FR-4X issue with buttons not working

[JimDoz]

Hi all,
I live in Australia and have a Roland FR-4X which is approximately 3 years old.

The accordion was working perfectly. However, I was programming the sounds using a MacBook Pro with the Roland FR-4X Editor (this is the first time I have used an Apple device to program. I usually use a Windows 10 PC). The MacBook is running Ventura with all the latest updates. I have no other devic es connected.

After completion everything seemed to be normal. However, when I switched the FR-4X off and back on again, I found that I have lost the use of the UP arrow button and the PLUS button. I have also lost the use of the Number 1 and 6 Right-hand register buttons and the BASS&CHRD button.
(Please note that the DOWN arrow button and the MINUS button are working as are the other right-hand register buttons.) The same 2 register buttons don't work when I go to the 8-14 (shift mode).

I saved all my UPG sounds and tried switching off and on several times, but this didn't help. I can't do a factory reset as the menu button (UP arrow) button doesn't work and I can't move through the menu items. I have tried removing the battery and letting the accordion sit to see if it will reset, but it doesn't.

When I connect to the PC FR-4X editor I can select all USP sounds as normal and If I select Bank 7, for example, I can used the DOWN arrow button on the FR-4X to move down to bank 6, 5, 4 etc, but I can't move up as the UP arrow doesn't work. The same applies to the Plus and Minus arrow buttons. I can move down, but not up. The accordion seems to play normally but I can't reset.

I have noticed in the past that the UP arrow and PLUS buttons don't work the first time I press them, but they have always worked on a second or third attempt.

Now they don't.
I have been trying on and off for a several hours now and the fault is very predictable. Always the sames buttons not working.

Please assist if you can.

 

[JerryPH]

1 - I would be surprised that the MAC caused this in any way. I regularly program using a PC and Mac MINI M1 and it works fine in both, but I use an 8X. That said nothing is impossible, right?

2 - I'd reset the 4X completely back to factory settings. If everything returns back to normal, the issue was in the programming, not the 4X

3 - If this continues with factory settings, it is hardware related and time to reach out to a local Roland repair center. I would not suggest you pass it to anyone else.

4 - File corruption is a real thing, even an intermittant USB cable would be enough to cause an upload and corrupt the process, that is also a possibility.

5 - No mention of the source file was mentioned. Are you using sets/UPG's from someone else? Bad programming can often do more harm than good. I've seen one example where an external UPG was viewable, but NOT changeable and caused some strange things to happen.

Just some thoughts.

 

[JimDoz]

Thanks for your reply.
I can’t reset back to factory settings.
The buttons to go through the menus don’t work. I was hoping that there was another way to do a full reset, but I can’t find mention of it anywhere.
The programs I’m using are the ones that came with the 4X with some minor mods that I have made. Nothing out of the ordinary.
When I connect to the PC editor I can select and play all the sounds in all 7 UPG banks, but when I use the 4X I can only move down the banks because the Up arrow button doesn’t work.
It seems strange that the right hand register buttons 1 and 6 don’t work but the rest do. I’m wondering if there is a cable that’s come lose somewhere, but the fault is stable and does not change. Every time I switch on I have no up arrow button, no plus button, no BASS&CHRD button and registers 1& 6 don’t work. (8 & 13 don’t work either because they are the same buttons in B mode).
When using the editor to select sounds everything works normally. Pity I can’t do a factory reset from the editor.

 

[JerryPH]

Unfortunately it does sound like a physical defect at this point. Yes it could be a loose connector or it could just as easily be an IC board that needs to be changed, we cannot tell at this point.

 

[Ventura]

personally, i would connect it back to the windows 10 pc and reload
it with the last known good save you had

the problem started after using something new and making a change,
so reverse the process and eliminate that change which should be easy since
it is on a different device (the windows 10 pc)

 

[JimDoz]

Sorry for being a bit dense, but I’m not sure what you mean.
I have saved all the sets and user programs in the past and I can reload all the factory UPGs that were in it when I got it. However, I don’t have a system save of parameters. Do you just mean reload the original sets and UPGs or it there a way to save and recall the system and its parameter values?

 

[Ventura]

behind the lines, who knows what all the coding and handshaking and
default underlying settings may be.. it is possible that some software switches
and defaults are transmitted with your sets and user programs simply because
that is how they make sure things work when changes are made

since the Windows 10 system is the difference in this equation of
"a problem appeared today after i ....."

then of course i want to give it a chance to do it's thing..

the 4x worked properly after the last time you made changes hooked
up to the windows 10 setup.. repeat whatever you did that time, and
maybe you will luck out