Hello, I have been tasked with trying to find out why when we put someone on hold using our NEC Aspire telephone system, there is a horrible distorted whining/whirring sound which makes the hold recording sound terrible.

We are a using a music on hold player (Tru Serenity) and it doesn't seem to be a problem with that device or the wire connecting it to the system as when we remove the wire from the music on hold player the recording stops but the distorted whining/whirring continues.

Does anyone have any idea where I could start looking to solve this issue?

Thank you

Rikki

I have seen this happen before. Assuming you are using the MOH input on the processor card - the circuit can fail and you will get a noisy music on hold.

You could try switching the music to the background music (BGM) input on the processor card - but then you do have to make a couple changes in system programming to get the MOH to look at that input.

As a third alternative - you can input MOH to a device called a PGDAD - which does not use the processor card input. That requires that you purchase that device, and some additional programming.

I would try connecting to the BGM input. You are probably wasting your time on the MOH input - I would guess it's shot.

Thank you, I assumed that was the case.

The MOH player is currently connected to the C16 port on the NTCPU card. Is the BGM port the C17 port? That is currently empty.

For now I have set it to "internal source" for the MOH and it is fine, no distortion but ideally we would like to use our custom recording stored on the MOH player if possible via the workaround you mentioned.

Edit: According to this document ( NEC Hardware Manual ) in section 4-7, to install the BGM external source we also have to connect via the C16 port.

It's the same port - just different pins. CN16 is an 8 pin connector. You are currently inputting on pins 2 and 7. BGM input is on pins 3 and 6.

Then, in program 14-08-01, change the source selection to BGM.

Thank you, sorry for the late reply.

I won an auction for a full replacement NEC Aspire system on Ebay for £15 which is full of cards, including the NTCPU card. I would like to try changing the CPU card out and seeing if that solves the problem (If this one even works as it said it powers on but unable to test). It just arrived today.

What steps do I need to take to swap them out?

I have a backup of the config using Aspire GE PCPro 7.14. Is it just a case of powering off the unit and swapping the CPU cards and then uploading the backed up config? Is there anything I need to worry about like IP address etc? Currently ours is running on 192.168.1.50.

You should be able to do that - but make sure the processor cards are exactly the same. There are variations. And verify which PAL chip the original and replacement processor have. Upgrading ports and having certain features requires that the default PAL chip be swapped out. You can find all that in the hardware manual. You'll also want to be sure the new porcessor is at the same software level as the one you are replacing.

I would default the new processor first - then you will need to connect to it on the default IP address to upload your database.

After that, and a reboot - your system should be restored.

Good Luck!!!

The CPU cards both have the same model number 'IP1E-NTCPU-A1' that is the number I'm looking for correct?

The system is running and in use at the moment so not able to check the PAL chips match yet. The new PAL chip is IP1E-PALA-ST1 but has a sticker overlayed with 991352-5 on it.

Is this Aspire Hardware Manual 406 The manual that I need?

Also when you say "same software level" is that the firmware version? i.e. PC Programming : 6.21 (GE Release, M/L) that it says on the WebPro interface?

Thank you for your help I really appreciate it.

Yes - what you see in PC programming as far as the software version should be the same. At least, the replacement processor should be at or above the version of the one you are replacing.

Yes - that is the correct hardware manual. Look at pages 2-8 and 2-14 for info on the PAL. If they're not the same, just swap the PAL out of your exisiting processor......

The original software is 6.21 and the new board only has 2.20 installed. I read that I need a PCMCIA flash card to upgrade the software, so I will order one and I will also order a PCI-E to PCMCIA reader but do you have any idea where I can download the software update?

I cannot seem to find it online anywhere, or is it possible to make a backup of the 6.21 version when I have a PCMCIA flash card? Or is there somewhere I can get the latest version and update both to the latest software?

Thanks for your help.

Software is available to NEC certified techs on the Aspire website.

I am not a NEC certified technician so I am unable to do that but I have found a copy of the firmware update 7.63 online and have downloaded it. I just need to get a PC-ATA card (PCMCIA). Will any 32mb PCMCIA flash card work or will it only work with the NEC parts?

Edit: Or is it possible to use a CF-to-PCMCIA adapter and use a CF card? Is 32mb the max size supported?

I use the PCMCIA adapter with a CF on my updates for Aspire. I think I just bought a couple of the 32M CF to be on the safe side. anyway - it has always worked fine for me.

Thanks, I purchased a 32MB CF card along with a CF to PCMCIA addapter, I have put the software on the root of the CF card, installed it into the CF to PCMCIA adapter but when I install it into the PCMCIA port on the NTCPU board and power it up while holding the "load" button the software doesn't get loaded and I just get LED 1 flashing and the 4 red LED's below it solid red.

This is what the manual says to wait for but it never happens.

Did you purchase NEC specific CF cards? I bought a cisco CF card that was cheapest on eBay, it works in my PC's card reader and can write the files to it but I'm wondering if they only accept NEC CF cards? I also purchased a SanDisk CF to PCMCIA card reader. Do you think it could be the fact that the CF card is not NEC's so it won't read it?

Sorry, I just found out that it will only work with NEC CF cards as I tested with the VM CF card from the new NTCPU board which came with it, backed up the contents and replaced it with the software update and used my CM to PCMCIA card adapter and it accepted the a7.63 update this time! And it is now showing "PC Programming 6.21" on the WebPro interface just like the faulty one that we have running currently.

I have loaded our config onto it, Now I just need to swap the PAL chips if needed and swap the boards out, wish me luck! I assume I need to swap the VM CM cards too if I want to keep previous voicemails etc... ???