Has he done a complete factory reset? It's possible there may have been some internal damage to the board during shipping.

Are the lights flickering as well? Could be a voltage problem, or faulty power supply.
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GEAR: Yamaha MOXF-6, Casio MZX-500, Roland Juno-Di, M-Audio Venom, Roland RS-70, Yamaha PSR S700, M-Audio Axiom Pro-61 (Midi Controller). SOFTWARE: Mixcraft-7, PowerTracks Pro Audio 2013, Beat Thang Virtual, Dimension Le.