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Points to consider before and after upgrades or repairs to OAS system

Article prepared by Club Member Bill Gray

There have been some posts on various sites that have said you will loose all your presets and sounds when you upgrade to OAS 7, “This is NOT correct” however some editing may be required due to the significant changes in the sound system. (You may also have to re-load a few sounds/styles etc)

The engineer performing the upgrade, should backup all your sounds and settings to an external storage system, and then (If required) re-load them back into your instrument after the upgrade has been performed? (He will then use the V6 to V7 button to convert them into a format suitable for OAS 7)

If you wish to make your own backup as additional security then the easiest way is to purchase a 2 – 4 GB USB Stick (£10 – 15) and use this. (Or if you already have other suitable external storage, you can use that instead)

How do I perform this Backup?

  1. Go to the settings page, and touch the Backup Button

  2. Select a Free space and perform the backup

  3. Write down the number that appears when the backup is completed (The number replaces the “Free” text)

  4. Go back to the settings page and Close OAS

  5. Insert your USB Stick (Or other external storage) into the USB Socket

  6. Close any box that appears

  7. Double Tap the My Computer Icon (A Window will open)

  8. Double Tap the C Drive (The Window display will change)

 9. Scroll down the list of folders until you come to the Wersi Backup folder (The scroll bar is on the right side of the Window)

10. Double Tap the Folder and the Window will change to show your backups

11. Touch the folder with the same number that you have written down (Folder will change colour)

12. To the left of the Window touch “Copy this Folder” (If you have no list on the left, Touch Tools (Along the Top) and in the drop down list touch Folder Options, select “Show common tasks in folders” and then touch the Apply button followed by OK)

13. A New Window will open in which you will find the name of your USB Stick (You may need to Scroll up or down to locate it)

14. Touch the name of your USB Stick (The name will change Colour)

15. Touch the Copy button, and your Backup will be copied onto the USB Stick

16 When the copying is completed, close all open Windows and remove the USB Stick

17. You now have a safe copy of all your presets, sounds etc. (Restoring is a reversal of the above)

Additional points to remember if you have the Wersi B4 option

This will not work with OAS 7, and you will need to purchase an upgrade from Wersi. (The engineer should be able to supply this)

If the engineer has to perform a complete Windows installation (You are having the motherboard changed for instance) then you will also loose Cubasis, Wavelab and B4, (Along with any other programs you have loaded yourself) as they are no longer supplied on the later Image Discs. (The new sequencer in OAS 7 will be all that is required by most people, (Much easier to use then Cubasis) however to replace the missing Wavelab, I suggest you download a free program called Audacity (Do a Google search) which will provide all that most Users need, and not interfere with OAS)

Finally: Check you have all the discs and/or programs (Including codes) that you have installed yourself.

Things you should know after upgrading

If you have had a new Windows installation, you will need to re-load B4 + the upgrade, (If required) and any other programs you had loaded previously.

The Factory protected Presets; Sounds etc are no longer combined with User Presets, Sounds etc, as they have been transferred to their own dedicated section, which means that all the slots for Presets, Sounds etc can now be accessed by the User.

The different sections of the instrument have their own buttons which allow you to switch between Factory and User banks. (This is important to remember, as otherwise you may think that you have lost your Presets, Sounds etc)

All previous generation sounds can no longer be directly loaded into the instrument, but can be imported using the Akai import function, (Choose STS from within the Import Screen) in addition the number of sound banks have been increased in number, so that you now have more User storage slots available. (You will not lose any quality of sound when the old Wersi sounds are converted to the New sound system)

Virtually every section of OAS has been expanded (Or replaced) in both sound and features, so take your time to slowly work through each section.

If you wish to use the B4 (Either New or Upgraded) you will need to first load it into the VST Host before it will work. (Slot 1 is recommended, so as the OAS B4 editing facilities become available for it)

The optional OAS Style converter is now fully integrated into OAS. (So no separate program is required it just has to be activated)

If you have the OAA software, then this overwrites the Accompaniment Style System to give you an enormous amount of new features. (Not all are just related to styles)

The OAA can directly load and play the following styles;

Yamaha

Wersi

Wersi OAA

There are a few Yamaha Styles that use a different identifier then normal; however these can easily be renamed using the Windows renaming facility.

To show file identifiers: Go to the settings page and touch the Windows button

1. Locate and open the folder that contains the style to be converted

2. Select Tools and choose Folder options in the Drop down list

3. Select the View Tab

4. Un-tick the box called “Hide extensions for known file types”

5. Click Apply followed by OK

6. You can now see and edit the 3 letter identifiers (Do not change any file type except the Yamaha styles that need changing, or they may not open with their respective programs)

7. When completed, hide the identifiers by re-ticking the box

If some OAS 6 features appear to be missing, then they have probably been absorbed into other features, so have a good look, or (And this might sound Alien) read the manual.

I hope you find the above useful, as OAS 7 (And the OAA) is the largest and most wide ranging upgrade since the OAS instruments were introduced on the market.

Regards

Bill

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In the article as you will have seen, Bill does advise us to keep all the system, upgrade and any additional programme discs you may have purchased and their respective activation codes, in a safe place in case anything unforeseen should happen. Receipts for upgrades, sound packages etc. should also be kept as proof of purchase in case needed.

Once again my thanks to Bill for providing this information for us.

Ken