Dead M3 Module

[Mezzopiano]

Hi

A friend gave me his M3 Module to try and bring it back to life.

Looks like he turned it off while it was upgrading it (damn!) and now it is bricked. I've spent little time with it and couldnt do anything, yet.

The screen turns on but remains black (but you can see it is turned on) and no text shows, nothing. Ive tried going into USB storage mode, to try and transfer some files i found online to bring it back to life, but this is not working either, as holding the respective buttons does nothing, and the module is not recognized on the PC.

Does anyone know what can be done?

[voip]

Which version of the M3 is it? Is it the expanded version?

Is there an identical working M3 module to hand? If so, it might be possible to copy files from a working module's internal SD card to a new SD card.

Here is a thread of a similar issue, but with no guarantee of a fix:

http://www.korgforums.com/forum/phpBB2/ ... p?t=104920 It gives a link to an old Korg support page:

http://i.korg.com/SupportPage.aspx?productid=280

Most of the OS upgrades linked to in the above are only small files that seem to fix bugs. The only file that is of reasonable size, and therefore likely to contain most, if not all of the files for the OS is one called M3XP_V200.zip, but the link to it is broken, and it is for the Expanded M3 only. The zip file itself is around 260MB, and seems to be available here:

https://www.korg.com/us/support/downloa ... /140/2638/

A bit more info here:

http://karma-lab.wikidot.com/korg-m3:up ... r-firmware

https://forums.karma-lab.com/forum/show ... 04&page=14


.

[Mezzopiano]

I dont remember what version it is, but i think i can get my hands around another M3 module

I would give this a try, thanks!

[Jokeyman123]

If you can transfer the files from the version 2.00 download posted here onto the internal SD card, it may boot up and work again. Might be worth checking anyway-there might not even be an internal SD card, depending on the condition you recieved it, the prior owner might have removed it (silly to do so) or the card in there could be corrupt-this would stop the M3 from booting up, it needs that card, and you only need a 2GB SD card.

It is very easy to open the M3, find and remove the SD card. You willof course have to copy all the files from this download onto the card with an SD card reader connected or built into your computer. It does not matter if this is the expanded version of the M3 software you are installing. What makes an expanded M3 is the new operating system if i am not mistaken-as it will install many new programs and banks. The only limitation-you will want to 'expand" the internal SIMM memory chip-256MB because then you can load all the additional new banks and combis in the expanded memory and always be able to boot up with all of that-and its worth it. an extra expanded group of acoustic pianos and dozens of brass killer programs plus a bunch of improved functions using the touchscreen.

Added...I just checked these links above-I did not find the actual files I have on my SD card that are required to get the M3 to boot. If you cannot find these factory OS files, I will post the contents of my SD card on Google drive, and post as a "shared" group of files. Possibly someone here who has been around longer than me on this group might have these files already.

[Mezzopiano]

If you can transfer the files from the version 2.00 download posted here onto the internal SD card, it may boot up and work again. Might be worth checking anyway-there might not even be an internal SD card, depending on the condition you recieved it, the prior owner might have removed it (silly to do so) or the card in there could be corrupt-this would stop the M3 from booting up, it needs that card, and you only need a 2GB SD card.

It is very easy to open the M3, find and remove the SD card. You willof course have to copy all the files from this download onto the card with an SD card reader connected or built into your computer. It does not matter if this is the expanded version of the M3 software you are installing. What makes an expanded M3 is the new operating system if i am not mistaken-as it will install many new programs and banks. The only limitation-you will want to 'expand" the internal SIMM memory chip-256MB because then you can load all the additional new banks and combis in the expanded memory and always be able to boot up with all of that-and its worth it. an extra expanded group of acoustic pianos and dozens of brass killer programs plus a bunch of improved functions using the touchscreen.

Added...I just checked these links above-I did not find the actual files I have on my SD card that are required to get the M3 to boot. If you cannot find these factory OS files, I will post the contents of my SD card on Google drive, and post as a "shared" group of files. Possibly someone here who has been around longer than me on this group might have these files already.

Hi, thanks for the response, and the perfect timing

I was planning to resume this M3 revival journey this week, as i havent had any luck so far with what voip suggested.

The M3M is already open and the card removed, just waiting for some inspiration and luck. Already reinstalled the files in the SD using another M3 (a working one) but that did not make any change, M3 still does not boot. So if you think that replacing the files but this time with the ones from ver 2.0 will work ill gladly try it

[Mezzopiano]

Update

Ive tried several M3 SD contents and SO versions with different SD cards but the module remains dead, not a single light turns on, just a black (more like washed black) screen, also tried installing a working SD from another M3, but nothing

I am losing hope that this M3 can be revived. Even the "os 1.2 restore" that Stephen Kay posted for when a unit bricks didnt work.

[voip]

Sorry to hear that the M3 module has not reponded to anything that's been tried to revive it.

It could be that the boot NOR Flash memory on the KLM-2642 board has become corrupted during the original OS upgrade, as a result of the unfortunate timing of the powering off of the board during the upgrade.

There don't seem to be any useful web resources for re flashing the boot memory device.

Clutching at straws really but, if the module has already been opened, it might be worth looking at the suggestion offered here:

https://www.haxorhax.com/m3-boot-fix/

.

[Mezzopiano]

Sorry to hear that the M3 module has not reponded to anything that's been tried to revive it.

It could be that the boot NOR Flash memory on the KLM-2642 board has become corrupted during the original OS upgrade, as a result of the unfortunate timing of the powering off of the board during the upgrade.

There don't seem to be any useful web resources for re flashing the boot memory device.

Clutching at straws really but, if the module has already been opened, it might be worth looking at the suggestion offered here:

https://www.haxorhax.com/m3-boot-fix/

.

Might be worth to check it out, thanks!

[Dan Stesco]

Please write me a mail contact@danstesco.ro
I will help to recover it.

[Mezzopiano]

Please write me a mail contact@danstesco.ro
I will help to recover it.

Ive just sent you an email

Thanks Dan!