous!

Have you tried removing any installed DIMMs and unplugging any MIDI connections?

Df.

Dreamflight - 02 February 2010 09:00 PM

coolweather - 02 February 2010 08:58 PM

I guess that it is hardware fault,
because after the factory reset I’ve just been playing piano voice and Motif hung, only one voice and I did nothing more.
I begin to be nervous!

Have you tried removing any installed DIMMs and unplugging any MIDI connections?

Df.

yes!

I also tried without DIMMs, and I don’t have any MIDI connection or other, only headphones.

Afer factory reset I played in minimal configuration , only grand piano (1st voice), I did not touch any button, and I had the crash!

Perhaps it is the serial rejects of Yamaha?
I know the other man, that bought Motif some days ago with the same problems, and also in France!

for that reason I published here the serial number of my motif, perhaps somebody knows something about this series ?

Is there the possiblity to contact directly the people from Yamaha to know more about this ?

FRANCE
Yamaha Musique France
BP 70-77312 Marne-la-Vallée Cedex 2, France
Tel: 01-64-61-4000

We have also told to coolweather similar things on our french forum, contact he’s local store for returning the XS.

I got my XS8 yesterday and am having similar problem.  I do not have nay connection (except headphone) to the unit and have only tried to play the keyboard.  It has no memory installed.  And, to be sure that it is not gliches on the input power, I have powered it with a UPS pack.  It simply stops playing and all of the buttons are hung.

If I turn it off and then back on, it will play for a while.  It seems that it plays a little longer the longer I leave it off - but I haven’t timed that.

I have done factory reset a couple of times, but it behaves the same.  It appears to me that it might be some kind of heat problem.

Has Yamaha made any mention of this kind of problem with some units?