Hi everyone, I have some questions about a Fairlight CVI “Entertainer” that I hope some of you with hands-on experience with these models might have some insight into.
I have had my “Entertainer” for about a year and have noticed some things that I am not sure are correct function.
First thing is an easy one, on startup when it traces the “Fairlight” logo across the screen it is in black. Now this may be completely normal for this model but I have only ever seen the full color logo in demos of other CVI models.
The second is about firmware, is there a source for latest version ROMs for these anymore? I believe that I am missing some of the video switching functionality that the latest updates included.
These are just two examples of the questions I have, there is a bank of DIP switches that I can’t find a source for correct settings of, and a few others that I may ask depending on interest in this topic.
Thank you all in advance!
Congrats on finding one of these rare little CVI’s. What switching functionality are you missing?
If the logo is black, but you aren’t missing any colors when using the CVI, then I can’t imagine there is something wrong. The Entertainer is a stripped down version of the regular CVI, so there are bound to be some differences in functionality.
Do you have the manual? http://fairlightcvi.com/wordpress/
Thank you and sorry for the delayed response. The color output seems to be predominantly yellow with a bit of blue, green and red at certain points when adjusting the hue slider. The speed of all animations is rather fast regardless of slider settings and sometimes it doesn’t want to boot up properly when switched on. When I received it the first thing I did was clean the switches and sliders but there’s still a bit of oxidation/dirt in them I think. The led on two sliders goes out when adjusted toward the bottom of their travel so I’m losing contact on those for one reason or another. I attribute most of these irregularities on fouled contacts but trying to establish an easy baseline of what it’s supposed to do compared to what it is doing. And yes the original small spiral-bound manual was included, and this is where I found the info about the video switching functionality. At the back of the manual an addendum is included that explains the “new” feature but omits any mention of what firmware version this change applies to. Based on labels on ROMs I’m guessing this is a 1988-1989 model.
Thank you very much for your response and insight!
I also notice that I have different I/O than what is shown in the manual. I will attempt to include photographs in case this is of use to other users.
That’s cool. My Entertainer didn’t have the second input, if I remember correctly. Have you followed the switching function instructions in the manual? What happens?
If you feel up to it, you might want to disassemble your sliders to clean them properly and to see if any of the contact path is damaged. It could be part of a broader servicing of the instrument.
I would be interested to see a comparison of how video looks before and after it goes through the Entertainer. Does is put a yellow cast on everything? Can you share photos of the difference?
I wonder if the switch input on the back needs a foot pedal etc. to perform the switching function?