jimhenry

The parallel inputs of a chain of MB128s may not be elegant but it is as solid as a rock and about as easy as can be to troubleshoot. I've seen a lot of people successfully complete very impressive projects rather quickly with this approach. There is a lot to be said for using something simple, even if it uses more hardware, when you are doing a one off project. I've also seen quite a few people spend a lot of time trying to be clever by using matrix input without ever completing their project, myself included.

There is no "mature" matrix input software for the 8 bit MidiBox. You have to be pretty comfortable with assembly language coding and be prepared for a lot of work to do matrix input on the 8 bit platform. I would recommend using the 32 bit platform and the newest MIDIIO128 software for matrix input. 60ms seems slow if you are talking about opening a valve under a pipe in a pipe organ. You'll notice the delay once it starts getting above 20ms.

It depends on the software but it can be very low, i.e. not noticeable.

It is possible to make a small patch to MIDIIO128 to support a few analog inputs connected directly to J5. I don't recall where the patch is posted at the moment.

Yes, it is that simple to use NC rather than NO switches. The problem most people have with DIY switches on keyboards is providing a switch that will switch at about the midpoint of key travel without impeding further key movement.

Not interested in doing the programming for this. I don't have the hardware and I am not interested in acquiring it. By the time you spend the money for the SAMs and the power supply required, the cost of a commercial solution for the control electronics is not unreasonable. I don't think you appreciate just how complex this seemingly simple system is. I have seen some very good engineers come close to going up in flames, literally, building combination actions due to very small errors in the code and/or hardware. There is a massive amount of amperage being controlled here. This is not a project that is forgiving of mistakes.

What Thorsten is saying is that this project is sufficiently complex that the programmer will have to have direct access to the hardware. It is not something that can be accomplished is a reasonable amount of time by a programmer who has to rely on someone remote to test the software.

All the more reason to avoid touching the hardware if you can. If you take it out it sounds like you should plan on redoing the "shortcuts" at that time. Can you get to anything that allows you to test the operation of the analog inputs at any point?

I would try to avoid taking the modules out of the enclosure. There is a chance you will create problems if you don't have them already. Do you have a multimeter so you measure resistances and other electrical values?

Converting it to a C project rather than an assembler project would probably make the changes you want to make simpler. But converting the project to C would probably be harder than making the fixes you want in assembler. In other words, no. Very good on figuring out the sustain value. Is everything that is based on an on-off switch working to your satisfaction? I wouldn't move on to the analog inputs until you have done everything with the digital (on-off) inputs.

The really big thing you've accomplished is to make a change to the code, rebuild it, load it, and verify that it does what you want. Now the real fun starts, learning how to do the magic. Do you understand why the change to the code made the sustain send 127? Once you understand that little change you need to identify ONE issue to work on next. It probably should be something involving note on/off. Most of your issues seem to involve things that are not from the note on/off switches. That stuff is probably highly custom and I might not be able to offer much help. So try to stick to easy stuff while you are learning. Remember it took time to learn how to play the keyboard too.

I would guess that should be "MIOS V1.5", a report of the version of the MIDIbox Operating System that is loaded. Maybe there is a language issue that is causing it to appear as "MEOS Z1.5" on your system. If you have a backup copy of the version of MIOS currently installed available, then I would try updating MIOS to the current version, which is V1.9g. I don't think that will cause any problems but I can't make any promises. I think it would be a good idea to bring everything up to date but I can pretty much guarantee that you will run into at least one issue that will take some effort to resolve in doing so. My guess is that updating the project code to work with the current tool chain is where that issue will be. As I said before, you will find it harder to get help if you leave the project as an old project.

It doesn't have to be one or the other. Start by working on the issues you have with the keyboard as is. When all that is to your satisfaction you can decide if you want to go further. You'll know a lot more then and you can make a better decision.

I would suggest trying the current version of MIOS Studio and all the tools first. You may find that there are things in the project code that need to be updated in order to build successfully with these tools. If you are really stumped trying to use the current versions of the tools, then fall back to the tools that are the same vintage as the project code. The downside is that it will be more difficult to get help if you need help with the tools. I haven't built a MidiBox project for a long time so I can't offer more specific help. Hopefully someone else will add more up to date advice.

Your second step, the first one where you will actually make a change, is to find the sm_fast.inc file and then find this section of that file: COL_12_other movlw 0x0f cpfseq SM_BUTTON_ROW goto SEND_PRG_CH SUSTAIN_PROCEDURE movf SM_CH_STATUS, W addlw 0xb0 movwf MIDI_EVNT0 movlw 0x40 movwf MIDI_EVNT1 movlw 0x01 CPFSEQ MIOS_PARAMETER2 goto SEND_SUSTAIN_40 movlw 0x00 goto SEND_SUSTAIN SEND_SUSTAIN_40 movlw 0x40 SEND_SUSTAIN movwf MIDI_EVNT_VALUE call MIDI_EVNT_Send return Under SEND_SUSTAIN_40 change "movlw 0x40" to "movlw 0x7f". Build and load the project. Test your sustain pedal. If it now sends 127 when pressed, you can do the following cleanup: change "goto SEND_SUSTAIN_40" to "goto SEND_SUSTAIN_7F" change "SEND_SUSTAIN_40" to "SEND_SUSTAIN_7F" These two changes don't affect how the project works. They are just to keep the code clear. Congratulations! You've just taken the first step up the mountain. Have a glass of Polish vodka.