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GBS 8200 CGA/EGA/YUV To VGA Video Converter Board DIY This is an inexpensive way to connect your S‑50, S‑550, S‑330 or S‑7xx to a standard 15‑pin LCD Flat Screen VGA Color Monitor. This DIY project was much easier than I expected. The results are GREAT and so are the cost savings! Thanks to this tiny video board, I'm now able to use my S‑550 and S‑760 with a sharp looking, crisp and clean 17" LCD color display. The monitors I used for testing were standard 15‑Pin VGA which were previously used with generic video boards on a PC. I am assuming that just about any 15‑pin LCD Flat Screen VGA Color Monitor will work with this DIY. I also had a cheap leftover DC power supply so my total investment was only $18 (USD)!  (click for larger image)
Procedure Note: The video board used for this DIY was GBS 8200 v4.0 The 15-pin VGA monitors used for testing were a Dell E176FP 17" LCD Flat Screen and a Sharp LL-T15A4-B 15" LCD Flat Screen 1) Take the white 8‑pin connector that came with the GBS 8200 video board and move the grey wire in Slot S over to Slot HS. To remove the grey wire, use a needle to press down on the metal connector then gently pull the wire up and out (see Figure 1). The reason for moving this wire from Slot S to Slot HS is because an HSYNC signal is required for S‑50, S‑550, S‑330 and S‑7xx RGB video output. The grey wire by default on the GBS 8200 video board is connected to an S video signal (CSYNC), not HSYNC  (click for larger image) 2) Solder the six wires on the white 8‑pin connector that came with the GBS 8200 video board onto the 8‑pin male DIN connector S‑50 / S‑550 8‑PIN DIN MALE PLUG GBS 8200 VIDEO BOARD 8‑PIN WHITE CONNECTOR (P11) VIDEO SIGNAL PIN# PIN# WIRE COLOR VIDEO SIGNAL GROUND 2 <----------------------> GD BLACK GROUND VSYNC 5 <----------------------> VS YELLOW VSYNC HSYNC 4 <----------------------> HS GREY HSYNC [AFTER MOVING WIRE] BLUE 8 <----------------------> B BLUE BLUE GREEN 7 <----------------------> G GREEN GREEN RED 6 <----------------------> R RED RED +5V 1 DO NOT USE - NO WIRE / DO NOT USE OPEN 3 DO NOT USE S NO WIRE / DO NOT USE [AFTER MOVING WIRE]  Because these wires are supplying video signals, I opted to shield them by wrapping three layers of aluminum foil around the entire six wire cable assembly. I then took some black electrical tape and wrapped everything tightly. I'm not sure if the shielding is necessary but I did it just to play it safe 3) Connect all the cables and power on all the devices... (Make sure the power supply you are using is "center tap" positive!)
That's all! I didn't even need to bother with the On‑Screen Display menus for the video board. There are Chinese and English menus available but I never had to use them. I plugged the 8‑pin DIN cable into my S‑550 and plugged my 15‑pin LCD Flat Screen VGA Color Monitor into the video board, powered everything on and it worked right away without any menu interaction. Super simple.  Another S‑550 owner with this same video board has put together a great overview of how it works including the menus. For more details check out freudelheimIf you want to take a chance and venture into the cryptic Chinese menus, the quick route to get English displayed is made by pressing: MENU - UP - MENU - UP - MENU - MENU Other menu functions (with no OSD menu showing on the monitor) Auto-Scan: DOWN/AUTO Reset The Board: Press and hold DOWN/AUTO for 5 seconds Video Mode-Select (RGBS / RGBHS / YPbPr): UP (RGBS = 15‑pin VGA connector) If this video board is to be used with an S‑50, an inexpensive housing is recommended to keep the static sensitive components safe. If this is to be used with an S‑550 and there is no HD5‑IF SCSI Interface Card installed, you can do what I did and take advantage of the empty space on the underside. Place the video board inside the sampler like so...  (GBS 8200 Video Board With 8-pin DIN Cable From P11 Mounted In The Underside Compartment Of An S-550)
$17 (USD). Now that's the kind of DIY I like... nice and inexpensive! If needed, here is some more detailed info; I tested the GBS 8200 video board with a Sharp LL‑T15A4‑B 15" LCD Flat Screen VGA Color Monitor (manufactured in 2003 ‑ specs) and a Dell E176FP 17" LCD Flat Screen VGA Color Monitor (manufactured in 2006 ‑ specs). In addition to a standard 15‑pin VGA Out connector, there is also a 12‑pin socket (P12) on the GBS 8200 video board which provides a video output signal for R, G, B, VSYNC, HSYNC, and GROUND. If you have an older style monitor like a CGA, EGA, or RGB, this extra 12‑pin connector might be able to adapt to those older style monitors by using a different connector arrangement. For this DIY, the included 8‑pin connector (P11) with six wires was used. You might be tempted to use a tap off of the main S‑550 circuit board to supply power for the GBS 8200 video board. Don't do it. Ordering a replacement circuit board for vintage gear like the S‑550 is not an option. Play it safe and stick with a cheap external power supply. An external power supply will also help to isolate any hum the GBS 8200 video board might introduce into the S‑550 audio circuit How To Share 1 Monitor With 2 Or More Roland S‑Series Samplers If you have 2 or more Roland S‑Series Samplers, this inexpensive DIY is for you. Complete plans are contained in this PDF file  S-50_S-550_A-B_Switch-Box_DIY How To Use A PS/2 Mouse With A Roland S‑550, S‑330 Or S‑7xx Sampler NOTE: The S‑50 is unable to use any type of mouse unless you have the optional RC‑100 Remote Controller Without an RC‑100 Remote Controller, the EXT port on the back of the S‑50 will only work with the optional DT‑100 Digitizer Tablet After losing bid after bid on expensive MU‑1 mice at eBay, I decided to purchase a KMTech PS/2 to MSX mouse adapter instead. It works flawlessly with my S‑550 and S‑760. The adapter is very small at 63mm x 19mm x 13mm. The adapter is only $32 (USD) and that price includes shipping from the United Kingdom. The overseas shipping to the USA was amazingly fast at only 6 business days! The eBay seller is kevinmount* who has a 99.9% Feedback Rating. If you don't already have a PS/2 mouse, the cost is only $3 (USD) extra for a quality optical mouse. The big advantage this adapter has over an MU‑1 mouse is that if the PS/2 mouse goes bad, a replacement is inexpensive as opposed to finding another expensive MU‑1 mouse on eBay. Plus, every MU‑1 or MSX mouse I've seen for sale on eBay is being sold as a used item and is probably already 20+ years old. My only complaint is that it needs some type of cover. My solution was to wrap everything with black electrical tape. I can't stand to have a open circuit board with static sensitive components glaring at me. It goes against everything I was taught about electronics  * Purchased from eBay seller kevinmount with a 99.9% Feedback Rating Ship time: 6 days from United Kingdom to the USA Search for 'MSX Mouse Adapter' and you should be able to find the item right away   OMNIFLOP OMNIFLOP is the utility I like to use when creating S‑50 and S‑550 sampler disks from *.OUT files. I highly recommend using this program as a replacement for the DOS based SDISK and its Windows counterpart SDISKW. This program even has a special menu selection for working specifically with Roland sampler disks I initially had some minor hardware issues with installing a working 3.5" floppy disk drive. It turned out that only the old‑style 720KB 3.5" DS/DD floppy disk drives will work. The newer and (of course) less expensive 1.44MB DS/HD will not work. After solving that problem, I compiled some useful installation notes here 3.5" Floppy Disk Drive Installation Notes2‑Prong Power Cable Replacement DIY  Tired of always looking for that oddball 2‑Prong AC power cable? Do something about it. Here's a super simple mod that will let you use the more common 3‑prong AC cable with your S‑50 or S‑550. The cost for parts was less than $1 (USD). The mod is so simple that all it needs is a picture to explain. It's easy as 'connect the dots'. If you buy the correct sized AC power adapter, it's a 1 for 1 swap, no case modification and no sheet metal to cut. There's even a pre‑drilled hole in the case for the ground wire. Just piggy‑back onto one of the screw holes used for the serial number plate. Easy!The DIY image shows the mod for an MKS‑50 but this will also work with an S‑50, S‑550, MKS‑70 and a bunch of other Roland rackmounts and keyboards. If you are using a sampler with something running other than 110/117V AC, please note... this mod has NOT been verified to work on a sampler running 220V/240V. This mod is only for those with electronics experience. Author accepts no liability if you damage your synth or hurt yourself. Always keep one hand behind your back when working with live electrical circuits. It's the best way to stay alive AC Power Receptacle Replacement DIYIf you just want to buy a 2‑prong AC replacement cable, don't pay the ridiculous high prices at eBay or elsewhere An 8‑foot replacement 2‑prong cable is Only $11.49 (USD) @ sweetwater.com + always FREE SHIPPING and NO MINIMUM! 
W‑30 Backlight Replacement Over time, the W‑30 backlight will begin to fail and get dimmer. It takes a while to disassemble the W‑30 to gain access to the LCD, but installing a new Electroluminescent Panel (ELP) segment is quick and easy. The old ELP slides out easily after unsoldering two leads eBay seller Abakus Company sells a great "Cool Blue" W‑30 replacement ELP. It's an incredible bargain under $10 (USD) and it really brings the display to life (Note: If stock is depleted, check with the admin for ETA of new stock ‑ abakus@mail.com When soldering in place, use a heatsink (a large coin works well) and touch the leads with the soldering iron for only very brief moments. I had to trim off about 1mm from the the top and bottom edges to make it fit. However, it's not an issue because this flexible ELP may be bent or cut into any shape. This ELP also works with Roland S‑750, S‑770, Akai, Kurzweil and EMU samplers. The Roland W‑30 Blogspot has some good before/after pictures about replacement. A green ELP is shown on that page but the instructions are appropriate  W‑30 Control Jack Templates  I designed these templates after being frustrated time and time again by having to move my W‑30 away from the wall to locate where certain audio and control jacks are located. This makes it easier to plug cables in and out without having to always face the back of the sampler... or use a mirror. There are four template variations with different fonts and color schemes W‑30 Control Jack TemplatesFile Format: PDF Document Mouse Or RC-100 Is Unresponsive, Intermittent Or Not Working / S‑550 I always thought the mouse interface on the S‑550 sucked due to a poorly designed operating system. It turns out those claims were unwarranted. I didn't know it at the time but the problem was always with the EXT CTRL 9‑pin connector on the front panel. I opened up five S‑550's and every one had broken or loose solder connections at this PCB location. Due to age, excessive pressure on the case, strain on the 9‑pin connector or a comination of all three, these solder connections break off or become loose. Some of the symptoms include
No Sound Output / S‑550, S‑220 & MKS‑100 Broken traces on the Switch Board are a common point of failure with the S‑550, S‑220 & MKS‑100. Over time, moving the sampler around will place too much strain on a particular section of the Switch Board and it will eventually crack. This usually occurs when the module is shipped from Point A to Point B. Broken traces on the board will set the total output volume knob to zero which renders the sampler useless. The problem area is located near the REC LEVEL and VOLUME knobs. I was able to fix my S‑550 by using epoxy on the broken board then soldered some jumper wires to reconnect the traces which were snapped 
Tact Switch Replacements (S‑50 / S‑550 / S‑750 / W‑30) After time, some of the buttons (tact switches) will start to act intermittently or fail. The best solution is to replace all of the tact switches at the same time because if you only replace a few, others are bound to fail soon after. eBay and other vendors sell complete sets of tact switches and these range anywhere from $30 USD to $92 USD. Ouch! You can save a lot of money buying them instead from an electronics supplier such as mouser.com. You can get a complete tact switch replacement set from Mouser for under $5 USD There are two types of tact switches to choose from. I prefer a harder press Operating Force of 2.6 Newton 
1) Brand Name: ALPS Manufacturer P/N: SKHHAMA010 Mouser P/N: 688-SKHHAM (about 15¢ each USD) Operating Force: 1.6 Newton Operating Life: 500,000 cycles Size: 5mm (H) x 6mm (W) x 6mm (D) 2) Brand Name: ALPS Manufacturer P/N: SKHHARA010 Mouser P/N: 688-SKHHAR (about 15¢ each USD) Operating Force: 2.6 Newton Operating Life: 200,000 cycles Size: 5mm (H) x 6mm (W) x 6mm (D) The total number of tact switches needed for each sampler differs. Do yourself a favor and buy a couple of spares because... shit happens S-50 / 34
S-550 / 27
S-750 / 21
W-30 / 29*
* When I replaced the tact switches on my W‑30, the position of the Panel Board was slightly lower than expected.To make sure the tact switches worked properly when the buttons were pressed, I had to place a 1mm tall plastic spacer under each one while soldering them in place. I'm not sure if all W‑30's are like this or not?!? The original factory tact switches were Roland P/N: 13169633 which is the discontinued ALPS P/N: SKHHAD039A This same tact switch was used for the D‑70, Juno‑106, S‑10, S‑50, S‑550 and S‑750 The Operating Life for these tact switches is realistically, probably 10 years until stress and/or oxidation starts to set in and they become intermittent. Removing old tact switches from the PCB is a matter of personal preference. The method I prefer is;  Use a small sharp pair of diagonal flush wire cutters and cut all four leads off from the top side of the PCB. Take extra care not to wedge the wire cutters in‑between the base of the tact switch and the PCB when cutting the leads. This places excess force on the eyelet trace on the underside of the PCB causing possible damage. Use a solder sucker, a fine tipped soldering iron or a stainless steel hollow desoldering needle and remove the leftover pins from the PCB holes. Remove any excess solder remaining in the holes. The eyelet traces on the brittle 30‑year old PCB are very fragile. Take extra care not to lift them off the surface of the PCB while desoldering. Using too much heat or keeping the soldering iron too long in one spot usually leads to this type of problem  USB Floppy Drive Emulator (USB/FDE) I decided to take the plunge and see if I could figure out how to add a virtual filesystem to replace the old 3.5" floppy diskette technology on my S‑550. The internal drive had failed so I was looking for a low‑cost replacement solution. I have also installed this same device on my W‑30 sampler and it is working great! After trying a couple of other inexpensive emulators which did not work, I received some very helpful instructions and ideas from user pitchbend over at gearsz.com and ordered this model which does work. To use the Roland floppy disk format, you must use a USB Floppy Drive Emulator (USB/FDE) which supports "Disk Image Mode" and is set to work with "720KB DS/DD" disk image files. I have received eMails from S‑50, S‑550, S‑330, W‑30 and MC‑300 owners who have had great success installing this USB/FDE model on their samplers and sequencers. This model will NOT work with the S‑750, S‑760 or S‑770 because those samplers use a higher density 3.5" floppy disk drive. I'm currently testing a different model USB/FDE with an S‑760. So far, so good! Current progress is at this link Model: SFRM72‑FU‑DL USB Floppy Drive Emulator for Roland 720K Cost: $34 (USD) + FREE Shipping (Item arrived in 10 days... from China to East Coast USA) eBay Seller: e2WholeSale I recommend buying this model from this same vendor since I know it works OK. There must be 100 other emulators, all different models and some are counterfeits. If you end up buying elsewhere, remember that it needs to have "Disk Image Mode", 720KB DS/DD and a 3‑character LED display. Anything with 1.44MB in the description will NOT work. Even then, it may not work unless it's the model number listed above. There's even one listed on eBay as 'SFRM72‑FU 720KB USB/FDE' but it's missing "‑DL" at the end of the part number. No No Uh Uh. Don't go near it. It only works for non‑image mode disks and it only has a 2‑character LED display. The USB/FDE you need will have a 3‑character LCD. Other models with similar part numbers look good at first but upon closer inspection, their user manual states that their Jumpers are disabled! Yikes!! The PCB silkscreen for the model shown above reads "GOTEK system" and "SFRC922" (Detail)  If you are handy with a soldering iron, I highly recommend the Mini-Toggle Switch Mod which is an simple 47¢ DIY. This extra toggle switch makes life easier because it eliminates the need to constantly plug/unplug the USB stick when loading/saving image disk filesHere is a list of PROS and CONS to using this model USB/FDE PROS
CONS
JUMPER POSITION FUNCTION
J5 OPEN (unknown)
JA JUMPER Generates a READY signal on pin 34 of the floppy driver interface
JC OPEN (unknown)
JB OPEN (unknown)
S0 JUMPER Drive Select 0
S1 OPEN Drive Select 1
MO OPEN Motor Select
 2) Unplug the S‑50 / S‑330 / S‑550 / W‑30 power cable from the wall outlet!!! 3) Open the case and remove the old 3.5" floppy disk drive (Observe safe ESD practices by grounding yourself and don't touch any static sensitive components). Note: If you are installing this in a W‑30, be prepared for an all night project. Several components in the W‑30 need to be removed before you can gain access to the floppy disk drive. Disassembling the W‑30 can be a real nightmare   4) Add the USB/FDE. - - - IMPORTANT - - - Take extra care to orient the ribbon cable correctly!!! Don't rely on the cable polarizing notch. If you plug it in backwards you will blow the fuse on the sampler power supply board! The red wire on the ribbon cable plugs into Pin #1 on the USB/FDE (Note: Some ribbon cables will use a green or black wire to indicate Pin #1) 5) To test that the hardware is operational, while powering on the sampler, hold down both buttons on the USB/FDE. The 3‑Character LED display will briefly show the firmware revision numbers (mine reads F21 for one second then displays 129 for one second) then displays 10.0. (or 00.0. depending on how long or how short the buttons were held down). If the 3‑Character LED display reads E16, it's in an ERROR STATE so power off the S‑550 and try the test again 6) Now you are ready for the next phase... Create the virtual filesystem on a flash drive (see Software Installation) Software Installation Creating The Virtual Filesystem In order for the USB/FDE to load files into the sampler, a virtual filesystem on a flash drive is needed. This virtual filesystem contains the S‑550 System Boot Disk and up to 99 3.5" floppy disk image files which contain the sample libraries. The flash drive needs to be formatted using the Master Boot Record (MBR) option. This setup process is very easy and no software is required. In fact, if your USB/FDE came with some free software, throw it away. It will only confuse things :^) 1) Format a flash drive (I have used flash drives from 1GB up to 32GB so size doesn't matter [...insert joke here...]) Windows XP: Right-click My Computer > Left-click Manage > Left-click Disk Management Select FAT32 and verify it is formatted using the MBR option using this guide NOTE: I've had mixed results using Windows XP Sometimes XP won't format the flash drive using the MBR option. Keep trying Windows 7: Run the Disk Management program by clicking the START button and enter diskmgmt.msc Select FAT32 and select the MBR option Windows 8 & 10: The MBR option was replaced with GPT so a third-party app is needed to format the flash drive A free utility called RUFUS enables a USB flash drive to be formatted using the MBR option Mac OS X: Run the Disk Utility application and choose the flash drive you want to format Select Erase then set these options in the pop-up window; Name: (Your choice - You can leave this field blank if you want) Format: MS-DOS (FAT) Scheme: Master Boot Record (Do Not Use ExFAT, OSX Extended, GUID Partition Map or Apple Partition Map)  Example: Formatting a generic flash drive using the Disk Utility app with Mac OS X 2) Create a new folder on the flash drive called IMG720 (The folder must be this name and is case sensitive. No other name will work) 3) Take your collection of S‑550 *.OUT files and copy them into the IMG720 directory (a maximum of 99 *.OUT files + 1 S‑550 System Boot Disk *.OUT file). If you download disk image files from the Internet with extensions of *.S50, *.S33 *.W30, etc..., you can simply rename these by using the *.OUT extension  Note: If you want to save some time, the entire S‑550 Sample Library, the entire S‑50 Sample Library (converted to S‑550 format), System Boot Disks and Utility Disks are in separate 100‑file collections for downloading. That way you can just download these *.ZIP files, uncompress them and pop them onto some different flash drives. All of these *.OUT files have been renamed to *.IMG so they will work with this USB/FDE (P/N: SFRM72‑FU‑DL). This enables you to skip the tedious renaming procedures shown below. Be patient when downloading the files... they're big 60 Disks (S‑550 Library RSB‑5501‑1 through RSB‑5506‑10) 80 Disks (S‑50 Converted To S‑550 Format ‑ RSB‑501‑1 to RSB‑508‑10)4) Rename each *.OUT file starting at 001 and give each file an IMG extender
Example: BEFORE AFTER
5501_1.OUT 001.IMG
5501_2.OUT 002.IMG
5501_3.OUT 003.IMG
. . . . . . . . .
5506_8.OUT 058.IMG
5506_9.OUT 059.IMG
5506_10.OUT 060.IMG
. . . . . . . . .
COSMOS.OUT 097.IMG
REVERSEJX10.OUT 098.IMG
MELLOTRON.OUT 099.IMG
Note: Starting with Mac O/S 10.10, a new Batch Rename feature is built‑in to the Finder App which lets you rename multiple files at onceCopy your S‑550 System Startup Boot Disk *.OUT file into the same IMG720 directory. Rename this file to 000.IMG Example: BEFORE AFTER
S550113.OUT 000.IMG
Note: If you have a hard disk drive and/or CD‑ROM connected to your S‑550 and you use the HD5‑IF or CD‑5 floppy disk to boot your sampler, use that *.OUT file instead of the S‑550 System Boot Disk *.OUT File (I have included both of these disk image files in the large *.ZIP file mentioned above)The directory structure on the flash drive should look like this (The drive letter H: is arbitrary) H:_____
|
IMG720_____
|
000.IMG
001.IMG
002.IMG
003.IMG
. . . .
. . . .
097.IMG
098.IMG
099.IMG
User enilenis over at YouTube has put together an excellent step‑by‑step DIY video for installing the SFRM72‑FU‑DL USB Floppy Drive Emulator in a Roland MC‑300 / MC‑500 / MC‑500MKII Sequencer and a follow‑up video for more advanced mods. Everything demonstrated applies to the S‑550, S‑330 and W‑30 samplers as well. Great stuff! UPDATE - APRIL 2016 A visitor to this website sent me an eMail with some useful info about mods. He places a StarTech USB Fast Charging Adapter in‑between the flash drive and the USB/FDE. It has a button on the top which effectively disconnects the flash drive from the emulator. This keeps you from having to constantly plug and unplug the flash drive. There is a red/blue LED to indicate Data Transfer Mode (Plugged In) or Charge Mode (Unplugged). It's available from startech.com or eBay for about $9 (USD). He also disassembled his emulator and used some flat black spray paint to make it match the S‑550 color scheme. Lookin' good! If you're a cheap bastard like me and $9 is too much to pay for a StarTech adapter, you can do what I did. I ordered a SPDT mini‑toggle switch ($0.74 USD from taydaelectronics.com) and rigged up an ON/OFF switch which does the same thing as the StarTech gadget. There's already a dimple in the exact location where you need to drill a hole for the mini‑toggle switch. It's a little bit of extra work but in terms of convenience, in the long run it yields a huge payoff. A detailed DIY guide for adding a mini‑toggle switch is at this link   SCSI ZIP Drive If you are one of the lucky 10% to have an HD5‑IF SCSI Card installed in your S‑550 or if you have a KW‑30 SCSI IC chip installed in your W‑30, it's possible to connect a maximum of 4 external SCSI devices at a time. However, the ZIP drive is an exception to this rule. Only two ZIP drives may be connected at a time because the SCSI ID# of a ZIP drive can only be #5 or #6 which is set by a hardware switch on the back The ZIP100 and ZIP250 SCSI drives are able to store up to 80MB of S‑550 sampler data on a single ZIP disk. This gives you an endless supply of storage space which is only limited by the number of blank ZIP disks you have. There are several models of ZIP drives. Some are parallel, some oare USB and some are SCSI. If you plug a parallel ZIP drive into the sampler you can kiss your SCSI card goodbye. You MUST use a ZIP SCSI model Z100S2 or Z250S. These SCSI models have two selector switches and two DB25 female connectors on the back. One switch selects SCSI ID#5 or #6 and the other switch turns termination ON or OFF.  Important steps to follow: 1) You MUST use the proper 25‑pin cable which was supplied with a new ZIP drive. Most 25‑pin cables you find for everyday computer use are wired for use with data transfer programs, parallel printers, scanners and other non‑SCSI devices. Cables made for most parallel and serial devices will not work and could possibly damage the SCSI card on the sampler. The 25‑pin ZIP cable to use is a straight through cable, 1 to 1, 2 to 2, ......, all the way up......, 25 to 25 2) Make sure the sampler and the ZIP drive are both powered off before connecting the 25‑pin cable. Never plug or unplug the ZIP drive from the sampler when the power is turned on for either device 3) Connect the 25‑pin cable to the ZIP drive connector on the left marked "ZIP". If the ZIP drive is the only SCSI device or is the last SCSI device in the chain and nothing is plugged into the 25‑pin port on the right, make sure the termination switch on the back is set to the "ON" position. If you are using an S‑550, I recommend using an Active SCSI Terminator instead 4) Power on the ZIP drive first then power on the sampler. It is impossible to boot the sampler using a ZIP drive. The S‑550 and the W‑30 both have information hard‑coded onto the boot ROM IC to only recognize Hard Drives or Floppy Drives as a boot device. You must always boot an S‑550 with a 3.5" floppy disk in the drive or from a USB/FDE with a valid boot disk image loaded. The only way I have been able to successfully have the ZIP drive recognized by the S‑550 is by booting the sampler using the CD‑5 System Boot Disk Ver. 1.00 disk (For unknown reasons, the most current CD‑5 System Boot Disk Ver. 1.02 and the HD5‑IF System Boot Disk Ver. 1.03 will not work with my ZIP drive) 5) If the last device in the SCSI chain is a ZIP drive, then you won't be able to boot from any hard drive! For example, if a ZIP drive were set to SCSI ID#6, it would be the last device in the SCSI chain. At boot time, the sampler will go out to search for the last SCSI ID# which is #6. Since the sampler can't boot from a ZIP drive, it will not boot from any hard drive. Setting the ZIP drive to SCSI ID#5, setting the ZIP drive termination switch to "OFF", setting a hard drive to SCSI ID#6 and terminating the hard drive will solve this problem Once the ZIP drive is connected and recognized by the sampler, you will need to format a ZIP disk using the Roland proprietary filesystem. It takes about 9 minutes to format a 100MB disk. After that, it's a very long process to get the ZIP drive functioning as an effective storage device because each individual sample disk needs to be loaded into the sampler and then saved over to a corresponding slot on the ZIP drive. There are 64 available slots to use on the ZIP drive and each slot will hold the equivalent of one 3.5" floppy disk. The HD5‑IF Owner's Manual provides detailed instructions about how to get things working. One important thing to note is that regardless of how big the ZIP drive is that you are using, the maximum storage capacity will always be 80MB per ZIP disk no matter what. This is a limitation of the S‑550 and W‑30 operating system. The largest hard drive partition recognized is 80MB and the ZIP drive is treated just like a regular hard drive. Keep this in mind when searching for a used ZIP drive to buy. A more expensive 250MB model with larger capacity ZIP disks will not offer any space advantages over a less expensive 100MB model.  I was able to find an inexpensive Z100S2 with power adapter and DB25 cable on eBay for under $17 (USD) so I decided to roll the dice. I can't say that I would or would not recommend using a ZIP drive with the S‑550 or W‑30. I think if you can find an inexpensive SCSI ZIP drive (and get an extra Active SCSI Terminator if it is the only external device connected to an S‑550), the ZIP drive is a great accessory. I'm still undecided about which is better... a USB/FDE or a ZIP drive, mainly because of the following PROS and CONS. Obviously, the best choice is to have both on the same system, but choosing one over the other is a tough decision Once you get a ZIP drive connected to your S‑550 or W‑30, here's a large collection of samples you can download. Each file is an 80MB ZIP disk image each containing 64 Roland sample disks. Once you load the ZIP disk image onto a blank ZIP disk, just pop it into the ZIP drive. Hassle free and no need to waste time loading individual floppy disks 192 Roland Sound Disks In ZIP Drive Image FormatSCSI ZIP PROS
 (click for larger image)
SCSI Hard Drive  As mentioned above, it's possible to connect a maximum of 4 external SCSI devices at a time to the S‑550 (w/optional HD5‑IF SCSI Card) or W‑30 (w/optional SCSI IC chip). Connecting a SCSI hard drive is a little tricky because only a few models will work. The HD5‑IF owner's manual states that there are only five hard drive models from 20MB to 80MB which can be used. However, there are some exceptions to that rule. I successfully connected a 160MB hard drive and it works just fine with my S‑550 and W‑30. There are other drives larger than 80MB which will also work, most of which are compatible with Apple hardware. The website at Neil's Webbly World has a list of compatible SCSI hard drives, some as large as 9GB! It's impossible to use all the available space on a 9GB drive because the maximum size recognized by the S‑550 and W‑30 O/S is 80MB. I think using a hard drive this size is significant to note because in the past, connecting an 80MB drive usually meant it was a hard drive already 25+ years old. Having the option of using a "newer" hard drive only 5+ years old sounds more promising for longevity The model I connected has a label on top which reads 'Quantum ProDrive ELS'. The actual model number and the size of the hard drive is somewhat hidden and you can't tell just from looking at the top label. The model number is hidden on the bottom label attached to the 50‑pin SCSI connector and reads '170S' which indicates this is a 160MB SCSI drive*. There are three jumpers on the PCB labeled A0, A1, A2 which are used to set the SCSI ID Select#. You will need to set this to something other than the default '#6' if you have any other device using SCSI ID #6. Detailed info about the jumper settings for the 170S is here. A large list of jumper settings for other makes and models is here * It's important to note that there are several Quantum ProDrive ELS hard drives with the exact same label on top. Not all of them are SCSI and they all have different storage capacities. The only way to ensure the hard drive will work with an S‑550 or W‑30 is by checking the model number shown on the bottom of the 50‑pin SCSI connector (click on the third image below) To get the S‑550 to recognize this hard drive, I had to boot from the HD5‑IF Ver. 1.03 Utility Boot Floppy Disk. To get the W‑30 to recognize this hard drive, I had to boot from the W‑30 Hard Drive And CD‑ROM Utility Disk v1.07. For the the S‑550, formatting the hard drive was easy by using the drop down menus MODE > DISK > MENU > Setup > COM. Next, click on HD Format. After the format process begins, the messages in order were; HD Formating ** - HD Initializing - HD Saving System - Working - Complete. The process took only four minutes from beginning to end. Even though the size of this Quantum drive is 160MB, the S‑550 and W‑30 would format it to use only 80MB. This is a limitation of the S‑550 and W‑30 operating system. The hard drive storage area allows up to 64 slots per SCSI hard drive or ZIP drive (64 3.5" floppy disks). The maximum number of slots you can fill at one time using four SCSI storage devices would be 256 which is approximately 185MB (256 3.5" floppy disks). On a scale of 1 to 10 by today's storage capabilities, that's about a 1  VERY IMPORTANT: If you want the S‑550 or W‑30 to boot from the new hard drive and not from the floppy, see this link 
(Note: 50-pin SCSI connector, not 40-pin IDE) On my system, the SCSI ZIP drive is not recognized unless I boot from the CD‑5 System Boot Disk Ver. 1.00 (For unknown reasons, the current CD‑5 System Boot Disk Ver. 1.02 and the HD5‑IF System Boot Disk Ver. 1.03 will not work with my ZIP drive. If you have a similar setup, the only way to boot your system and have both SCSI hard drive and SCSI ZIP drive recognized at the same time may require booting from the CD‑5 System Boot Disk Ver. 1.00. One of the rare instances where an O/S upgrade is actually a downgrade A Note About On-Board SCSI Hard Drive Terminating Resistors 
(click for larger image and SIP info) SCSI HD PROS
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 (80-Pin SCA to 50/68-Pin Adapter) The S‑550 and W‑30 normally use external 50‑Pin SCSI hard drives. It's possible to connect newer 80‑Pin UltraSCSI hard drives using an inexpensive 80‑pin to 50‑pin Single Connector Attachment SCSI Adapter Board (SCA). UltraSCSI SCA hard drives use one cable to supply all of the power and data. This adapter board separates the power from the data and lets you use an old‑style SCSI 50‑pin connector. UltraSCSI SCA adapter boards can be found on eBay and elsewhere for less than $5 (USD). The big advantage this offers is that you can use newer hard drives to replace your old 25+ year‑old dinosaurs which are slowly failing. Although you won't benefit from faster speeds or larger capacities, they do offer a less noisy environment and are more reliable. Compared to the older 50‑pin Quantum hard drives on eBay, these newer 80‑pin UltraSCSI hard drives are far less expensive. I bought an 18GB UltraSCSI hard drive for only $5 (USD) w/warranty. The last 50‑pin Quantum hard drive I bought was over $45 (USD) and it sounds like a broken blender. Setup is very easy and you can use your existing SCSI hard drive case. If you don't have an external SCSI hard drive case, old LaCie SCSI CDROM's are a good eBay purchase. Just pull‑out the CDROM mechanism, pop in the hard drive with the SCA Adapter Board and you're ready Not every UltraSCSI SCA hard drive will work. The S‑550 and W‑30 are still expecting to see a hard drive with the correct cylinder configuration. The hard drives I tested and verified were 18GB Quantum Atlas V, Model 37URC (Dell P/N: JP‑037URC) and 18GB Quantum Atlas 10K, Model 323U (Dell P/N: 0001323U). I'm not positive, but I'm guessing that just about any 9GB, 18GB, 36GB or 72GB Quantum UltraSCSI SCA hard drive with an SE jumper will work fine. Keep in mind that a smaller GB size will be faster to Format / Clone / Restore if you're planning on performing those tasks often  Complete DIY instructions for the UltraSCSI are here UltraSCSI HD PROS
SCSI2SD Device With MicroSD Cards (Very compact at only 100mm x 50mm; 4' x 2') This new SCSI device will emulate up to four 80MB hard drives on the S‑550 and W‑30. When configured correctly, it is also also able to boot the sampler. Very convenient!!! Using a DB25‑F to 50‑pin adapter and a DB25‑M to DB25‑M SCSI cable, it plugs into the DB25‑F SCSI connector on the HD5‑IF card (S‑550), the SCSI connector of a W‑30 (KW‑30 IC Upgrade), an already connected hard drive (DB25‑M to 50‑pin SCSI cable) or an already connected ZIP drive (DB25‑M to DB25‑M SCSI cable) Configuration is very easy and it only takes a couple of minutes to setup. The only real "time burner" is having to format the four 80MB hard drive areas. The format process is still quite slow due to limitations of the ancient O/S on the sampler. This device uses up to four separate SCSI ID device numbers for the virtual 80MB hard drives and you can choose any four SCSI ID's between #0 and #6. It has a slot for a MicroSD card which it uses for storage (I recommend using a 2GB MicroSD card which will make archiving and duplicating your MicroSD card possible). A micro USB to USB cable is used to connect the SCSI2SD device to a computer for configuration and/or updating the firmware. The SCSI2SD is $70 plus you will also need a power supply, DB25‑F to 50‑pin to adapter, a 2GB (or larger) MicroSD card, micro USB to USB cable, DB25‑M to DB25‑M SCSI cable and an enclosure. My total investment was $105 which is a little pricey. However, this device now gives me the equivalent of four 80MB hard drives with no mechanical parts to fail and a minimal amount of external cases, cables and NOISE! The cost savings and convenience is substantial. I'll probably end up selling all of my very LOUD external hard drives and end up making a profit on this deal The basic steps for configuring a SCSI2SD for use with an S‑550 or W‑30 are
The following configuration screens are from setting up a SCSI2SD using a Mac but they should look similar on a PC or Linux system
KW-30 SCSI UPGRADE KIT FOR THE W‑30  I'm still undecided if the Roland KW‑30 Upgrade Kit was a great 'forward looking design' or a 'total rip‑off'. In one respect, it's a very good design because there are several W‑30 owners who will never connect a SCSI device to it. This saved Roland and those W‑30 owners some money by not installing the Fujitsu MB89352AP SCSI IC chip in every sampler. On the other hand, Roland originally sold the KW‑30 Upgrade Kit for the overinflated price of $199. Vendors on eBay still sell their own copy of the KW‑30 Upgrade Kit for $60. The only thing inside the box is an IC, a disk and a Xerox page. Arm yourself with info and here's a $55 discount for ya... You can buy the same Fujitsu SCSI IC chip for only $5 (USD) then download the disk and instructions for free. Vendors on eBay are charging an extra $55 to send you the items in a box. The instructions are basically;
I found six eBay vendors selling the Fujitsu IC chip and one of the least expensive had a 2 for 1 special price of only $9 (USD). There were several available as of January 2017. Here's the info you need to get your W‑30 working with SCSI devices;
When the metal plate labeled "OPTION" is removed from the back, underneath is a DB‑25 Female SCSI connector. This SCSI connector is installed on all factory stock W‑30's And... if you think I'm exaggerating about what I consider to be price gouging, take a look at page 16 under KW‑30 Manual for Service and you will see this notice which makes you think that Roland did want any W‑30 owners to see how easy the upgrade was;  (Good Morning Mr. Phelps. Your mission, should you choose to accept it is to...) The Elusive External SCSI CD-ROM  W‑30 External CD‑ROM I was finally able to connect a CD‑ROM to my W‑30. It's an AppleCD 150 with a Sony CDU‑541‑25 internal mechanism + caddy. It doesn't play audio CD's from the sampler menu like the Roland CD‑5 model does... but I can live with that. I had no idea how cool it is to have CD‑ROM access on a sampler. The W‑30 menu for calling up sounds is a dream compared to using floppies or a USB/FDE. I'm finally able to access all those S‑50 / S‑550 / S‑330 / W‑30 sample disks on the Roland L‑CD1 CD. 165 Floppies worth. Whew! It's been a long wait!!! Rutger Verberkmoes has posted the Roland L‑CD1 CD as a disk image file you can download and burn to CD. The instructions at that webpage are somewhat confusing so I have created an easy 10‑step "L‑CD1 Extract & Burn Guide". The instructions are geared towards Mac users but the app used in the guide also works with Windows PC. A list of all the floppies on the Roland L‑CD1 CD is here. You can also find W‑30 Collection CD #1 and W‑30 Collection CD #2 available for downloading at this page  S‑550 External CD‑ROM I have completely given up hope in my search for a CD‑ROM to connect to my S‑550. The AppleCD 150 came sooooo very close to working. It's recognized by the O/S, ejects CD's and passes the SCSI test menus but when loading Patches or Tones it crashes the S‑550. Most of the info I've read on the Internet shows that the only CD‑ROM compatible with the S‑550 is the Roland CD‑5. Just from looking at the inside of a CD‑5, you can tell it's not a normal CD‑ROM. Off to the side of the mechanism is an additional SCSI board unlike regular Apple CD‑ROM's I have seen S‑50 And S‑550 3.5" Floppy Disk Drive Replacement  A visitor to this website has shared some very useful info about replacing a defective S‑50 3.5" FDD with the less expensive and more commonly found Samsung SFD‑321B 3.5" FDD. I've seen these 3.5" FDD's on eBay for under $8 (USD). Included here are DIY instructions to modify the drive so it is recognized as Drive #0 and 720KB density. The only thing required is some solder and one wire. This mod will also work for the S‑550 since the 3.5" FDD's are identical on both samplers Instructions ‑ 3.5" Floppy Disk Drive Replacement For The S‑50 And S‑550S‑550 And W‑30 Firmware: EPROM's or OTP EPROM's? It is unknown what the the final firmware versions are for these two samplers but I suspect they are v2.00 (S‑550) and v1.03 (W‑30) S‑550 
OTP EPROMS Soldered Onto The S-550 Main Board These OTP EPROM's are found on later production runs The S‑550 has a pair of EPROM's on the Main Board labeled IC#3 and IC#6 which contain the sampler firmware. Depending on the production year, these IC's are either EPROM's with Quartz windows or One‑Time Programmable EPROM's (OTP). The easiest way to tell is:
 Quartz Window EPROMS (W-30 & S-550) These S-550 EPROM's are found on earlier production runs If your S‑550 has EPROM's with Quartz windows, they are either v1.00 or v2.00. If they are OTP EPROM's they are v2.00. If you have OTP EPROM's, there is no need to upgrade. In fact... you probably can't upgrade because v2.00 is most likely the final version. The part numbers shown on both of my OTP EPROM's are LH57F003. This is a Roland manufactured version of the Sharp LH57128‑20 OTP EPROM. It can be read and backed‑up using an EPROM burner but obviously, it will be next to impossible to unsolder it safely from the Main Board without taking a chance on breaking fragile PCB traces. My advice would be to just keep things as they are. Since it's v2.00, you can download the binary code for the other v2.00 version I have which was read from my earlier production S‑550. It has EPROM's with a Quartz window. Keep this binary file as a backup if needed. If either of your OTP EPROM's on the Main Board go bad, simply use this backup binary code to burn a regular EPROM, unsolder the defective ones, install a 28‑pin socket, pop in the freshly burned EPROM and your sampler will be good to go. If your S‑550 already has socketed EPROM's installed, you can easily backup your firmware and/or upgrade to a more current firmware if you have an EPROM reader/burner Note: Unlike the W‑30, the S‑550 does not use ODD or EVEN EPROM's. Both IC#3 and IC#6 contain identical firmware code so you only need to backup one of the EPROM's and burn two of the same EPROM's when duplicating To check the current firmware version of your S‑550 EPROM's, a monitor needs to be connected to the RGB port of the sampler
Ver # disp
MT25 ROM. Ver. 2.00 11 SEP/87
S-550 SYS. Ver 1.13 26 OCT/88
W‑30 Every W‑30 I have ever seen (early and late production models) have both EPROM's IC#19 (EVEN) and IC#20 (ODD) socketed so they are much easier to work with. Also, I've never seen any version other than v1.03. The only real need to make copies of these two EPROM's would be to have a backup available in the event the electrons deplete over time. For more info about electron depletion, see the EPROM Quick Start Guide To check the current firmware version of the W‑30 ROM's, power on the sampler while holding down the [ F1 ] button A message similar to the following will be displayed: W-30 ROM Ver 1.03 [01/21] Binary files for creating your own S‑550 and W‑30 EPROM's may be downloaded for free at the Synth & Sampler Binaries Webpage
S‑50 Service Information Sheets For Roland Engineers  Factory supplied info for repairing S‑50 hardware and software bugs S‑50 Service Information SheetsSpare Parts Cross Reference Chart  I've compiled a small cross reference chart which is useful for matching duplicate spare parts on Roland synths and samplers. I use this list to find spares on broken equipment bargains found at eBay auctions. I just bought an S‑220 for only $23 which has enough spare parts for 19 different Roland synths and samplers. Gotta love eBay! Spare Parts Cross Reference CartMain PCB Board Assemblies And Power Supplies S‑550 There are four different models of the S‑550 sampler. Each one uses a different transformer (110V, 117V, 220V or 240V). The DIY's shown above were installed and tested on five different S‑550 samplers. Four of the models tested use the 117V transformer and the fifth uses a 240V transformer. 117V And 240V transformer systems use identical Power Supply Board Assembly PCB's. Main CPU Board Assembly silkscreen part numbers on the five models tested were 
W‑30 There are two different models of the W‑30 sampler each using a different Power Supply Board (110V/117V & 220V/240V). The DIY's shown above were installed and tested on two W‑30 models using only the 110V/117V transformer model. The Main CPU Board Assembly silkscreen part numbers on both models tested was
100V / 117V Power Board - Roland P/N: 22443588 / MSA817 220V / 240V Power Board - Roland P/N: 22443589 / MSA818 Disclaimer
Listed above are the Main PCB Board Assembly model numbers used for testing these DIY's. It's highly unlikely, but there is always a possibility that some modifitations and add‑on gadgets will not work with other Main PCB Board Assembly models. Modifications made to any factory stock equipment will always pose an element of risk. Sometimes mistakes are made which are irreversible. The author is not responsible for any damage or injury resulting from this DIY info. Use this DIY information at your own risk Safety Precautions Improper soldering and handling of electricity can cause serious injury and damage the sampler. Use caution when handling static sensitive devices and PCB's. Make sure you are properly grounded, working on a static‑free workbench or table and wear eye protection during all soldering tasks. Always unplug the sampler before attempting any of these DIY's. And, I can't stress enough, the importance of wearing eye protection while soldering. That stuff flies everywhere sometimes! 
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