help! bricked Linnstrument during firmware upgrade?

[saiteron]

hey all,

i recently bought a used Linnstrument and started using it; everything seemed fine for a bit, but after digging deeper into its features i noticed the Y axis wasn't responding on a small and seemingly random handful of columns. i performed a factory reset and still the issue persisted, so i tried calibrating it and the calibration confirmed that a few of the columns were indeed unresponsive. i figured the only thing left to do was to update the firmware or at least re-install the latest firmware, so i downloaded the updater and carefully followed the instructions to get it updating. the first portion seemed to work fine; however, after the update reached the point where the Linnstrument's lights went dark, the updater simply froze at the screen that said something like "Linnstrument has been prepared for the latest OS update".

i have actually updated the firmware on a Linnstrument before; i used to have the Linnstrument 128 before getting my hands on a full-size model and i never had any problems with the update process in the past. i even made sure to use the same USB port and cable for this update as i did last time around! after waiting for approximately 10 minutes with no change, i decided to quit the firmware updater and try again. still no luck. i'm currently stuck with my Linnstrument plugged in but all its lights stuck off, afraid to unplug it out of fear that i might brick it. it's completely unresponsive which has me already thinking i may have caused it irreversible damage (or at least done something to it that i can't undo without shipping it for repairs).

anyone have any advice? i'd really like to get this problem solved and get back to playing around with it and really hope i don't have to ship it out for repairs

[saiteron]

for clarification: Linnstrument is connected directly to my laptop, all other USB devices are disconnected and all other programs are closed. the 64-bit drivers were installed prior to the attempted update and the Linnstrument was confirmed recognized by my computer. all sequencer/preset settings were successfully retrieved from the Linnstrument by the updater prior to it getting stuck at "Linnstrument has been prepared for OS Update."

[Roger_Linn]

Sorry about the problem. saiteron. That can happen if LinnStrument is not getting the required current to stay awake, thought it's odd because you say it's connected directly to your computer with no other USB devices connected.

Regardless, usually the fix is to simply do the update again because even with the lights off, LinnStrument should have put itself into OS Update mode.

Once you get it working again, the Y-axis problem is likely due to one of the panel screws being too loose or too tight. For the columns that aren't providing correct Y-axis range, adjust the nearest panel screws above and below that column using this rule:

Loosen the screw, then while pressing with one hand on the top panel near the screw, turn the screwdriver clockwise with your other hand until the screw head is level with the top panel and you start to feel the increased resistance of the screw being fully seated in the hole. Then tighten an additional 1/4 turn only and no more. Then do the Calibration again.

FYI, this information can also be found on the LinnStrument FAQ page, Problems tab.

If the above doesn't help, email me at the normal support address. I'll be back from vacation this coming Monday, July 15th.

[saiteron]

awesome, thanks a ton for the quick and detailed response! I'll try this tomorrow and let you know if I can't get it resolved (& next time I'll read the problems tab a little more thoroughly before panicking )

[saiteron]

spot on with both issues. turns out the USB port i was using wasn't providing as much power as my other USB ports for some reason. after swapping ports i was able to perform the update successfully. i then checked all the screws around the perimeter of the play area and found that one was quite loose when compared with the others. tightening it did the trick! thanks again!

[Roger_Linn]

I’m happy to help!