Roland Forums

this is my first post, hello everyone.

I have purchased a 512MB DIMM board to expand the sample memory of my Fantom Xa, but have encountered some problems.


the system information tells me that the sample memory is actually 1024MB, so does the screen when you press 'sampling'. Therefore, when I try to save any samples, I am told that 'sample memory is full'


Could anyone suggest why this is so?

Could it be that I've been sent the wrong board?
Do I need to change any settings on the Fantom?

I would like to try and fix this before I try returning the RAM


Thanks, I hope to hear something soon

Hi Anth77,

This also my first post so hello to you too !!

Ironically, I also have exactly the same symptoms & problems with my Juno G and a new 512Mb DIMM (ie. showing 1Gb memory, then displaying 'Sample memory full' msg).
Another side effect was that the audio Mix Down feature never 'completed' properly, and did not actually allow me to 'Assign' or save the audio track afterwards.

After removing the new DIMM, normal functionality was resumed.

I have scanned the internet to compare specs of DIMM boards (high Density vs Low Density) etc, and there seems to be no Roland documentation specifying anything other than:

DIMM Memory Expansion:
Type: SDRAM DIMM, Unbuffered
Slots: 1
Number of pins: 168-pin
Speed: 100 MHz (PC100 CL=2) 133 MHz (PC133 CL=3)
Voltage: 3.3 V
Capacity: 64/128/256/512 MB
Maximum Size: 512MB
Board height: 38 mm or less

Which is exactly the spec of DIMM purchased. The spec above (from the Roland docs) doesn't specify high / low desnsity or any brand preferences.

I was going to return the new DIMM and try another, but it would be great to get some feedback from Roland before going back to the retailer and going round this loop again.

Out of interest, have you had any feedback yet ?

Any help from anyone else on this forum would also be greatly appreciated.

Thanks everyone.

Hi,

I spoke with someone at Roland Support today about these memory problems and, basically, they said that they only recommended Crucial memory for the Juno / Fantom, and that there are many subtle variances between manufacturers (not massively helpful!).

The Crucial product can be found at :

http://www.crucial.com/uk/store/partspecs.aspx?IMODULE=CT64M64S4D7E

The chap at Roland mentioned that I should call Crucial to discuss the exact spec of the memory chip - so I did.

It turns out that the Crucial memory chip is a Low Density chip. Unfortunately, the chip I purchased is a high density and might well be the reason for the problems.

Crucial were great on the phone, but unfortunately I had purchased my DIMM chip elsewhere, so I'm hoping to swap it out for an upgrade.

I'll let you know if the low density chip works. Doe please post back any findings you may have had on the subject.

Cheers.

Anth77 - 12 May 2009 03:17 PM

this is my first post, hello everyone.

I have purchased a 512MB DIMM board to expand the sample memory of my Fantom Xa, but have encountered some problems.


the system information tells me that the sample memory is actually 1024MB, so does the screen when you press 'sampling'. Therefore, when I try to save any samples, I am told that 'sample memory is full'


Could anyone suggest why this is so?

Could it be that I've been sent the wrong board?
Do I need to change any settings on the Fantom?

I would like to try and fix this before I try returning the RAM


Thanks, I hope to hear something soon

All though Roland only recommend using 512mb i think that you will find that 1024 works just fine and your mistake is that you have not realised that dimm bars are volatile and cannot actually save samples that exceed the factory installed memory and when you have switched the unit of they will all be lost.
The dimm is simply a useful tool to load samples into whilst you work and to record your finished work onto before they are dumped into your pc card in order to be saved.
If i am wrong let me know as i also have the same problem as you and always thought that the ram was volatile and could not be saved to.
Hope this helps

Anth77 - 12 May 2009 03:17 PM

this is my first post, hello everyone.

I have purchased a 512MB DIMM board to expand the sample memory of my Fantom Xa, but have encountered some problems.


the system information tells me that the sample memory is actually 1024MB, so does the screen when you press 'sampling'. Therefore, when I try to save any samples, I am told that 'sample memory is full'


Could anyone suggest why this is so?

Could it be that I've been sent the wrong board?
Do I need to change any settings on the Fantom?

I would like to try and fix this before I try returning the RAM


Thanks, I hope to hear something soon

Hi Auth,
I had exactly the same problem with my Juno G. The problem was caused by using HIGH DENSITY Dimm modules rather than LOW DENSITY. Roland don't specify this anywhere in there documentation, but there's another thread on these forums stating the same problems for Fantoms as well as Junos.

The details along with some vendors of Low density modules (for under £20, rather than Crucial's £50) can be found Here (http://www.rolandforums.co.uk/forums/viewthread/202/)



Hope that helps,

Craig