clearmind Posted August 17, 2008 Report Share Posted August 17, 2008 hi all,i am a true supporter of the midibox hardware and softwarebut recently i find it much more easier to hack usb devices to get things done,i have a question about rotary encoders.these rotary encoders are are connected to the din modules (where the buttons are supposed to be connected)can one -optimistically- assume that he can hack a usb keyboard (which has 101 inputs) and use -lets say- 50 rotary encoders?if yes how?because i have been trying to understand this, but since i am only a little more clever than a monkey i could not figure it outwhat i figured out is that software is the trick for this/maybe?thanks in advance Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cimo Posted August 17, 2008 Report Share Posted August 17, 2008 what i figured out is that software is the trick for this/maybe?right, now how are you going to hack an inbuilt firmware of a commercial keyboard? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
H2O Posted August 18, 2008 Report Share Posted August 18, 2008 Assuming you mean a computer-program that monitors hacked keystrokes on a computer-keyboard...You may have trouble hacking the hardware - keyboards are actually scanning matrices, and the keyboard firmware & OS usually do strange things when lots of keys are pressed at once. Wikipedia has a surprising amount of info on keyboard guts, well worth a read. :D(Also, a few people around here have done the opposite - feeding C64 keyboards into MIDIBox; try searching that, you might find it interesting or it might give you some ideas) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
clearmind Posted August 18, 2008 Author Report Share Posted August 18, 2008 i have no idea infact.. since i do not understand rotary encoders i automatically assumed this;rotary encoders on midibox are connected to the same inputs as buttons so it must be a software trick that was what i thought Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cimo Posted August 18, 2008 Report Share Posted August 18, 2008 i have no idea infact.. since i do not understand rotary encoders i automatically assumed this;rotary encoders on midibox are connected to the same inputs as buttons so it must be a software trick that was what i thoughtagain, you are right there: it s the software that translates the buttons/encoders to MIDI events, the point is: MIOS and its apps are ready to be modified, but how will you deal with a proprietary code embedded in a commercial machine? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
arumblack Posted August 18, 2008 Report Share Posted August 18, 2008 You could perhaps write software to do something with such a hacked keyboard, but as mentioned above, you most likely would not be able to turn more than one knob at once, making such a project pointless and time consuming. Use MIOS and MIDIBOX instead, that's what it was designed for. Stick around , read ucapps.de. Start with the MB64E. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
/tilted/ Posted August 18, 2008 Report Share Posted August 18, 2008 ... and if you really insist, you could build the thing in a keyboard case, and hang a USB cable off the end. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cimo Posted August 18, 2008 Report Share Posted August 18, 2008 ...there is actually a solution if you are going to use a computer: you can use Midiox/MidiPipe/Qmidirouter to translate a couple of note events in CC increment/decrement Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
clearmind Posted August 18, 2008 Author Report Share Posted August 18, 2008 hey guys thanks for your answersas i told you i am a huge fan of midibox and already built an old midiboxplus (was it like that i even forgot) and a newer midiboxthe reason i wanted to hack a keyboard was because of the price and the instant usb thingbut when you try to connect a rotary encoder instead of two buttons nothing happensmy question was is there a hardware or software solution for that?-no hacking firmware because that is impossible i know, and even if there were it wouldnt be worth it-why i dont want to try building another midibox -because the first time i hacked a usb gamepad and built a midi controller in 30 minutes out of it, and when midibox decided not to support big USB PIC module, midibox lost its charm for mei know it is the most supported DIY midi thing around and i love it but i dont want to complicate things anymore. so i repeat my questionforget about keyboard matrices the question -simplified- is thisi know that in midibox it is possible to connect 1 rotary encoder instead of two buttonsgamepads/keyboards have also buttonsdoes anyone have a clue if it would be possible to connect rotary encoders to gamepads/keyboards/usb mice-other than the wheel-/ if nothing software can be done, is there a hardware/electronics trick that would allow me to connect a rotary encoder so that the stupid usb device would think that one of the buttons are constantly pressed when i turn it.i hope i finally made myself clearsorry for my bad english thank you Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
H2O Posted August 19, 2008 Report Share Posted August 19, 2008 For months, I thought rotary encoders were mysterious, until I read this: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rotary_encoder They just work in 2-bit binary. What you want to do is convert the binary numbers to up/down signals, or a number, or maybe something else.Should be easy enough to do any of these conversions with some custom PC software. Not sure if a non-Midibox pure-electronics conversion exists or is easy... :-\ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cimo Posted August 19, 2008 Report Share Posted August 19, 2008 if nothing software can be done, is there a hardware/electronics trick that would allow me to connect a rotary encoder so that the stupid usb device would think that one of the buttons are constantly pressed when i turn it....there is actually a solution if you are going to use a computer: you can use Midiox/MidiPipe/Qmidirouter to translate a couple of note events in CC increment/decrementi hope that i ve made myself clear ;) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
H2O Posted August 19, 2008 Report Share Posted August 19, 2008 ...Oh yeah ;D Of course, that should do the trick. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stryd_one Posted August 19, 2008 Report Share Posted August 19, 2008 Not sure if a non-Midibox pure-electronics conversion exists or is easy... :-\Yeh, you can use a binary counter IC as a basis for this. Not that you need to (see above) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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