Patches and discussion for Ensoniq VFX family

More tests have convinced me that the interface is indeed the 
problem.  I downloaded the Win2k/XP driver for the Yamaha USB 
interface and installed it on the same PC that worked successfully 
with the Soundcard/MIDI port and Soundlib.  I reconfigured Soundlib 
to use the USB interface and sure enough, the USB interface does not 
work with Soundlib.  I get the same results as I did with my Win98 
laptop...the first few patches load OK then I get garbage.

I guess I will come up with an alternative plan.

Thanks to everyone for your suggestions.

Will

--- In Ensoniq-VFX-SD@yahoogroups.com, Steve Wahl <steve@p...> wrote:
> On Wed, Jul 09, 2003 at 07:32:25AM -0000, Ensoniq-VFX-
SD@yahoogroups.com wrote:
> > 
> > Does anyone have a Win 98 PC & Soundlib working with a USB MIDI 
> > interface of any sort???
> 
> [ Not I, so I'll not comment.  I do use a MOTU PC MIDI FLYER (but 
then
> again it's been a while since I actually used it) that is 
connected to
> the parallel port.  If you can't get USB to work, you might try to
> find one of these (assuming your laptop has a parallel port).  Then
> again, I think they had some problems with win98 as well... ]
> 
> > Also, isnt' SYSEX just a byte stream with a little protocol 
around 
> > it?  Why would so many tools fail to send SYSEX dumps to my VFX 
> > correctly?  (Or is the VFX that particular about SYSEX 
formatting?)
> 
> This is a "Yes, but..."  kind of answer.  In some ways, the SYSEX
> messages are a huge wart on the side of the MIDI protocol.  All the
> other messages are short (most are like 3 bytes, if I recall
> correctly).  So, talking driver software level here, getting a good
> memory management scheme for the transmit and recieve buffers can 
be a
> bit hairy.  
> 
> (Just FYI, I haven't done any MIDI programming under Windows or 
Mac,
> but I have toyed with it a bit on the Amiga and under Linux; and I
> spent part of my professional life developing drivers for multi-
port
> serial cards, which is what a MIDI interface is at its heart, 
although
> it has much different timing expectations.)
> 
> Have you made sure you have the most up-to-date drivers for your 
MIDI
> interface?  That does seem like the common piece to all your 
troubles.
> Perhaps they don't correctly handle sysex messages longer than a
> certain length.  If I recall correctly, you can send single sounds 
but
> not whole banks?  
> 
> I can't remember what sysex messages you're trying to send.  I once
> knew the vanilla VFX SYSEX messages quite well (not any VFX-SD
> extensions, however).  The VFX is not very picky at all about its
> sysex messages.  Some other synths (eg roland) have some timing
> requirements where you can only send messages of a certain length, 
and
> you must pause a bit before sending the next message -- and bulk 
dumps
> must be split into multiple smaller messages, so these pauses are
> necessary for a full dump.  The VFX, on the other hand, does a full
> dump of 60 programs in one sysex message, and you can transmit it
> without any pauses.
> 
> I think it's your MIDI interface (or its driver) that's at fault 
here.
> 
> --> Steve