TK.

Hi Dusty, a good question! I guess that you are searching for a soldering iron which is available in the US, therefore your question has to be answered by somebody who lives there. Here some global recommendations: if you only plan to build a small number of circuits and probably won't continue with hardware tinkering in the future, then just visit the next DIY or electronic shop and buy the cheapest soldering iron you can find (should cost about 5-10 EUR). Power: 30W maximum - not more if no temperature regulation is provided! Tip size: ca. 0.8-1.5 mm2. Solder: 0.5mm2 with "integrated" flux. Don't use additional flux, especially when soldering on analog circuits (SID module). If you are searching for a long-live solution, then take care for branded goods. Only this guarantees that you will be able to buy replacement parts in the future. The two big german brands are "Ersa" and "Weller". I used a second-hand Weller product for many years which is about 30 years old in the meantime, and I'm still able to get new tips and heating rods. Unfortunately this iron doesn't provide a temperature regulation which is useful for SMD and desoldering, so I bought a Ersa soldering station ("Analog 60") which should suffice until my retirement (in 35 years or so... ;-) ) Here two suggestions especially for the guys in Europe who order the parts at Reichelt (they don't offer utra-cheap irons, but only quality products): "ERSA Multitip-C15 / 15 W" (Multitip_910BN, 18.35 EUR) No temperature regulation, so desoldering could be difficult; its not only usable for common parts, but also for SMD (for SMD buy the additional tip "162 BN") Solder: "lötzinn_0,5mm" for 3,85 EUR - industrial quality, 250g is enough for ca. 5-10 full stuffed MIDIbox LCs ;-) For highest demands: search for Ersa or Weller soldering stations, but note that they cost about 100 EUR and more! (however, could be a nice christmas present) Best Regards, Thorsten. FAQMARKER

Hi LO, the MIOS device ID is not the same like the application specific device ID which can be selected in the SysEx menu. So - it would be important that your second core has a different value in the ID header (if not-> use the change_id application). Thereafter the upload to the second core should work. Best Regards, Thorsten.

Hi Hermes, please don't post requests in the news section! (this isn't the first time...) 1) will be supported with one of the next releases. The menu handler is prepared for a data wheel, but I haven't changed my hardware to test this, yet. Release date: maybe in 1-2 months. No, the number of menu buttons haven't been reduced, you still need at least 4 buttons - please read the tutorial! 2) encoders can be connected to any digital input (up to 128 are available), the pin numbers have to be assigned in mios_tables.inc like described in http://www.ucapps.de/tmp/mios_enc_integration.txt Best Regards, Thorsten.

Hi Dan, yes, this can be done with MIDIO128, but I cannot present you the source code within 5 minutes... ;-) Best Regards, Thorsten.

See the comments in the cs_m_midicfg.inc file: So, if you want to switch on the to-COM option permanently (if this should be the default state), you could either burn the PIC again with changed ID header, or you could use the change_id application, or you could modify the source code of your MIDIbox so that to-COM is enabled in USER_Init Best Regards, Thorsten.

MIDIbox64E, SFB "FF 01 10" and "FF 01 12", or more comfortable: SFB "FF 08 41" -> http://www.ucapps.de/midibox64e/midibox64e_sfb_table.txt Best Regards, Thorsten.

1) no, this is the job of midibox_mf 2) this is already the default function, but you can also change the behaviour with vmidibox64 (e.g. controlling the LEDs via MIDI, etc) 3) not without any additional programming - in this case you have to wait for MIDIbox NG (see also http://www.midibox.org/cgi-bin/yabb/YaBB.cgi?board=news;action=display;num=1065215244 But keep in mind that it isn't possible to use the AINX4 multiplexers and motorfaders at the same time. Motorfaders can only be driven in unmultiplexed mode (8 analog inputs max). However, you could add a simple rotary encoder handler to the MIDIbox MF in the same way like for MIDIbox64 (-> http://www.ucapps.de/tmp/mios_enc_integration.txt) Best Regards, Thorsten.

-> see enc_example3, ledrings_handler.inc or much more flexible: midibox64e, mb64e_ledrings.inc and mb64e_presets.inc Best Regards, Thorsten.

See the second layer mode of MIDIbox LC - it's easy :) Not only the button functions are switched, but also the appr. LEDs Best Regards, Thorsten.

Thanks - thats useful to know! Could you please do an additional test: connect a 1k (or 470 Ohm) resistor in parallel to the 1.2k resistor (so that the resulting resistance is about 330 Ohm) and try it without the 10k - does this work? Best Regards, Thorsten.

I only know that this works w/o problems in Logic Audio. LC_EMULATION_ID of the first core ("Logic Control") has to be set to 0x10 LC_EMULATION_ID of the remaining cores ("Logic Control XT") has to be set to 0x11 For Cubase SX you have to select: -> LC_EMULATION_ID 0x14 ("Mackie Control") Maybe somebody who owns Cubase SX and two core modules could try if 0x15 is the ID of the extension unit and if Cubase regognize this device Best Regards, Thorsten.

An enhanced version of this document plus some examples can now be found under http://www.ucapps.de/mios/mios_ram_handling.txt Best Regards, Thorsten.

Hi Larry, the code upload will also work without any module connected to the core. So, possible reasons: you're using the wrong crystal, a 10 MHz type is required you've enabled the "To-COM" option in the PIC ID header, so that the MIDI interface is running with the wrong baudrate you've used an imperfect PIC programming software which doesn't write the PIC ID header correctly. IC-Prog works fine, but some time ago a user noticed problems with MPLAB IDE in conjunction with the PICstart programmer. I've written a patch which is available on request Best Regards, Thorsten. FAQMARKER

Hi Kriz, where did you read that this is a stereo version? My MIDIbox SID is also stuffed with 2 * 8580R5 (and 2*6581), but they only come with a single audio out Best Regards, Thorsten.

I've programmed the MTC and leddigits handler in a modular way - just integrate leddigits.inc, mtc.inc, convert_bin2bcd.inc and parts of mon_mtc.inc into the MB64 application (read the file headers!) and call the handler from USER_MPROC_NotifyReceivedByte - this hook can be found in main.asm: USER_MPROC_NotifyReceivedByte ;; call MTC handler call MON_MTC_NotifyReceivedByte ;; -> continue at MB64 sysex parser goto MB64_SYSEX_Parser Best Regards, Thorsten.

LO did it again :) This is a controller for Traktor or other DJ software, it provides the same extension port like LO's MIDIbox MF

Hi uclaros, if this happens again, could you please create a snapshot of the system state by sending F0 00 00 7E 40 00 0D 02 00 00 00 00 06 00 00 00 00 00 00 F7 to your MIDIbox - thereafter MIOS will send the whole SRAM content, it can be recorded with the SysEx tool of MIDI-Ox (see also http://www.ucapps.de/mios/mios_backup.txt). Store it under the name "sram.syx" Thereafter create a backup of the flash/EEPROM and BankStick (if available) and send me the 4 files, so that I can reconstruate the scenario. Best Regards, Thorsten.

This is real DIY - great! Best Regards, Thorsten.

A good beginning :) I don't expect that somebody is able to realize an application from scratch without starting with the basics - learning by doing. Once you know most of the instructions by heart it will be easier and faster to implement (or to adapt) simple functions, but for more complex interactions between MIOS and external hardware it could take weeks, months or years to get a deeper understanding - not about programming itself, but about the process flow in the system. This is something which cannot be learned within 3 days (or did somebody learn algebra in his first school class? ;-)) Have fun! :) Best Regards, Thorsten.

Perfect! You are also welcome! :) We will continue the discussion via mail Best Regards, Thorsten.

> 4 patterns is more than enough for me of course! Thats the reason why I didn't waste SRAM for those patterns. Sure, you will have access to the patterns regardless if a BankStick is connected or not. Best Regards, Thorsten.

Now, you are limited to 4 configurable patterns which are stored in the flash memory (internal bank). However, this isn't really a limitation, the Logic Control also supports only 4 different patterns for example. Best Regards, Thorsten.

Hi Nat, a good question! The limitation of the PIC16F based firmware was, that the MIDI receiver only captured incoming button events from the internal bank. With the MIOS version this is no issue anymore, but now the LEDring patterns are only taken from the internal bank. However, since 4 different patterns can be defined, this should be acceptable. Best Regards, Thorsten.

Hi Pilo, I didn't know if you are still working on this project or if you already gave up due to the missing skills, but now, where you are learning Java, I guess that you are exactly the right person who can help me (remember that the final GUI will be the standard tool for every MIOS user - this should boost the motivation ;-)) As for the MIDI driver, I can only say that Wire works very fine under Windows, but the alternative Native Java option doesn't. However, maybe a bug in jsynth itself? Some examinations from your side would be fine - so long as a SysEx string of more than 1000 bytes can be sent and received at the same time, the API will be sufficient. Support for Linux (tritonus) isn't so important yet - I wasn't able to get it running on my PC (neither on my 4*2 USB interfaces, nor on the RME Multiface), but I hope that with Linux 2.6 (which comes with the overworked ALSA library) this issue will be solved, especially because of the improved realtime capabilities. So - focus on Windows first (since most people are also working under this platform). For Mac: let us hope that it will run ;-) GUI: it should be written in a way which allows me (and others of course) to add options to the menu easily for new MIOS features. Main reason: I don't want to bother you when I've implemented a new function into MIOS which requires a tool update (it would take more time to describe the required changes than to make it oneself) Unfortunately I never was able to start your midi.java application due to the tritonus issues, so I don't know what you've already done. So, for the first try please don't use an external package. Menu functions which should be available for the first shot: File->Open File...: supported file types: .hex and .syx - when a file is opened, a function has to be triggered which converts the content to an immediate data format. This format (and the appr. conversion routines) will be added by me later File->Save File as...: supported file types: .syx and .inc, here also a conversion function has to be called which will be added later File->Quit of course ;-) Window->MIDI Transfer: a window with a down- and upload button should pop up. This window should also contain a status message (the appr. code will be added later) Window->MIDI Exec: to trigger a MIOS function, the window should contain a field for the input address, WREG, MIOS_PARAMETER1, 2, 3... and for the output: WREG, MIOS_PARAMETER1, 2, 3 Window->SRAM Monitor: should look like a hex monitor (16 bytes per line, entry field for new address and number of lines, and a Read/Write button) Window->MIDI Monitor: should display incoming MIDI events Window->MIDI Sender: should allow to send some MIDI bytes over the interface (similar to the SysEx command window of MIDI-Ox) Window->MIOS Status: should request some dedicated SRAM addresses and display the content in readable form. I only need a scrollable list + a update button Options->MIDI devices: to select the MIDI ports Help->About a copyright message with your name :-) You don't need to program the functions itself, just only the GUI framework (and more if you want :-) Just ask if anything isn't clear enough (-> email). No need to hurry! Best Regards, Thorsten.

Hi *, the PIC16F phase out is nearly finished, here some new stuff: MIOS V1.4b required for some of the new applications http://www.ucapps.de/mios/mios_v1_4b.zip http://www.ucapps.de/mios_changelog.html MIDIbox64 V2.1 http://www.ucapps.de/mios/midibox64_v2_1.zip http://www.ucapps.de/midibox64_changelog.html MIDIbox64E V2.0 http://www.ucapps.de/mios/midibox64e_v2_0.zip http://www.ucapps.de/midibox64e_changelog.html MIDIbox MF V2.0 http://www.ucapps.de/mios/midibox_mf_v2_0.zip http://www.ucapps.de/midibox_mf_changelog.html MIDIO128 V2.0 http://www.ucapps.de/mios/midio128_v2_0.zip http://www.ucapps.de/midio128_changelog.html MIDImon V2.0 http://www.ucapps.de/mios/midimon_v2_0.zip http://www.ucapps.de/midimon_changelog.html For the records: the old PIC16F firmwares have been removed from the official pages and can now be found under http://www.ucapps.de/pic16f_firmwares.html Some pages now contain additional informations, don't forget to press the reload button of your webbrowser to see the new content (do it also on the navigation bar: Right-click on the bar->Frames->Reload Frame) Have fun! :) Best Regards, Thorsten.