MarOS1.5.0 - Beta Version Moderators: altitude, adafruit_support_bill, adafruit, hamburgers, phono

[Nordcore]

Thanks for the report, will look at that.

I suspect, I messed something up with the (barely tested) 3/4 mode.
Which has 15 steps "pattern length", but defaults to having step 13 set to "Brick"-Pseudo-Note (=End of pattern mark) ...
so the proper behavior in that mode should be, that it first sets step 1 to 15 to Rest and than step 13 to "Brick". ( ... step 16 is somewhat undefined it that mode, so I would leave that as what happens "naturally" w/o adding extra code lines. )

In usual 4/4 mode, it should of course fill the pattern with 16 rest "notes".

[Paradigm X]

hey

sorry dont mean to spam you with requests, but something else ive noticed/thought.

if youre synced externally and stop the sequence with run/stop, if you then stop the midi source and start again, the x0x starts again. would it be possible to add an option that it stays stopped until you press run/stop again? i totally understand why its the way it is. maybe if you hold run/stop and it detects a midi clock, it could stay stopped, or if not held, start as usual. or a press run/stop and light flashes or not if it will start.

another thing while im rambling; the random playback mode - would it be possible to scale the randomisations at all? ie i find 1-3 most useful, and hence 4-16 are too random. some more 'resolution' at the lower end would be better imho. So options 1-4 scale into say 1-12, with bigger jumps at the far end. Like a logarithmic pot. just a thought.

either way, all good, really really chuffed with this firmware even as it is. not used my x0xes for a ages and bang into it again, thanks again!

cheers
Ben

[Nordcore]

Scaling the random should be a possible thing to do.

The sync delay isn't that big deal from the software logic, but as I have nearly no program space left, I hesitate spending the last hundred bytes for new features. That would make future bug fixes nearly impossible.

[rv0]

RE: the "staying stopped" feature
in n0nx0x thats the Bypass Master Start/Stop feature, accessed by pressing FUNCTION while starting.. Just FYI ;)

[sahko]

BTW: It is not possible to break the boot loader with the update procedure.
The boot code has a separate code space (a whopping 512 bytes) which can only be written by a hardware programming device.

sadly, it is
there are lockbits which let you "lock" the app and boot sections from writing, and in our situation the lockbits should be configured to lock the boot section from writing
but it turns out that quite a number of pre-flashed atmega162s come unlocked, including mine.. guess how i learned that

the unreleased v1.02 of c0nb0x includes some checks for that reason
it requests the fuse and lock bits from the bootloader, and prints a warning if the boot sector is not locked
here's what happens with one of my x0xb0xes:


0xFF is the default value, all flash sectors are writable

Hi there, when trying to flash my x0x, I get the same warning msg. I can't conclude your lines on this to what I should do, when the boot-sector is not write-protected. What can I do in order to flash a new firmware?

[Nordcore]

Hi,

this is a warning. Usually the boot loader should be protected, so it really can't be "destroyed". (<---which means "reprogramming" or "corrupt it". So no hardware damage, but needing a hardware programmer to fix it. )

But your Atmel chip was not programmed properly, so this protection is missing.


You can go on with the programming procedure.
Be careful with power up, power down or any interruptions during the update. (Laptop running out of battery ...)

Usually this is *not* a problem. It might get a problem if you develop/modify firmware yourself.

[ioth]

I had this warning with a friends xoxbox, and it worked out fine.

[sahko]

W000t! Thank you @Nordcore and @ioth, I could successfully update my x0x. MIDI Pattern change (and much more!) at last! This is so cool :)

MIDI Pattern change seems a bit flakey tho … when dialing (on an MPC 3K) from OFF to 1 and up, while the x0x is initially set to Patt 1 Bank 1, Program 1 has the x0x run no Pattern at all, no LED is lit. Program 2 on the MPC sets Patt 1 and so on, but you can't dial to Patt 8 on the x0x, in none of the Patt Groups. Is this a known problem?

Edit: For clarification, the x0x now runs MarOS15-V1.81.hex

[Nordcore]

I've never checked that part, Mario did that.

... a short peek into the code reveals:

midiChain=c%8; // c is midi data byte
...
buff_chain[0] = next_chain[0] = midiChain - 1;

.... so *now* it is a known problem: if I guess right the "-1" is not OK.

Will be fixed in next version.
(.. or at least I came up with a good excuse why that is a feature ...)

[sahko]

Cheers Nordcore, it will get better and better, thanks to your and Mario's efforts!
Just in case I missed it, wouldn't it make sense to always edit the current version, alpha beta or release, in the first post of this thread? Or is there a github repo for that?

[Paradigm X]

i guess the issue with that is that mario started the thread, but nordcore is now developing it, so he cant edit the first post (mario is not around much these days).

so either nordcore should start a new thread, or we should all just check the latest posts sporadically. given all nord's efforts i think thats a reasonable request ;)

never tried the midi program change fwiw but it would be useful to save the program (i.e. pattern) within the mpc program, never thought of that !

cheers

[sahko]

Agreed on the matter of checking the news out for ourselves. It's not a hassle for us anyway, and we'd prefer Nordcore work with pleasure on it, rather than waste time online with administrative stuff :D

FWIW, not all patterns from the x0x step sequencer sound the same when re-played via MIDI*—so switching patterns via MIDI Program Change IS highly relevant, at least if only for switching the x0x on/off in a track by means of alternating between an empty and any other pattern. Of course, switching between more than two patterns opens up a more sophisticated MIDI user experience with the x0x ;)

*OT: You can almost get there, but not spot on, and most of the time it is frustrating.

[antto]

FWIW, not all patterns from the x0x step sequencer sound the same when re-played via MIDI*
*OT: You can almost get there, but not spot on, and most of the time it is frustrating.

here's why: http://antonsavov.net/cms/projects/303andmidi.html

[sahko]

Thank you antto, well that … err … sums it up nicely ;) and shows, that proper (in terms of reliable adressing) MIDI pattern change is paramount and worth the debug effort. Nordcore to the rescue :) (pretty please!).

[Nordcore]

What do you mean by "reliable"?

What I got from your description is that pattern 8 can't be selected and pattern 0 selects "nothing".
As long as you stick to pattern 1 to 7 it works proper.

If it works unreliable in some other way: please explain. What is going wrong - and when?