keyspan sx serial cards

[supernova777]

You can.

The MOTU MIDI Timepiece I, the MIDI Timepiece II and the MIDI Timepiece AV all have networking capabilities. You can network or daisy-chain (daisy chain) any two of the above interfaces for a total of 256 MIDI channels. The Express line of interface (the MIDI Express, the Micro Express and MIDI Express XT) do not have a networking feature. 

http://macos9lives.com/smforum/index.php?topic=313.0

not according to what i read!
do u mean connecting one each to its own serial port? that would be fine.. but not to network two on one port.. as the others ones are capable of..
as i outlined clearly in my post about "networking the opcode studio 4" http://macos9lives.com/smforum/index.php?topic=473.0
i see that the images are all broken on that post now. shit!! need to fix;(

diehard/mactron.. do u know why these image paths arent resolving? did u move the directory on the server?
example >> http://www.macos9lives.com/downloads/_img/opcode/3.3.GIF
those posts are really informative and i made them for my own self to refer back to it conviently !! as well as the general public of course
but they arent so much useful without the illlustrations

[Syntho]

I have the original Mac manual for the Express XT here and it says "you can connect another midi interface to the additional serial port". I took it we could network them by reading that.

[supernova777]

I have the original Mac manual for the Express XT here and it says "you can connect another midi interface to the additional serial port". I took it we could network them by reading that.

like this image shows


u can connect up to 4 midi interfaces to by connecting 2 together and then connected to the mac via a single serial port on the mac, 2 per serial port with the pair of devices being connected to each other (master/slave configuration) via an additional serial cable (tethered)
so in your scenario i think u would be limited to 2, one per port rather then 2

thats why on these units it also says 9-16 on the port numbers because if its the slave unit then port 1 is actually port 9 etc
the XT models were their cheaper price so they removed that feature + Charged more for their flagship model the MTP..

who knows maybe u can get 4 working because the keyspan card has 4 serial ports where any normal mac would only have 2!

[Syntho]

Wait. You just said I couldn't, but I can?

[supernova777]

Wait. You just said I couldn't, but I can?

by networking i mean connecting 2 interfaces back to the one port on the mac
look at the animated gif and whereever u see a black arrow pretend thats a serial cable
and thats how the MTPs can be set up

with the XT models u cant connect more then one device per serial port
you can only put 1 device normally to 1 port, but the keyspan card u have ordered has 4 *serial ports* on the pci card itself

coachla was talking about it only seeing 2 *serialports* and not all 4 in oms.. but freemidi saw all 4? i think he said?

[Syntho]

Now I'm wondering why there are two serial ports on the XT at all. Maybe it's to just address two different computers or maybe it's a 'thru' port or something.

I believe coachla said Logic can only see two and DP sees all 4 ports. I'm curious if FreeMidi sees all of them.

I might just pick up a Studio 5 LX. It has 13 ports (on the back) and that's just enough to get my racks connected.

[Syntho]

Hey guys, the driver Chris posted won't work. It says it found the driver but it's the wrong version. This is a Keyspan SXPRO A2.

[supernova777]

Hey guys, the driver Chris posted won't work. It says it found the driver but it's the wrong version. This is a Keyspan SXPRO A2.

found it here:
http://www.tripplite.com/support/downloads/type/9/tab/2 (pick software / drivers / keyspan products)

www.tripplite.com/shared/software/Driver/KeyspanSXCard14b3.sea

thats got to be it

[Syntho]

It's not. That's for the SX-2 and SX-4 cards. The one I have is an SXPro. For some reason they don't list the SXPro card driver on there. I found it anyway on an old archive with the download still working: http://web.archive.org/web/20061104194650/www.keyspan.com/products/sxpro/homepage.2.downloads.spml

I've also attached it.

It's working fine. I'm gonna go do some testing and see how this works.

[supernova777]

ok awesome because they definatley dont have it listed on the tripplite site anymore! would have had to hit the web.archive again 
http://members.driverguide.com
is this where u found it? because it seems they list a mac os x driver there aswell
http://download.driverguide.com/driver/SX-PRO4/Keyspan/d377604.html

Device Name
SX-PRO4
Versions
1.2 (24 Oct 2003)
Supported Operating Systems
Mac OSX
Uploader Notes
Platform: Mac OS X (10.1.3 or greater)

it may say "sxpro a2" on the actual pcb card but this card was marketted as the sx pro 4 i believe (on the box it came in)
or simply "keyspan sx pro serial card"

acutally heres a older revision of the card http://s.ecrater.com/stores/132368/4d72ca3e8937d_132368b.jpg
seems to be lacking the oxford chip on this one.. dating back to 1996?
i wouldnt want to do midi on a card that didnt have the oxford chip

ok! i found pics of the original box
check the model number in the lower left corner and it says sxpro4

a2  is probably an indicator of the batch group of cards manufactured or something like a revision indication or something
but of course on ebay when its being sold years later after being ripped out of the insides of a computer they are dissassmbing for parts it becomes whatever it says on the pcb;)

anyway awesome syntho looking forward to some feedback on your results!

[Syntho]

I can't get it to see the interface. Does the MOTU stuff use standard straight-through pinout serial cables (1-1, 2-2, 3-3 etc) or is it of the Crossover variety with the pinout of:

1-2
2-1
3-5
4-4
5-3
6-8
7-7
8-6



My Unitor oddly only takes Crossover pinout cables as shown above. I may have to wait until those new serial cables get here. I just wired an old serial cable with the straight-through pinout but I can't get Clockworks to recognize it for some reason.

[Syntho]

Ok this is horseshit. It seems the MOTU only takes Crossover pinout cables just like the Unitor. It's finally seeing it.

What is the universal pinout for standard Mac serial cables? I just ordered some brand new ones and the description says it's for connecting just any ol' Mac serial device to your Mac. I was under the impression that ALL Mac serial cables were wired straight-through and the Crossover ones were a special variety.

If those new cables aren't wired right I'm gonna have to resolder. Son of a...

[Syntho]

The Opcode Studio 5 manual says:

If you are using cables
other than the ones supplied with the
Studio 5, please be certain they are equiv-
alent to 8-pin mini-DIN cables such as
Apple’s System Peripheral-8 cable.

http://myoldmac.net/FAQ/MacintoshPlus-Pinouts.php - scroll down to "Apple’s System Peripheral-8 cable" - that's the crossover pinout so I'm guessing just about all midi interfaces use the crossover pinout. I've got to check with this company for the wiring on the cables I ordered.

[coachla]

Just now got online.... What's the current issue? I don't use anything different between my Opcode and Motu interfaces and my SXpro. Studio 5LX has 15 in/outs. Get one of these if possible. Or get a couple basic MTPs....cheap now. Doesn't the second port say "network"?

[Syntho]

There is no issue currently except that I'm probably going to need new cables. I'm troubleshooting a synth problem right now but once that's over I'll start taking a look around at the OMS/FreeMidi integration and also the Logic physical input thing.

I'm gonna get a Studio 5 most likely.

[coachla]

Syntho.... this Studiio 5lx is $50 in Atlanta...
https://atlanta.craigslist.org/nat/msg/4518095951.html

[Syntho]

Do you think that I should eventually use both serial ports - one for OMS and one for FreeMidi, or would selecting the "Use OMS" thing be better? I'm thinking that a Studio 5 with the two-serial-port setup sounds more appealing. Too worried about data colliding or being off time when shooting FreeMidi data into OMS. I'm gonna head to ebay and see what I can snatch up.

I need that freakin' Unisyn manual!

[coachla]

Well....I'm using only one, and a Studio 4 on the other Keyspan port. I run Unisyn and Freemidi using OMS. But I almost exclusively use Diver, so i may not have run the gamut of potential collisions as you have. If you're not needing the other serial port, i would separate them if using Unisyn a lot. But see how both work. You may not have any problems using either. There is a Studio 5 Freemidi driver, but not sure if it prefers only one of the connections.. you dont want to have to run the Studio 5 in MTP mode just for Unisyn....Doesn't Diver have all  you need?

Did you see the craigslist link?

[Syntho]

I saw, I can get it for around the same on Ebay, gonna try there first.

Unisyn just so happens to have editors that look much better and are easier, and Sounddiver has editors that Unisyn just doesn't have. Gotta run both at the same time so I'll figure it out once I get a Studio 5 and I get my cables sorted.

I'm in Mac Hell again 

[coachla]

You can aways write your own Adaptations, if your into that sort of thing...It's not too difficult.

Get the Studio 5 that has a manual if you can.

It's always inspiring to be perplexed.....