uploading MIOS V1.9F via MIDI for MIDIbox CV

Testing/Troubleshooting
1

ABOUT THE HARDWARE SETUP

All the hardware for my MIDIbox CV project is completely assembled, the PIC is from SmashTV labeled “BSL V1.2B MIOS V1.9F PIC18F452 0000 0000 0000 0000”.  I’ve double checked everything, and worked through all the documents on this subject I can find, it is safe to assume all hardware setup is correct.

TESTING MIDI I/O

I now have just the CORE module correctly connected via MIDI in/out to my computer, and it is powered up.  I get  “SysEx: F0 00 00 7E 40 00 01 F7” every two seconds in the MIDI Monitor: IN window of MIOS Studio. 

UPLOADING MIOS (mios_update_v1_9f\pic18f452\midi\update_without_installed_mios.hex)

OK, so the next thing is to upload MIOS via MIDI.  Here’s what I’m doing:  I opened the MIOS Hex File Upload window and checked “Wait for upload request…” and “Smart Mode” “Device ID” is set to “0”.  I selected file “mios_update_v1_9f\pic18f452\midi\update_without_installed_mios.hex”, and I get the following text:

"Starting upload of update_without_installed_mios.hex

Hex file contains code in MIOS range, forcing reboot for upload via 1st level bootloader!

The reboot request will lead to an error acknowledge, please ignore!

Waiting for upload request…"

I power down the CORE module, clear the monitor windos, click “Start”.  I see the following text in the MIDI Monitor: OUT window “SysEx: F0 00 00 7E 40 00 02 00 00 00 00 00 00 F7” then quickly power up the CORE module.  I see “SysEx: F0 00 00 7E 40 00 01 F7” in the MIDI Monitor: IN window,  every two seconds.

I then clicked “Stop”, cycled power on the CORE module then clicked “Start”.  Same result in the MIDI Monitor: OUT window, same result in the MIDI Monitor: IN window. 

TRYING A DIFFERENT FILE (midibox_cv_v1_2b\setup_default.hex)

I clicked Stop, and powered down the CORE, then selected file “midibox_cv_v1_2b\setup_default.hex” from the unzipped MIDIbox CV download, clicked “Start”, powered up the CORE, received same 2 sec. response in the MIDI Monitor IN window, text in Hex File Upload Window read " Starting upload of setup_default.hex

Waiting for upload request". 

I don’t know what to try next!  :frowning:

2

Hi

Look friend I’m not the right person to answer this, but I think your PIC was already with the Boot strap Loader and The MIOS 19F. I just told this because the label that you said on your PIC sound like this.

I’m in the same step of you in building my box. In a few hours I’ll try to see if my CORE are sending some midi messages for the first time. But my PIC not came from Smash. I burned it myself. Just try to ask him or wait for a better answer.

Good luck

3

BSL V1.2B, Sounds like Bootstrap loader already burned

MIOS V1.9F, Sounds like the newer version of MIOS was already in your PIC

Now I have a thought. If a person upload a wrong hex file to the PIC, the file can be deleted? Similar a USB drive, a harddrive, etc? Is good to know. Any one knows?

4

From your descriptions I assume that either the MIDI Out or windows driver of your MIDI Interface, or the MIDI In of the core module isn’t working, because MIOS Studio tries to contact the core but doesn’t get a response.

The MIDI Out of the core module, and the MIDI In of your MIDI interface seem to be ok.

Please do following tests of the MIDI Troubleshooting guide, and write down the results:

TEST IN1:

TEST IN2:

TEST IN3:

TEST IN4:

TEST IN5:

TEST IN6:

TEST IN7:

TEST INOUT1:

Best Regards, Thorsten.

5

TEST IN1:

PASS: all 3 resistors have the correct color bands and my multimeter reads the correct resistance value for all of them.

TEST IN2: 

PASS: I tested the midi ports on the CORE, and they are both wired the same way and have identical placement and polarity.  They are mounted onto the top of the PCB from SmashTV with 5 pins, not 3 as in the figure.  If the rear of the midi port is shown in the figure, then both are reversed.  I mounted the plugs on the top of the PCB as shown in the figure here: http://www.avishowtech.com/mbhp/mbhp_coreR4d.html .  Near the bottom of that page is a figure of header J13; the traces in the figure show how the reversal is accomplished.  I don’t think my CORE fails this test because both midi ports are the same and one works. 

TEST IN3:

PASS: I soldered the LED as pictured in the figure.  With the power on the LED lit right away and stayed lit.  Using MIOS Studio I performed a Manual upload of a .hex file with a 300ms Delay between SysEx messages.  Monitor:IN window continued to show “F0 00 00 7E 40 00 01 F7” every two seconds and the LED flashed OFF each time a SysEx packet showed in the Monitor:OUT window. 

I also performed the same test without the LED in place, and the output from the CORE changed!  Monitor:IN window showed many lines of “F0 00 00 7E 40 00 01 F7” and a new message, “F0 00 00 7E 40 00 0E 0B 01 F7”.

TEST IN4:

N/A: LED lin in test 3; I skipped this test

TEST IN5:

PASS: The LED flashed ON each time a SysEx packet showed in the Monitor:OUT window. 

TEST IN6:

PASS: The LED turned on when CORE powered up. it turned off when M- of MIDI in connected to ground.

TEST IN7:

Switch closed: 0.04V

Switch open: 5.26V

TEST INOUT1:

FAIL: I connected my PC MIDI interface MIDI out to MIDI in.  I used MIDI-ox to send/receive a sysex message.  I received the same message.  I then soldered Rx to Tx on the CORE, put the small chip back into the board, and removed the large chip.  I connected the CORE to my PC and sent the same message and did NOT receive it. 

6

Do my test results indicate user error with the software?  I’m testing it again now, and I no longer get a repeating sysex message from the CORE, just one at power-on.  I don’t know what that’s all about, I hope I didn’t break it! 

7

I also get a sysex message from CORE upon power down now. 

8

I think uploading MIOS may have worked, because I did see reply messages after every packet sent, and also I’m only seeing one sysex message upon power up.  I’m going to continue as if everything is working now, I’ll reply to this thread with my result!

9

I’ve been working on this thing for hours.  When the DIN, AOUT, and LCD are all connected to CORE, CORE sends no MIDI SysEx message.  When the LCD is removed, that same single Sysex msg is received by my PC.  Is this normal?  Also, uploading using Smart Upload still does not do anything, I’ve used Manual Mode several times and rebuilt the .hex file to match my encoder and J5 preferences (building the hex file instructions do not include having to copy p18f452.inc to the directory where make is run, mine failed until I copied it from c:\program files\gputils\header).  My LCD doesn’t display, so I have no idea if this thing is working or not.  I’ll go through the LCD information about debugging that component next.  Probably not until tomorrow, I can’t work on this any more tonight.  I’ll get this thing working!

10

I’ve been working on this thing for hours.  When the DIN, AOUT, and LCD are all connected to CORE, CORE sends no MIDI SysEx message.  When the LCD is removed, that same single Sysex msg is received by my PC.  Is this normal?

Nope, that’s broken. I’ll come back to that in a few posts time… Why not now? Well…

  Also, uploading using Smart Upload still does not do anything, I’ve used Manual Mode several times

Guaranteed path to trouble. Don’t do that. Always use smart mode. Only turn it off, if some guru dude needs you to turn it off to test something, and then turn it back on as soon as you are done with that test.

If smart mode is not working, fix that problem first, because smart mode ensures a good upload, and without it, you can’t be sure that anything you put on the PIC is not corrupted… so all subsequent tests are rendered useless. I’m sure you don’t want to waste time :slight_smile:

(building the hex file instructions do not include having to copy p18f452.inc to the directory where make is run, mine failed until I copied it from c:\program files\gputils\header). 

The instructions don’t mention it because you shouldn’t have to do that. So now we have two issues to approach: Toolchain setup, and MIDI uploads. Fortunately these two issues don’t interact at this point, so you can decide which one you want to fix first  :slight_smile:

I’ll get this thing working!

Now that’s enthusiasm! Get em!!  :smiley:

11

BAD LCD?

Well, I’ve continued to hack away at the completely assembled CORE, but to no avail.  The CORE is from a kit by SmashTV, I’ve gone through all the troubleshooting guides, everything should be working, but the LCD is totally blank, and I’ve double checked the wiring.  I’ve seen no troubleshooting guide for the LCD - how do I know if it’s burned out? 

BAD SOMETHING ELSE?

Also, MIOS Studio receives one sysex msg from the CORE on power up, but Smart Mode hex upload does not (never has) start.  When Manual Upload is performed I can see the sysex messages in the OUT window, but I receive no feedback at all from the CORE.  I’ve gone through the MIDI IN troubleshooting section exactly as recommended by TK, and my results are here: http://www.midibox.org/forum/index.php/topic,13512.0.html it seems to pass the troubleshooting tests, but it is still not working. 

HELP!

I’ve gone through all the trouble to build it, it would be nice to see it work.  Can somebody please help me?

12

I already replied to your original thread

http://www.midibox.org/forum/index.php/topic,13512.msg116141.html#msg116141

Please don’t crosspost. Mods, can you merge these please?

13

Just a suggestion, as your upload troubles and test results remind me of the problems I had with my core:

It could be a faulty optocoupler? One of those beasts messed up the midi in on my box although it passed all tests.

Wish you much success!

14

any more suggestions before I order a new CORE kit ?

15

My MIDIbox CORE module does not work like it should.  Some evidence indicates the MIDI IN pathway is not functioning, even though it passes all the tests.  A bad optocoupler has also been suggested even though it passes all the tests.  After one week of heavy troubleshooting I’ve concluded my MIDIbox CORE kit has a failure which no active contributer to this thread can diagnose.  I’m writing to the distributer of the kit for any last minute help before replacing it. 

16

Hi JargMarbin, let’s see, a couple of months ago I had the very same problem when building my mb6582, I could upload to the first core and then nothing… tried all the tests, each one passed just fine, tried to upload again… nothing, every time the upload failed when almost finished , the core just rebooted itself endlessly, of course I went mad and cursed everybody, including the regulars.

So I was like wtf is wrong with this?, then it jumped right in front of me: check the fkn midi cables!!!

And lo and behold, there was one grumpy midi cable, it worked sometimes, conveniently when doing tests, but not when uploading the app, must be that I moved it by accident or something…

Replaced the bad cable and all went smooth from there!

My advice, don’t take anything for granted, not even the smallest or simplest things, check everything before giving up.

Btw:

how many smash’s core boards do you think are around the world, without a fault to be found in them?.. no, think again, there are more than that number :slight_smile:

Take a break from it, check all again and don’t hesitate to ask more questions or give more clues, you are welcome to do it, just don’t expect to have support right away, you know, we all have a day job after all :wink:

laters!

17

Everyone quit their day jobs!  :smiley:

18

OK, so here is the update:  Most recently TK suggested a software (MIOS Studio Internal Routing) config change may lead to a solution.  Also sineSurfer suggested changing MIDI cables.  I have done both.  Also, my E-mu 1616m has 2 MIDI OUTS and 2 MIDI INs. 

I was using MIDI 1 OUT for PC MIDI OUT and MIDI 2 for PC MIDI IN.  I put them both on MIDI 1 and retried Smart Upload, and IT WORKED !  HA HA!!  YES!  I’m going to play with it a little more to see if it can actually do something now, I’ll update soon. 

Thanks for the replies and the feedback everyone, this has been quite a crazy journey so far. 

19

Hmm.  So I plugged all the modules together.  I powered up, and I realized I have no idea if this thing is going to work or not, because I believe the LCD may have been destoyed!  Should the LCD light when powered on?  Mine does not.  ???

20

Hi JargMarbin, good to know you got it working!

About the LCD, we need more info:

1.- what kind of LCD are you using?, is your LCD driver HD44780 compatible?

2.- have you followed this pdf? building_a_midibox_lcd_cable

Again, take your time to double check the LCD wiring, it’s always tricky no matter how many times you do it.