when buying a used profile system

[xcx]

hi!

what do i need to check? it would be great if you guys could share your experiances. especially with components that fail after time.

my concerns are that the system might got a little too hot in the foh rack... does anyone know how to check for possible overheat issues i the past? signs on the main board/cpu ect...

is it possible to replace the cpu for instance if necessary? i mean after all it is "just" a regular pc unit inside.

just to let you know, i know my way around in avid desks and wont damage anything when opening it.

thanks for sharing!

[Kristo Kotkas]

Originally Posted by xcx

hi!

what do i need to check? it would be great if you guys could share your experiances. especially with components that fail after time.

my concerns are that the system might got a little too hot in the foh rack... does anyone know how to check for possible overheat issues i the past? signs on the main board/cpu ect...

is it possible to replace the cpu for instance if necessary? i mean after all it is "just" a regular pc unit inside.

just to let you know, i know my way around in avid desks and wont damage anything when opening it.

thanks for sharing!

I have sent you an PM about a nice Profile system I have for sale.

But in general, faders are the parts that get the most use, so after time some if not all will need to get changed. Desks that have toured might have faders turning bad more quickly as they see more dust and dirt than desks that have been in fixed installations.

Also be noted that plugins that come with the desk are most likely registered in the name of the original owner and if you don't get them transferred on to your name you might get in trouble at some point, for example when the ilok key gets lost or damaged.

What comes to the computer then all the typical precautions with any computers apply and sometimes cleaning the system and re-seating of memory or DSP cards is needed. I have seen more problems with SC48's than with Profiles to be honest.

[Brent Lind]

Originally Posted by xcx

hi!

what do i need to check? it would be great if you guys could share your experiances. especially with components that fail after time.

my concerns are that the system might got a little too hot in the foh rack... does anyone know how to check for possible overheat issues i the past? signs on the main board/cpu ect...

is it possible to replace the cpu for instance if necessary? i mean after all it is "just" a regular pc unit inside.

just to let you know, i know my way around in avid desks and wont damage anything when opening it.

thanks for sharing!

I recommend reseating all DSP and RAM immediately. Then run Digitest which will test your DSP chips. The desk will tell you any fan problems as well as provide detailed logs on voltages and fan temps. Take a good look at all that info.

As a touring guy, I've actually had many more problems with cards unseating and DSP chips going bad than faders, but faders do also require cleaning and occasionally replacement. Needless to say, you should also run fader calibrations.

The motherboard can be replaced, but is OEM and you will have to buy it from Avid. Its over a grand, and a birdy told me its actually cheaper to buy the entire lower section of the local rack chassis. Be aware its more complicated than you'd think as some of the hardware has addresses encoded and makes deep parts swapping a little complex.

Another thing to look for is your link cable - any problems there will cause all manner of strange behaviours.

Resist the temptation to do any 'upgrades' like RAM or SSD. SSD will not work without considerable effort and RAM is unlikely to gain you much.

Also, a little known bug if you use MIDI is that any midi signal incoming to the desk will halt the boot process, so devices that issue any kind of a heartbeat signal should be disconnected until booted.

Regarding heat - I've left a profile running on the mainstage at Bonnaroo all day without error. If it can survive that, those fans must work pretty well.

[brinnbacka]

- dsp and ram clean up & reseat
- buy a spare motherboard
- buy spare hard drives
- power supply cables check
- internal iLok connector clean up and fix it so it won't move
- FOH link connector check on both ends, but especially at the console

[xcx]

thank you all!

did anyone actually had experiances with broken mainboards?

[Brent Lind]

Originally Posted by xcx

thank you all!

did anyone actually had experiances with broken mainboards?

Twice so far. Couldn't tell you the diagnosis but in one case it kept switching me to "safe mode" mid show and throwing errors. Vendor told me later it was "corrupted". More recently I had desk just randomly throwing me a lot of Windows error messages and between the tours the shop went through it and ended up replacing the motherboard.

[xcx]

acutally pretty impressive that the show was not interrupted by a broken motherboard

[Valentyn]

Originally Posted by xcx

acutally pretty impressive that the show was not interrupted by a broken motherboard

That's one of the advantages of a system you want to buy If main system (Windows OS + VENUE SW) goes offline, DSP cards take control of the mix, talking directly to control surface and thus providing a limited mix control.

[Brent Lind]

Originally Posted by xcx

acutally pretty impressive that the show was not interrupted by a broken motherboard

I agree. I should add that in both cases these were touring rental desks, which obviously take a lot more abuse than an install.