The title basically says what the issue is. My Juno 106 won’t save presets anymore. Memory protection is OFF. I hold down Write, then select the bank and preset number, and what happens is that all the LEDs on the front panel turn on, and there’s no sound coming from the Juno. If I hit Manual, then the synth makes sound again and it works as it should, except for the whole writing patches thing. The battery is new and measures 3.2V. EDIT: I can use an editor on my computer to send patches to the Juno, and it responds well to changes I make on the computer. This makes me wishfully think that the issue isn’t with the CPU.
The odd thing is that when I finished overhauling this synth, saving and recalling patches worked just fine. However, in the last couple of weeks I noticed that some patches weren’t recalling right. What this means is that for instance the LFO speed won’t load to what I saved, or the Resonance won’t be exactly what was saved, etc. It’s also possible that the save problem started around then, but I’m not sure.
Any idea what this could be? One thought I had is that the static RAM chip was dying and now is dead. But frankly, it’s just a guess. Would love to hear some ideas!
The two things that came to my mind were dirty memory switch or RAM chip.
A shot of DeOxit into the switch would be an easy starting point. The Level switch is identical, and those are commonly dirty enough to cause distorted or crackly sound, so maybe the Protect switch is likewise dirty. But honestly, I’m thinking it is a RAM issue.
Thanks, Sam. I’ve cleaned that switch before but gave it another small squirt of D5 and exercised it - no change. Also, when the protection is on, the display immediately shows the switch is on as soon as “Write” is pressed.
I need a couple of sliders from you guys, so I’ll throw in a RAM chip and see if that solves it.
I have a Juno-6, so no patch storage for me…but I wondered of the Juno-106 uses a battery backup? I saw your comments about RAM, but wouldn’t you sill need a battery to hold the memories? Just a thought. Might explain why saving was working for a while and then suddenly not.
The patches are stored on the RAM, but the RAM can’t function without a constant voltage, that’s where the battery comes in. The battery supplies the RAM so the patches aren’t erased every time the synth turn off. So you’re right, without proper voltage from the battery, the patches won’t save and load, but in my case the battery is fine.
I’m going to place an order from Syntaur soon for a new RAM chip and a couple of sliders, and then I’ll know for sure if it is indeed the RAM chip or something else!
Any idea if I should replace the CMOS RAM or the SRAM chip? It seems that they work in tandem, but I’m not sure what is the role the SRAM chip. Of course, I’d rather not pull out chips blindly if possible!