I'm not a big fan of the idea of soldering to a trace on a PCB, so I decided to solder wires to the processor pins. The trace was cut using a Dremel and a thin drill, so there is less chance of damaging adjacent PCB traces and it looks neat.
Beautiful! That’s one of the nicest looking bodge wires I’ve seen
Thread about upgrading the RA-50 to full a CM32L (ROM upgrade): Roland RA-50 Mod
This is as far as anyone could go so far in this respect to my knowledge (thread is very recent)
Hey everyone,
I recently picked up a Roland RA-50, and I’m running into an issue I’d love some help with. Every time I power it on (using a 9V DC adapter), I get a "Check Internal Battery" message on the display. The unit seems to work fine otherwise, but I’m worried it might be losing settings or something when powered off.
From what I’ve dug up online, it sounds like the internal battery is probably a CR2032 3V lithium coin cell for memory backup (like in a lot of Roland gear from that era). I saw some mentions of this on Gearspace and Syntaur’s parts list, but I haven’t cracked it open yet to confirm.
Couple of questions for anyone who’s dealt with this:
1. Is the "Check Internal Battery" message definitely a sign it’s dead or dying? Or could it be something else tripping the error?
2. If it is the battery, how tricky is it to replace on the RA-50? I’m decent with a soldering iron but don’t want to mess up the board.
3. Any chance this affects more than just memory—like, could it stop the unit from booting properly if it gets worse?
4. Where’s the battery even located? Any tips on accessing it without a service manual? (I couldn’t find one online yet.)
I saw some folks here mentioned 3V readings on chips and battery stuff earlier in the thread, so I figured this might be the right place to ask. Any advice or experiences with the RA-50 (or similar Roland units) would be awesome. Thanks in advance!
Cheers,
MarsEverythingTech
Hello
From RA-95 has somebody informations about MT-32 or SC-55 compatibility?
Thank you!
envagyok wrote on 2025-02-28, 09:02:Hello
From RA-95 has somebody informations about MT-32 or SC-55 compatibility?
Thank you!
It is a GM/GS synth. Probably ala the SC-55, minus MT-32 tones so probably equivalent to a SC-50. The E-66 (or perhaps 86) keyboard appears to be the same product in keyboard form for further information.
In plain English, it will support GM and basic GS gaming the sans as a SC-55 (probably with the superior sound of a mkII).
MarsEverythingTech wrote on 2025-02-27, 22:18:Hey everyone, […]
Hey everyone,
I recently picked up a Roland RA-50, and I’m running into an issue I’d love some help with. Every time I power it on (using a 9V DC adapter), I get a "Check Internal Battery" message on the display. The unit seems to work fine otherwise, but I’m worried it might be losing settings or something when powered off.
From what I’ve dug up online, it sounds like the internal battery is probably a CR2032 3V lithium coin cell for memory backup (like in a lot of Roland gear from that era). I saw some mentions of this on Gearspace and Syntaur’s parts list, but I haven’t cracked it open yet to confirm.
Couple of questions for anyone who’s dealt with this:
1. Is the "Check Internal Battery" message definitely a sign it’s dead or dying? Or could it be something else tripping the error?
2. If it is the battery, how tricky is it to replace on the RA-50? I’m decent with a soldering iron but don’t want to mess up the board.
3. Any chance this affects more than just memory—like, could it stop the unit from booting properly if it gets worse?
4. Where’s the battery even located? Any tips on accessing it without a service manual? (I couldn’t find one online yet.)
I saw some folks here mentioned 3V readings on chips and battery stuff earlier in the thread, so I figured this might be the right place to ask. Any advice or experiences with the RA-50 (or similar Roland units) would be awesome. Thanks in advance!
Cheers,
MarsEverythingTech
Since it's tiny, I'd just flip it, remove the screws and have a look yourself. You'll want to do this anyway since there is a chance the battery could be leaking! There's also a chance that the battery could be user replaceable minus soldering.
Spikey wrote on 2025-03-01, 15:09:MarsEverythingTech wrote on 2025-02-27, 22:18:Hey everyone, […]
Hey everyone,
I recently picked up a Roland RA-50, and I’m running into an issue I’d love some help with. Every time I power it on (using a 9V DC adapter), I get a "Check Internal Battery" message on the display. The unit seems to work fine otherwise, but I’m worried it might be losing settings or something when powered off.
From what I’ve dug up online, it sounds like the internal battery is probably a CR2032 3V lithium coin cell for memory backup (like in a lot of Roland gear from that era). I saw some mentions of this on Gearspace and Syntaur’s parts list, but I haven’t cracked it open yet to confirm.
Couple of questions for anyone who’s dealt with this:
1. Is the "Check Internal Battery" message definitely a sign it’s dead or dying? Or could it be something else tripping the error?
2. If it is the battery, how tricky is it to replace on the RA-50? I’m decent with a soldering iron but don’t want to mess up the board.
3. Any chance this affects more than just memory—like, could it stop the unit from booting properly if it gets worse?
4. Where’s the battery even located? Any tips on accessing it without a service manual? (I couldn’t find one online yet.)
I saw some folks here mentioned 3V readings on chips and battery stuff earlier in the thread, so I figured this might be the right place to ask. Any advice or experiences with the RA-50 (or similar Roland units) would be awesome. Thanks in advance!
Cheers,
MarsEverythingTech
Since it's tiny, I'd just flip it, remove the screws and have a look yourself. You'll want to do this anyway since there is a chance the battery could be leaking! There's also a chance that the battery could be user replaceable minus soldering.
Hey Spikey,
Thanks for the nudge! Yeah, it’s small enough that popping it open sounds doable. I’ll flip it and take a look this weekend—good call on checking for leaks, too. Didn’t even think about that, but now I’m paranoid about corrosion messing things up.
Hoping it’s just in a holder so I can swap it without soldering—fingers crossed! I’ll report back once I’ve got it open. Any guesses where the battery might be hiding on the board? And if it is soldered, any tips for a clean swap? I’ve soldered a bit but don’t want to fry anything.
Cheers!
MarsEverythingTech
Someone mentioned the leaks on this forum, so I can't take credit for that. But yeah, I'd imagine the battery is within reach once you open it.. Maybe not though. Just have to find out. Take pics when you open it, plz and thank you 😀 I think I have one of these too, and mine might have a low battery as well, come to think of it..
Hi everyone
I made the mod on my RA-50, but I am facing a strange behavior:
In RA-50 mode, everything works fine
But when switching to MT32 mode, I got the "LA Module sound module is not present!" message and... absolutely no sound coming out!
I checked the wiring, the soldering, everything! And I cannot figure out what is wrong
Any clue ?
