Hello

[macca]

Hello

Im Richard from Worcester in England.  I have recently bought BR 900 and found this site by chance. It looks very informative!  I am sure I am going to refer to it many times.  I play acoustic guitar finger picking style not to any great standard but have written a few songs over the years mainly as presents for friends getting married or for christenings.  I am using the BR 900 as a sound board prior to going into a professional studio for the odd song.  I also use a Roland Guitar synthesiser attached to a Strat to add strings, brass etc when using the boss. Would this eat into the memory? as I often have card error or Drive busy messages.   I am not technically minded in any shape or form and have had one or two problems, the latest being the card read error message which I haven't been able to resolve.  Can anyone tell me whether the Sandisk ultra 2 gigabyte Compact flash card is ok as they sell these in PC world.

Thanks in anticipation


Macca

[SteveB]

Hello...Can anyone tell me whether the Sandisk ultra 2 gigabyte Compact flash card is ok as they sell these in PC world...
Macca

Hello there, Macca, welcome to the Forum. I suggest you also start a New Thread in the Welcome Board for yourself to say hello etc, otherwise this particular message may be lost under the 'welcomes' for Robert, and any info directed towards you may be missed, as in: Unless Boss have done some technical wizardry with your particular BR, it will only use a '1Gigabyte' Card, so don't waste yer money buying 2gb cards. The point is now, 1gb cards are being phased out, and so there are pretty hard to locate, I used to buy mine from Argos, but they too have stopped stocking 1gb cards; you may have to try online, such as Amazon etc. Any other tech questions can be answered by someone around here, so enjoy your stay.

[SteveG]

I am using a Sansdisc 2G card (Well, 1G of it) in a MicroBR with no problems. If your machine came with a puny little card like mine did then change it now!!!! Memory is dirt cheap on Amazon.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Sandisk-1Gb-Secure-Digital-card/dp/B00065KA7C/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&s=electronics&qid=1251656175&sr=8-3

Welcome to the site, look forward to hearing your stuff

[Bro]

Hello! Always nice with a new member!

Welcome aboard

[macca]

Thanks for the tips.

Macca

[launched]

Welcome!!

Mark

[StevieM]

Welcome from Cornwall.
Can't answer any of your questions, haven't got a clue myself most of the time----But I'm sure they will be!
Are we going to hear any of your fingerpicking soon

[64Guitars]

I also use a Roland Guitar synthesiser attached to a Strat to add strings, brass etc when using the boss. Would this eat into the memory?

No. The guitar synth won't use any more memory than a regular guitar, vocals, etc.

as I often have card error or Drive busy messages.   I am not technically minded in any shape or form and have had one or two problems, the latest being the card read error message which I haven't been able to resolve.

The first thing to do is to determine whether your BR-900's firmware is up-to-date or not. Switch the power on while simultaneously pressing the CURSOR < and > buttons. The current firmware version will be displayed. If "EXT" is less than 2.12, you should download the version 2.12 update and install it.

https://songcrafters.org/64guitars/BR/Updates.html

Update instructions are here:

http://ftp.roland.co.jp/support/en/downloads/res/1812328/readme_BR900CD_Update_e212.pdf

Version 2.0 had a problem that caused "Drive Busy" errors with some CompactFlash cards. Version 2.10 fixed this problem, then version 2.12 made further improvements to CF card compatibility.

http://www.roland.com/support/en/BR-900CD.html

Can anyone tell me whether the Sandisk ultra 2 gigabyte Compact flash card is ok as they sell these in PC world.

The BR-900 can only address 1GB of memory. Some Micro BR users have used 2GB SD memory cards successfully (but formatted to 1GB only). However, I haven't heard of anyone using a 2GB CF card in a BR-900. Even if it works, I wouldn't recommend it. You'll only be able to format it to 1GB anyway, and I wouldn't trust it since the BR isn't designed to use cards bigger than 1GB. Shop around for some 1GB cards. When you find them, buy 2 or 3 as they're getting harder to find.

Here's a list of CF cards that Roland has tested for compatibility with the BR-900:

http://www.roland.com/products/en/_support/faq.cfm?PRODUCT=BR-900CD&iRcId=1832197&dsp=1

SanDisk is a good brand (I use a SanDisk Ultra II 1GB CF card in my BR-864). But be aware that there are some fake SanDisk cards being sold (especially on eBay), so make sure you buy from a reputable SanDisk dealer.

http://reviews.ebay.com/FAKE-SanDisk-Extreme-Compact-Flash-Cards-Exposed_W0QQugidZ10000000001456539

And don't pay extra for "faster" cards. They won't work any better in the BR-900. In fact, Roland US advises against them:

Quote:
***Important Note: Do not use cards that are considered "Hi Speed" or that are labeled "Ultra" or "Extreme". We recommend using cards that are 45X or SLOWER.

I'm not sure that I agree with them. Fast cards won't work any better than slower cards, but they do work. And I doubt that you'll find any cards that are "45X or SLOWER". So, don't worry too much about speed, so long as you're not paying extra for it unnecessarily.

The SanDisk blue & red card is a good choice if you can find it:

http://www.mobymemory.com/products/SanDisk/SanDisk-CompactFlash-Card-1GB.asp

Check your local camera shops, as well as computer and electronics retailers.

[macca]

Thanks for all the advice.   I have just ordered a few 1GB disks from Amazon.  Hoping they work. 

Macca

[Geir]

Hi Macca .....

And welcome from Norway .......

I guess I can assume you're one, of many here, Beatles-influences musicians ?

Anyway ... be sure to post your work here, it's a friendly place with lots of good feedback!!