Yamaha Electric Piano CLP550 no keyboard output

[TabajaraLabs]

Re: Yamaha Electric Piano CLP550 no keyboard output

I gave up on the beast and have stored it under my house and advertised it for parts on E-Bay. But I'd happily send the ROMs to someone like STJ to see if the code is corrupt or otherwise.
I've seen a working CLP-550 advertised on E-Bay in Sydney for A$300. Hardly worth the worry of trying to repair this old beast if I really wanted to; should just buy this one and swap it for the buggered machine and charge it to the client who asked to see if I could fix the original!
Anyway, if STJ or someone wants those ROMs to at least download the code and make it available up in the cloud for anyone else that wants to burn new chips, than I'll send them overseas to wherever.
In many ways I'd like to find out if it really is the ROMs that are to blame for the failure. I suspect not, but what has failed has got me mystified.

Would you please take the measures of your CLP550 stand? I got my clavinova without the stand - the wood disintegrated, but I still have all the metal/plastic parts and the pedals. I have the service manual, and I can reconstruct the wood parts, but it would be great if I had the original measurements. Unfortunately I'm not able to spot another Clavinova here in Brazil.

Also, if you could read your ROMs, it would be great. Even if you need to send them to Brazil, I'd pay postage (althought it would be better if someone with a working clavinova could send them to someone who could read it)

Thanks!

[TabajaraLabs]

Re: Yamaha Electric Piano CLP550 no keyboard output

BTW, could someone please measure the size of the wood plates used to build the Clavinova CLP525 stand?

Mine doesn't have the stand. I have all the parts but the wood. I can cut, drill and paint/stain/warnish anything here, but it would be way easier with the measurements Thanks in advance!

There are 4 wood pieces, just need width, height and thickness. The base plate (with the pedals) is an inverted "U". Please measure what you can, and I'll be SO happy. If someone can measure AT LEAST one of the side plates (width/height/thickness) I could calculate the rest.

[dkneyle]

Re: Yamaha Electric Piano CLP550 no keyboard output

I sent the three ROMs to TabajaLabs in Brazil. Our friend in Brazil reports that ROM 1 is fried. He's having some challenges in reading ROMs 2 & 3. Will keep this thread updated to help others. If we can get clean reads of the ROMs we will post the code.

[TabajaraLabs]

Re: Yamaha Electric Piano CLP550 no keyboard output

The 3 ROMs are broken. I'm opening my clavinova right now to extract my roms, and test them. News soon!

[TabajaraLabs]

Re: Yamaha Electric Piano CLP550 no keyboard output

Good (?) news from the front

I opened my Clavinova and saw an interesting picture: One of my ROMs is a EPROM and it is from the CLP570 (!). I don't know how correct it is, since mine doesn't work. But at least, there are good (?) news: Two of my three ROMs are working.

There are 3 ROMs on Clavinova Board, from left to right, when you open the top lid:
XE854A0 "A.BIN"
XE844B0 "B.BIN"
XE834A0 "C".bin"

On the ROMs I got from Dkneyle, All of them were fried. One had no contact on GND pin, other had some 4 or 5 disconnected pins internally, other was completely dead.

On my ROMs, the first ROM got pins 2 and 31 (on the same row...hmmm...) disconnected. I even sanded the chip up to the silicon die to try to find a rupture, with no success. The other two ROMs are imaged, and here is the file. Of course, there is no "A.BIN" since mine and dkneyle's are broken.

Hope someone with a Clavinova CLP550 (or 570? Who knows?!) can find the first ROM working and imaging them to us. Seems a fix for the Clavinova Noise Syndrome

Hope that helps a bit. All hail Dkneyle for shipping me his ROMs free of charge.

[TabajaraLabs]

Re: Yamaha Electric Piano CLP550 no keyboard output

Just one more tip:
The amplifier of my Clavinova stopped. I must have disconnected something I'm not seeing tonight. I'll give a look tomorrow.
With headphones, and without the broken ROM, I can still hear the "wooooooooossssssshhhh" that sits in place of silence. BUT if I play something that not the Piano 1, I can hear the sounds, missing SOMETHING.
So, it SEEMS the first rom completes the sample and the piano will play again

[TabajaraLabs]

Re: Yamaha Electric Piano CLP550 no keyboard output

No news?

[dkneyle]

Re: Yamaha Electric Piano CLP550 no keyboard output

By the way, Yamaha told me the CLP570 shares the same mainboard. It looks like sometime a ROM has been replaced on your mainboard. Which suggests they are notorious for failing.

[Pier52]

Re: Yamaha Electric Piano CLP550 no keyboard output

Hello everyone I too have a clp 550 defective with distorsion.
I measured the signal bus going IC12 , the four input signals are ok (SYW, 0G, S00, S01) but does not come out the serial signal on pin 27. I tried it to cool and heat this integrated and in fact made some noise and then remains mute. I do not know if the INPUT serial signal is correct (ROM?). Someone can make measurements on ic 12 on a piano that works?
Thank you
Pier

[Pier52]

Re: Yamaha Electric Piano CLP550 no keyboard output

With reverb OFF just lit makes some very strong shocks when playing, then the sound disappears. While with the ON reverb there is the non-distorted sound but very low, the signal is very low as a 1 watt amplifier.
Does anyone know if it depends on 3 rom memories?

[Pier52]

Re: Yamaha Electric Piano CLP550 no keyboard output

In the end, I bought an expander EMT 10 connected to the Midi and the Clavinova's audio input.

[dkneyle]

Re: Yamaha Electric Piano CLP550 no keyboard output

Given that you have bypassed the ROMs would you be prepared to sell us your ROMs so we can at least try to get ours going again? If we are successful we will post the ROM codes or burn new ROMs for you and you will have your original functionality back again?

[Pier52]

Re: Yamaha Electric Piano CLP550 no keyboard output

I tried the rom with a programmer: are failed. sorry not to be able to help.
Pier

[dkneyle]

Re: Yamaha Electric Piano CLP550 no keyboard output

To bring to a conclusion, it appears these old Clavinovas have a history of failed ROMs, which Yamaha techs appear to be quite aware of the long-term problem. We were unable to recover the code for one of the three ROMs. The cost of new ROMs from Yamaha is uneconomical. The MIDI sections continue to work OK and therefore it is still usable as a keyboard input to a synth. I donated my Clavinova to a group of synth enthusiasts who are building modular kits that are out there and available. Looks like the old days of Rick Wakeman and walls of circuits and banana leads interconnecting all the modules of his Moog Synthesiser.

[TabajaraLabs]

Re: Yamaha Electric Piano CLP550 no keyboard output

I still keep waiting for the ROMs. While they don't show up, I use the clavinova as a controller..

[robbak]

Re: Yamaha Electric Piano CLP550 no keyboard output

How is this project going? I have a Clavinova CLP-550 that is operational, with the following problems - the headphone socket only has one channel, most of the time; and none of the reverb settings provide anything except from noise. I don't have the equipment to take ROM dumps, but I would be capable of setting it up, if I ordered a clip from somewhere, as long as a programmer isn't that expensive.

That said, the failed reverb is probably caused by a rom already failing.

[dkneyle]

Re: Yamaha Electric Piano CLP550 no keyboard output

G'Day mate. In the end I gave up due to not being able to get the codes for the ROMs. Given the age of the piano it was hard to justify any significant investment and what you can buy today for your money. I donated it to a local enthusiast group that builds analogue synths. The MIDI output worked just fine so it was a perfect keyboard controller. As I think I've mentioned in this thread, I had looped the MIDI via a PC MIDI program to make it work, but it really was only a proof-of-concept rather than a long-term solution.
Ultimately it appears these old ROM chips 'rot'. I'd never realised this was a problem. Something to keep in mind with old 1st generation microprocessor-controlled electronics. For example, I love pinball machines, and they fall into this category. The ones manufactured about 1980. Loose the program and the machine is a write off.
I hope you can keep your piano going for a while longer.

[robbak]

Thanks - I intend to. I might try to fashion a clip out of a hacked up PCI connector and an arduino or programmer, depending on cost, and dump the ROMS anyway - I will probably need them in future, as will other people.

Someone also gave me some hints about the reverb issues - DSP effects chip, the attached memory, the diode attached to the slider and the slider itself - so I'll have a go at that.

I'd also love to know the correct lubricants to use on the keys, too.

[dkneyle]

Re: Yamaha Electric Piano CLP550 no keyboard output

If you do manage to get the codes out of the ROMS I'd ask you to post here so others in the future might be saved the hassle of trying to locate them.

Best of luck with it all. Sorry, I know nothing about lubricants for the keys. Ordinarily I'd say stick with silicone lube, but I'm no expert on electric pianos.

[amii27]

Re: Yamaha Electric Piano CLP550 no keyboard output

Hi everyone

I though I was the cleverest among the clever and purchase a defective clp 550 that should be so easy to repair ... yo know the rest

The piano is visually in wonderful condition the previous owner used it for about 3 years and stored it for about 20 years. Then it never worked since.

Reading this thread stopped my madness in looking after every single capacitor with the hope that just needing reforming.

At present if I press enough times a key I seldom get the right sound which make me hope the ROMs are somehow still working (weak bit?)

I am prepared to get a chance in dumping the ROM from the chip A but I need your guidance to do it right.

I am not an expert in electronics but I am not too bad with the soldering iron and ROM flashing, however recovering defective ROM - that would be my first.

Could you please provide me with the tutorial and optimal hardware setting to maximize the chance in dumping effectively the ROMs.

By the way I am writing you from Senegal (West Africa) so Clavinova manage to bring together enthusiasts from all corners of our blue planet. It gives hope that somehow we as human beings are not just design to fight each other - Kudos