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Upgrading RAM, SSD and fans on Kronos 2?

 
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pax-eterna.1
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PostPosted: Thu Dec 02, 2021 12:23 am    Post subject: Upgrading RAM, SSD and fans on Kronos 2? Reply with quote

I recall back in the day, a lot of users upgraded the K1, with more ram sticks, upgraded processor and MOBO's - as well as adding a second or bigger SSD.

Can it still be done on the K2?
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KK
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PostPosted: Thu Dec 02, 2021 12:46 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Second or bigger SSD = easy
More ram sticks = easy
Upgraded processor and MOBO = there would be next to zero advantage, but lots of unnecessary risks and problems.
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pax-eterna.1
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PostPosted: Thu Dec 02, 2021 1:22 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

ok, cool thx...I'll just stick with RAM and SSD's..

Is there a tutorial or simiar somewhere you could link me to please?

I am pretty au faix with doing this sort of stuff, more interested in any "gotchas" with dis-assembly.
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KK
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PostPosted: Thu Dec 02, 2021 3:55 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

About SSDs, you have the choice to add a second one for lots of extra GBs (very easy) and/or install a bigger one to replace the existing one (which is rather small even in the K2). This is a bit more complicated as you have to clone the old small SSD, extend partitions on the new booting one, etc. About this, my K2 boots on a 250 GB Samsung EVO since a 2,5 years, it's very reliable with zero problems. In short, for a second SSD you simply need an extra cable with two right angle connectors (cable length depends on your Kronos model). If you go the cloning route, there is also one correct procedure somewhere here I could find back for you, that's the one I followed back then.

About adding RAM, you have to find compatible sticks which can be tricky as their type is beginning to be rather obsolete. Other people here did it successfully on their K1 or KX so they might chime in here to tell you the particular compatible RAM stick they bought.
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voip
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PostPosted: Thu Dec 02, 2021 11:19 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

From the Kronos X onwards, the RAM is maxed out at 4GB, of which 3GB is available to use, with around 2GB available for samples, so there is no point in trying to increase it.

.
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pax-eterna.1
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PostPosted: Thu Dec 02, 2021 4:31 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

voip wrote:
From the Kronos X onwards, the RAM is maxed out at 4GB, of which 3GB is available to use, with around 2GB available for samples, so there is no point in trying to increase it.

.


So you are saying the OS is actually specifically written to ONLY address 4 gig of RAM? I do find that difficult to understand. Even the K1 could address 8 gig. More RAM simply means less "cramming" and the RAM actually runs more efficiently.
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pax-eterna.1
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PostPosted: Thu Dec 02, 2021 4:33 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

KK wrote:
About SSDs, you have the choice to add a second one for lots of extra GBs (very easy) and/or install a bigger one to replace the existing one (which is rather small even in the K2). This is a bit more complicated as you have to clone the old small SSD, extend partitions on the new booting one, etc. About this, my K2 boots on a 250 GB Samsung EVO since a 2,5 years, it's very reliable with zero problems. In short, for a second SSD you simply need an extra cable with two right angle connectors (cable length depends on your Kronos model). If you go the cloning route, there is also one correct procedure somewhere here I could find back for you, that's the one I followed back then.

About adding RAM, you have to find compatible sticks which can be tricky as their type is beginning to be rather obsolete. Other people here did it successfully on their K1 or KX so they might chime in here to tell you the particular compatible RAM stick they bought.



Thanks - that would be greatly appreciated if you could perhaps post some links I could follow...I mean I could do it cold, it's pretty much just PC software running on Linux, but as I wrote sometimes with this stuff there are little "gotchas" when dis-assembling gear Smile
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KK
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PostPosted: Thu Dec 02, 2021 11:46 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

pax-eterna.1 wrote:
I do find that difficult to understand. Even the K1 could address 8 gig. More RAM simply means less "cramming" and the RAM actually runs more efficiently.

No Kronos ever had 8 GB of usable RAM. Also, voip is right in that it's pointless to try to add more than 4 GB. The Kronos system is 32 bits, so any extra physical RAM won't be used anyway and the practical free memory limit will stay at approx 1960 MB regardless. I was assuming you had an old Kronos and wanted to max it at 4 GB.
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pax-eterna.1
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PostPosted: Fri Dec 03, 2021 12:24 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

ahh ok thanks, my bad. for some reason I thought the 2 had upgraded to 64bit.

No probs Smile
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SeedyLee
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PostPosted: Sat Dec 04, 2021 6:40 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Most of the Kronos software runs in kernel space, and it’s a 32-bit kernel, so addrsssing more than 4GB of RAM is likely to be problematic, even with PAE.

It is possible to upgrade the motherboard to achieve higher polyphony, but it is not for the faint of heart. In particular, you will at a minimum need to recompile the kernel, or suitable kernel modules, for any hardware differences. To do this you also need to circumvent the Kronos encryption and copy protection.

I would also be hesitant to upgrade or change the fan. The Winbond kernel module responsible for fan control doesn’t expose the complete set of IO controls, so you can’t change the pulse width frequency from user space. This means many fans will either be noisier or may not run properly at all.
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pax-eterna.1
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PostPosted: Sat Dec 04, 2021 10:36 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

^^^, thanks good to know. I think I will abandon this anyway. K1 was far easier to upgrade.
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