toneburst

Hi OrganGrinder, thanks for your suggestions. A couple of people have suggested possible PSU issues, actually. I'm not going to discount the idea, as I did build my own 'Optimised PSU' using the circuit diagram at http://www.ucapps.de/mbhp/mbhp_4xsid_c64_psu_optimized.pdf I'm a newbie, so it's quite possible I wired something up incorrectly, or used some of the wrong components. On the other hand, two things make me think it's not a power-supply issue: 1. My voltmeter measures a steady 5.17V at the output of the PSU, and I tested the voltage across the pins of the PIC socket before I inserted the chip. 2. The Core is sending out upload reqests every 2 seconds, whatever I send to it. This is consistent with it not receiving anything from the computer. I'd expect it to send out upload requests at more irregular intervals if it was crashing and rebooting. My logic may be faulty here though... I have a suspicion that something is wrong with my computer/MIDI interface. I've nearly finished putting together one of Mike's MIDIShop's Core kits, so as soon as that's ready, I'll swap the PIC over and see if I can get it to work in the new board. If it doesn't I guess that narrows the problem down to being related to the PSU, the PIC, or something at the computer end. Or a combination of all three... Alex http://www.toneburst.net

Hiya, I seem to have lost the BC337 transistor that came with my MBCore kit from Mike's MIDIShop. Could I use a BC337-16 as a replacement? Alex http://www.toneburst.net

Hi Mr modnaR, were you thinking of this one by any chance? http://www.matrixorbital.com/product_info.php?pName=mosal202cxr&cName=lcd-mos-character-lcds Looks very like the disappointingly-pink red neg one I got form the States http://www.crystalfontz.com/products/2002a-color/index.html#CFAH2002ARMIJP When it came the background was pink, rather than black. It looked quite nice anyway, actually. Until I fried it... :( You might want to find out if anyone else has used the one you're thinking of, as the pics can be a bit deceptive. Incidentally, were you planning to try and find a UK supplier for these? Some of these companies have a high minimum order, I've noticed too. Cheers, Alex http://www.toneburst.net

Well, I seem to have trashed my pink crystalfontz LCD now :( The backlight still works, but now it doesn't show anything. I still haven't managed to upload MIOS to my core, so I can't test it properly, but I think it's probably fried. Anyway, it just occured to me- a few of us are looking for a red-on-black neg. display, and have been disappointed by the crystalfontz LCD. Have any one you ever looked at the display on Native Instruments' Kore hardware? The characters are indeed red, and the background, while not quite black, is pretty dark. Here's a not-particularly good photo I found I'm pretty-sure it's an LCD of some description, rather than an OLED/PLED-type job, as it has a limited viewing angle, and also reverses (ie red becomes black and vice-versa) and certain angles, which is definitely a charactereistic of LCD displays. I think it's what we've all been looking for. I've emailed NI to see if anyone knows who makes them. It's a long-shot, but you never know... Alex http://www.toneburst.net

Ooops. Maybe that's what I did too.... I assumed the round mark on the top of the optocoupler indicated the end that should be nearest the indented end of the IC socket. Would be great if this was the solution to me problem too. Got a funny feeling it isn't though... Incidentally, I think I trashed my LCD by connecting it the wrong way around. I spend ages sorting out which wire went to which terminal on the display module, soldered it all up, then connected the ribbon-cable to the PCB header the wrong way around! Doh! It got very hot, and I unplugged it as quickly as I could, but after initially working OK (once I'd plugged the cable in the right way round), it's been getting progressively more flakey, until last night, it stopped displaying anything. The backlight still works though... Alex

sounds to me like your Core isn't receiving MIDI for some reason. I've been having the same issue here, and haven't come up with a solution yet. You could try going through the steps on this page: http://www.ucapps.de/howto_debug_midi.html I'm starting to think my issue could be with my MIDI interface, but I also seem to have trashed my LCD somewhere along the way, which is a bit depressing :( Alex http://www.toneburst.net

Not strictly an answer to Chris' problem. more of a question really: If I wanted to have an internal PSU for my MBSid (afterall, who wants another cable brick to fall over, especially one as chunky as the C64 transformer), would it be feasible to take the C64 one out of its enclosure and stick it in the box with the Core/Sid boards, or would it be better to build an alternative from scratch? I guess you could build something a lot smaller with modern components, but I may be wrong. Any thoughts anyone? Alex http://www.toneburst.net

I'd envisaged the 4/6 buttons below the LCD would be used too select parameters to edit, as in the standard 'Stage B' control surface, and the assign buttons just assigning the parameter currently-selected on the LCD to the X or Y axis of the joystick. Just seems, from a usability viewpoint, to be a nice easy way of assigning things, that has the advantage of not requiring any changes to what's actually on the display, ie extra menus etc. I'd imagined the actual physical hooking-up of the joystick would be relatively easy, with most of the work being needed at the software end. I'm new to all this though, so I have no real idea how difficult all this would be to accomplish. Alex http://www.toneburst.net

Hiya, I know there has been discussion of the possibilities offered by joysticks on the forum before, but I have a little idea that would involve a little MIOS trickery that's well beyond my reach, I fear. Just wondering if any of you MIOS gurus out there could tell me how easy/possible this would be to implement: Small analogue (resistance-based) joystick 1 button to assign the X axis 2 button to assign the Y axis 1 master enable/disable button for the joystick (or maybe seperate X and Y enable/disable buttons) MIOS-wise the functionality would be very simple: Whatever parameter was currently selected on the LCD would be assigned to the X or Y axis of the joystick by pressing the X-assign or Y-assign button. You could select Filer Cutoff, for example, hit the X-assign button, then select Filter Resonance and hit the Y-assign button, to control the filter from the joystick. I guess a fair amount of jiggery-pokery would have to go on in the background, in order to find the range of the selected parameter and divide that by the working range of the variable-resistors in the joystick, but maybe MIOS is clever enough to do that automatically.... What this would all entail in terms of MIOS coding, I have no idea though. It's such a simple idea it's probably already been done, though my quick search of the forums didn't turn up anything exactly analogous. Incidentally, I noticed MIDIBox.org was down over the weekend, and some of the photos in posts now seem to be missing. I wonder if this is just ordinary 'link-rot', or if something more sinister has been going on... Thanks in advance, Alex http://www.toneburst.net

I'm in London (though originally from the Wild North- Cumbria to be precise). Mr modnaR is also UK-based, I think. Alex http://www.toneburst.net

If you have the right C64, you can reuse the wires that run from the keyboard to the the main board. Check the connector at the mainboard end- you may find the crimp-pins can be persuaded to slide out of the connector. You can then solder the wires together in pairs and use them to connect the Core and SID PCBs. It's a good idea to put a bit of heatshrink (ideally) or insulating tape around them so they don't touch each other. I found I also had to squash the bottom of the crimp pins a little with some pliers to give a better fit over the headers on the PCBs. I then bundled the wires together with cable ties to keep them neatly together. Hope this helps. Alex http://www.toneburst.net

So you're a UK MIDIBoxer too Therezin... There seem to be a few of us... Alex http://www.toneburst.net

Hi Carsten, I think connecting a panel-mount MIDI socket is worth a try actually, since it connects to different traces on the PCB. So it was a good suggestion, and don't worry about 'talking down' to me. I didn't think your message came across as patronising at all. I'm really glad you took the time to prepare the diagram for me, and I'm sorry that in my reply I didn't acknowledge this. I'm afraid to say that I'm not the most patient person when it comes to tracking down errors. I do bits and pieces of (very basic) coding in PHP, JavaScript and Flash Actionscript, and always end up getting really annoyed with it- until either suddenly something clicks and I realise where the problem is, or some kind soul puts me out of my misery. I will try the loopback test again when I get home. It was more the entering the sysex info and comparing the output and input that I couldn't get the hang of. Also, I seem to be getting a lot of crashes in MIDI-Ox. Did you try sending a whole sysex file and comparing input and output, or just sent a single line of sysex code? I'll RTFM and see if it becomes clearer ;-) Thanks again Carsten, Alex http://www.toneburst.net

Hi moogah, thanks for the kind words. I think you're right about taking a break from this for a while. Good advice. I've tried using the 'wait for upload request' option in MIOS Studio. It's good to know the PICs are so tough. I've check the output of the regulator (the 'Optimised PSU' I made) with the Core board and LCD connected. As far as I can tell with my basic multimeter, it's producing a rock-steady 5.19V, even when I try and do an upload. The LCD looks fine in terms of readability- it's just that I can see a line of solid blocks across the top row of the display, and sometimes there's a clearly-visible line across the lit blocks; ie the 3rd row of 'pixels' from the top are no-longer lit. Sometimes the screen comes on like this, sometimes it doesn't, but the line appears later. I'm pretty sure I haven't managed to get MIOS onto the PIC also. I've been getting MIDI errors from the beginning. I'm getting a new Core/Sid set from Mike's MIDIShop, so maybe I'll just give up on this one and start again, as you suggest, from the very beginning. I'll go through all the MIDI debugging tests on the current board while I wait for the new ones to arrive though, and see if I can come up with something this time. Thanks again, Alex http://www.toneburst.net

Ah, OK, I might give that a try. I'm actually using the pcb-mounted MIDI sockets that came with the SmashTV kit. I might have a couple of chassis-mount 5-pin DIN sockets kicking around somewhere. One thing I did try though- I removed the optocoupler and tried the upload again. Obviously it wasn't going to work, but I wanted to see if I'd get the same error-message. I did, soo..... it could be the optocoupler, methinks. My logic here may be faulty though... I have Windows XP installed on my MacBook Pro (they're Intel-based now anyway, so they can run XP natively), so I can use MIDI-Ox. It's just I can't work out how to carry out the test. Yep, I have a USB MIDI interface. Or rather, 2 USB MIDI interfaces. I also have one on my m-audio 1010 which is connected to a PCI slot on my G5. The only problem is I can't get MIOS studio to work on that computer. I may try to install the perl script mentioned here http://www.ucapps.de/howto_tools_hex2syx.html and try uploading a syx version of the MIOS OS from the desktop Mac. Now though, it's time for bed, I think. Think I'll put in another order for a replacement optopcoupler tomorrow, as I need to get some other bits and bobs (crimp-pin housings and other things) anyway. Thanks very much for the suggestions Carsten :-) . Alex http://www.toneburst.net

Hi Carsten, thanks for taking pity on me... I can't try either of the tests you mention because I can't upload anything (including MIOS itself) to my Core module. I just tried the LCD test one, and got the same 'unexpected upload request' error I've was getting before. Interestingly, my LCD has now started working again (in as much as it now shows a row of blocks, but now without the line through them). I did unplug and the replug its ribbon cable, so I guess that's probably got something to do with it. I was definitely getting some of the crimp pins connected to the SIL headers touching each other, when I first plugged in the Core. I but heatshrink around them, but have since removed them altogether, so the Core is now not connected to anything except the LCD. I don't know how to test the PSU really, except to use my multimeter to test the voltage across the 5V pins. It seems to be a rock-steady 5.19V, and doesn't seem to vary at all when I try to upload MIOS. Then again, it's a cheapo meter, so I don't know how much use it is in this case. I'm dubious about going through the MIDI debug tests again, because my soldering isn't that great, and the more I mess around soldering things to the PIC pins, the more likely I am to fry something... My solder-joints all look ok to me, so short of desldering and resoldering everything (and almost certainly trashing the baord in the process) I really don't know what else to try. This is very frustrating. Because I don't really know what I'm doing, when things go wrong I'm completely lost. Alex http://www.toneburst.net

OK, I think I've really f*cked it now.... After MIDI-Ox crashed completely (can't believe how flakey MIDI is under Windoze), I still can't upload MIOS after the Nth attempt (same selection of error messages), but now the LCD shows a row of bars, but this time with a line across them. Any clues anyone, I'm completely lost and this is starting to take over my life!! Alex http://www.toneburst.net

With error-messages, yeah.... :-( Alex http://www.toneburst.net

There P&P to the UK is a bit on the high side though. Alex http://www.toneburst.net

Nope :-( I've tried 2 different MIDI interfaces, under XP and MacOS X. I seem to get different error messages every time. This is my last attempt: Starting upload of mios_v1_9c_pic18f452.hex Hex file contains code in MIOS range, forcing reboot! Received Upload Request Received SysEx message of less than 8 bytes Sending block 00000400-000004FF Received error code 0C: MIDI IN Frame Error This was an expected error - please ignore! Received error code 0C: MIDI IN Frame Error Received SysEx message of less than 8 bytes Sending block 00000500-000005FF Error: Received unexpected Upload Request Sending block 00000500-000005FF Error: Received unexpected Upload Request Sending block 00000500-000005FF Received SysEx message of less than 8 bytes Received unexpected MIOS SysEx message = 40000140000E0C01F7 expected = 00007E4000 Received unexpected MIOS SysEx message = 40000140000E0C01F7 expected = 00007E4000 Received SysEx message of less than 8 bytes Received unexpected MIOS SysEx message = 40000140000E0C01F7 expected = 00007E4000 Received SysEx message of less than 8 bytes Received SysEx message of less than 8 bytes Received unexpected MIOS SysEx message = 40000140000E0C01F7 expected = 00007E4000 Received SysEx message of less than 8 bytes Received SysEx message of less than 8 bytes Received SysEx message of less than 8 bytes Received unexpected MIOS SysEx message = 40000140000E0C01F7 expected = 00007E4000 Received SysEx message of less than 8 bytes Received SysEx message of less than 8 bytes Received SysEx message of less than 8 bytes Received SysEx message of less than 8 bytes Received unexpected MIOS SysEx message = 40000140000E0C01F7 expected = 00007E4000 Received SysEx message of less than 8 bytes Received SysEx message of less than 8 bytes Received SysEx message of less than 8 bytes Received SysEx message of less than 8 bytes Received SysEx message of less than 8 bytes Received unexpected MIOS SysEx message = 40000140000E0C01F7 expected = 00007E4000 Received SysEx message of less than 8 bytes Received SysEx message of less than 8 bytes Received SysEx message of less than 8 bytes Received SysEx message of less than 8 bytes Received SysEx message of less than 8 bytes Received SysEx message of less than 8 bytes Received unexpected MIOS SysEx message = 40000140000E0C01F7 expected = 00007E4000 Received SysEx message of less than 8 bytes Received SysEx message of less than 8 bytes Received SysEx message of less than 8 bytes Received SysEx message of less than 8 bytes Received SysEx message of less than 8 bytes Received SysEx message of less than 8 bytes Received SysEx message of less than 8 bytes Received unexpected MIOS SysEx message = 40000140000E0C01F7 expected = 00007E4000 Received SysEx message of less than 8 bytes Received SysEx message of less than 8 bytes Received SysEx message of less than 8 bytes Received SysEx message of less than 8 bytes Received SysEx message of less than 8 bytes Received SysEx message of less than 8 bytes Received SysEx message of less than 8 bytes Received SysEx message of less than 8 bytes Received unexpected MIOS SysEx message = 40000140000E0C01F7 expected = 00007E4000 Received SysEx message of less than 8 bytes Received SysEx message of less than 8 bytes Received SysEx message of less than 8 bytes Received SysEx message of less than 8 bytes Received SysEx message of less than 8 bytes Received SysEx message of less than 8 bytes Received SysEx message of less than 8 bytes Received SysEx message of less than 8 bytes Received SysEx message of less than 8 bytes Received unexpected MIOS SysEx message = 40000140000E0C01F7 expected = 00007E4000 Received SysEx message of less than 8 bytes Received SysEx message of less than 8 bytes Received SysEx message of less than 8 bytes Received SysEx message of less than 8 bytes Received SysEx message of less than 8 bytes Received SysEx message of less than 8 bytes Received SysEx message of less than 8 bytes Received SysEx message of less than 8 bytes Received SysEx message of less than 8 bytes Received SysEx message of less than 8 bytes Received unexpected MIOS SysEx message = 40000140000E0C01F7 expected = 00007E4000 Received SysEx message of less than 8 bytes Received SysEx message of less than 8 bytes Received SysEx message of less than 8 bytes Received SysEx message of less than 8 bytes Received SysEx message of less than 8 bytes Received SysEx message of less than 8 bytes Received SysEx message of less than 8 bytes Received SysEx message of less than 8 bytes Received SysEx message of less than 8 bytes Received SysEx message of less than 8 bytes Received SysEx message of less than 8 bytes Received error code 0C: MIDI IN Frame Error Received error code 0C: MIDI IN Frame Error Sending block 00000500-000005FF Received error code 0C: MIDI IN Frame Error Received error code 0C: MIDI IN Frame Error Sending block 00000500-000005FF Received error code 0C: MIDI IN Frame Error Sending block 00000500-000005FF Received SysEx message of less than 8 bytes Received error code 0C: MIDI IN Frame Error Received error code 0C: MIDI IN Frame Error Sending block 00000500-000005FF Received error code 0C: MIDI IN Frame Error Sending block 00000500-000005FF Received SysEx message of less than 8 bytes Received error code 0C: MIDI IN Frame Error Received error code 0C: MIDI IN Frame Error Sending block 00000500-000005FF Received SysEx message of less than 8 bytes Error: Received unexpected Upload Request Sending block 00000500-000005FF Error: Received unexpected Upload Request Received SysEx message of less than 8 bytes Sending block 00000500-000005FF Received SysEx message of less than 8 bytes Received SysEx message of less than 8 bytes Received SysEx message of less than 8 bytes Received SysEx message of less than 8 bytes Received SysEx message of less than 8 bytes Received SysEx message of less than 8 bytes Received SysEx message of less than 8 bytes Received SysEx message of less than 8 bytes Received SysEx message of less than 8 bytes Received SysEx message of less than 8 bytes Received SysEx message of less than 8 bytes Received SysEx message of less than 8 bytes Received SysEx message of less than 8 bytes Received SysEx message of less than 8 bytes Received SysEx message of less than 8 bytes Received SysEx message of less than 8 bytes Received SysEx message of less than 8 bytes Received SysEx message of less than 8 bytes Received SysEx message of less than 8 bytes Received SysEx message of less than 8 bytes Received SysEx message of less than 8 bytes Received SysEx message of less than 8 bytes Received SysEx message of less than 8 bytes Received SysEx message of less than 8 bytes Received SysEx message of less than 8 bytes Received SysEx message of less than 8 bytes Received SysEx message of less than 8 bytes Received SysEx message of less than 8 bytes Received SysEx message of less than 8 bytes Received SysEx message of less than 8 bytes Received error code 0C: MIDI IN Frame Error Sending block 00000500-000005FF Received error code 0C: MIDI IN Frame Error Sending block 00000500-000005FF Received error code 0C: MIDI IN Frame Error Sending block 00000500-000005FF Received error code 0C: MIDI IN Frame Error Sending block 00000500-000005FF Received error code 0C: MIDI IN Frame Error Aborting after 16 errors I tried doing the PC test 2 from the MIDI problems page, but can't work out how to do it. Is it likely to be a problem with the MIDI interface though (given I've tried 2 different ones)? Any help very gratefully accepted. Alex http://www.toneburst.net

Believe it or not, it's music for an exercise class. The problem is, it's for people using rowing-machines, which means it has to be really slow- ie 60 to 120bpm. And it keeps changing tempo too. Quite tricky keeping things interesting for 30+ minutes, especially at a really slow tempo. And it can't be too rhythmically interesting because it'll put them off their stroke. Hmmm... Alex http://www.toneburst.net

That should have been "Thanks once again..." of course. I need a proof-reader here :[ Alex http://www.toneburst.net

Ill run another test tomorrow Thorsten, I've been distracted by non MIDIBox-related projects this evening (I'm working on a little music commission that I've been putting off for too long). Thanks once for all your help on this (and of course, for the whole MIDIBox thing :-) ). Alex http://www.toneburst.net

I'm a Mac man.... I steer clear of Windo$e. Actually; that's not strictly true. I have got XP on my MacBook Pro, and it does come in handy every so-often. Coloured gels are clearly The Future (pun absolutely intended). I must stop being distracted by shiny lights and pretty colours though, at least until I can get MIOS uploaded.... Alex http://www.toneburst.net

That should work, actually. I have this lighting gel test card I picked up years ago when it was being thrown out at work. My Novation XStation has a blue/white screen just like the one in your pic, and looks great with a variety of coloured gels in front of it. Mind you, none make the background much darker. Think maybe you'd some other sort of display to get a properly black background.The display on the Novation Nova is pretty cool-looking, but Idon't think it's actually an LCD. Think it's more likely it's a VFD or OLED/PLED display like http://www.crystalfontz.com/products/CFAP2002M/index.html Alex http://www.toneburst.net