I have a BOSS BR-1180 digital recording studio. One of my band mates has accidentally initialized the whole system to record a song, erasing all songs on the hard drive. Is any way now of recovering the lost songs from the hard drive?

"it never works"... this is NOT enough information for us. You are not telling us how the CD is tested. If you are testing it in a boombox type player, that is not a test. First thing is to look at the bottom of the CD to see if you can detect written tracks... with right lighting you can tell if it has been burned. REMEMBER that CD's, unlike phonograph records, are written from the middle outward. Many consumer players have trouble playing CD's that are written but not "finalized". If you CAN see written area (compare to unburned CD) then likely the burning is taking place, and the problem is the format is either not complete or incompatible with your player. Try reading the disk in your computer. Also you might want to visit the forums for the Boss/Roland workstations at VSPLANET.com.

TRY CHANGING THE VOLUME SWITCH.

MICHAEL SCOTT: YOU PASSED ALONG SOME GREAT INFORMATION BUT IT ONLY GETS ME HALFWAY THERE...
I HAVE ALL THE NECESSARY CABLES HOOKED UP. DO YOU HAVE TO RECORD MY SONG FROM THE 1180 TO AUDACITY OR WHAT?...THIS IS ALL NEW TO ME AND IT MAY WORK BUT TELL ME HOW TO RECORD FROM THE 1180 TO AUDACITY.
THANKS...GEORGE SLADEK

Check your power supply to the unit. Low voltage COULD cause this.

Also make sure a setting is not "looping" the audio back into itself.

Don't know if this unit is sensitive to the type of CD, but my Phillips recorders will ONLY burn the "Music CD's" (harder to find, more expensive). Read up on the difference of regular vs Music CD's. ALSO some recorders will not burn disks rated at lower or higher rates.

I called Roland at the number that you provided and gave they following proceedure which will re-intialize the BR 1180 and ERASE everything that was created on the HD:

1. Simultaneously hold down button beneath volume control at track 5 and Undo/Redo button at upper right
2. Press power button while holding down buttons as above, until test menu comes up
3. Turn selector dial untill initialize screen shows
4. Prdess ENTER and initialization will start
5. Once initialization is completed, power off unit and then power it back-up.

NOTE: This proceedure erases all data!

Midi doesn't actually "make sound". If your trying to record the patterns you made on the DR-5 to the recorder you need to use an audio output(I don't remember if they are RCA or 1/4" on the DR-5.) The midi output would be used to"trigger sounds" in another device that has sounds built in, or you could also trigger sounds in a program that supports midi input.

This Sounds Very Bad Do You Have Experience With Taking Apart Computers? If So You May Want To Open Up Your Br-1180 And Remove The Hard Drive And Put It In Your Computer And Copy All The Data Off Of It. I Also Would Recommend Calling Roland They Are The Most Helpful People In The World.
www.Myspace.com/CrossRoadsToNowhere2007

Im Guessing Your Trying To Burn It Off Before Mastering It Which Means All The Tracks Between 1 And 10. First You Click Audio Cd Write/Play Then Select Disc At Once And Then It Should Guide You From There. I Hope This Helps
www.Myspace.com/CrossRoadsToNowhere2007

before you go out and buy a new hd try intializing your system.
unfortunaly you will lose all saved info, but you will either way. this test may save you some money.
with your 1180 in the off position press and hold the track 5 button below the fader and the redo/undo button that is just to the left of the rotarty knob and below the power button. while holding these two buttons press the power button and continue to hold the track 5 button and the undo redo buttons untill the test menu is showing. its takes about 15- 30 sec. in the test menu rotate the value knob till you see 23 initialize HDD and press ok. this process may take up to 30 mins. if this doesnt fixya then contact roland for a replacement.