Yamaha: initializing settings

[koon]

Hello,

I wonder if the frequent initializing of the settings does any harm to an electronic keyboard ?

Thanks.

 

[happyrat1]

It depends on the internal technology used.

If it uses battery Backed SRAM to store settings then the settings will last as long as the battery supplies current to keep the RAM alive.

If it uses FLASH RAM though, in theory there is a limit as to how many times you can write and rewrite that memory, though it still numbers in the tens and hundreds of thousands of times.

Lastly, as chips age for e few decades, they occasionally succumb to what is known as "bit rot" where stray bits of data begin to degrade as the doping materials in the semiconducters themselves begin to migrate across the electrical internal junctions.

Also a lot of older systems used EEPROMS and UVEPROMS for storage and these also degrade with age.

Gary

 

[koon]

Thank you. I have Piaggero NP32. What do we have in my case?

 

[SeaGtGruff]

Is that a new model? If so, I wouldn't worry about doing a factory reset or clearing the memory, because it should be a long, long time before you could do that enough times to wear out the keyboard's memory.

But I'm also wondering why this has you so concerned-- I mean, are you doing dozens or hundreds of factory resets every day? If by chance you've been doing resets or clearing memory often enough that you've started to wonder about whether you could be wearing out the keyboard's memory, I'd say the important question isn't how much longer you can keep doing that before the memory starts to wear out, but rather why you're resetting the keyboard or clearing its memory so frequently. I reset my PSR-E keyboards and clear their memories on a semi-regular basis, but not so frequently that I'm worried about damaging them.

 

[koon]

Thank you. NP32 is a new model all right. When you have something new you start experiencing with it which entails the initializing. I have been playing around with the keyboard for a month or so resetting it maybe a couple of times a day, then I caught myself thinking about the perishable nature of everything.

 

[SeaGtGruff]

Yeah, I was resetting my PSR-E models a lot while fiddling around with them-- sometimes several times a day, but now I've settled down to once a month or so. I don't think you have anything to worry about.

 

[happyrat1]

Again, most recent keyboards, unless they have a replaceable internal battery, are using FLASH RAM to save the settings.

Even so, a FLASH RAM Cell is good for about 100,000 rewrites before it craps out.

While a lot of Yamahas have replaceable batteries they tend not to mention it specifically in the manuals. Just a general warning that if there is an internal battery it's not user replaceable and must be taken in for service if it needs changing.

This is yet another in my long list of pet peeves with Yamaha keyboards.

The only way to know if there is an internal battery on a Yamaha is to crack it open and visually verify if it's there or not.

Gary

 

[SeaGtGruff]

... or look in the Service Manual for your keyboard if you can find one. Elektrotanya to the rescue!

 

[koon]

Thanks!

 

[musicstand]

Again, most recent keyboards, unless they have a replaceable internal battery, are using FLASH RAM to save the settings.

Even so, a FLASH RAM Cell is good for about 100,000 rewrites before it craps out.

While a lot of Yamahas have replaceable batteries they tend not to mention it specifically in the manuals. Just a general warning that if there is an internal battery it's not user replaceable and must be taken in for service if it needs changing.

This is yet another in my long list of pet peeves with Yamaha keyboards.

The only way to know if there is an internal battery on a Yamaha is to crack it open and visually verify if it's there or not.

Gary

Thank you koon for this thread.
Gary I am the newest member having only just joined this afternoon. I like your hi tech terminology with ""crack it open"" because that tells me you are comfortable with wires and soldering iron. My wife calls my little den spagheti junction. Jim.

 

[happyrat1]

Thanks Jim and welcome aboard.

Yes I have been known to short out a circuit and release a bit of "magic smoke" in the past

Whereabouts in Ontario are ya? I'm in Mississauga myself, though I have plans of moving back to Montreal this summer.

Gary

 

[musicstand]

Thank you for the welcome Gary. I am in Guelph, a little further west on the 401 highway from you. Thanks once again koon for this thread.

 

[happyrat1]

Yep, I know Guelph.

35 years ago I did some time in the electrotechnology program over at Conestoga College in Kitchener.

Back in our drinking days we'd occasionally head over to Guelph to cruise the bars.

Gary