Midi Fighter Mod/Too Much USB Power

[DJSOLO]

Hey!

I'm working on expanding the classic Midi Fighter, but I'm a beginner at electrical connections and soldering, so I'm having an issue now that everything's all wired up. I have everything connected well and secure, but when I plug it in, it says "Too Much Power Being Drawn by USB Device...this port will be shut down". I understand that something is misfiring but I'm not sure what.

Here's what I have going on and here's what I tested:

I added 4 arcade buttons and 3 rotary knobs (360 rotating kind, the middle one will also push down as a button function). The Midi Fighter itself works fine if I don't have the 5V power lead to the expansion connected internally, but with that connected it's drawing too much power and I get that error. I didn't think that it would require additional power or a powered USB port since midi controllers with a lot more on them don't need that, nor does the Midi Fighter Pro, to my knowledge. So I figured I have something connected wrong.

Any suggestions of what else to troubleshoot? Do I need to reset the unit after I make a mod like that? I made sure the connections were done well and secure, and there's no bleed of solder, at least that I can see. So maybe a connection is wrong.

Any help is appreciated!

[DJSOLO]

...just found this:
http://www.djtechtools.com/2010/02/0...sis/#more-4747

Gonna dig in and see what I can come up with.

[tiny robot]

Based on the message you are getting, it sound like you have a short. Normally the devices you connected should not draw any additional current, so my advice would be to check your connections. I would start with the knobs. Make sure that they are all wired exactly the same way. If they are, then disconnect all but one and see if you still get the message (if you don't want to fight with soldering everything again, you should be able to get away with cutting the wires in the middle, and then reconnecting them later with crimp splices, which you can get at radio shack). If you still get the error with only one knob, then the problem is most likely in the individual knob wiring it's self (Just to be sure, remove the last knob and see if the error comes up...If not, then the knob wiring is your issue). If you don't get the error with the single knob connected, then the issue lies with one of the knobs that you removed. If that is the case, re-verify that all the knobs are wired in the same manner, and re-connect them one by one, checking for the error each time you re-connect a knob. This should reveal with knob is causing the issue. If the wiring is all correct when you find the knob in question, then it's possible the knob is bad and should be replaced.

Sorry for the wall of text.....hope this helps!

[DJSOLO]

Yeah, I had some wiring wrong. Figured it out and then saw the thread about going into the menu and enabling the digital buttons, and then if I want to use the analogue ones I have to update the firmware.

So right now I'm stuck there. I read the instructions but that's for serious programmers and it might as well be in Russian. Is there a simpler way to update the firmware on a Mac? Or a simpler way to explain that to someone who knows nothing about programming code? I realize ultimately what I'll be doing is setting up an environment and simulating a Windows os with a C: drive and a directory and all that, but that's about as far as my understanding goes.

Thanks again!

[DJSOLO]

...daang!! Just found this. I hope this helps anyone like me with this problem, meaning an admitted stoner who has a hard time finding the stickies at the top of a list about the Midi Fighter!

http://www.djtechtools.com/forum/showthread.php?t=36799

Fail.