did i miss something ? (testtone works, sid doesn't)

MIDIbox SID
1

it’s driving me nuts ! i thought i might finish my sid tonight but i still have some odd problems. i’m totally out of ideas what i could troubleshoot next.

the testtone generator works absolutely fine and the interconnection test (after finding a faulty 595) went absolutely fine.

the only thing that bothers me is, that instead of 5.0 volts i get voltages around 4.8 but afaik this is almost the same (or at least it didn’t matter with a “normal” midibox)

still, when i upload the sid software i can’t get it to play any sounds. it’s totally quiet (besides some quiet buzz from unshielded cables).

is there anything else i might have to try before i toss this out in the garbage and start again from zero? it seems totally wicked…

2

i have a stable 8.8 volts on the sid , 4.0 on C1 and 2.11 on C2 is that correct ?

3

The voltages are fine, and if you hear the testtone you are almost done :slight_smile:

Maybe it’s  one of the issues listed here?

http://www.ucapps.de/midibox_sid_manual_ki.html

It could be related to 3a) 3b) 3c) or 7)

Best Regards, Thorsten.

4

thanks tk:

3a is done and solved, 3b is ok but 3c is a bit wicked for me… so i have to desolder all those pins from my lcd ? but i have no problem with that… is that really necessary ?

5

so i have to desolder all those pins from my lcd ? but i have no problem with that… is that really necessary ?

Yes, of course, otherwise the CAN bus won’t work, and the MBSID application could crash.

You are using MIDIbox SID V2, and it runs on a PIC18F4685, no?

Best Regards, Thorsten.

6

yeah - i’m using a freshly brand new core v3 module, sid v3 module and have uploaded the newest v2 software.

i have just unstuffed my lcd from my old box for troubleshooting and it’s connected like in the “normal” boxes. no crashes until now.

(i checked the midi channels, nothing there)

((oh and one thing - i have NO bankstick but afaik it shoul be able to play something right? the first patch is always loaded?))

7

When I say “crash”, I mean: anything can happen

I won’t reply anymore before you’ve fixed the CAN connection.

Best Regards, Thorsten.

8

okay dokey. thanks a bunch.

9

Is it working now?

Best Regards, Thorsten.

10

no but i probably kille my sid. i wanted to try if maybe just unplugging the not-4bit linked lcd might work and i launched the box up and nothing happened.

so an hour ago i come into my room and want to solder the lcd to 4bit mode as  realise that i haven’t unplugged the sid and it was on for two days !!

i finished soldering the lcd a few minutes ago and it works fine but now i have absolutely no sound at all even with the testtone generator.

probably the sid chip just died.

11

wtf ? no it didn’t die… i loaded up the testtone several times and each time - no sound.

now i uploaded the sid software - no sound and then i uploaded the testtone again and voila! works…

maybe the fact that there are a few errors when sending the hex with mios studio should bother me ?

i’m getting something like “less bytes than expected have been received” ??

12

is there any possibility that due to some weird issue the core receives hex files from mios studio through midi but sysex and “normal” midi data not?

i’m curious because i have just installed a bank stick - and after launch when it started formatting i could hear those nice oldschool bleeps which i assume where intended.

but i cannot get midiox to upload the patches sysex - even with the delay set to 750 ms no data is on the bankstick. i definately sends it but the core seems not to respond to it.

is that possible or is the fact that hex files are going through enough evidence that the connection with my pc is correct?

13

maybe the fact that there are a few errors when sending the hex with mios studio should bother me ?

Oh yes, of course!

So, the firmware wasn’t working, because it wasn’t completely programmed into the flash.

Random things can happen then. It’s also possible, that the upload errors happened because the firmware image was corrupted before (this explains, why the testtone app upload wasn’t successfull)

Just to highlight it again: random things can happen then - things which are hard to diagnose via remote :wink:

A corrupted firmware upload can be “repaired” the following way: reset the box, and upload the firmware via first level bootloader (so, start the transfer within 2 seconds after power-on)

This should give you a clean upload.

but i cannot get midiox to upload the patches sysex - even with the delay set to 750 ms no data is on the bankstick. i definately sends it but the core seems not to respond to it.

is that possible or is the fact that hex files are going through enough evidence that the connection with my pc is correct?

Not really, because if the application upload wasn’t stable, it could be an issue with your MIDI interface.

What happens when you are doing the hardware-loopback test.

I mean: loopback MIDI Out to MIDI In of your PC, and use MIDI-Ox to send&receive the .syx file

The SysEx tool of MIDI-Ox provides a compare function, which allows you to check the equivalence of the sent and received SysEx dump

If MIDI-Ox prints mismatches, you know that there is something wrong with the MIDI interface/ MIDI driver/ MIDI cable…

Best Regards, Thorsten.

14

this thing is trying to drive me nuts !

it seems that in fact - my midi usb interface went bogus. i switched to another interface (built into an emu 1616 soundcard) and i don’t get any errors anymore. i even realised the fact why the usb device might have stopped working. i will later make another topic about it so a few people might get aware of this or so the search function might show it up. - as i’m also a gamer - i overclocked the polling rate of my usb port from standard 125hz to 1000hz so my mouse would be more accurate. - all other things connected to usb seemd to work pretty fine until now. it seems that usb interfaces might have problems working with sysex and midi data once you do this “overclocking”.

back to the sid - it’s a pain in the ass. the software side now works perfectly but the sid just doesn’t sing. the testtone stopped working too. it’s a complete mess. and it seems a totally random problem. after i switched the midi interfaces i put a fresh pic into the socket which was blank only with the bootstrap loader on it and still nothing. the thing gets more weird when i mention that all parts are fixed stable so the cause is definately no loose cable or bad soldering. it seems i have no other option than trying too look for another sid chip and test it.

if you might have another option for this thorsten i would be very glad to hear it but i guess you did all you can do remotely. cheers and thank you !

15

YYYYYYYYEEEEEEEEEHHHHHHHAAAAAAAAAAAAWWWWWWW !!!

IT WORKS IT WORKS IT WORKS !!

um… or does it?

okay now thorsten have you ever encountered something like this: it seems that i have either found a bug or i have a lot of faulty 595’s:

i did the interconnection test again - i drove pin a0 but instead of 5 volt at pin a0 i got 2,5 volt at pin 2. then i drove pin a4 and it was perfectly fine. now the wicke thing - i changed back to driving pin a0 and guess what - stable 5 volt at pin a0? might this be a bug or is this a rather hardware related thing??

also - i came to the conclusion that i might have gotten it right much earlier but never realised it because - patch 1.lead patch and patch 2.techno pwm aren’t playing at all ! the rest is quite ok. is this right? do those patches require more hardware? also a few patches further don’t work too. very weird. 

some patches also sound quite awful i just realised - just some clicks or plucks.

UPDATE:

in fact those patches which seemed not to play at all actually play but with a very low amplitude…

16

I’ve had that problem before. I *think* it was the cable or a bad joint.

17

which problem are you reffering to ?

18

i have made a small audio example:

http://maxnet.org.pl/~mateo/martin/troubleshooting.mp3

i think that this might be the best way to show what’s wrong with the box.

sorry for the bad quality of the sid but i have a quite long audio cable attached to it so you can hear the hum.

19

I was referring to the problem with the “hanging” LEDs and/xor buttons.

20

A very helpful demonstration of the effects, Matrigs! :slight_smile:

My first impression: it sounds like a logical defect inside the SID chip, because no parts of the firmware which could “bend” the sound output so much. On the other hand: while reading your previous posting, it isn’t clear if you already fixed the 74HC595 issue. If there are shorts or bridges or faulty connections which can cause an improper logical level (should be either 0V or 5V +/- ca. 0.3V), the SID won’t “receive” correct data and will output random sounds - or nothing. Like demonstrated in your MP3

Best Regards, Thorsten.