Software upgrade issues for K2000

Very few electronic music products have the longevity of the now legendary Kurzweil K2000. With that longevity some unusual circumstances can arise in terms of upgrading old units. “I’m considering buying a used K2000 that has OS version 1.00. Can I jump to version 3.87 by just buying the current OS ROM Chip update? Or are there intermediate steps I need to take?” The answer comes from our illustrious Director of Soundware Engineering, Daniel Fisher:It will probably be a bit more involved than just adding two new OS Chips and two additional Setup Chips. The determining factor will be which revision of the motherboard is in that ancient K2000.At a minimum, a jumper will also have to be moved.At median, a small wire will have to be soldered to two points to create a jumper.And worst case, if you’re also adding the optional ROM Blocks, you’ll actually need to lift two of the pins of the Setup Chips out of the sockets, bend them 90 degrees into the air and solder a wire between them without breaking the pins or burning the chips and surrounding components. This is work that is definitely best left for an experienced technician.Given that the K2000 has OS 1.00 (from Dec. of 1991!), it’s very possible that you’ll need at least some of the above performed.Buying a used K2000 can be a great way to save money and get a phenomenal keyboard, but there are a variety of things that should be done to bring most used units up to snuff. Beyond the issues mentioned above that may be required just to add the latest software, our service department also does complete checks of the whole instrument and we perform a number of other essential and non-essential, but helpful upgrades. The list is too long to get into, but these are the result of nearly 10 years of learning the idiosyncrasies of this sophisticated machine.

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