Product Support

Frequently asked questions:

Question: How do I determine the OS installed in my unit?
Answer: Hold the Run/Stop (or Play) key and power the unit on. The OS revision will be displayed as R?.?? With the 777, if nothing happens when you do this procedure, you have an earlier OS than V2.0 installed.

Question: I just bought a used unit and nothing happens when I try to play a sequence.
Answer: More than often, the previous owner has left the MIDI mode set to EXT or ON, which means the unit is ready to play notes from an external MIDI controller, or be synced to an external MIDI clock. To change this MIDI setting, go into song mode, select MIDI and change the setting to INT, or OFF (depending on your OS). Be sure to fully exit the MIDI pages before starting playback.

Question: I lost my products manual, where can I get another?
Answer: Product manuals are now available for download on each of the product pages.

Question: I lost my power supply and bought a replacement from the local electronics store, but now the unit sounds more distorted than usual, especially when I am in pattern edit mode?
Answer: Sounds like your using a DC output adapter. The 777, Mobius, and Revolution all use a 12v AC output adapter rated @ 1000mA or 1Amp. DC adapters should not harm the units, however they will not provide enough current to power the unit properly. If you lose your power supply, you may purchase a new one directly from us by clicking here.

Question: Help, my unit is not powering up properly. I turn it on and the characters in the display keep circling around, or different characters than usual are being displayed.
Answer: If the units power is ever unplugged or turned off while the unit is playing, certain information may not have been written to memory correctly. When powered up the unit may appear to be stuck in a loop. To fix this, you need to perform a soft reset to the unit as follows. Start with the units power off, press and hold step key 1, and turn the power on. Continue to hold step key 1 until the display introduction stops. Playback will now default to pattern 1 bank 1, and none of your internal patterns should be harmed.

Question: The patterns in my unit have become randomized, and the unit no longer stores the patterns I've programmed.
Answer: You need to replace the internal backup battery for the RAM. Both the 777 and the Mobius use a 3 volt coin type lithium battery, model CR2325. This battery will generally last for years of use.
The Revolution uses a 3.6 volt AA size lithium battery with solder tabs, model TL-5104/P. (Please note there was a typo in the Revolution Owners manual regarding this battery type.) This battery will have a life expectancy of just over a year, due to the extra current draw from the RAM used in it's design. Tip: when replacing the Revolution's battery, you may wish to install a AA battery holder in place of the battery to elliminate any future soldering. Please use good double sided tape to fasten the holder to either the PC board or the bottom chassis. In this case you will then want to use an equivalent battery such as, model ER14505.

Question: How do I replace the battery in my Revolution, and reload the factory patterns?
Answer: To install a new battery in your unit, you will first need to open the unit, replace the battery, perform a soft reset to the unit, and then reload the factory sysex files.

Before opening the unit, be sure to disconnect the power cord from the unit, and be sure to ground yourself, or elliminate any electrostatic discharges.

Also be sure to back up your existing patterns and songs using the sysex dump feature so they can be reloaded after the battery installation.

To open the unit, pull directly up on the control knobs to remove them, notice that the two Remix controls and the Effect Select control fit a different sized shaft, so set these aside so they are not mixed with the other knobs.
Remove the 6 silver socket head screws using a 7/64" allen wrench. There are 3 located at the bottom front of the unit, and 3 on the rear of the unit.
Now pull the front panel directly up and off of the unit.
Remove the silver philips screws located on the outside of the bottom chassis. The 2 PC boards can then be removed as a single piece.
The back up battery is located at the front bottom right corner of the large PC board. In some units the battery will be soldered into place, while other units will have a battery holder installed. Before removing the old battery, note the placement of the positive terminal of the battery. The positive terminal should connect to the right side of the PC board. Be sure to use only a AA sized lithium battery rated at 3.6 volts, with a current rating of 1900 mAh or higher. (See previous question for possible replacement battery types)

After the battery is installed, place the PC boards back into the bottom chassis (make sure that the jumper wires do not get pinched between the PC board standoffs and the chassis), install the philips screws, place the front panel back on the unit (and note you may need to pull out slightly on the side panels when reinstalling the front panel.) Then install the 6 socket head screws and the knobs.

Once the unit is back together you will need to do a soft reset. To do a soft reset: Start with the unit off, hold down step key 1 and turn the power on. Continue to hold step key 1 until the LED's stop circling around the display. Playback should then resume to normal with most parameters set to our default settings.

Next you would want to do a sysex dump of either the factory patterns which can be downloaded from our website, or you could dump your own patterns if you have backed them up. To install the factory patterns, download the Zip file located on the Revolution page of our website, unzip the file and save the file on your computer. Next you will need to use a sysex program such as MIDI-OX if you are using a PC, or Sysex Librarian if you are using a MAC. Either program can be downloaded online for free just do a google search for them.

Connect the MIDI out of your computer to the MIDI In of the Revolution. Go into the Song mode of the Revolution, enter the Sysex pages, and set the Revolution to Load using the up/down keys. Next be sure to press the Play key on the Revolution to cue up our unit to receive the sysex dump. Then open up one of the above mentioned sysex software programs and load either the pattern or song file into the program, one at a time. Then use that program to transmit or send the sysex data to the Revolution. Note if you are sending both the pattern and song files, you will need to press the Play key on the Revolution before each dump to cue it up to receive the information.

When the transfer is complete, be sure to exit the Sysex pages, and the Song mode. Playback should then resume to normal.

Question: What's the difference between the white Revolution units and the grey R2 Revolution units?
Answer: The R2 Revolution units have a new PC board layout which uses a different RAM chip. The new RAM chip draws less current from the internal backup battery, which then allows the backup batteries in the R2 units to last for approximately 10 years, instead of 1.5 years as in the white Revolution models. Obviously there is the chassis color change to help signify the different RAM chip used within these units. In addition, R2 units come with OS version 2.00 installed. This new OS shifts the incoming and outgoing usable range of MIDI notes from C2-D#7. This was done as most 5 octave keyboards will have their lowest note be MIDI note C2, and C2-C7 is the also the playable range for our XS synthesizer. Version 2.00 OS also fixes a MIDI bug which would sometimes not send a correct note-off message when you stopped playback while the sequencer was gliding a note. It also fixes a MIDI song position pointer error which existed in the Song mode.

Need help with something else? Please email us at: support@future-retro.com with your questions.