TK.

Hi Darren, if others are interested, we could add the text to the "HowTo create a PCB" page. :) Best Regards, Thorsten.

Hi Dan, very good progress! :) Yes, the smoke identifies a short circuit. Maybe (if you have luck!) the not well documented Vlc pin has to be used on a different way. Could you please disconnect the pot and check the voltage level between Vlc and ground? If you've luck, the DC converter is already integrated and you only have to connect a pot between Vlc and ground. Another interesting point would be if the chip select lines are really inverted. Check this by using LCD type 1 with MIOS_PARAMETER = 0x00 (and not 0x01) Best Regards, Thorsten.

Hi Pilo, the problem with this programmer is, that it uses the low-voltage programming mode and therefore allocates pin RB5, which - once the mode has been enabled - cannot be used for any other purpose anymore. Consequentialy you cannot drive a LCD module, which requires RB5 as data pin. Best Regards, Thorsten.

Hi Pilo, the problem with this programmer is, that it uses the low-voltage programming mode and therefore allocates pin RB5, which - once the mode has been enabled - cannot be used for any other purpose anymore. Consequentialy you cannot drive a LCD module, which requires RB5 as data pin. Best Regards, Thorsten.

Hi DriftZ, I'm pleased to hear that you've joy with the sequencer. :) LEDs: it seems that you've connected the LEDs in the wrong direction, therefore the status will be displayed inverted. The shorter pins of the LEDs are the cathodes - they have to be connected to ground. The longer pin (the anode) has to be connected to the appr. DOUT pin No, mute steps cannot be saved, because normaly it's usefull to mute tracks or steps for all patterns (-> global option) Saving: the current pattern (all parameters) will be saved automatically when a new pattern is selected or when the sequencer jumps to a new pattern by itself. Additionally the track configuration settings are saved when you leave a menu page. Yes - if you want to ensure that the whole pattern is stored in EEPROM before switching off the box, the best way is to go into the copy submenu and to save the pattern over itself For the SysEx menu it is planned to send the current pattern to another MB64seq or to MIDI-Ox, or later to an editor. Unfortunately only the SysEx transmit routine is working yet, the receiver has been disabled as I first want to realize it with the MIOS solution. The code will be transfered to the PIC16F project later. Have fun! Best Regards, Thorsten.

Hi DriftZ, I'm pleased to hear that you've joy with the sequencer. :) LEDs: it seems that you've connected the LEDs in the wrong direction, therefore the status will be displayed inverted. The shorter pins of the LEDs are the cathodes - they have to be connected to ground. The longer pin (the anode) has to be connected to the appr. DOUT pin No, mute steps cannot be saved, because normaly it's usefull to mute tracks or steps for all patterns (-> global option) Saving: the current pattern (all parameters) will be saved automatically when a new pattern is selected or when the sequencer jumps to a new pattern by itself. Additionally the track configuration settings are saved when you leave a menu page. Yes - if you want to ensure that the whole pattern is stored in EEPROM before switching off the box, the best way is to go into the copy submenu and to save the pattern over itself For the SysEx menu it is planned to send the current pattern to another MB64seq or to MIDI-Ox, or later to an editor. Unfortunately only the SysEx transmit routine is working yet, the receiver has been disabled as I first want to realize it with the MIOS solution. The code will be transfered to the PIC16F project later. Have fun! Best Regards, Thorsten.

and with MIOS it would also be possible to drive a nice graphical LCD, to add meters for the HiFi channels, maybe also a spectrometer... and a remote control of course :) Here some impressions of a preamp project I realized ca. 10 years ago with a 80c535 Best Regards, Thorsten.

Yes... ;-) Like every common USB device the USB module will be a client, not a host. This means that it isn't possible to get a link to other USB clients. Best Regards, Thorsten.

Hi Dan, sure, the LCD logic itself works with +5V, only the liquid crystal cells require a negative supply (-> Vlc pin). You could use an additional PSU which delivers stable 9V - connect the positive end to the ground of your core module and the negative end via a pot to the Vlc input, the contrast has to be adjusted with the pot. If you don't have a PSU available, just use batteries. The LC cells don't require more than 3 mA (will work for a lot of hours ;-)) Best Regards, Thorsten.

sure, thats ok. For me it's only important that Mike and SmashTV own the exclusive right for selling MBHP PCBs which are copyrighted by me, so that the upcoming developments are not in danger. I've nothing against people who are starting collective orders, so long as they don't sell the kits for profit on the free market (means also EBay) Best Regards, Thorsten.

sure, thats ok. For me it's only important that Mike and SmashTV own the exclusive right for selling MBHP PCBs which are copyrighted by me, so that the upcoming developments are not in danger. I've nothing against people who are starting collective orders, so long as they don't sell the kits for profit on the free market (means also EBay) Best Regards, Thorsten.

Hi Dan, for the case that you want to try it with an external voltage source w/o the DC converter: http://www.ucapps.de/tmp/mios_v1_2_pre3.hex.zip now supports an option for the KS0108 driver which inverts the chip select pins your T6963C based GLCD more than 2 CLCDs (in fact the number of CLCDs which can be driven by one core is now only limited by the number of free pins) for your LCD you need to change lc_init.inc: USER_Init LC_Init ;; use a KS0108 compatible graphical LCD with inverted chip selects movlw 0x01 movwf MIOS_PARAMETER1 movlw 0x01 call MIOS_LCD_TypeSet it would be great if you could check this with your HD61202 GLCD Best Regards, Thorsten.

Hi Dan, yes, the new datasheet makes much more sense - among other pins Vdd and Vss are exchanged, this means that you will get a short when you connect the LCD in the wrong order. Thats exactly what you've noticed. It's also interesting that the pin name for the reset line indicates a low-active input /RST, means: you have to use a pull-up to +5V. Now I see only two problems: Vee is missing, this means that you have to supply V0 (here: Vlc) with ca. -8V to -10V from external. (Note: in some days I will publish a MAX759 based DC converter which supplies up to -15V from a 5V source). Another problem are the chip select lines /CS1 and /CS2. They are inverted. However, I can compile a special MIOS version for testing purposes if another polarity is required. But in the meantime just check if the core voltage is ok with the new pinning. Best Regards, Thorsten.

This week we can enjoy some great masterpieces from Tux (France) RAF (another fellow from France :-) ) and last but not least from LO (New Zealand):

This week we can enjoy some great masterpieces from Tux (France) RAF (another fellow from France :-) ) and last but not least from LO (New Zealand):

Alright, it seems that I've misinterpret one of your comments ("The points u mentions are coming up at like -0.186V"). The datasheet says the the LCD consumes about 3mA --- thats nothing compared to other components. So it must be a wiring error (are you sure that this: http://www.notapplicable.co.uk/mbhp/dg-12864.pdf is the correct datasheet?). One thing that you can do is to remove all wires from the display and to connect them again in the following order (turn off the power before every step!) Vss/Vdd check if the core sends a MIDI message after power-on Vee->Pot->V0 check if the core sends a MIDI message after power-on control lines (D/I, R/W, E, CS1, CS2) check if the core sends a MIDI message after power-on data lines (D0-D7) check if the core sends a MIDI message after power-on reset line with a 10k pull-up against Vdd check if the core sends a MIDI message after power-on OR reset line with a 10k pull-down against Vss check if the core sends a MIDI message after power-on does it help? Best Regards, Thorsten.

Hi Dan, some days ago you wrote that you are seeing the pixels (points), so the contrast voltage level is ok and doesn't require an additional supply. The backlight is another issue, but not so important yet. However, it would be interesting for me if the display driver is still active. Could you please send the following SysEx string to the core and write down the return message? F0 00 00 7E 40 00 0D 02 00 0B 12 00 00 00 01 00 00 00 00 F7 Best Regards, Thorsten.

For some reasons Mike is not able to open a PayPal account, but if you don't want to send him the money on the old-style method, just wait for SmashTV's alternative offer Best Regards, Thorsten.

For some reasons Mike is not able to open a PayPal account, but if you don't want to send him the money on the old-style method, just wait for SmashTV's alternative offer Best Regards, Thorsten.

Since people now thinking about big bulk orders at professional PCB manufacturers just to save a little money, I have to say something about the impact for the future development of the MIDIbox hardware platform. I started with the unified MBHP last summer after I got a chance to receive free prototype boards from Mike - the deal was that I can send him as much new layouts as I want when he is allowed to sell the boards in his online shop. He sells the boards for low-profit, and the prices are much better compared to low-quantity orders at one of the big manufacturers like PCB-Pool, so I was very satisifed with this solution. Mike is one of the last guys who sees his profession for supporting especially DIY people with well made and cheap PCBs, and this has to be rewarded. Some weeks ago also SmashTV asked me for permission - I approved after I noticed how much effort he spent for some PCB layout improvements. The new boards are better to solder, components from the US now fitting perfectly, and some of the parts have been changed so that they are easier to order outside Europe. The new PCBs and the appr. Mouser/Reichelt partlists will be available for public after I've tested the boards - the new hardware will be 1:1 compatible to the existing solutions! Don't hesitate to order boards from Mike, they are also ok! In the future Mike will provide premade PCBs especially for Europe. It isn't clear yet if Chriss will sell kits again after his hospital stay, but as a new alternative Tim aka SmashTV will offer premade PCBs, MBHP kits, a free PIC burning service and maybe also the possibility to get customized boards. In the last time he gave me a lot of tips, how I can improve my designs. And he started to create the layout of the USB module for us! So I think that this effort has also to be rewarded. If you now start to make big PCB orders at other manufacturers, the effort and investions which have been made by Mike and SmashTV will not be profitable anymore --- they possibly have to discontinue their offerings --- and I will not be able to design new hardware when I don't have the possibility to get free prototypes (example: SmashTV will send me some PCBs so that I can complete the Quad-SID firmware, and he will send me the USB prototypes for testing). In fact this will impact all of us! Please keep this in mind if you plan to order PCBs somewhere else. Best Regards, Thorsten. P.S.: this doesn't mean that you are not allowed to start bulk orders for components.

Since people now thinking about big bulk orders at professional PCB manufacturers just to save a little money, I have to say something about the impact for the future development of the MIDIbox hardware platform. I started with the unified MBHP last summer after I got a chance to receive free prototype boards from Mike - the deal was that I can send him as much new layouts as I want when he is allowed to sell the boards in his online shop. He sells the boards for low-profit, and the prices are much better compared to low-quantity orders at one of the big manufacturers like PCB-Pool, so I was very satisifed with this solution. Mike is one of the last guys who sees his profession for supporting especially DIY people with well made and cheap PCBs, and this has to be rewarded. Some weeks ago also SmashTV asked me for permission - I approved after I noticed how much effort he spent for some PCB layout improvements. The new boards are better to solder, components from the US now fitting perfectly, and some of the parts have been changed so that they are easier to order outside Europe. The new PCBs and the appr. Mouser/Reichelt partlists will be available for public after I've tested the boards - the new hardware will be 1:1 compatible to the existing solutions! Don't hesitate to order boards from Mike, they are also ok! In the future Mike will provide premade PCBs especially for Europe. It isn't clear yet if Chriss will sell kits again after his hospital stay, but as a new alternative Tim aka SmashTV will offer premade PCBs, MBHP kits, a free PIC burning service and maybe also the possibility to get customized boards. In the last time he gave me a lot of tips, how I can improve my designs. And he started to create the layout of the USB module for us! So I think that this effort has also to be rewarded. If you now start to make big PCB orders at other manufacturers, the effort and investions which have been made by Mike and SmashTV will not be profitable anymore --- they possibly have to discontinue their offerings --- and I will not be able to design new hardware when I don't have the possibility to get free prototypes (example: SmashTV will send me some PCBs so that I can complete the Quad-SID firmware, and he will send me the USB prototypes for testing). In fact this will impact all of us! Please keep this in mind if you plan to order PCBs somewhere else. Best Regards, Thorsten. P.S.: this doesn't mean that you are not allowed to start bulk orders for components.

Hi, yes - the current PIC16F implementation will not be enhanced anymore (out of memory), all future developments will only be made for the new PIC18F Best Regards, Thorsten.

You must hear the SID through the "Grainstates FX", recorded and granulated in realtime, parameter controlled by a MB64seq - it rocks! :) Best Regards, Thorsten.

You must hear the SID through the "Grainstates FX", recorded and granulated in realtime, parameter controlled by a MB64seq - it rocks! :) Best Regards, Thorsten.

Hm, in this case I'm very unsure what is causing the trouble. Maybe the LCD needs some additional time until it is ready for receiving a command. Maybe you should try a second initialization in the init hook (e.g lc_init.inc): USER_Init movlw 200 ; wait for 200 ms call MIOS_Delay movlw 0x3e + 1 ; Display On command call MIOS_LCD_Cmd Best Regards, Thorsten.