yogi

Here's some Saga FM fun. Don't know if you call it 'chip'tune or 'fake bit', demo clip for a Saga FM VST. The sweet thing about the VST is it can serve as a UI for the Littlescale GenMDMidi interface to produce the same sounds on actual HW :) Yogi

Oh Thanks! Even zooming didn't help, your eyes are better ;) After doing a bit of Googling, it's a variant of the AY 3 8910. I think it was used in the Famicom MMC5 carts that had expanded audio channels. Did find a interesting Arduino project using this chip: http://hardchord.org/ymz_shield Some nice samples @ their site. Yogi

I think I've seen that before but thought it was just a harmonica in a cart shell :) Quite a project, but trying to figure out the APU chip they used. It must be from a expansion sound cart, because the Famicom/NES has the APU integrated into the CPU package. Yogi

Hi Smithy, yea hang out abit over @ CM; there's always something cooking there! Very nice ADT][ tracks, Really like Mutable Signs as well as 1, 2, 3, Crunch Time! and there is a really tight woodblock n Bass line in Dec9 WIP track.hanks, got Diode mA bookmarked :)

YES ++ on cTrix :) He really makes the AMY sing Here is a very cool track by n00bstar on Klystrack, Trinity http://cheapbeatsmusic.bandcamp.com/album/operat0r Just puts me in a cool place, really reminds me of Jean Michel Jarre Yogi

Just bumping for Yerzmyey's XL Digital, or Strange light Under My Bed, or Brutal and Aggressive,... WTF, ALL his tracks are good! http://yerzmyey.i-demo.pl/ Yogi

WELL DONE!!! Your project is very near and dear to my heart, Thank you for such a fine project. Your presentation on the wiki is top notch, especially like the MB TIA Manager. This def goes on my 'bucket list'!!

Great job! Just finished reading your build log, and your finished box is quite nice. You and your father should take a bow!! Hope you don't mind but I linked your vid to a topic on Chipmusic.org. We were discussing SID options and your demo video is a very good example of the MB6582 ;) Congrats, Yogi

I will try the Korg driver; I remember reading other posts referring to problems with support for GM5 (couldn't recall the exact driver, why I tried the Yahama one). At one point, awhile ago, we talked about using diff drivers with a STM32 and a HP laptop; then the lappy died due to the PSU board! That is good to hear, hadn't built up a circuit yet, but thought that might be the case. I'll plow ahead if the Korg fix doesn't work. TNK again, Yogi

Hi, wanted to build a simple Serial to midi interface. I would love to use a GM5, but this is for a old PC running Win98SE ( a modded I-Opener) with a dedicated purpose of running old tracker softs. There is no way to upgrade to a true SB gameport; no ISA or PCI connectors. The mobo does have USB but Win98 doesn't support Class Compliant USBMidi. I've tried a 'no name' USB midi, NO GO, (even tried to force it to use Yahama driver but got BSOD). And polytech GM5 driver won't install (had to try!) Perhaps there is a work around with the GM5? But a sane person would just use XP or > So a M-Audio midisport 1x1 with their Win98 USB driver may work, but a serial or parallel port midi interface (Midiman PC/S ) is sure to work, these may be a better choice due to 98's USB support, timing-wise. So this bring me to my questions about MB Router as a Serial to Midi interface. If I set the default interface to 'COM' and edit the code to only one IIC Midi interface, how much more should I comment out? No need for DIN or DOUT, nor filtering, do I need to comment out these unused sections, even thou they won't be called? I know that this is a REALLY old code base and much better options out there, but it's a retro thing ;)

Hi Pete, My impression from the posted photo, is he has the primary phasing correct, but you may be right. Yes a prudent test, but I would expect to see problems on the -12V rail also. I could be totally wrong here; from the git-go I have been making assumptions based on the tests that are done and trying to relate a fail mode to them. Can't troubleshoot everything, at all at once; just trying to test and verify one section at a time. Again, wouldn't this effect the 7912 also? With a half wave rect., wouldn't the GND point be at 1/2 of the secondary xformer Voltage, 6.5V referenced to the '-' bridge connection? From Marxon's photo/sketch, it appears he has +-16V from the bridge, but at this point my eyes are going a bit crossed ;-) Looking at the the output of the 7812, under heavy load, it drops to 6.8V; looks like the regulator's circuit protection is kicking in. It 'smells' like a load current related problem, to me, ASSUMING there are good heat sinks and full power from the transformers. The OPL board doesn't load either 12V rail very much, 3 op amps for <75mA total?, But the 5V rail is pulling ~1A or more, close to the 7805's max with good heat sinking, and in turn, passing this load, plus the '05's losses, to the 7812. There still could be other issues: a bad op amp, undetected short, a damaged regulator or thermal overload to name a few. Time will tell. For myself, as I build sections, I test and re-test till I'm confident that it's "known good". Once all sub systems are integrated, one symptom can be caused by a host of possible faults. This PSU design, two xformers, though very similar to a center tapped bi-polar, is not 'the run of the mill'. Only considering the overall size of the PSU, my choice would have been a center tapped xformer, but in the end it's Marxon's decisions. Just trying to help him sort it out.

Thanks nILS. After I had posted it and realized what happened, I tried Editing it, but couldn't seem to break things apart. Guess I need a bigger hammer! I'll just sit over here with my 'fool' hat on. :shifty: I don't even know what the #*%$ happen in the other post with the "<p>"s at the start and end of each line!?! That's what I get for post in the middle of the night.

Marxon, a 7809 would work well. As far as filter caps, there is allot of range. These caps do two things, smooth ripple and shunt HF noise to GND, in essence a very, very, VERY low Frequency, low pass filter. For input, you want a large 'litic in the 100uF -10,000uF range (bigger is better) to absorb the raw ripple, BUT make sure it is rated 3-4X the voltage (voltage spikes when switching on and off). You can also use parallel caps to increase the uF, I.E. two 100uFs in parallel = 100+100=200uF. Lots of trade-offs depending on space, cost and whats in the junk box. Along with that, a small .1 uF range cap to shunt HF noise; most cerm disc caps are rated +50V or more so V rating isn't too much of an issue. On the output, again the same configuration, but you are at a lower voltage and you have far less ripple, so the 'litic can be < 100uF range. Between the 7809 and the 7805 you can apply the same 'output rule of thumb'. Remember that 78xx TO-220s are rated at 1.5Amps with heat sinks; you can get the 78XXs in the TO-3 5 Amp package, but heat sink/mounting becomes a problem. Most datasheets show the min values; most engineers want to use just what is necessary, only! 2 cents saved per unit adds up on 10,000 units ;) Our goal is to have very good sound! You are very welcome; just glad to be ABLE to help. The older I gets, the more I want to pass along the little bits of hard earned knowledge the world has taught me; at least till my wife tells me to 'Shut Up!' ;-) )

Eden, if you just need something for your gigs, your best route is buy off the shelf or an Arduino for just a few pots and switches. But your goal was much larger in your first post. Consider the advice given; TK and others here have been working on these projects for well over a decade, refining and improving the code. You will not find a more powerful and flexible Midi-centric OS for embedded uControllers in the open source world; even allot of BIG $$$ solutions would not compare. For Midi based projects, MidiBox.org is the BEST: period. Your time spent developing a project on the Arduino would be rewarding, I'm sure; but you would learn a much better hardware and software platform for the same time spent with an LPC. As to cost, the LPC is the same or cheaper then a Teensy. Your case, CS controls and support circuits will be about the same expense for either. To save as much as possible, build as much as you can. 'Recycle/reuse, rinse, repeat' I prefer to invest in tools rather then pay someone else for their skill with their tools. The more projects you do the better you will get, you are investing in yourself! Look into community work shops, they are springing up all over. Get to know a neighbor with a work shop ;) Thrift stores are a great place to find dirt cheap cases to recycle. Scrounge and dumpster dive; an old PC case has allot of sheet metal. Sometimes it is well worth spending for a laser cut front panel, but for my own projects 'getting there is half the fun'. Best advice: DIY will cost, just spend your budget, both time and money, wisely. Best of luck in your project :)

Great to hear! I think in your case it may be more to do with the 7812 followed the 7805. This is a good way to limit heat at the 7805 but if you are loading close to max, 1-1.5A, on the +5V rail, that load is also seen at the output of the 7812. So trying to draw off of the +12 rail overloads the 7812 and you end up with voltage sags on +12 and/or the +5V rails. You could try a second +V reg ahead of the 7805, say a 7809 or 7812, parallel to your original 7812. So you have one 7812 for the +12v rail and a 78XX followed by a 7805 for the +5V rail. What is the amps @ 15V ac for your xformars? Should be fine at 2-3A Very glad you found the issue, truly I was thinking that this would be the next place to search. Like they say, 'Its always the last place you look' ;)

Couldn't have said it better, nothing but RESPECT to Tim. \O/

Looked over your latest test results. Very good. To summarize; with LCD connected to core, +12V rail fails at OPL board. With no +-12V to OPL board, LCD & core works and +-12V rails stable at PSU. With no LCD connected, Core boots and +-12V rails are stable at OPL board. Hummm So common connections between LCD and OPL board- RB7:0, and RD6:5 should be looked at. I'm not ruling out the points I covered in last post, but most bridges would effect the +12 rail regardless of the LCD being connected. The OPL3 and DACs ( and LCD) do not have any direct link to the +12V rail other then by U3 & 5. This is strange and seems like a grounding issue; I'll have to think some more on how this could be caused. Best advice I could give is still what I laid out in the last post. If all that fails then we'll have to widen the search.

<p>Great! You'r welcome, just glad to be able to help some.</p> <p>On the +-12V side, start without any amps installed. If it won't boot without any amps installed then its a problem on the board.</p> <p>Double check solder joints; can also re-heat any that don't look 'bright'. More then once I've had a board that looked 100% but didn't work; till I re-heated some joints.&nbsp;</p> <p>Without the OP amps installed, you should be able to connect the +12v and GND then test; then only the -12V and GND. This will narrow down which raid is a problem.</p> <p>Double check the polarity of the filter caps, the ones on the -12V rail will have the '+' side of the cap to GND; C16, C20, C22 and C26. The silkscreen on this board is correct.</p> <p>On my board, one of the traces from J3, a +12 trace, passes under U3. There is a solder mask on this board, but without it you could get a bridge under U3 to this trace with too much soldier.</p> <p>Other&nbsp;possible&nbsp;areas to look at:</p> <p>Land for R5 and U3.9</p> <p>Land for wire jumper under U3 and U3.9:8 pins</p> <p>Land for R13 and U5,9</p> <p>Land for C11 and U5.1</p> <p>Land for R6 and U6.1</p> <p>Land for R15 and U6.12</p> <p>These spots are very close together, but not connecting; good&nbsp;candidates&nbsp;for solder bridges.</p> <p>Don't spare the solder wick on a 'iffy' joint, just clean the joint and re-solder it.</p> <p>After you've checked and double checked, and the core will boot, &nbsp;install one amp and test. If it works then install another and test again, then the next. If any of these are a 'no-go', replace it with a new one. Remember that U6 is 'upside down' compared&nbsp;to the other two amps.</p> <p>Keep it up.</p> <p>EDIT: Didn't see your latest post before I Hit the 'POST' button :)</p>

The more I re-read this the more I feel that there is a problem with your J2 connections. If I understand correct- Core boots normal with just the +5V and GND connected to OPL brd In other words, both boards powered up with no logic connections? So with this setup: the OPL board is not overloading the PSU, and causing the PIC to reset. I would look very close at U1.8:6, pins 6 and 8 are on either side of a Vcc pin. If either pin was bridged to the Vcc pin: disconnected from core=no problem but when connected to core, PIC would at some point try to pull low=dead short.= voltage drop. .

Kind of messed up my last post with the 'qoute' thing, so my my notes are interspread with your quotes. Sorry, makes it hard to read.

So far so good. Core hardware and firmware seems OK I assume that you have the correct OPL brd J2.1 and J2.2 as I mentioned above. OK seems like the Vcc and Vss on both brds are good. So there seems to be a problem with the interconnection. Are there any messages/characters on LCD when OPL brd is connected? Retrace the Core to OPL connections as per http://ucapps.de/mbhp/mbhp_opl3_interconnections.pdf For now, test with no +-12V and no op amps installed, this will narrow things down. 4.3V is not necessarily a dead short, but it may be enough to cause the Core to reset. So the problem could be in the Digital side of the OPL brd, U1, 2 or 3, if your Core-to-OPL connections are correct. Do any of the YM chips get hot? Check for solder bridges. Check that all top side jumpers are installed. (where did you get the OPL brd, mine is from SmashTV). Check that 'litics filter caps are correct, '- - -' to unmarked hole (GND side) of footprint (Not the one marked '+'). Make sure chip orientation is correct. Looking at back of board, with J2 connectors closest to me: Pin 1 of YMF262 is upper left pad, Pin 1 of both DACs are to the bottom left of their footprints. d7:0 are bi directional (I think), they should be floating, may be any where between 0 and 5. the rest are inputs to the OPL so about the same, floating. Generally speaking, unconnected inputs are not a good condition for most chips, it can cause oscillations and runaway current draw. With just Vcc and GND connected, do you see the drop to 4.3V? The symptoms do point to a chip with an internal short, pulling too much current, but checking for solder bridges should be the first thing. I can't speak to the ruggedness of the YM chips, but some of these 'old' chips can take quite a beating, more so then modern chips, so if there is a soldering problem then the OPL may 'come back from the dead'. Don't give up!

Hi, I'm probably not the best to troubleshoot with you but I'm knee deep in my own FM build. I say that it sounds like you don't necessarily have a pwr problem. From your readings you appear to have correct Vcc on the logic side, no shorts. "IC3:11 and IC1:1 = nothing" No connection between +5V and +12V, good. "IC3:4 and IC1:12 = 3,6M" IC3:4 and IC1:1 = 3,8M No cables to PSU Right? No connection Between AVss and DVss. good "J3:V+ and J3:Gnd = 0,1M increasing to 2M" Filter Cap charging "J3:V- and J3:Gnd = 0,2M increasing to 2M" Filter Cap charging "J3:V+ and J3:V- = 16M" Lots of Caps between +12V and -12V All so far looks OK. When you say 'won't boot' is there any sign of life on the LCD with the OPL brd connected? Can the core boot with nothing connected? Can it boot with no OP amps stuffed, just the OPL and DACs? Check the Vcc voltage to GND when trying to boot. If steady, power down and do continuity checking from the PIC pins (right where the pin emerges from the plastic package) to their destinations on the OPL chip; not just the cable, the whole path. I also like to continuity check SMD pins; from device package to brd trace ( looking for cold solder joints), and from one pin to adjacent pins (solder bridges). If you have been over every solder joint and cable then there maybe an issue with firmware. Waiting to hear what you find, Good Luck EDIT: Just remembered, On my OPL board the silkscreen labels for J2 are wrong. With the Component (DIP sockets) side up, and the J2 connectors closest to me; J2.2 is on the left and J2.1 is on the right. Pin 1 on both connectors is on the right side. Had to check and re-check this a few times myself.

If you want to go the MidiBox route, sounds like a MB64E configured with just a min of controls. I'm assuming your PC has a midi port of some sort? If not you could use a LPC core and MB NG, that would provide more midi ports, that might be useful. If you just want 'quick and dirty' you could go with a Arduino and run http://projectgus.github.com/hairless-midiserial/ As far as the Arduino's sketch, I can't help you much, but the interface is very simple so I would guess there are similar examples out there; MP3 players maybe.

Hey Flip, sorry to be bearing bad news, but round two for the GenMDM interface closed a little while ago, but you could contact Littlescale by PM on Chipmusic.org, he may have a few seats open yet; or ask if anyone wants to sell one from round one. Yes, the interface firmware now accommodates USB AND Midi, also one of the folks is writing a VSTi for the interface. There is a multi-page thread on Chipmusic in the Sega forum, Littlescale post there with updates and new patches, if your interested.

Thanks! Yea I have a full set of YM/YACs plus another SB card to pull from ;) Guess I kind of like FM synths! But after I finish the MBFM I'm working on now I plan to put in some time on the MB6582 boards I got last fall and a Seq 4V and ..... So many projects, so little time.