Spectracomp serial no. oddity?

[jimbobothy]

I've also posted this in the Repair and Technical section, not sure if it's better in this one 😁

Hey folks,

I thought I’d ask other Spectracomp users on here.

I’ve got two Spectracomps, one recently bought used. When using the Toneprint Editor the older unit shows it’s serial number properly in the settings menu, whereas the more recently acquired one only shows ‘-1’. I’ve updated this newer ones firmware to the latest 706 (from 606) version, and it still shows the odd serial no. 

The pedal seems to work fine and can load Toneprints as expected, so it’s not an issue so to speak, but is this just a glitch or have other owners had a similar experience?

Please see the screenshot of the editor below:

Peace.

Edited January 29, 2021 by jimbobothy
... added screeshot

[GH63]

I have a new one. Serial number 200700117. Build 706.

[jimbobothy]

Cheers, my older one shows up all fine (both build and serial no.) just the new to me one doesn’t. Still works fine so I’ll put it down to a glitch somewhere along the line. Thanks for your reply anyhow 👍🏼

[Stub Mandrel]

The serial number may be held in eeprom while the toneprints  are in flash memory.

This is a not untypical way of doing it, eeprom tends to stand far fewer rewrites and is slower to access and suits factory loaded data, like serial numbers, but is easier to protect from corruption when uploading new data (e.g. if a toneprint upload gets interrupted).

Unfortunately EEPROM is more liable to corruption from power spikes etc., I've had this happen on powering up chips on things I've made.

-1 suggests it is reading all ones for the serial number bits so if EEPROM it has been programmed (default is for eeprom to read all zeroes).

Alternatively the serial number may be written in a protected area of flash memory, this defaults to every bit at 1 which would suggest the serial has never been written, on reflection this may be more likely.

 

[jimbobothy]

... cheers Stub Mandrel, I had to look up what EEPROM was lol. Your insight is interesting as it's not an area I've been involved with. I've posed the question to TC Electronic (via Music Tribe) and I'll see what they come up with, I somehow don't expect it be as a technical explanation as you have put 👍

Peace.

 

Edited January 29, 2021 by jimbobothy

[jimbobothy]

... got these two replies from Music Tribe when I enquired:

 

Unfortunately this is a rare issue caused during boot up and the pedal will loose the user settings stored in the flash, this does not affect the functionality in anyway and you will still be able to store Toneprints and will still work with the app. The issue was fixed for most units with the latest 706 update, it may be worth trying to reinstall this and seeing if it will resolve the issue for you.

...and...
 

The user settings (Serial/Build number) are in fact held in the flash memory, I have just received confirmation that the missing serial number issue cannot be resolved once it occurs. In this instance please do not remove the serial number from your physical unit.

 

This will not effect any loaded Toneprints and they will still be held on the unit when powered off.

 

I hope this helps.

 

So a rare event that won’t stop anything. All ok then 👍🏼

[Stub Mandrel]

🙂

I wonder if it is actually in eeprom - that would be more likely if it's caused by boot up glitches and woudl explain toneprints not being affected.

But without ripping one apart and maybe seeing the source code...