RowanHall

REVELATION: my new pal sid is speaking to me! headache over! :)

hey there i am pulling my hair out at this! haha i had been blaming my soundcard, so i went out and bought a midiman usb -> midi device. and i'm getting the same problem with being able to send but not receive. the core is on its own with only the midi sockets and psu connected. i am getting the 2 second requests for mios no problems in midiox i have completed all the troubleshooting methods, the main ones are described below: - led lights but does not flicker when i send a large sysex chunk, is this strange? - the led does flash when the sysex chunk is sent - this works fine it seems strange that all the tests seem to work except the one not flickering! any help or advice on this would be excellent and greatly appreciated! :) cheers and thanks in advance, Rowan Hall

i decided to do more testing... the 'request for upload' prompt now comes up repeating waiting for my upload. i am still unable to send the mios to the pic. i have tested my pcs midi out port by looping the midi cable and sending a sysex command, and it appears to work. i also did various tests in the midi troubleshooting section, and all is well. the optocoupler test where you remove the pic and short the middle two pins of j11 also worked fine. sysexbox still crashes when the 'request for upload' arrives... anybody know why this happens? the sid module is connected to the core as explained above? should i try without the sid? i am totally confused! :s

i now have the os request coming up in midiox but when i sent sysex it doesn't receive it or give confirmation. when i use serges one, as soon as i plug in the core to the power socket, the program crashes?? any clues! :) Rowan

hey guys i have hit a spot of bother... my current setup 12v psu supplying core 15v psu supplying sid all voltages checked out perfectly with both modules and also when i connected them together 1:1. now i have modified the connecting cable from the 8pin 1:1 config to the 6 pin config core -> sid ------------- sd -> sd rc -> rc vs -> vs mu -> mu vd -> vd md -> sc the problem is that i'm not getting a sysex prompt from the core to midiox and can't upload anything i have tested the midi input of my pc with a midi controller but not the pcs midi output, could this be the problem? though surely i should still get a 'request for upload' even if the pcs output doesn't work? help required urgently! Rowan Hall

it seems that all tasks have been covered on pcb modding for mios 1.7 except the core/sid connection. if i am just using a normal psu, and not the commodore one, do i just connect 6 pins as described below?

thanks dudes for the help, just thought i'd let you know that everything went fine. i just connected it the basic sid/core setup which means the optomized psu board remains untested! i shall deal with that later methinks! for testing i have one psu per unit, the sid psu is a 15v, 2500mA laptop psu, could i just connect this to both modules? the next task is mios! :) cheers, Rowan Hall

hey guys, smashtvs (sublime) pcbs arrived yesterday and i have them all ready. as a newbie, i was wondering on advice for testing midibox rigs. should i wire it in a basic core/sid configuration, with two basic psu's? or should i use the optomized circuit (also untested)? i currently have the core and sid configured for use with this setup (voltage regulator removed and jumpers added). how should i go about testing all my kit without destroying it! :) Rowan Hall

this will probably seem like a stupid question, but if i was to make the optomized psu board, could i connect it to just one module, or was it designed for four modules? Rowan Hall

thats great news! cheers moebius! greatly appreciated! :) thanks also for the led info. Rowan Hall :)

this everbouquet one is similar to the batron on the previous post. http://uk.farnell.com/jsp/endecaSearch/partDetail.jsp?SKU=5005267&N=401 i dont know anything about lcd drivers and i tried comparing the datasheets with the hitachi one. but i didn't really know what to be looking for. the only thing i noticed was the pinouts are the same? please could somebody advise on compatability as i am lost! :s if neither are compatible, are there other blue/white alternatives? thanks in advance! :) Rowan Hall

hello again, i was wondering if this 20x2 lcd would work with the midibox sid? http://uk.farnell.com/jsp/endecaSearch/partDetail.jsp?SKU=5005000&N=401 also, can i install bright blue leds or will i need an additional resistor? i don't know much about the stats of the leds, but i seem to remember something about adding a resistor. im just worried if i fill two douts with blue leds will it work correctly. cheers, Rowan

cheers for sorting that query for me justin! very much appreciated! all i got to do is get the parts and get soldering! i cant wait to fire it up and give it a go! but i'm sure i'll be needing help at a later stage! :) with the optomised psu parts i'm having problems finding the rectifier, would it be alright just to use four rectifier diodes? also the caps, will two basic electrolytic and two basic ceramic ones be fine? thanks again, Rowan

Greetings to everybody at the community. several years ago i looked for a project to make music from that old sid chip in the busted c64, and didn't have much luck. last week i started looking again and found this marvellous site. the sid engine on this is staggering! i am not new to electronics, though i am a novice or an ocassional dabbler. though midibox is a new domain for me. i feel that i have everything planned for my first exploit which i think is going to be just the basic core/sid setup, but i'm going to buy parts for the control surface part a. i am a bit confused on mios though. for the basic module i install the bootstrap then mios then the sid app? i take it the app file is just setup_6581_without_cs.syx? if i continue on to part a, do i just burn setup_6581_with_cs.syx to the pic? will anything need edited first? thanks in advance, and thanks for the patience! :) Rowan Hall