I recently picked up a used S90 and a SmartMedia to xD converter. The xD card and adapter work with my PC, but the S90 does not recognize the card. I’m assuming the problem is with the keyboard’s SmartMedia reader. Do any of you have experience replacing the internal reader? Either themselves or through a Yamaha authorized repair center?

Hello Gary and Welcome!

Obviously anything ‘can’ go wrong but I’ve never actually heard of the SM reader going down before so you might just want to make absolutely sure it’s not the card. If there’s any data on the card you would like to retain make sure you copy that onto your computer. Then try to format the card on the S90 itself. If that doesn’t work then go to your local Yamaha repair facility, yes. SM technology is pretty old now so not all independent repair places may be able to help so you might need to go through the main Yamaha distributor in your country.

There might be nothing wrong, especially if you’re using a large xD card without partitioning it. See
http://www.motifator.com/index.php/archive/viewthread/425978/

Hopefully someone who is using an adapter will post and mention which one and which cards they’ve had success with.

MrMotif‘s advice to try formatting the card on the S90 is a good idea.

Thanks for the input.

I am getting a “Card not ready” error, so it appears the S90 just isn’t recognizing the card. I am starting to suspect the adapter may not be sliding far enough into the keyboard. I am going to perform a little sculpting on the adapter and see if that makes a difference.

I was trying to update the OS, but may give up on that idea.

Ok, I gave up 5 minutes too early. I trimmed down the plastic shell that holds the xD card on the adapter and now the S90 can read the card. So it was just that the card was not able to make contact inside the keyboard.

Thanks again for the replies.

garylhall - 22 March 2015 02:37 PM

Ok, I gave up 5 minutes too early. I trimmed down the plastic shell that holds the xD card on the adapter and now the S90 can read the card. So it was just that the card was not able to make contact inside the keyboard.

Thanks again for the replies.

Thanks for the update, which might help someone else in the future.