I just purchased a NAIM Unitiserve to store my (2000+) CD’s. Followed the instructions to the point.
Cannot get the proper setup: when I turn the Unitiserve on, the front panel keeps blinking nonstop. Any assistance will be deeply appreciated.
Almost certainly this means the CMOS battery needs replacing. It’s a simple job to change it (a CR2032) which you can buy from any supermarket if you are happy going inside what is basically a windows computer.
But then you have to reset the CMOS and to do that you need a VGA screen and a PS/2 or USB keyboard. If you bought this from a Naim dealer, take it back and get them to sort it out. It will take them ten minutes to sort it if they know what they are doing.
If you send it back to Naim to do it, they will probably do, and charge you for, a full service, which would cost you north of £300.
If you can find a VGA display to connect, then you can confirm at which stage if the startup it is hanging.
Of course it could be a different fault, like a failed hard disc drive, in which case it will have to go back to Naim, but that’s less likely.
You should also check you have the latest firmware 1.7c . This is important because the metadata lookup is slow and possibly not functional if you are on 1.7b or even worse 1.7a. We can help you sort that out if needs be.
Best
David
David may well be right about the CMOS battery. By all means try to fix it, or you might contact the seller if they’ve sold you a dud.
If you don’t have a copy of the manual, I suggest you download it from Naim’s website and make sure you understand how it works, starting with correct startup and shutdown procedure.
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@ChrisSU raises a very valid point, you have received a product that is defective.
I had a Unitiserve that developed the CMOS battery fault. If you return the unit to Naim for a fix it will be a standard repair charge, £340 at the time I enquired, but it’s a relatively easy and low cost fix. Some dealers will carry out the fix for a fraction of the cost, or if you are handy you could do the repair yourself.
I replaced the battery, reconnected everything, turned the power on, waited several minutes, still blinking. I have the copy of the manual, doing everything by the book, stuck to the part where I cannot access the NAIM main control panel because it will not stop blinking, not allow me to the manual setup part. Any ideas before I send the unit back…
Do you have a screen and keyboard hooked up to it as per David’s advice above?
You can’t just change the battery because it then automatically loads the wrong defaults.
If you connect a VGA display and a keyboard then you can tell it to load the Naim defaults instead (that are there waiting to be selected). It is literally trivial to do, but unless you do it, the US just won’t ever work.
Best
David
I changed the battery, nothing different happened, the logo kept blinking.
I have a mouse, keyboard and VGA screen connected to it, cannot access anything because it only blinks, nothing comes up on the screen.
Any suggestions? please email me directly jvsantosmd@aim.com
You don’t need a mouse connected. With the VGA screen and PS/2 keyboard connected when you start the Unitiserve, you should be able to follow the startup process and see where it gets to.
If everything is ok now that the new battery is there, you will seen a screen asking you whether to load the PC manufacturer’s default CMOS settings. Instead of those you choose the Naim default set and after that it should start up properly. You can then disconnect the screen and keyboard.
If you don’t see any of the above and you are sure the screen isn’t faulty, then there is something else wrong with your Unitiserve and it will need to go back to Naim or one of their approved service centres.
Best
David
My US had had to go back to Naim three times because of a blinking logo. On at least one of those occasions it was more than just a CMOS battery and involved a new internal power board.
It seems that the OP’s US possibly has more at fault than the CMOS battery. Older USs are renowned for blinking logo faults.
It is also possible the OP has been sold a dud, so I would definitely contact the seller. If it came from a dealer than they should sort the problem out. If it was a private seller than you are relying on that person’s good will.
I’m sitting here looking at mine thinking don’t you dare blink you bastard. 
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I find the US is a sensitive soul and responds well to kind words and soft nurturing. Swearing at it is not advised as it makes the US anxious, and it might start blinking at you. (I wonder if the blinking is different in the Southern Hemisphere, like water draining from a sink is).
As Naim no longer support it with new firmware upgrades, the US has few friends and often feels isolated. Be a kind friend to your US, you have been warned.
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To be fair, Naim did put out a firmware update for the UnitiServe (1.7c) a year or so back and the last time @Stevesky wrote about legacy firmware here, he did say that they updated the old server firmware when necessary to keep it working. (For example 1.7c dealt with the consequences of the demise of the AMG metadata lookup service.)
Best
David
Hi David,
For the record, I think that Naim have been very generous in supporting legacy servers and streamers. They have done more than could be expected in keeping them running, and of course offer full service and repair to all the legacy stuff. It must be said however, the UnitiServe has not been their most reliable product, although mine is now perfectly behaved.
D’oh, maybe I shouldn’t tempt fate!
I was trying to inject a bit of humour with my pervious post, that’s all…
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I changed the battery and connected a keyboard and monitor. I reset to Naim defaults but then selected Yes to “optimise settings”. I rebooted the unitiserve and it asks me to insert a disk to boot. What shall I do please?
I suggest do it again (take new battery out for a few moments to get back to that starting position) but select no to “optimise settings”?
Anyway post here again if it doesn’t work then. Maybe it’s telling you that the problem is a failed HDD rather than a flat CMOS battery.
Best
David
Thanks David I will do it again. What does optimise settings mean?
I don’t know but when I have seen instructions about doing this before, there was never that step mentioned.
I suspicious of that HDD though…
Best
David
I took out the battery and restarted it and it says disk Boot failure, insert system disk and press enter.
If it was a Hdd failure from the start, why did it give me the cmos option when I first selected the Naim default option then the optimise setting?
How do i do a bios reset? Read somewhere about it?