[Elecraft] K3 appears to be bricked

[Don Wilhelm]

Mike,

Remove the K3 power cord and wait at least 2 minutes.
While waiting, reboot the computer and after it comes up, power on the K3.
Check to see if K3 Utility can find the K3.
Try the Force Firmware Download again.
If that still does not work, disconnect everything except the RS-232 
cable from the K3 and try the sequence again.

73,
Don W3FPR

On 9/11/2016 11:52 AM, Mike Murray wrote:
> I was in the process of updating my K3's firmware this morning when
> something apparently burped leaving the K3 bricked.  The radio is wired
> directly to a power supply  which also feeds a RigRunner for other stuff.
> At the time I was also using a small 12V air compressor on the RigRunner.
> I don't think it was involved, but can't say for sure.
>
> The TX light is flashing, the display shows "MCU LD" and power button won't
> power it down.  I've tried forcing a firmware download several times,
> explicitly following the instructions in the K3 manual without success.
> The K3 Utility program can't find the rig on the prior COM port being used,
> nor on any other available COM port, so I suspect that's a major clue.
> True COM ports are not available on the PC so I'm using a StarTech 4 port
> USB converter that utilizes the FTDI chips.
>
>