Flashing Question mark & Asterisk in D8B display

[OscarPro1]

Hi everyone...
Firstly may I wish you all a smooth, peaceful and festive period as the year comes to a close.

Today Ive had an irritating issue with one of my D8Bs and have thus far been unable resolve. Any insight from the wise and experienced will be greatly appreciated.
Saddle after a long spell of smooth unhindered use the board boots as normal, recognizes all the cards (2xMFX and 2xUFX),
but when the booting process completes there is a flashing "?" and asterisk in the right hand corner of the D8B display. In the plugins section I can see the cards and Plugins on drop down menus, but when I try to apply an FX on any of the UFX cards it's returns a #74 plugin comunication error message. The MFX cards are fine and their plugins load ok. Thus far this is what I've done to try and resolve:
I've installed a fresh version of 5.1 after a HD format and re-installed the service pack 3 for the FX plugins. I've alternated card slots, inserting one UFX card at a time to eliminate a faulty card issue, but both cards give me the same result and still I receive the error message as above. I've also erased the data on the UFX cards via the GUI, but the ? and asterisk still appear flashing in the corner after boot.

I hope you can help me with this brainer, it's driving me up the wall. not good for a pre Christmas prep! -:((

[bbb]

The D8b is not receiving a valid clock signal. Check your clock settings/card.

Also read this and the other Word Clock related posts in the d8b Database:
http://www.sonido-7.com/d8b/maintenance.html#Post9

Good luck!

Bruce Brody

[OscarPro1]

Bruce..yes, thanks for that.
I tried re-seating the Apogee word clock and setting the clock to internal as it was before. After boot the console locks and no buttons are usable. The master fader locks up to. Word clock setting freezes and remains on "Testing". It won't allow me to choose between internal or wordclock.
I'm thinking of going in and checking the connectors. Any suggestions?

[Crash]

Is the console connected to anything else in regards to the clock card?

[OscarPro1]

Hey Crash...

Yes..it's connected via BNC to a lightbridge profire. That's set to wordclock. I boot the d8b first and then power up the interface. In the digital setup page of the d8b it reverts to "Lock Error" when I switch to 44.1. Sometimes it locks. It seems to stablelise on 48. There is also no Audio at all from the d8b.

[Crash]

You said in your original thread that you were having trouble with one of your d8b's... does this mean you have a second d8b that you might be able to switch clock cards with to see if the issue may be the card?

[OscarPro1]

Yes, that's correct Crash...I swapped the clocks last night but it turned out that the clocks were fine. The colprit was lurking inside the D8B! Yes.. you guessed it...the damned ribbon issue these consoles are plagued with. I spent the better part of today in surgery with the D8B. I unplugged every cable I could get to and meticulously cleaned the connections both ends with contact cleaner, making sure that they were vented well before reconnecting. I even tapped down the sides of the large white ribbon connectors to make sure that the wires are snugged tightly to the pins on them. I pulled every card and did the same with the connections, even as far as cleaning the case end where the cards reside.
A few sore fingers an two hours later I assembled the patient and powered up. I think she liked the service and attention, because she came back to life all guns blazing.
Truth be said Crash, I ordered a tube of Dow Cornings 739 from an online company here in the UK called Silmid, based on a thread you covered a while back, and when that arrives I'm going in again to batten down this large ribbon connections, in the hope that it will be a more permenant resolution to this weakness these amazing consoles have. Man...what a shame..
I was thinking, whilst I was deep into the heart of ribbon pulling that there must be a better way to induce a clean permanent connection to these large white connectors. I thought maybe a fine soldering touch to each individual wire on the connector..just a thought
Thanks to all for your input, especially you Crash..you always seem to be there when needed... A credit to this much needed forum.

[Crash]

Ah yes, the beauty of the smart phone and too much time on my hands. Glad you got it sorted. There are a lot of wicked smart folks on here, I gotta give ya that.

[djrezinfingerz]

HI, I have the " *? " issue aswell with my new purchase, what i thought was a working d8b, it was in mint condition visially with all boxes manual etc. I am trying to get sound out of the machine but I have had no success, I get no input no meters only talkback, thru phones. everything else faders pot displays work.

Will i have to go in for surgery aswell or is there a deeper underlining issue.

[OscarPro1]

What clock card do you have installed? Is it the standard mackie word clock card or the Apogee. If it's the apogee and after deciding what word clock device I will serve as a master, check the word clock settings in the setup page under "Digital I/O" and make sure that the world clock is locking to the sample rate you have chosen to use. Also make sure that your audio interface is set to match that rate and Master or Slave setting. (I have set my D8B to internal (Master) and any other clock devices to external.
If the settings in your Digital I/O return with the "Error" message under the clock after selecting a sample rate, try removing the word clock card from the back of your D8B and firmly replacing it again. In any case make sure that your clock cabling is absolutely correct and working in the right directions.
Hope this helps for now! If not I'm sure the forum members will make further suggestions for you to try and resolve this issue. Let us know how you get on

Andy