Where can I get a Service Manual? How to activate the diagnostic Mode for MZ-X series?

[Popsel]

Hello,
I am an experienced electronics engineer and have a problem with the MZ-X500 (firmware 1.60).

A few weeks ago bought a second MZ-X500 (B-Stock).

At the upper edge of the display (about 15mm), the touch pad does not react as it should.

I always have to touch something below the displayed item to activate the desired function.

I am looking for a service manual for MZ-X 300/500.

How can I activate the service mode or diagnostic mode of the MZ-X?

There should be a way to calibrate the touch pad.
I have already tried a factory reset, which did not bring any improvement.

 

Regards

Popsel

 

[Jokeyman123]

There is a procedure for re-calibrating the PX560 touchscreen which has a very similar touchscreen. if you want to try it, we have posted it here and I saved the procedure in one of my computers, will re-post it if you can't locate it here on this forum. Look under the PX560 posts. I don't think it will do an harm-can't guarantee anything, but the procedure works on the PX560. I'm thinking Brad will know more about this. 

[Popsel]

7 hours ago, Jokeyman123 said:

There is a procedure for re-calibrating the PX560 touchscreen which has a very similar touchscreen. if you want to try it, we have posted it here and I saved the procedure in one of my computers, will re-post it if you can't locate it here on this forum. Look under the PX560 posts. I don't think it will do an harm-can't guarantee anything, but the procedure works on the PX560. I'm thinking Brad will know more about this. 

Hi,

I found it. Unfortunately, I do not get into service mode because the MZ-X does not have a "grand piano" button. For MZ-X Service Mode, there seems to be another keyboard shortcut. But that's what would help me.

[Brad Saucier]

I don't have any information about a service mode on the MZX series.   I'm sorry.  

[Popsel]

Hello,
I contacted CASIO Germany and asked to provide the MX-X Service manual. They have replied that they do not provide the service manual. Casio Germany did not say there is no service manual. As an electronics engineer, I have the ability to maintain my instrument for home use. As far as I know, the MZ-X is no longer produced. My wife and I now have three MZ-X500 and one MZ-X300 and want to use the instruments even longer. After receiving no support here in Germany, I ask the members of this forum for help. In a country as big as the US, there must be someone who can get me an MZ-X service manual.

 

Regards

Popsel

[Jokeyman123]

As one who has technical training and does alot of this type of work, I can tell you it is almost impossible to find schematics or service manuals for any music equipment here in the US,. If the manufacturer doesn't provide it, you're on your own. All I can tell you is google around the Internet and see if anyone might have access to any information at all. I have scraped up service manuals and bulletins for some older music equipment, but many manufacturers do not want anybody but authorized service reps to have this information. Unfortunate, but that has been my experience. The only other possibility might be to contact Casio Japan or China if you can get through with translators online. And there are some websites that have databases for "service mode" on a variety of instruments-there are users and pro shops that make this available online. This is how I found the test mode for my Yamaha SY77 and several other pieces of equipment. Or try different powerup key combinations to see what you can find-risky but this is how some users find what works. Sorry I can't offer more help.

[Popsel]

17 hours ago, Jokeyman123 said:

As one who has technical training and does alot of this type of work, I can tell you it is almost impossible to find schematics or service manuals for any music equipment here in the US,. If the manufacturer doesn't provide it, you're on your own. All I can tell you is google around the Internet and see if anyone might have access to any information at all. I have scraped up service manuals and bulletins for some older music equipment, but many manufacturers do not want anybody but authorized service reps to have this information. Unfortunate, but that has been my experience. The only other possibility might be to contact Casio Japan or China if you can get through with translators online. And there are some websites that have databases for "service mode" on a variety of instruments-there are users and pro shops that make this available online. This is how I found the test mode for my Yamaha SY77 and several other pieces of equipment. Or try different powerup key combinations to see what you can find-risky but this is how some users find what works. Sorry I can't offer more help.

 

Hi,

thank you Brad and Jockeyman123.

I think it's a shame that Casio behaves like that. I contacted CASIO Germany one more time and they at least appealed to me to send me the information for calibrating the touch pad. They offered to "fix" the MZ-X. For this I have to send in the instrument. That's exactly what I wanted to avoid. Because CASIO does not meet me, I contacted the dealer and described the problem to him. For economic and logistical reasons, it would be better if I could solve the problem myself. The dealer has written "He will check what he can do". If I do not receive any information from the dealer to calibrate the touch pad, then he must bear all costs for troubleshooting under German law. The keyboard was already delivered with the problem. Therefore, I believe that I still have the best chances of the dealer to get the information needed.

 

Casio does not supply spare parts to customers on the German website. That's why I bought a MZ-X300 a few months ago. If necessary, I can use this as a spare parts dispenser.

 

In summary, I do not think that's customer friendly. It is clear that CASIO can not offer the same hardware quality for the relatively low sales price as other manufacturers whose instruments cost several times. I'm talking about CASIO's top product, not a cheap keyboard, which you simply throw away in the event of a defect.
I hope Casio reads this post and thinks about his attitude in the future.

 

Regards

Popsel

 

 

[Silvano Silva]

On 7/27/2019 at 4:15 AM, Popsel said:

 

Hi,

thank you Brad and Jockeyman123.

I think it's a shame that Casio behaves like that. I contacted CASIO Germany one more time and they at least appealed to me to send me the information for calibrating the touch pad. They offered to "fix" the MZ-X. For this I have to send in the instrument. That's exactly what I wanted to avoid. Because CASIO does not meet me, I contacted the dealer and described the problem to him. For economic and logistical reasons, it would be better if I could solve the problem myself. The dealer has written "He will check what he can do". If I do not receive any information from the dealer to calibrate the touch pad, then he must bear all costs for troubleshooting under German law. The keyboard was already delivered with the problem. Therefore, I believe that I still have the best chances of the dealer to get the information needed.

 

Casio does not supply spare parts to customers on the German website. That's why I bought a MZ-X300 a few months ago. If necessary, I can use this as a spare parts dispenser.

 

In summary, I do not think that's customer friendly. It is clear that CASIO can not offer the same hardware quality for the relatively low sales price as other manufacturers whose instruments cost several times. I'm talking about CASIO's top product, not a cheap keyboard, which you simply throw away in the event of a defect.
I hope Casio reads this post and thinks about his attitude in the future.

 

Regards

Popsel

 

 

Hi,

thank you Brad and Jockeyman123.

I think it's a shame that Casio behaves like that. I contacted CASIO Germany one more time and they at least appealed to me to send me the information for calibrating the touch pad. They offered to "fix" the MZ-X. For this I have to send in the instrument. That's exactly what I wanted to avoid. Because CASIO does not meet me, I contacted the dealer and described the problem to him. For economic and logistical reasons, it would be better if I could solve the problem myself. The dealer has written "He will check what he can do". If I do not receive any information from the dealer to calibrate the touch pad, then he must bear all costs for troubleshooting under German law. The keyboard was already delivered with the problem. Therefore, I believe that I still have the best chances of the dealer to get the information needed.

 

Casio does not supply spare parts to customers on the German website. That's why I bought a MZ-X300 a few months ago. If necessary, I can use this as a spare parts dispenser.

 

In summary, I do not think that's customer friendly. It is clear that CASIO can not offer the same hardware quality for the relatively low sales price as other manufacturers whose instruments cost several times. I'm talking about CASIO's top product, not a cheap keyboard, which you simply throw away in the event of a defect.
I hope Casio reads this post and thinks about his attitude in the future.

 

Regards

Popsel

[Popsel]

Hello,
In the meantime, I've spent several hours figuring out the secret key combination to enter Service Mode.

Unfortunately without success. I'm still very interested in it. It is always an advantage if you can test something yourself.

The dealer has also tried to get the service manual. In the end, he has achieved nothing. He really tried hard.

He also sent me a return sticker directly.

Now I have to send the MZ-X500 back to the dealer and he will send it to CASIO.

Why easy if complicated is another option?

 

Regards
Popsel

[CYBERYOGI =CO=Windler]

May be the service mode is poorly designed an can e.g. erase the entire flash rom and so brick the keyboard if a wrong button is pressed (remember the many XW-P1 flash update disasters), and so Casio wants to avoid school kids in music classes messing around with it.

But IMO it must be the right of the sovereignous customer to repair things (not least to prevent e-waste) and get the necessary info. A service mode should be designed in such a way that harmless and potentially destructive functions stay separate and that the latter e.g. need an additional long and complicated number to be typed in for access, or even closing a mainboard jumper inside.

[Jokeyman123]

Popsel....here is another idea, I'm stretching for an idea to help you.

 

Years ago Casio made some very cool pocket computers called the Cassiopeia (I think that was the spelling) with at the time, the best color TFT touchscreens available-color touchscreens looking very similar to our Casio keyboard screens. I doubt if there is any cross-compatibility with these older Casio pocket computer parts, but you might find some electronic data sheets for these which might help. And if your MZs are not under warranty, would you consider self-repair? For an electronics engineer, the Casios are relatively simple designs internally. And the touchscreen may simply have a poorly connected ribbon cable within its circuit design scheme, easily visible if you know what to look for.  As Cyberyogi has mentioned, I was the unfortunate who trashed my XW-P1 several years ago by interrupting the firmware update process from computer to keyboard, which rendered it inoperable. Fortunately, very fortunately, I live within driving distance of Dover, NJ-Casio headquarters yes and was able to bring it there and have it restored, thanks to Mr. Mike Martin who was there to greet me. I have nothing but good things to say about Casio after this! 

 

I also discovered at least within the XW-P1-the main CPU is not user serviceable or replaceable-it is epoxy-sealed to the mainboard, this is not the only manufacturer who does this now. With all the reverse-engineering possibilities for knowledgeable programmers, I guess this is done to safeguard Casio hardware and software design, should some other company or user attempt to steal design hardware or software.

 

Final comment-there are some 3rd party vendors who will provide Casio, Yamaha, Roland, Korg etc. parts used-since none of the manufacturers will do so, I've tried with no other intention that of restoring a piece of equipment that will unfortunately be landfill if not repairable. Suppliers and parts are sparse, and probably sourced from equipment that has already been "cannibalized" so no guarantee for the intrepid (or insane) repair tech operating independently of the manufacturer. 

[CYBERYOGI =CO=Windler]

Was only the firmware replaced by some magic (i.e. secret procedures, possibly involving use of test pins) or was the entire mainboard or a new flash chip soldered in?

Epoxy is not only to camouflage things. A COB IC only indicates that something emits not much heat and is cheaply mass-produced in large quantities. It would not surprise me if Casio uses exactly the same PCB now in a dozens of keyboard models those only differ in software that is later loaded into flash memory. For professional hardware developers it is quite easy to dissolve the black blob (websearch: "decapping") to analyze the CPU die under a microscope and so identify if it is anything generic.

I collect strange tablehooters and yet never found any Chinese faked brand keyboards containing pirated software of the original. Only some Yamaha FM and squarewave sound engines found their way into Chinese stuff, but this is no surprise at all since Yamaha had spread those ICs everywhere in the wild (or even licensed its contents?) for arcade and console games, homecomputers and PC soundcards.

[Popsel]

Hello,
I would like to report the results. Meanwhile, I got the MZ-X500 back and it works as it should. At the end I contacted the dealer again and he informed me that CASIO did not provide him with the service manual either. Instead, CASIO has made a remote maintenance on the phone with him. CASIO told him in which order he should press certain buttons. Great, they could have done the same with me right away, saving me time and trouble. I did not have to pay any shipping costs, which had to be paid by the dealer because of the EU law "Gewährleistung". The dealer is really in order and has supported me as far as he could.
But I was still not satisfied because I myself would like to do maintenance that I can do myself. Therefore, I have further researched and can now calibrate my MZ-X display myself.

 

The MX-Z display is a resistive touch display. Most modern touch displays work on the capacitive principle. WIKIPEDIA can explain the difference. Resistive touch pads only support single touch and are relatively easy to query. Two electrically conductive foils are placed over the display with a small gap. The coating of the films has an electrical resistance which is dependent on the position. In fact, there are two resistors, one for the X and one for the Y position. When touching the display, the resistances decrease depending on the touch position on the display. These analog resistance values are then converted by an analog-to-digital converter into digital values. But still lacking the reference to the display content shown. For the operation to work, the firmware must know which resistance values correspond to which particular display position. Then constants can be determined by the calibration, which allow the firmware to match the controls shown on the display with the values measured by the analog-to-digital converter. During calibration, four corner points are touched one after another with a pointy pen for touch displays (similar to a ballpoint pen). The constants are determined and must be saved at the end. These values allow the firmware to link the controls shown on the display and the resistive touch readings of the Analog to Digital Converter. Only then does the touch display operation work as it should.

 

What is the problem? The analog part for detecting the resistance values. It may happen that the analog resistance values are drifting due to component aging or environmental conditions. The early analogue Moog synthesizers often had to be tuned to hear the tones at the desired pitch. This does not seem that common with Resitive Touch Displays, but it does happen. Especially with increasing age, an offset of the display and touch display reaction can occur. I bought my MZ-X late at the warehouse clearance sale. At this time, the devices had been in the warehouse for several years and the original calibration was several years ago. So it is not surprising that such problems occur with increasing age. The more annoying is the fact that CASIO does not want to give out the information needed for calibration. I also want to be able to use my MZ-X in a few years and I'm persistent enough to make sure of that. After hours of searching I finally found the key combination to call the service mode. How the calibration worked then also cost time, but that's my value.
I own 3x MZ-X500 and 1x MZ-X300 and have  recalibrated the display of the MZ-X300 and 500.

 

You can make the instrument unusable in service mode if you are unfamiliar with it. There is always a risk of unintentionally changing something. In service mode, the buttons have different functions than normal. I do not know if I should provide the information here. I do not want to be responsible if users make their instrument unusable due to wrong settings.
So what do you think about it?

[Felipe_Barrios]

3 hours ago, Popsel said:

Hello,
I would like to report the results. Meanwhile, I got the MZ-X500 back and it works as it should. At the end I contacted the dealer again and he informed me that CASIO did not provide him with the service manual either. Instead, CASIO has made a remote maintenance on the phone with him. CASIO told him in which order he should press certain buttons. Great, they could have done the same with me right away, saving me time and trouble. I did not have to pay any shipping costs, which had to be paid by the dealer because of the EU law "Gewährleistung". The dealer is really in order and has supported me as far as he could.
But I was still not satisfied because I myself would like to do maintenance that I can do myself. Therefore, I have further researched and can now calibrate my MZ-X display myself.

 

The MX-Z display is a resistive touch display. Most modern touch displays work on the capacitive principle. WIKIPEDIA can explain the difference. Resistive touch pads only support single touch and are relatively easy to query. Two electrically conductive foils are placed over the display with a small gap. The coating of the films has an electrical resistance which is dependent on the position. In fact, there are two resistors, one for the X and one for the Y position. When touching the display, the resistances decrease depending on the touch position on the display. These analog resistance values are then converted by an analog-to-digital converter into digital values. But still lacking the reference to the display content shown. For the operation to work, the firmware must know which resistance values correspond to which particular display position. Then constants can be determined by the calibration, which allow the firmware to match the controls shown on the display with the values measured by the analog-to-digital converter. During calibration, four corner points are touched one after another with a pointy pen for touch displays (similar to a ballpoint pen). The constants are determined and must be saved at the end. These values allow the firmware to link the controls shown on the display and the resistive touch readings of the Analog to Digital Converter. Only then does the touch display operation work as it should.

 

What is the problem? The analog part for detecting the resistance values. It may happen that the analog resistance values are drifting due to component aging or environmental conditions. The early analogue Moog synthesizers often had to be tuned to hear the tones at the desired pitch. This does not seem that common with Resitive Touch Displays, but it does happen. Especially with increasing age, an offset of the display and touch display reaction can occur. I bought my MZ-X late at the warehouse clearance sale. At this time, the devices had been in the warehouse for several years and the original calibration was several years ago. So it is not surprising that such problems occur with increasing age. The more annoying is the fact that CASIO does not want to give out the information needed for calibration. I also want to be able to use my MZ-X in a few years and I'm persistent enough to make sure of that. After hours of searching I finally found the key combination to call the service mode. How the calibration worked then also cost time, but that's my value.
I own 3x MZ-X500 and 1x MZ-X300 and have  recalibrated the display of the MZ-X300 and 500.

 

You can make the instrument unusable in service mode if you are unfamiliar with it. There is always a risk of unintentionally changing something. In service mode, the buttons have different functions than normal. I do not know if I should provide the information here. I do not want to be responsible if users make their instrument unusable due to wrong settings.
So what do you think about it?

Hi Popsel

Thanks for sharing your experience.

In my case, I think many of us would appreciate if you let us know how to enter in service mode, even considering the risks.

Obviously, the eventual risks involved must be commented in the post, but there is various post in this forum with information that, if applied with no care, could bring serious risks to the hardware (like some suggestions about how to reduce the key bed noise.......).

Also load ZAL files shared here are a risk of loss personal work in some cases!

Cheers

[CYBERYOGI =CO=Windler]

Service mode codes should be kept available (with appropriate warnings). Even those of many CRT monitors and TV sets have been published, despite messing up certain parameters (e.g. maximum voltage and current limits of safety circuits) may destroy irreplaceable components or produce excessive xray emission.

With this I don't want to encourage school kids to ruin keyboards in music lessons, but its the same like with any other kind of hacking knowledge - the light and the dark side of cybernetics.

[mike71]

On 9/6/2019 at 6:24 AM, CYBERYOGI =CO=Windler said:

I collect strange tablehooters and yet never found any Chinese faked brand keyboards containing pirated software of the original. Only some Yamaha FM and squarewave sound engines found their way into Chinese stuff, but this is no surprise at all since Yamaha had spread those ICs everywhere in the wild (or even licensed its contents?) for arcade and console games, homecomputers and PC soundcards.

 

Because nobody is interested in a knockoff px-160 or px-560 but is interested in a cheap digital piano. There are a lot of of the shelf components that could be used for this, like the ones of the Dream multimedia https://www.dream.fr/devices.html    or the ones made by other manufacturers. About FM synthesizers, there is an open source VST, and genuine NOS Yamaha chips are easily available. 

 

The only fake Casio (or Casion, sometimes) were some cheap watches sold by some shay guy in open air markets. Besides they were really cheap, because you can buy a Casio watch in a jewellery for 30 € and Casio keyboards are cheap too...

 

[CYBERYOGI =CO=Windler]

Dream-what??? I only know a German company "Dream Multimedia" who created the famous Dreambox settopboxes - basical they invented the concept of smart-TV long before Samsung & Co! But Dreamboxes are considered expensive highend products (much like Vorwerk with vacuum cleaners) although the build quality is only mediocre.

As a CRT connoisseur I do own a Dreambox DM8000 (because it can record and convert HDTV to PAL and is Linux-programmable), however its internal audio DAC sounds fairly disappointing on my tube amp. The tone is too bright, thin and way too dry to be nice. I expect that HF residues from the (bitstream?) DAC mess up the feedback loop of op-amps in my Panasonic NV-HD625 (a VHS recorder that converts and routes A/V signals to different devices). Analogue recordings and even my old cheapish TechniSat settopbox sound through it much fuller and more natural.

[CasioCTK]

On 9/6/2019 at 11:49 AM, Popsel said:

You can make the instrument unusable in service mode if you are unfamiliar with it. There is always a risk of unintentionally changing something. In service mode, the buttons have different functions than normal. I do not know if I should provide the information here. I do not want to be responsible if users make their instrument unusable due to wrong settings.

So what do you think about it?

It would be useful (at least for people experienced in electronics) to know how to enter into service mode, which options are there and what are button functions in service mode. And of course how to return back to normal mode.🙂

I am interested especially in memory checking.

[Popsel]

Hi,
the following information is a snippet of my own manuals written for my MZ-X. The information contained therein may make the MZ-X unusable if used incorrectly! The findings are from our own experiments. The information is still incomplete. It may be that there are other features that I have not discovered yet. But I did not want to extend the experiments to the last detail to avoid unnecessary risks. My intention was to recalibrate my touch screen, which I did. The notes are in German, but with pictures. Maybe there is a German colleague who translates everything in English? If not, the Google Translator can also be used. It is not much text. Finally, the warning: This is only for people who know what they are doing. If you do not want to take any risks then give your instrument in case of problems rather in a workshop.

 

Hallo,
die folgenden Informationen sind ein Ausschnitt aus meinen eigenen Handbüchern, die ich für meine MZ-X geschrieben habe. Die darin enthaltenen Informationen können bei falscher Anwendung das MZ-X unbenutzbar machen! Die Erkenntnisse stammen aus eigenen Versuchen. Die Angaben sind noch unvollständig. Es kann sein, dass es weitere Funktionen gibt, die ich noch nicht entdeckt habe. Ich wollte die Experimente aber nicht bis ins letzte Detail ausweiten, um unnötige Risiken zu vermeiden. Meine Absicht war es mein Touch-Display neu zu kalibrieren, was mir auch gelang. Die Hinweise sind auf deutsch, aber mit Bildern. Vielleicht findet sich ein deutscher Kollege, der alles auf Englisch übersetzt? Wenn nicht kann auch der Google Translator benutzt werden. Es ist nicht viel Text. Zum Schluss noch einmal die Warnung: Das ist nur für Leute, die wissen was sie tun. Wenn man kein Risiko eingehen möchte dann gebt euer Instrument bei Problemen lieber in eine Fachwerkstatt.

 

MZ-X Service Mode German.PDF

[CasioCTK]

On 9/20/2019 at 10:26 PM, Popsel said:

Hi,
the following information is a snippet of my own manuals written for my MZ-X.

MZ-X Service Mode German.PDF 156.33 kB · 10 downloads

Hallo Popsel,

I tried to do all memory checks. Flash and RAM checks showed status OK, but DDR RAM check showed this result:

DDR2 AUTO
Nch:06
Pch:06

Do you know what does this result mean?

Thank you in advance for any help

[Jokeyman123]

Hey,Felipe no need to take a shot at my mods-I always warn users not to attempt anything unless they are skilled and knowledgeable, preferably with prior repair experience. But you can't fix stupid.....

[Just Alex]

From my personal experience in getting service manuals (Not from Casio, since had no need), but for other things. It is always wise to contact brand service guys in eastern countries like India, Bangladesh, Thailand and so on. They are usually more user friendly, and with a little assistance of green portraits of Mr. Benjamin Franklin and other U.S. Presidents, most likely they will provide the required file

 

[eldo gultom]

There is a version 1.0 MZ-X500 Service manual : https://www.casiomusiacforums.com/index.php?/files/file/1571-casio-mz-x500-service-manuals/

[Popsel]

Hi,

thank you for the service manual. I was looking hard for it some years ago but couldn't find it.

Now it is too cold, but in spring time I will try to improve the microphone input amplification, so that it works as intended.

Regards

Popsel

[eldo gultom]

I also found this file, hopefully it can help people who needs them : MZ-X300 Service Manual