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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
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