Hi @sixwax, PM not received but I am taking note about your interest. I will get back to you (and all other people waiting) in early August.
Another successful upgrade here from MkI to MkII as well!!! Thanks to @Stubbe for the easy-to-follow guide, and to @martin and Zdenek for everything they do and for this amazing controller!!!
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Hi everyone,
Iām having trouble fitting the mk2 PCB to the previous enclosure. The pins line up with the 8 and 40 pin connectors, but the 3D printed back plate will not sit flush with the enclosure without force. Pressing down with any pressure creates a creaking sound. Any help would be appreciated.
Hi,
it looks like that something is obstructing the plastic part. Check that the area on the enclosure is clear:
Additionally, check that there is nothing obstructing the two slots, and ensure that the surface of the plastic part is clear:
The back panel can be detached from the mainboard PCB. You may want to consider detaching it and testing both parts individually. This may help you identify the source of the problem.
In any case, please feel free to contact me via chat for further assistance.
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Success! Iām up and running. Sending you a PM with details. Thanks Martin!
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Ok. I had a couple of hiccups. I stripped a screw on the PC board. Finally got it off. Removing the board and replacing it with the new one was easy. Maybe too easy. I plugged the USB plug to my Mac and the screen just lights a dull blue grey. I ding see anything else. Does this sound symptomatic if anything specific besides just taking it apart and reseating it better?
The stripped screw I had to trash. Itās bottom right next to the USB. I suppose I need to get a screw and tighten that down.
Hi,
I am sorry you are having troubles with upgrading. Iād suggest the following:
- remove the mkII PCB.
- check all three PCBs (mkII, mkI, and display board) to see if there are any metal chips (possibly made when trying to get the stripped screw out)
- put the original mkI board in place and try to power it on. You might want to use a USB charger rather than a computer at this point.
- if it boots up. Remove it and put the mkII board back in place. Make sure the new SD card is fully inserted in the slot on the board.
- try to power it again. If you get the blue screen, disconnect the USB cable. Press and hold the bottom-right button. Connect the USB cable while keeping the button pressed.
Let me know what is happening when you do the above steps. Thanks!
No luck. But I donāt see the NEW memory card. I havenāt seen one. I took the old one out but I thought the new memory card was on the new board. Maybe this is the problem? Iāve taken the PCB out and in again - the old one and it didnāt boot either. I donāt remember whether I put the card back in, but Iām pretty sure I did. I got a rainbow color of lines then nothing. I put the new card back and made certain it was seated well, that the pins werenāt bent and snug. No difference. Iām sorry but I donāt see the new card. I cam put in the old one again.
It works with the old card. Iām assuming I need another card that holds more memory?
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I am sorry for slower response. I was travelling whole day today. It is strange that the card was not in the slot. I guess, Zdenek has put it in before shipping the upgrade kit.
You can use the card from mk1 in mk2. Capacity is sufficient. It is important, however, to copy different files on the card (see the description down below). Another option is that we will send you a new preformatted SD card. You would have it early next week.
steps to prepare mk2 SD card:
- remove the card from the slot ono the E1 main board
- insert the card to a computer
- remove all files from the sd card
- download and extract files from sd.zip (1.9 MB)
- copy the contents of the sd folder to the sd card root folder.
- safely eject the card from the computer
- put it back to e1 main board
Just to make sure, you need to copy contents of the āsdā folder, not the āsdā folder itself. This is listing of files on sd card when files are copied correctly:
Excellent tutorial. 
I donāt recommend using Torx tools though: it will ruin the screws or the tool.
I quickly stopped using those, and got a decent set of Allen screwdrivers instead.
https://www.amazon.de/dp/B097788K2F (available in the EU)
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Hi Folsadura, glad the guide worked for you - torx worked fine for me, but will add your alert to the guide, as mileage may vary 
Edit - ooops, was a bit quick, apparently I cannot edit a post above a certain ageā¦
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Hi Martin,
I want to upgrade my Mk1 as well. Can you provide me instructions on how to order ?
Thanks
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I am asking for an upgrade for Xmas this year and I was just curious does the v1 pcb get shipped back or do I keep it. If it doesnāt get shipped back what can you do with it for example does it provide any utility such as working as a midi merger. Iām not sure exactly what is taken out and what is left in place so this might be a foolish question but it would be cool if there was a useful application for the older components. If anyone did something with theirs please share.
Within Europe we occasionally ask users if there are willing to ship the original PCB to us. We donated some of the refurbished Electras (using the PCB) to individuals and organizations that would have troubles with buying it. We also keep part of the PCBs to be able to service mk1 controllers.
Arranging shipments back to us from outside the Europe is unfortunately too expensive. There were a few users who asked for refurbished LCD boards and 3D models of the enclosure. We have a confirmation from some that they were able to make their own mk1 that way.
re mk1 firmware. We are planning to make one more release of the firmware in 2025. Bugfixes and some of the improvements based on mk2 firmware. There was also a suggestion from a user recently that mk1 could be used as an extender (extra screen and knobs) for mk2 - thus showing two pages at once. We like the idea and we might invest some time to making this alternative firmware.
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That sounds terrific. I am definitely interested to add an lcd and repackage my v1 once itās upgraded to mk2. I will look around for more info or if you can tell me which users upcycled their mk1 after upgrading Iād like to chat with them to learn more. Canāt wait for Xmas.
Just performed my upgrade and the instructions and tutorial were super helpful. The only thing Iāll mention is you canāt be afraid to apply a bit of pressure to get the board disconnected from the 40 pin display connector and you need to make sure to apply some pressure to fully seat the new board into the 40 pin display connector. Also the new board doesnāt have a second 8 pin connector for sd card so donāt fret about that. I initially thought it was missing but Martin told me sd is included in the circuit.
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@martin can any Capacitive touch 7" LCD with 1024x600 that has a 40 pin connector be used to add a screen to the v1 board? Would any sd card breakout board be able to be integrated?
No, not really, The LCD module needs to have LT7686/FT5316 chips and the pin out specific to the E1 mainboard. The following LCD module would do the job: 7 inch 1024x600 IPS TFT Touch Display Module with I2C SPI for Arduino
The Electra LCD panel has a custom glass laminated on the panel. We have a stock of LCD panels with minor flaws. If there was an interest for that, we could make a āpackageā of components to assemble mk1 from the upgrade leftovers.
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I think I asked before, but I wanted to double check now that some time is available to do an upgrade.
I have a 2.0 Mk I (red USB port) and a 2.4 Mk I (white USB port) (not sure if the USB color matters or not). Can the 2.0 hardware be upgraded to a Mk II? I remember a discussion about 5v versus 3.3v power for the display ??? (memory here is not working too well at the moment).
I do want to keep a Mk I around for testing purposes, so either one is fine with me, just wanted to ask (again).
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