MAJOR unison memory/power spike ?

[chrizEHS]

Our unison system crashed and evidently the programming was erased. It is possible a power spike of somekind ( it's completly unregulated power coming in to the system) caused the fatal error? I know it's not a 100 precent, but has anyone ever heard of this kind of problem? Many thanks Chris

[avkid]

We had a Colortran desk that used long life Lithium batteries to keep the hard drive preserved when unpowered. When the batteries died it dumped everything whenever it got turned off.

[SteveB]

Originally Posted by chrizEHS

Our unison system crashed and evidently the programming was erased. It is possible a power spike of somekind ( it's completly unregulated power coming in to the system) caused the fatal error? I know it's not a 100 precent, but has anyone ever heard of this kind of problem? Many thanks Chris

Did the LCD screen show an error message ?, Arch Failure ?. And what do you mean by "It's not 100 percent" ?.

Norrmally you have a backup floppy disc that you can do a re-load and all is well, provided nothing in the hardware of the ER4 is fried.

In any case, if the system is down, have you called ETC Tech Support ?.

SB

[chrizEHS]

I am soory I was not more exact, we tried the floppy back up and it failed to. WE called ETC scared sh*tles and they we suprised the back up floppy failed, but I also got some new information, it seems a couple of weeks ago the house lights dimmed and got brighter, I did not know this before, is it possible that was a power spike the fried main memory and the floppy as well? The ETC guy is going to have us try a diffirent floppy on Monday by email, and if that does not work it 250 air shipping to middleton I guess! (I did not tell my drama teacher that part SO what I was trying to say in original post is is it possible that power spike fried the unison?

[jmabray]

Short answer - Yes, it's just like any other computer. A power spike can fry any electronic part if there is no protection on it.

[SteveB]

If the data from the backup didn't restore the system, then I agree that the unit sounds fried. They will probably send you a new loaner ER4 processor to use while yours is getting fixed.

You then will need to re-load the backup disk. Hopefully, that will restore the settings and system. My ER4 had issues this past winter, with ETC sending a loaner. I simply loaded the .cfg from disk and was back in business.

In general, keep the floppy in the drive, but not loaded - I.E. partially inserted. This keeps the disk handy, but prevents accidental writing (you can also flip the tab window to prevent over-write). It also helps to keep a 2nd disk with the .cfg file as add'l backup. ETC even recommends e-mailing to Tech Support the .cfg file with the job number. This helps them trouble shoot.

SB

[jmabray]

The only drawback with leaving the disk like that is that, on occasion, it has been known to catch the back side of the door and prevent the entire door from opening.

[SteveB]

Originally Posted by jmabray

The only drawback with leaving the disk like that is that, on occasion, it has been known to catch the back side of the door and prevent the entire door from opening.

Yes, a good point pertaining to an ER4 mounted in a Unison dimmer enclosure. My ER4 is in a standard electronic rack.
SB