Mcintosh C2500 preamp problem

[briebert]

Gang,

I'm desperate for your help. I purchased a Mcintosh C2500 Preamp back in December brand new along with a 275 Tube amp. Everything was fine until yesterday when there was a power surge for a split second and everything turned off and on very quickly. The C2500 was in standby with the red light on the power button. I didn't think anything of it, and when I went to turn it on this morning, everything came on except the C2500. I have all equipment connected to a nice power strip, but do not have a UPS or conditioner or anything like that. Any ideas? Do I have to bring it to my dealer to check out?

Many thanks in advance,

Brian Ebert - worried owner

[pdovinh]

Hi Brian, try resetting--info on page 26 of your manual:

Reset of Microprocessors
In the unlikely event the controls of the C2500 stop
functioning, the microprocessors can be reset by performing
the following:
1. Press and hold the STANDBY/ON Push-button for
approximately ten seconds and then release.
2. To switch the C2500 back On press the On
STANDBY/ON Push-button.
Note: This can be performed with the C2500 On or in
the Standby Mode.
Resetting the C2500 to default settings

If it becomes desirable to reset all the adjustable settings
(Setup and Trim Settings) to the factory default
values, perform the following steps:
1. Press both the PROCESSOR and OUTPUT 2
Push-buttons until the Front Panel Display indicates
“FACTORY RESET”.

[jdandy]

Brian.......Try unplugging the power cord from the C2500 and wait 15 seconds or so, then plug it back in.

[briebert]

Thanks fellas, I appreciate the head start. I tried both things, Dan - yours worked and at least the Preamp turned on. However, all the red lights are on the front and no digital screen display is on, only the blue lights in the meters and the red dots on the buttons. Tried both things again with the power button to no avail. Any further ideas?

Thanks in advance,

Brian Ebert - Now a little more hopeful

[jdandy]

Brian.......Try unplugging the power cord for five minutes to allow the power supply time to completely collapse. I would also disconnect any power control triggers. Let the preamp sit for at least five minutes, then plug the power cord back into the preamp. It appears to be a microprocessor issue.

[Maks]

I agree w/Dan's advice, I had a similar power blip a year or so ago. All my other Mc gear was fine but I had to unplug my C2300 for a prolonged period of time until it responded correctly.

[briebert]

Thanks again for the responses fellas! I've been e-mailing Chuck at Mcintosh all day today and he thinks its possible it got to thinking it was doing a software update and got stuck (?) so he asked me to take it to the dealer or get a PC with only Intel processor and see if maybe I could get it to update. I'll probably just take it to my dealer in the next couple days to see if they can look into it!

Thanks again for all the ideas!

Brian Ebert

[jdandy]

Originally Posted by briebert

Thanks again for the responses fellas! I've been e-mailing Chuck at Mcintosh all day today and he thinks its possible it got to thinking it was doing a software update and got stuck (?) so he asked me to take it to the dealer or get a PC with only Intel processor and see if maybe I could get it to update. I'll probably just take it to my dealer in the next couple days to see if they can look into it!

Thanks again for all the ideas!

Brian.......The idea that the C2500 "thought" it was doing an update doesn't make sense to me. There is no "auto update" on the C2500 and no Ethernet connectivity to the Internet for updating so how exactly could the preamp be updating it's software? This makes no sense to me.

I see the RS232 port on the rear apron. This is most likely where the software is initially downloaded to the preamp and where software updates would be downloaded to the preamp. I remember having to update my MR88 tuner software via its RS232 port. I had to use an old Windows XP laptop to get it done. Lucky for me I still have an XP laptop in the closet with an RS232 port and a couple old cables still hanging around. In this regard I think McIntosh is way behind the curve. There should either be WiFi connectivity to Windows computers or Ethernet connectivity to McIntosh via your router for automatic updates. If Oppo can do it so well, so could McIntosh.

[kevzep]

Originally Posted by jdandy

I see the RS232 port on the rear apron. This is most likely where the software is initially downloaded to the preamp and where software updates would be downloaded to the preamp. I remember having to update my MR88 tuner software via its RS232 port. I had to use an old Windows XP laptop to get it done. Lucky for me I still have an XP laptop in the closet with an RS232 port and a couple old cables still hanging around.

I would assume this is the same as the C48/50.

The RS232 port is not where the updates are loaded onto the pre-amp....

Its all done though the USB using a updater program you have to get from McIntosh, which also has the firmware/USB audio update within it...
Two different applications are used, one for firmware and one for USB audio.

You also have to assess a particular part of the menu in the pre-amp to perform this operation.

It is all designed now to work with Windows 7.

I have done firmware and USB audio updates on my C48, its pretty straight forward, but McIntosh recommend having a dealer do it, they only helped me out because I am way down in New Zealand with no dealer, I had Mike from AC put me in touch with Mr Hinton at McIntosh, he explained there would be no accountability on McIntosh's part if I stuffed it up.....
If you make a mistake with the firmware, or you lose power during the process, you can brick the unit (turn it into a doorstop)....Which is why its not really a user operation.
As part of my job as an audio systems engineer, I am used to doing this sort of thing, so I was comfortable doing it.....

In the case of this C2500, I would be doing a factory reset on it.....Has this been done?
This is the first thing I would try, maybe during the brownout somehow during the boot up cycle the unit corrupted itself, this would be remedied by a factory reset....

There is no state that the pre-amp could go into where it is looking for an update or anything like that.....

[jdandy]

Originally Posted by kevzep

I would assume this is the same as the C48/50.

The RS232 port is not where the updates are loaded onto the pre-amp....

Its all done though the USB using a updater program you have to get from McIntosh, which also has the firmware/USB audio update within it...
Two different applications are used, one for firmware and one for USB audio.

You also have to assess a particular part of the menu in the pre-amp to perform this operation.

It is all designed now to work with Windows 7.

I have done firmware and USB audio updates on my C48, its pretty straight forward, but McIntosh recommend having a dealer do it, they only helped me out because I am way down in New Zealand with no dealer, I had Mike from AC put me in touch with Mr Hinton at McIntosh, he explained there would be no accountability on McIntosh's part if I stuffed it up.....
If you make a mistake with the firmware, or you lose power during the process, you can brick the unit (turn it into a doorstop)....Which is why its not really a user operation.
As part of my job as an audio systems engineer, I am used to doing this sort of thing, so I was comfortable doing it.....

In the case of this C2500, I would be doing a factory reset on it.....Has this been done?
This is the first thing I would try, maybe during the brownout somehow during the boot up cycle the unit corrupted itself, this would be remedied by a factory reset....

There is no state that the pre-amp could go into where it is looking for an update or anything like that.....

kevzep.......Thank you for the clarification on the firmware download process via USB.

I see in the manual that the Factory Rest is different from the Microprocessor Reset. Hopefully Brian will give the Factory Reset a try. That may do the trick.