Vintage kit issue: Fostex DMT8 digital multitrack issue

[flicker66]

Hi

I wonder if anyone here can help? I've just bought a Fostex DMT8 multitrack recorder which, after powering-up, displays a "no disk" message. Now either the guy that sold it to me has removed the hard drive - why would you do that? - or there's some other issue but I'd appreciate any advice or insight into this issue. I've contacted Fostex's UK distributor for tech advice and dropped the seller a line
but I'm stumped! It looks like a basic but useful beast but it's not happening right now and I want to know why!

Cheers
Al

[muzines]

Do you hear the hard drive spinning? If yes, but it's not recognised, that would indicate it's not working for some reason (even some thing like the cable being jogged loose in transport.

If you can't hear a drive at all, then it's either dead/unpowered, or not there. You could try opening it up and taking a looksee...

[flicker66]

Cheers. I can't hear anything from the recorder when I power it up. I did plug some cans in earlier and ran a signal into two of the channels but, whilst there's a power hum, nothing came through.

I've just opened it up and there's definitely a hard drive there - a Fujitsu MPG3204AT - which has a date on it of May 2001. The drive has its cables attached and nothing appears to be loose. Am I to conclude the drive's dead? I did power it up after checking it all over and am still getting the 'no disk' message.

[TheReson8or]

Hi, look in the manual and try a factory reset or summat similar! This may just get everything talking.Also look on the fostex website for firmware updates.dave

[flicker66]

Cheers. I'll try that. The Fostex website is a model of corporate efficiency but has very little content with regard to 'archive products' as it tactfully calls them. If there are any DMT-8 owners out there who've experienced similar issues, please post here or drop me a PM.

Cheers
Al

[James Perrett]

Fostex used to host a very useful forum but it closed recently. There is a user supported replacement here.

[flicker66]

Thanks very much. I contacted Fostex's UK distributor/tech support outfit today and they quoted me just under £90 for a new drive plus £60 labour charge which is probably more than the thing's worth! I shall review my options.

[muzines]

Ah, just pick up a cheap drive off ebay and do it yourself. I'm sure it can be that hard to swap out a drive in those things - power cable, data cable and mountings is all it takes...

[flicker66]

Cheers but I'm not really technically-minded enough to undertake that sort of work and I wouldn't know what drive was compatible with the old beast.

[muzines]

It's just a standard IDE drive. I'm sure it's a case of opening the DMT8 up, unplugging the power and data cables, removing the drive, putting the replacement drive in, replugging the power and data cables, and probably formatting the drive from the DMT8 once complete.

It really shouldn't be hard, but if you don't want to tackle it, then you'll need to go the pay-route and get it serviced.

[flicker66]

Indeed. If the seller agrees to refund what I've paid him, I will consider getting it repaired. I might also consider cutting my losses and buying something that's fully working! Thanks for your help.

[Stan]

From the SOS archives - It is a Quantum IDE drive. A 540 Megabyte beastie, giving you 12 mins of recording time. Not a lot!
HERE is a link you might find interesting.

[flicker66]

Thanks. I came across that page the other day when searching for info on it and mailed the guy who undertook that work. He replied with a few useful things to try but I heard from the seller yesterday. He told me it was working well when he packed it up for its journey to me and must've become damaged in transit. He's refunding me my total outlay and collecting it from me next week. Thanks for everyone's advice and assistance.

[2084]

Are we actually able to use the DMT-8 without any hard drive ?

Does the analog inputs & outputs are usable ?

[Hugh Robjohns]

Welcome to the SOs forums.

I can see why you appended your query to this very old thread... but in general it's probably best to start a new thread as re-visiting archive threads is a common spamming tactic and it immediately sows doubt about your intentions...

Anyway, I'm afraid I can't for certain say whether the DMT-8 will work happily without a drive attached, but I would expect it to allow you to access the I/O.

H

[paul tha other]

hi there..ive owned a few of those fostex machines in my time.....you might run into a few problems with the hard drive for them..

the main problem being/......

if you dont have the most upto date operating system in it you are going to be limited to 4 gig drives..thats gonna be a problem because i dont think you can buy 4 gig drives these days..also i think the speed of the drive is important...

it deff sounds like either a. the drive is a goner or 2 the guy that sold you it just put a old 80 gig drive in it that dosnt meet the spec of the dmt8 therefore wont "mount " in the machine