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woozle

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Everything posted by woozle

  1. I would still really like some help with this. I've actually been gigging with this box for several months now without everything working properly. It's great, but it's missing quite a bit of functionality. @TK, can you help me out?
  2. I've had my midibox nearly 100% complete for around 6 months now. There are two issues that are holding me back from finishing and using it. 1) I designed my controller to use all 64 buttons for sending MIDI. Unfortunately the first 8 buttons are menu buttons. I cannot figure out how to disable these in the assembly files or otherwise. 2) I have tried both of the hex files in the Midibox64E .zip file; one allows me to use encoders but not pots, the other allows me to use pots but not encoders. Once again, I cannot figure out what assembly flags to set to get the midibox working properly. If someone with more experience than I would explain what I need to do I would be most grateful. A .hex file would be even better. I am ready to use this thing, please help me complete it!
  3. One final question before I have a fully functioning midibox. I need to turn off the menu buttons on my 64e so that they can be dedicated to midi. I read that this can be done but there was no indication of how. I went through the assembly setup file and found nothing, I'm assuming it's not hardcoded. I need someone's help please! This thing is very near completion and I've got a lot of mapping to do. The end is near! Everything is soldered and wired, the only thing left from a hardware standpoint is to finish mounting the components and boards. As soon as I've got it together I'll post the details of the build process and some pictures of the final product.
  4. woozle

    AIN problem

    For muxed mode, do I want to specify both the muxed flag and the number of pots or just the muxed flag?
  5. Good questions. Life got busy and the midibox which I invested a ridiculous amount of time and money in never got finished. It seems silly because it's absurdly close to being finished. I'm going to try my best to make time for it in the next little bit. I'll hopefully let you know your answers in a week or so.
  6. woozle

    AIN problem

    Nope, didn't enable multiplexers. That would be part of my problem, but I can still test pots in unmuxed mode directly on the core without recompiling with this flag set, right? I want to make sure I'm wiring things up correctly before I add in the AIN module.
  7. I think I've tried every possible wiring configuration, but I'm not getting any output from my pot(s). I've eliminated the AIN module and I'm trying to run a single pot off of j5a. I get no midi output, only resets when I cause a short. I've followed the diagrams here http://www.ucapps.de/mbhp/auaimbctg.pdf with no luck it seems. MIOS studio registers nothing on MIDI, except on resets. Are there any photographs of pots wired up to core revision r4d alone or w/ AIN r4? I'm making no progress. Running latest 64e app.
  8. Perhaps my final question before completing this particular project: Regarding the AIN module, j7-j10 appear to be nothing more than redundant power pins. j1-j4 already have power pins, do they not? If I'm correct, what purpose do j7-j10 serve?
  9. So the matrix is too complicated for the amount of time I've found myself with lately. I've managed to cut out 4 buttons from the controller which leaves me with exactly 64 (yes, I miscounted initially). My work on the box has slowed to a crawl, but I'm so close to being done with it that I'm shirking other responsibilities to try to get it finished up. Hopefully within a week or two it will be functional. Here's something to chew on in the meantime... While I was brainstorming a way to enable more than 64 buttons on the 64e it occurred to me that with a little tweaking of the app code any unused encoders can be used as buttons by only using one of the encoder's inputs. This simply requires an option to turn the resolution of the encoder to digital, ie 0 open, 127 closed. This would keep things inline with the sysex format I believe. If the 64e app was written in C I could probably fumble my way through doing this myself, but I've done so little assembly and it has been so long that I just don't understand what I'm looking at anymore (read: someone else would have to implement this). Does this feature sound feasible/useful to anyone else? I'll have new pics up soon of a hopefully finished midibox!
  10. Very good looking. Where did you get the smaller black buttons? If I'm determining the scale correctly, they look very similar to the size of some that I'm using, only the contacts on mine stink.
  11. Am I asking a really dumb question, does no one know the answer, or is it simply that no one cares? I'm on the verge of completing this project but I really need to figure out if I can implement more than 64 buttons or not. It looks like I can maybe use a few of my leftover encoder inputs as makeshift buttons (ie switch between values 126&127) but that's a hack and I'd prefer not to do it if theres a better way. If the answer is no, that is fine... I just need to know one way or the other. Input please! I want to finish this thing and put it to use!
  12. EDIT: First problem fixed. Too late at night + too long staring at Midibox modules = mistakes. Funny how long I can puzzle over something and remain clueless, finally throw in the towel and seek help in online forums, and upon posting my question almost immediately realize the error of my ways. Maybe I should just type my question out in notepad whenever I'm stuck. However one problem remains- the one that has put the completion of my midibox on hold. I need to connect more than 64 buttons to this midibox. In the forums I'm told it's possible, in the documentation I'm told it's not. Tonight I figured I'd do some experimenting to try to figure it out on my own and here's what little I've come up with... Upon chaining my DINs together it appears that each module alternates between switch inputs and encoder inputs. Is there a way to change this?
  13. Anyone have any input on the >64 button question for a 64e? I'm wiring stuff up right now. Everything is going smoothly, but if I need to cut buttons out of the equation I need to decide which ones they will be before I get too deeply into the wiring process.
  14. I may have run into a problem. Before I got started with the faceplate design, I had asked in this thread if the DINs for a 64e could be used for 128 buttons, 64 encoders, or a combo adding up to a max of 128 digital inputs. I went forward with the notion that this was indeed true. However, according to the 64e tutorial: If I've counted correctly I've got 102 DINs in use. 32 are devoted to 16 encoders. That leaves 70 devoted towards buttons. If what I was originally told was correct, I'm fine and I may add 12 PCB mounted switches for menu controls to the big blank space between the encoders and the arcade buttons. If I'm wrong I'm going to have to trim out 6 buttons from the current design which will make me unhappy. Please let me know which statement is correct so I know how to proceed.
  15. Good point. I'll see if I can find them. Sorry for the obvious questions, but being that this is my first time with this kind of stuff I just don't think of the simplest of answers. I can't wait to get this thing running!
  16. Nearly there! Midi I/O works properly: And this is what the faceplate looks like with components mounted: It's designed to fit in a turntable flight case. I mapped out the faceplate design in Sketchup. Somehow, I overshot by a significant amount (over 10cm) when drawing it out on the PC so when it came time to lay everything out on the physical faceplate it was all on the fly and things got scrunched. This is, however, a prototype, so I will be changing it around some in the future. I didn't dedicate any buttons to menu navigation although I already wish I had. Maybe in the next iteration. No LEDs on this one- that's also for next time around. Now for a couple more questions. 1)How I ensure that I'm not wiring up my encoders backwards, ie I turn my encoder clockwise and it sends a counterclockwise signal? 2)Do pots typically follow this diagram: so with the pins facing down one wires in the order of ground, ic, 5v? With the exception of some minor desoldering and the shrinking faceplate I've had very few issues. I'd like to keep it that way and not have to do massive desoldering and rewiring. I think with the above two questions answered things should go smoothly.
  17. Wooooooooo! My next batch of parts came from SmashTV's shop today. I replaced the DIL header that I goofed up and all seems well. I want everything to be as modular as possible, so instead of soldering my ribbon cable directly to the LCD, I used SIL headers: One thing I leaned very quickly is that soldering up SIL female connectors is a Royal PITA. They are more expensive than DIL connectors and take significantly more time to assemble. Yuck. I don't look forward to the rest that I have to prepare. Nonetheless, I'm glad I did it this way as I believe it allows for a more flexible configuration and provides a connection that is less likely to fail. I also used a switching power supply. According to the documentation it should work with constant power draw ie that of a backlit LCD. Lets put it to the test... Success! Now lets see if I got everything else right. Put the PIC and optocoupler in and fire it up once more: Freaking awesome. At this stage I was prepared and almost expecting for something to not work so this was a pleasant surprise. I did get a bit ahead of myself as I had forgotten to wire up the MIDI ports at this point. I decided to pull the chips by hand and did a less than stellar job of it. I bent several pins pretty badly and had to gingerly correct my mistake. Looks like no harm, no foul. Next is to order one more round of pots and finish drawing out the front panel and enclosure. I'm once again apprehensive about the work ahead of me, but very excited about having a working midibox sometime in the (hopefully) near future. Time for another question... The dedicated pots for the LCD are on the core module. Are there or do there need to be any dedicated switches for working with the midibox directly, ie changing banks, channels, mapping etc? I know this can be done via the Desktop PC software, but how does one do it directly within the midibox?
  18. So using individual wires from a ribbon cable should be fine for hooking up the jacks themselves (ribbon cable is 28awg, right?). What about power? I feel moderately confident assuming that 28 gauge wire is too small for power. I believe I read that somewhere in the forum but failed to find a recommended gauge. I've got nearly everything ordered that I need. All that's left are detented pots and knobs. Both should be fairly inexpensive, thank goodness. I've spent a sum of money on tools and parts that I prefer not to tally right now. The nice thing is that I wont have to buy the tools again and I will have lots of leftover parts, enough for a smaller scale design if I choose to do so later on. I think I will be doing the enclosure out of plexi and wood. Hopefully I can get someone to do some CnCing for me on the front panel because I really don't want to cut all of these holes! That's still a little ways in the future, though. As soon as I get the LCD soldered up and the core powered, I'll start posting some pics. In the meantime, I'm sure more questions will follow.
  19. Perhaps I should have named this thread simply "Detented Potentiometers" as they seem to be in scarce supply in any form. I've given up on slide pots for now, but I've only found 2 rotary pots with detents, and really only one that I think will work well with this project. For anyone looking for a cheap pcb mount detented pot, check out All Electronics: http://www.allelectronics.com/make-a-store/item/LPC-10K/10K-LINEAR-POT-W/CENTER-DETENT-PC-MT/-/1.html Several other stores have this same pot, but the link above is the cheapest I do believe. The only panel mount detented pot I've found is from Bourns in Newark's catalog: http://www.newark.com/jsp/content/printCatalog.jsp?display=single&cat=c126&page=595 I prefer this pot, but I wish it had a metal shaft and solder lugs. The one above may have to do. Price is about right, especially as it is marked down at the moment. These are my only findings, if anyone would care to share theirs I would appreciate it greatly. (as an aside, can someone tell me what the 4th pin on the Bourns pot is?)
  20. Thanks again for the help. Here comes a power supply question. I know 7-10V 500mA is recommended for LEDs and LCDs. I've found one for dirty cheap that's 600mA. Is this overly excessive? Which is more important for running lots of pots, leds and an LCD? Amperage, Voltage, or a combo?
  21. Good contact where I pulled the pad off. Whew, what a relief. I've got to reorder some pin headers, but I need more AIN and DIN modules anyway, so no big deal. Another question. How do I wire up panel mount midi jacks? Not an easy thing to search for around here as "midi" turns up in every post.
  22. Will check the layout and see if my connection is good. Thanks for the info. It tempers my frustration towards myself somewhat. What a dumb mistake. Prior to the one I botched I tacked each header down in a manner that achieved the same result as what you described. I think I just spent too much time working on it without a break. There's a tip for the newbies out there - take a breather once in awhile for sanity's sake! Another thing that adds to the frustration is that I knew that I probably could have left it the way it was but the OCD in me demanded that I fix it properly. Oh well. I'll patch it up and move on. Despite this little setback the progress I've made so far has been far less difficult and far quicker than I had expected. My solder joints were pretty decent from the beginning and only got better as I moved from the AIN to the DIN to the core. I think that is in large part due to the excellent construction of the PCBs coming from SmashTV's shop. If you exercise a little bit of patience and common sense, it's easy to make good looking joints and end up with a nice finished product.
  23. Nearly finished with a DIN, an AIN and a core. Everything went quite well until the last few joints. I managed to solder the DIL header on J5 lopsided all the way across before I noticed that I hadn't gotten it flush. First time I made this mistake as I was careful not to let it happen up until nearly the end! Tried my hardest to desolder it in one piece but to no avail. Destroyed the header and pulled the pins out one at a time, then finished desoldering. I initially thought the board had escaped unscathed, but upon closer examination it looks like i tore about half a pad off of the front of the pcb. I'm hoping that with good solder penetration on the new header this won't be a big deal, but I'm not sure. Please advise.
  24. Thanks for the tip, I did not know that was possible. I will definitely hit up some of the distributors and see if I can get any bites. EQs. I've become very accustomed to my slide eq's on my current analog mixer. They're 20mm with detents. I think I would like to try something just a tad bit longer.
  25. For future searches, here's what I've found so far. Answer to one of my questions: http://www.midibox.org/forum/index.php/topic,13228.0.html Alps makes a center detented pot with a momentary switch. Not panel mount unfortunately, but nice nonetheless. Absolutely noone that I can find stocks this item. The only 30mm detented slide pots I have found in stock are made by Alpha and available through Mouser. The downside here is that they sport an LED in the post which brings the price up, and I don't really want the led to start with. Alpha also makes a clear post rotary pot with a knurled shaft that can be used with an led. No detent option in stock that I could find. Also available through Mouser. http://www.mouser.com/catalog/637/673.pdf Bourns is still the only company I've been able to find that makes a 20 or 30mm detented slide pot with a metal post. Noone stocks it.
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