USB B female failure / broken . Need help/advise please!

[enrico]

Hello everybody. The big lurker is back, with a huge issue to solve...

I've been djing with the S4 for almost a year, connecting and disconnecting at least in around 80 gigs and some more at home or at friends' places.

Since day one the usb connection on the s4 was rude, hard to engage/disengage. However i thought it was to add robustness so a good thing all in all. But i've started to have problems with it. Controversially, the most robust usb female connector i've seen, is the first that i see fail. I have never seen a failure of this kind in a usb connector before (and i've had some...)

At the last gigs i've played, i've suffered a lot just to make the computer see the controller. Simply putting the connector in, does not show the device in the computer. I have to slowly pull it back (as if i was disconnecting it) until i find a point where contact is made. But there's no clear rule. Most of the times i don't succeed doing the connection, and when i do, the connector is way too off that it seems a miracle to be able to play like that. Lucky me for using an external sound card, so whenever the controller is accidentally disconnected music does not stop. But it has come to a point that it has to be repaired.

But i am afraid of sending it to NI and having to wait up to 3 months for having it back. I can't stop working!! Neither can't i buy another one. While it is at service, i don't see myself burning cd's to bypass the situation,... I am even considering to make the repair myself to avoid this possibly way too long TAT.

At sight, pins seem to be in place and no wreckage can be observed there. So my suspicion is that the issue may be related to the internal weldings of the connector to the board.

I would like to have the community's advice for the following questions:

- Has anybody had a similar issue? How did you solve it?
- Has anybody tear down the controller and seen how easy/complicated may it be to replace this connector? I consider to get an external one with cable and avoid welding another female to the board, but just welding cables there.
- Any additional advise on this issue?

Thanks in advance for any help you can provide.

[enrico]

hey, just to update that post.

finally i've been a pussy and i've sent it to repair. let's see what it takes.

[Modern Knight]

My S2 USB female is the same way. Seems you have to give it to much pressure for it to go in correctly. Just got my S2 about a month ago. An update on how long the repair took would be great just in case I run into the same problem in the future.

[DJAdamDaniel]

is it worth having one of these plugged into the S4/S2 permanently?

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/USB-3-0-B-...item3368e87e0b

long as you can transport with it in then if/when the female usb gives up you just replace this 1 small adapter.

if the built-in female socket lasts, say 100 times and the female side of the adapter lasts 100 times then you get 100x100 = 10000 cycles before the S4/S2 internal female socket gives up...

[enrico]

Hey fellows, as requested, here's my experience with NI Support in regards to dealing with that issue. In summary, i received a refurbished unit in exchange, which eliminated the repair and saved some time. However, that unit had a problem and has had to be returned again.

I must say that i'm very satisfied with the response of the team, and positively surprised after having read several posts that were users were reporting very long time to get their unit back. That had me scared. And i assume the advice I had from other users, to call in addition to opening the ticket, was critical to help move that forward slightly faster.

Here's the complete timeline until today:

08/01/2012: Ticket Open

10/01/2012: No reply received yet, so i phoned NI to get an update and understand how long could it take to solve the issue.

11/01/2012: First email response received, stating the device is possibly defective, requesting POP and shipment details.

12/01/2012: Requested details were sent by email. Later that day, RMA number was received. After completing a few questions, the UPS shipment label was mailed to me.

13/01/2012: The S4 is dropped at an UPS point, the trip starts.

17/01/2012: The S4 reaches its destination.

18/01/2012: I get an email telling me that a refurbished S4 begins its journey to my home.

20/01/2012: The refurbished S4 arrives home. It looks like a brand new unit!! Mine was cosmetically a bit degraded after one year of usage, specially the shiny central part, and the right pitch fader which had the surface paint slightly faded out. Anyway, after testing thoroughly each and every button, fader, wheel..., i found a knob that did not work properly. It was the right side loop size knob, moving it in either direction, made the parameter increase, until it reached 32 and would not move unless i used the mouse to click on screen and do so. 20 minutes after receiving it and acknowledge there was an issue, i phoned NI again. They apologized and told me this has been very bad luck, and that they will contact me on monday to proceed with another exchange.

23/01/2012: I receive a new request to provide details and get a label for the shipment. I proceed to fill the information and receive the label right away.

25/01/2012 The S4 is dropped at an UPS point, the trip starts, again.

I will keep you posted as soon as new events happen.

[deco]

having the same issue with my S2 - it's one day old - i don't think i'll leave it. i'll be taking it back to the store.

[enrico]

Being that new, it is the best thing you can do.

I didn't post anymore but my issue was solved just a week later. NI support did an impecable job, i received another exchange unit and this time everything worked fine.

[deco]

that's good to hear - the guy at the local store here was annoyed but i wasn't willing to leave it. i watched a youtube vid of some guy setting one up though and he commented on how tight the connection was too - hope the next one that arrives isn't the same.

in the meantime, they let me keep the one I first received.

[smiley4822]

if i would have read these posts. i would have NOT BOUGHT THIS FUCKING PLASTIC TOY

[Kensic]

yea why does the port so hard to plug and unplug the usb wire into?

im thinking about buying an angle one like this and leave it there permanatly, with it being angled, it is easier to put s2 into bags and such.

http://www.vpi.us/usb-cables-angled.html