keyspan sx serial cards

[Syntho]

It seems to be working fine with FreeMidi in the Use OMS setting. It was those Unitors for sure. Gonna pick up a Studio 5 

There were a couple of things I'm wondering about like which speed of the serial ports to pick (.5mhz, 1mhz, 1X etc). That disappears when using FreeMidi in the OMS mode though. There's also the "Use Apple SerialDMA Driver when available" option in OMS. Other than that, I'm good.

PS: I really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really need a Unisyn manual!

[coachla]

If using only OMS with a Studio 5, FAST at least 4 times up to 8 times.... see the manual for minute details. Serial DMA-YES... I would definitely have OMS run the show. If necessary set up your XT on a separate Freemidi serial port as described...simpler and you already have the XT. Networked MTPs will never be totally reliable. Maybe someone else here can add a more positive view of Freemidi. I've never been a fan of it. Always Type errors and who knows what.....

[supernova777]

http://duc.avid.com/showthread.php?t=79332

The *best* MIDI solution for *all* PCI Macs is to use MegaWolf Romulus PCI cards with FreeMIDI 1.38 in OMS Emulation mode.

just reading this thread whre this guys claiming that freemidi is superior in timing to OMS
hes talking of the megawolf pci card but i think its safe to say the keyspan is an equivelant
hes talkin about .5ms of jitter with the pci serial + freemidi combo being the best midi timing possible

ok jsut realized its the "hinton instruments" guy. i posted info frm his site before

http://web.archive.org/web/20030605153838/http://www.hinton.demon.co.uk/mac/macmidi.html

[coachla]

The person who turned me toward the MDD and the keyspan ran only DP and Freemidi and hated OMS. OMS Emulation is different than slaving to OMS. It's been so long since I monkeyed with all that. Whatever you can get working reliably is the way to go.... I think I lacked the necessary magic wand...

[Syntho]

What about those mhz settings in FreeMidi? They disappear when making FreeMidi use OMS like I said though.

I don't think we're gonna need anything but a Keyspan. It seems good enough.

The Studio 5 can be 4 to 8 times faster? I'm gonna download the manual and take a look. There are a few on Ebay but I'm gonna wait a few days and see if I can score one for under $50.

[Syntho]

Oh I see, there's the Speed setting in OMS and it goes up to 8x. That's the same thing as the mhz setting in FreeMidi I think.

Hey coachla, aren't you shooting out some MTC with your multiple G4 setup? I'm going to have some MTC being generated from an external source into the Studio 5 on almost a daily basis. The manual says that you should always use a dual port config to ensure accurate midi timing when you've got some SMPTE going, but I'm using MTC. It probably applies to MTC too. I'm wondering what the setup would be like to get the studio 5 to shoot out MTC on its B port > modem keyspan port, and shoot out midi messages on its A port > printer keyspan port.

[coachla]

If it's coming in via a midi cable then it will merge with all other midi data. Another reason to use your XT on the second serial port...bring it in that way to Logic. I'm not using any time code.

[Syntho]

I won't need to use the XT at all if I've got the Studio 5 though, 15 ports is enough for both of my synth racks. I wonder about that dual port config the Studio 5 manual talked about for better SMPTE timing... I'll still hang onto the XT though, I use it all the time with my ancient Windows XP laptop and various editors that aren't available on Mac. I'll see what the results are like with MTC when I get it, and if it's not too good I'll use the XT for MTC.

Hey Chris, did you know that the XT has a "PC - Mac" switch on the front of it? I had both my XP laptop and my G4 both running editors with the XT. All I have to do is press the PC/Mac switch and it switches between the parallel port and serial port instantaneously.

[supernova777]

Hey Chris, did you know that the XT has a "PC - Mac" switch on the front of it? I had both my XP laptop and my G4 both running editors with the XT. All I have to do is press the PC/Mac switch and it switches between the parallel port and serial port instantaneously.

i have the MTP AV (non usb) and its got a similar mac/pc button toggle on it;)

[Syntho]

I tried transmitting a full bank of patches to one of my synths and it gives an error. I tinkered around with Sounddiver, disabling OMS and trying to use the modem/printer ports on the keyspan. I don't think that works as coachla has commented, but correct me if I'm wrong. Sounddiver give a message saying (paraphrasing), "OS9.x can't transfer long midi messages very well over the serial ports. Use an older Mac OS or a USB interface".

I hooked up my Unitors again and the problem disappeared.

Have you had any trouble with this coachla?

[supernova777]

did u try just with freemidi instead of oms?

[Syntho]

Sounddiver won't work with FreeMidi alone. This is actually multiple pieces of software giving the same error though. It's either the serial ports' speed, or for some reason the XT doesn't like those messages. Oddly enough, the XT works perfectly fine performing the same function on the Windows versions of the software (but it's using the parallel port in that case).

I'm going to wait until I've got a Studio 5. I can tweak the speed on it so maybe that'll help.

[coachla]

Once again.... MIDI with Keyspan has to use OMS, or Freemidi. It has to emulate real ports. I would imagine you already know you Mac is the  bottleneck. A Studio 5 can transmit out to hardware at 8x easily, but the handshake or dump receives might have to be 2x or less. Don't run the XT in fast mode then. You must check the boxes "emulate modem port, or Printer port" in the Key span manager. Set up a totally blank Free MIDI setup with no active ports and 'use OMS'.

[supernova777]

It's either the serial ports' speed, or for some reason the XT doesn't like those messages.

this soudns familiar i rememember readign something about this
search keyword FIFO

[coachla]

After not using Unisyn for some time, I reinstalled it and an onslaught of type 2 or 3 and 11 alerts came. Finally got it normalized, seems smooth set up as I described using OMS.

[Syntho]

I don't believe there's a way to run the XT in Fast mode when using OMS. In FreeMidi you can select different interface speeds I'm sure, but I'm not finding that in the OMS setup or even the MOTU Clockworks setup. I only found those settings in FreeMidi itself which I'm not using for Sounddiver/OMS. From reading the Studio 5 manual, it looks like you can actually change the speed of it from OMS. Maybe OMS doesn't support those speed settings for non-Opcode interfaces.

I'm trying to remember if I ever had trouble with this on my PC... I think I did and I resolved it, but I could be wrong. Let me do some more investigation and I'll report back.

[Syntho]

"There is a midi transmission problem on the Printer port" - that's what OMS gives me when doing a bank dump. It looks like you can double click your interface in OMS and set up speed settings, at least with an older version of OMS and a MTP, but double clicking my XT just gives me "Midi Express XT, Printer Port".

I've got to get that damn Studio 5 soon. The parallel port on the XT works fine when xferring banks. I bet the Studio 5 will resolve all of this.

[coachla]

It's different with OMS and Freemidi.

With Motu gear speed settings in Freemidi tell Freemidi to comply but not the interface. Likewise in OMS. One has to physically through menus set the interface speed independently if that option is there. The two have to agree.

In the case of the Studio 5, it's like you said, as there is no manual switch on the interface itself as with the Studio 4. I wonder if the OMS menus are actually regulating both ends of the Studio 5's communication. But as you refer to changing the MTP's speed,  that only changes OMS's end. You still have to physically  change the MTP from the MTP itself in the global hardware settings.

Very different...Motu interfaces that I've had cannot change speed modes remotely. So your XT is like my older MidiExpress. There is no way to choose fast mode on the XT itself. Then you have to set Freemidi to 1X, otherwise major communication problems, if any communication at all... Technically speaking, I've heard it said that, actually, the Studio 5 is always in fast mode.

[supernova777]

my brain is hurting trying to remember but i think the information or clue to the info u need is documented re: the megawolf cards and having to run some software to change the speed rate or something ugh

http://web.archive.org/web/20030707123756/http://www.hinton.demon.co.uk/mac/fm_setup.html
try here

nah thats not it. something i read - its really vague because i dint actually read it.. lol
but it was about installing an extension or something to do with the fifo speed of the pci serial ports
ughsorry i cant remember

[supernova777]

http://www.sweetwater.com/sweetcare/articles/there-midi-transmission-problem-printer-port/
http://www.proaudiosupport.com/a33800/midi-transmission-problem-printer.html

this page referes to the possibility of a physical problem (with your wires)

quick googlesearch also returns this page:
http://www.soundonsound.com/sos/mar00/articles/miditime.htm