I had the same problem. There is a switch on the back of the module for whether you want the kick drum to be controlled by a pedal or a trigger pad. Easy to miss the switch but an easy fix!
Good job of troubleshooting... I assumed you have tried other triggers into the kick drum input and found it is dead. This leaves the problem in the "brain". Look in your manual for anything to do with sensitivity of the kick drum input. It is likely all the inouts are sampled and digitized by the same A-D convertor via a multiplexor switch. I was unable to find the schematic of your unit so I downloaded one for a Roland TD8. Often the different companies rob designs from eachother so one can glean methods from a different brand. As expected the inouts are conditioned and then go to a MUXX chip that samples the input. The signals are conditioned before going to the MUX by a limiter and before that there is an RF bypass cap on the input. IF you might have had a static discharge, that capcitor(s) may have shorted rendering those inouts dead. This is what I want you to try:with a suitable cable I would like you to pulse the kick input by momentarily connecting a 9 volt batery to it... try both polarities. If NEITHER polarity fires the kick, then I want you to take an ohmmeter and measure the resistance of the input. The Roland schematic has coupling capcitors and if your brand has similar circuits you should see infinite resistance... if you find it very low, say 100 ohms, probablly the RF bypass cap at the input is shorted. These will be surface mounted caps and you need to be a bit adept at electronic repair to replace them. Essentially I believe you will find a failure in teh interface ckt where those inputs come in.
If you determined that the kick jack or plug... I am not sure which type is on the octopus... for reference we call a female connector a jack and a male a plug... anyway if we found that the kick inout jack or plug did NOT connect to any of the pins on the 25 pin connector, I would have you cut the kick jack or plug of the octopus off, strip the wires and test for continuity to a pin of the 25 pin plug... If the wire was broken right nearthe kick jack hat would be an easy fix by replacing the connector. Due to static dischages, touching tips of connectors will give intermittent results so not a lot can be gleaned from that test... that is why I suggested a test with a battery where a known pulse could be generated.. Try to test if the octopus cable has continuity from teh kick input to a pin in the 25 pin connector. cHECK THAT YOU FIND BOTH THE HOT AND THE GROUND HAVE CONTIUITY. I hate molded octopus cables and one can hope the break is near the individual connectors. However, in some cases I have surgically opened the back of 25 pin connectors and soldered the connections to a new plug and put on a new backshell. One could remake the whole cable. One should document the existing connections. Consider just making a whole new cable... It is a bit tedious but you can make sure it is a quality job. Back shells, connectors, etc are all available from sources like DigiKey.com. I would use cable like RG174... one has to be careful when soldering as you can melt the insulation. I can coach you how to dress the new cables if you choose to make yourself a whole new one... You probably can buy a new one from the manufacturer. FIRST though is to find if the cable is bad... it still could be in the brain part... Do the ohmmeter test of the octopus cable first and let's go from there.If you determined that the kick jack or plug... I am not sure which type is on the octopus... for reference we call a female connector a jack and a male a plug... anyway if we found that the kick inout jack or plug did NOT connect to any of the pins on the 25 pin connector, I would have you cut the kick jack or plug of the octopus off, strip the wires and test for continuity to a pin of the 25 pin plug... If the wire was broken right nearthe kick jack hat would be an easy fix by replacing the connector. Due to static dischages, touching tips of connectors will give intermittent results so not a lot can be gleaned from that test... that is why I suggested a test with a battery where a known pulse could be generated.. Try to test if the octopus cable has continuity from teh kick input to a pin in the 25 pin connector. cHECK THAT YOU FIND BOTH THE HOT AND THE GROUND HAVE CONTIUITY. I hate molded octopus cables and one can hope the break is near the individual connectors. However, in some cases I have surgically opened the back of 25 pin connectors and soldered the connections to a new plug and put on a new backshell. One could remake the whole cable. One should document the existing connections. Consider just making a whole new cable... It is a bit tedious but you can make sure it is a quality job. Back shells, connectors, etc are all available from sources like DigiKey.com. I would use cable like RG174... one has to be careful when soldering as you can melt the insulation. I can coach you how to dress the new cables if you choose to make yourself a whole new one... You probably can buy a new one from the manufacturer. FIRST though is to find if the cable is bad... it still could be in the brain part... Do the ohmmeter test of the octopus cable first and let's go from there.
These switches they use can be VERY tiny... I have seen some that it takes a pencil point to slide them. I am glad it isworking now. You did a lot of good troubleshooting... do not beat yourself up over the switch... Try to find in the manual what it does for future reference.These switches they use can be VERY tiny... I have seen some that it takes a pencil point to slide them. I am glad it isworking now. You did a lot of good troubleshooting... do not beat yourself up over the switch... Try to find in the manual what it does for future reference.
Answers & Comments
I had the same problem. There is a switch on the back of the module for whether you want the kick drum to be controlled by a pedal or a trigger pad. Easy to miss the switch but an easy fix!
Good job of troubleshooting... I assumed you have tried other triggers into the kick drum input and found it is dead. This leaves the problem in the "brain". Look in your manual for anything to do with sensitivity of the kick drum input. It is likely all the inouts are sampled and digitized by the same A-D convertor via a multiplexor switch. I was unable to find the schematic of your unit so I downloaded one for a Roland TD8. Often the different companies rob designs from eachother so one can glean methods from a different brand. As expected the inouts are conditioned and then go to a MUXX chip that samples the input. The signals are conditioned before going to the MUX by a limiter and before that there is an RF bypass cap on the input. IF you might have had a static discharge, that capcitor(s) may have shorted rendering those inouts dead. This is what I want you to try:with a suitable cable I would like you to pulse the kick input by momentarily connecting a 9 volt batery to it... try both polarities. If NEITHER polarity fires the kick, then I want you to take an ohmmeter and measure the resistance of the input. The Roland schematic has coupling capcitors and if your brand has similar circuits you should see infinite resistance... if you find it very low, say 100 ohms, probablly the RF bypass cap at the input is shorted. These will be surface mounted caps and you need to be a bit adept at electronic repair to replace them. Essentially I believe you will find a failure in teh interface ckt where those inputs come in.
If you determined that the kick jack or plug... I am not sure which type is on the octopus... for reference we call a female connector a jack and a male a plug... anyway if we found that the kick inout jack or plug did NOT connect to any of the pins on the 25 pin connector, I would have you cut the kick jack or plug of the octopus off, strip the wires and test for continuity to a pin of the 25 pin plug... If the wire was broken right nearthe kick jack hat would be an easy fix by replacing the connector. Due to static dischages, touching tips of connectors will give intermittent results so not a lot can be gleaned from that test... that is why I suggested a test with a battery where a known pulse could be generated.. Try to test if the octopus cable has continuity from teh kick input to a pin in the 25 pin connector. cHECK THAT YOU FIND BOTH THE HOT AND THE GROUND HAVE CONTIUITY. I hate molded octopus cables and one can hope the break is near the individual connectors. However, in some cases I have surgically opened the back of 25 pin connectors and soldered the connections to a new plug and put on a new backshell. One could remake the whole cable. One should document the existing connections. Consider just making a whole new cable... It is a bit tedious but you can make sure it is a quality job. Back shells, connectors, etc are all available from sources like DigiKey.com. I would use cable like RG174... one has to be careful when soldering as you can melt the insulation. I can coach you how to dress the new cables if you choose to make yourself a whole new one... You probably can buy a new one from the manufacturer. FIRST though is to find if the cable is bad... it still could be in the brain part... Do the ohmmeter test of the octopus cable first and let's go from there.
These switches they use can be VERY tiny... I have seen some that it takes a pencil point to slide them. I am glad it isworking now. You did a lot of good troubleshooting... do not beat yourself up over the switch... Try to find in the manual what it does for future reference.