Firestudio 26x26 died

[NoSoup4you22]

Well, after trying multiple cords and ordering a new firewire card, my Firestudio still gives me a solid red light and won't sync. It's not under warranty (bought it used), so my options are to pay $95+shipping OR attempt self-repair.

I saw this video:

Thing is, it seems awfully hard to open up the unit and get the faceplate off etc, without potentially damaging it further. Also, for some reason some of the screws on mine are stripped. Has anyone dealt with this before? I guess if I fuck it up I can just send it in anyway...

I'm bummed! Can't record... And can't play any keyboards! Lamesauce.

EDIT: I've got the front and side plates off, looks like I'd have to remove all the jacks and stuff to get the main board out of the casing... But from looking in the sides with a flashlight it seems none of the capacitors are abnormal in any way... Anything else I should look out for?

 

[KillFrenzy]

Man.. i wish my old Firestudio's problem was that easy to solve. I never found anyone with a similar issue as mine. It's just very expensive garbage now.

Anyway, opening it is no big issue. You can do it easily without causing any damage to the unit. Give it a shot and visually analyze the components. If nothing looks wrong, pay $95+shipping (I wish I had that option!). =)

 

[Loren Littlejohn]

Ugh, it's so fucking easy to strip shit on presonus racks. The work around is to take a pair of pliers and take the screws out that way...

But it's fucking lame.

 

[NoSoup4you22]

I've got the main board sitting on my table now and like I said... Everything looks normal. I've become a pro at dis/re-assembling this thing, I just wish I knew what to do now. I really don't wanna spend 100 bucks on what's probably a 2 dollar fix, not to mention the month that it takes them to get it back to you.

http://dl.dropbox.com/u/6097696/Image11122011123653.jpg

 

[Sloan]

It never hurts to replace the capacitors anyway, they are cheap and you can rule them out as a source of the problem. Are you familiar with soldering and working on electronics in general? Check for loose or cracked solder joints.

 

[Joelegend]

Kinda sounds to me like the firewire bus on it got smoked... Had same issue with my Profire 2626 a few weeks back (yes it a different one, but who know is the basic build the same, and probably all made in china) Lucky for me its still under warranty.

 

[kev]

Damn, bad luck dude. I guess it could be so many things. Maybe they could at least provide some basic advice on email for you before you are forced to send it off. Im waiting for the day this happens to my liquid saffire 56 - I know its coming lol.

 

[NoSoup4you22]

Eh, I already sent it off yesterday. I've done a tiny bit of soldering before, so if it was the capacitors or solder joints I could've fixed it - firewire bus sounds more likely though. The Presonus tech support guy's "solution" was for me to just send it in, so I caved and did it. Still pissed.

Could this have been caused by my firewire PCI card? Or maybe because I left it on most of the time as my main sound card?

At least my friend's band will pay for it when I get it back, in return for recording a couple songs' worth of guitars for them.

 

[Sloan]

The very first Firestudio Project i had got fried because i'm an idiot and mistakenly plugged the firewire cable in backwards. There's enough voltage there to fry shit. Luckily i was able to exchange it at the store (UniqueSquared on eBay).

 

[NoSoup4you22]

That's physically possible to do huh? I'll be sure to watch out for that when I get my replacement.

 

[The StabbinCabin]

Could have used that video 12 months ago... Fail. Paid 150 for $4 or parts. I'm going PCI for something reliable.

 

[NoSoup4you22]

Now my friend who was borrowing my DI box tells me his M-Audio interface is messed up.... Seems like a problem with the XLR on his. Any chance the incidents could be related to the DI? Sounds unlikely but I dunno.