Korg Forums

[Amplitude]

I have always loved Korg, I still remember using the Trinity, that organ sound has never left my head, and that was almost 30 years ago. Recently I purchased a new Korg Kronos 2 from Sweetwater, imagine my excitement. All was well until one night I turn on the Kronos and got the error of death: "System Failed to Start."

Now, I am a programmer and have a background in Electronics Engineering and so I was not scared, however the issue is, the Keyboard is less than 6 Months and should not have problems or require opening.
Why would I want to repair something that new?

Anyway, I contacted Sweetwater and explain the issue, I did not ask for a replacement and expected nothing in return, especially given the return Window has closed.

To my surprise, I received an email from Sweetwater offering to send me a new one and asked that I return the defective one. Imagine my excitement. So I got the new Kronos 2 same as before and when I started it, the same error appeared.
"System Failed To Start."

How is this even possible? I have nothing connected to the keyboard, only the power-cord. no USB connected.

Researching online, I see that this issue is prolific, and this is not an isolated issue. Is Korg quality control going down the hill? Or has it gone down already?

How is it that a company with so much rich history makes something like this?

The only explanation I can come up with is that these machines are over-engineered, they are doing things that are not supposed to be done by Keyboards.

Again, that's why we have dedicated (desktop/laptop) computers. My thought is that the more advance you make these devices, the more easily they are to malfunction.

Again, people talk about RAM and SSD and checking wires, this is all good if the Keyboard was about 10 years old, why would I start checking wires for something I just received.

Thanks!

[GregC]

Instead of jumping to Internet conclusion, lets get some data.

there are basic steps to follow:

Did you confirm you are receiving factory sealed A stock Kronos' ?

Did you look over the shipping box ? 1 drop of a Kronos will cause problems with connectivity
_________________
Kronos 88. MODX8
Achieve your musical dreams
https://soundcloud.com/user-898236994

[Amplitude]

[GregC]

I don't expect Internet reports to totally represent the " full picture'.

Its the numerator, and sometimes key details are nor presented.

My post to you was to head off and define the easy stuff, as in the beginning history of each Kronos . Sometimes the defect problem has a simple answer.
Thus my 2 questions to you.

FYI, no one here works for Korg. Its a user group. Thus we don't know the exact inner workings and defect rate of products, or whats up or down inside Korg. as it pertains to the Kronos product
_________________
Kronos 88. MODX8
Achieve your musical dreams
https://soundcloud.com/user-898236994

[Amplitude]

[GregC]

Lets focus on now . Triton/Trinity were much simpler than Kronos, etc.

lets backup on your experience.

Your first K2, you owned for 6 months. In month 6 , you experienced
"System Failed to Start." It worked, but 'sporadically'.

Is this accurate ? Depending on what is tolerable or the root cause, , it could be your data not hardware. I guess its not use full to re-analyze since you did the replacement.

You contacted SW for the 2nd K2.
Given what you report, on shipping box, I am not 100% confident a double box totally protects the K2, Especially this time if year, when shippers are stressed every which way. Thus I think you have bad luck on your second K2.
_________________
Kronos 88. MODX8
Achieve your musical dreams
https://soundcloud.com/user-898236994

[Sam CA]

I returned 2 of them with the same issue. Third time was the charm for me!
_________________
Sam

[GregC]

[Amplitude]

[Amplitude]

[GregC]

[Aripearlmusic]

If the 3rd one has that problem also then you can be sure that the shipping company is mishandling it. I'm willing to bet it is being caused by one of 2 things or both.

1. The korg disk (with the OS on it) may have a loose data cable or power connection.

2. Power supply is not fully connected to the motherboard.

With your background it shouldn't take long to verify and correct either one but it would still forfeit the warranty unless you are an authorized korg service technician.
_________________
Ari Pearl Music
@AriPearlMusic

[Amplitude]

[Hector Space]

I appreciate your pain. Last year I had a similar run with Kawai and their MP7SE ( first one faulty replacement was faulty too). In the end I gave up and bought an RD2000 much against my principles but it’s ok.

At the same time I bought a K2 61 (Jan 2019) which has been great, but it did exhibit the occasional failure to start (3 or 4 times) - always at the stage where the red line is nearly at the M for music workstation. I think that’s where it’s doing it’s OS file checks. Anyway I decided since it was very rare and random it would be pointless sending it back coz the dealer’s repair shop wouldn’t find the fault. (I had already spent hours recording and videoing the problems on the Kawai, because they where random and without evidence I didn’t feel Kawai would believe me)
So I’ve kept the K2 and gig with it regularly as my main board. Currently it hasn’t continued to produce the non start problem. It seems to have settled down and is doing an extremely good job.
Like you I’m an engineer- software and hardware, over the years I’ve been involved in the development of many turnkey industrial pc solutions. I don’t believe machines heal themselves so something else is going on here. My view is it’s either a dodgy connection or two or possibly some duff sectors on the ssd. Either way I don’t like skating on thin ice.

[Amplitude]

Just wanted to update this post with the latest info.
I sent an email to Korg over a week ago and have heard nothing back.

However, I was given the following response by the Tech at Sweetwater: