Analogue-sequencer

Funny how a little bit of knowlege can really mess things up - I just
came back from out of town and tried to update my P3 to 1.006.

I managed to corupt the firmware so that it will not boot any longer.

I realize that this is entirely pilot error here - I put the P3 into
SysEx Firmware Upgrade mode (holding FUNC and PAGE; then F3) and then
sent it the midi 1.006 file via a midi sequencer.  Bonk....

I noticed that it is mentioned in the manual that .syx dump files are
playable on "any midi utility that supports playback of this file type
with a configurable delay between sysex blocks."  It would be most
helpful to have the names of a few of these midi untilities...

I have both XP and OSX platforms, so I will patiently await someone's
kindly throwing me a rope so that I can learn how to not turn my
wonderful sequencer into a doorstop next time...!

Thank you very much for your kind assistance in advance!

gary

Gary, 

> I realize that this is entirely pilot error here - I put the P3 into
> SysEx Firmware Upgrade mode (holding FUNC and PAGE; then F3) and then
> sent it the midi 1.006 file via a midi sequencer.  Bonk....

The problem is probably a lack of sufficient delay between blocks.
The first block will write OK, but by the time P3 is ready to accept
another, the second block will already have been missed, so you end up with
an incomplete image. This wont do any permanent harm though - the bootloader
is entirely separate.

Easiest way round this would be to try updating using the .mid file from
Yahoo.
This is the same sysex image, but in standard midi file format, with a
suitable delay built in.
If you set your default MIDI device to your MIDI interface, Windows Media
Player will be enough to perform the update with the midi file.
 
> I noticed that it is mentioned in the manual that .syx dump files are
> playable on "any midi utility that supports playback of this file type
> with a configurable delay between sysex blocks."  It would be most
> helpful to have the names of a few of these midi untilities...

MidiOX on the PC is the best one I've used.
I've used a Mac utility to upgrade a P3 too, but I can't remember the
details.

Best regards,
Colin Fraser
Sequentix Music Systems Ltd
http://www.sequentix.com

Colin and Mark,

Thanks for you notes - a moment to reconfig my Media Player to output
through the right outputs and the P3 is updated...!

I will examine the Mac OSX links for the future.  Now that I have
restored my P3 (and my confidence), I will have more courage to
experiment with different processes to convert my P3 to a paperweight.

thanks again!

gary

Colin f (01:51 PM 9/8/2005) wrote:

 >I've used a Mac utility to upgrade a P3 too, but I can't remember the
 >details.

SysEx!

   http://members.cox.net/sgrace9/sysex/


And, for OS X:

   http://www.snoize.com/SysExLibrarian/


Mark

Op 8-sep-2005, om 22:51 heeft Colin f het volgende geschreven:

> Gary,
>
> I've used a Mac utility to upgrade a P3 too, but I can't remember the
> details.

Sysex Librarian for instance.

Boele

>>I realize that this is entirely pilot error here - I put the P3 into
SysEx Firmware Upgrade mode (holding FUNC and PAGE; then F3) and then
sent it the midi 1.006 file via a midi sequencer.  Bonk....<<

I see your "bonk" & I raise it to "a right old 2 (two) & 8 (eight)".

I have successfully updated my first p3 several times using a regular
windows box with 98me & midi-ox, & a usb-attached opcode midiport.

last night, however, this exact same combo gave me "bad data" at every
attempt, despite my remembering to adjust the block delay to around 120mS.
being as this was the first time I'd tried to do anything to #1003, I
thought I'd load the bootloader first to see if this improved matters.
idiot.
"bad data" again. I posit a noisy usb scenario or somesuch.
I switched drives to a w2k build, hooked up my x-station (because
there aren't any nt/2k drivers for opcode boxes...), installed midi-ox
again (I found the default block delay set at 500mS under 98, & 60mS
under 2k, for some reason) & tried again.

I'm cutting a long story short here- you don't want to know how
windows insists on the drivers being reinstalled everytime you move a
usb device from one socket to another. I know it shouldn't.

anyway, #1003 is now a doorstop.
when I switch it on, all 8 mode led's come on & that's it. no display.

colin, if I send you some money, can you post me 2 (two) chips with
the latest build (6b9) already on them?
I'm absolutely not going to dick around with the pc anywhere near any
of my instruments ever again. & if I ever meet bill gates, he's toast.

d. (glum)

> I'm cutting a long story short here- you don't want to know how
> windows insists on the drivers being reinstalled everytime you move a
> usb device from one socket to another. I know it shouldn't.
> 
> anyway, #1003 is now a doorstop.
> when I switch it on, all 8 mode led's come on & that's it. no display.

Nothing even with FUNC+PAGE ?
 
> colin, if I send you some money, can you post me 2 (two) chips with
> the latest build (6b9) already on them?
> I'm absolutely not going to dick around with the pc anywhere near any
> of my instruments ever again. & if I ever meet bill gates, he's toast.

It's a very uncommon occurence for the CPU to lose its bootloader, but I
will test and re-flash any P3 CPU this does happen to.
Just stick them in the post.

Best regards,
Colin Fraser
Sequentix Music Systems Ltd
http://www.sequentix.com