Mac OS 9 Lives

Digital Audio Workstation & MIDI => Audio & MIDI Hardware => Topic started by: Syn-Fi on January 16, 2018, 01:46:25 AM

Title: Large bulk midi dumps : old 68k macs vs anything else
Post by: Syn-Fi on January 16, 2018, 01:46:25 AM

hi,

i had problems dumping patches to a Waldorf Microwave 1. it accepts a large dump of data, very fast but it is very picky about how it receives it (speed, rate, packet size??).

OSX 10.11, Mac Mini 2014, with Edirol UM-550 - didn't work with various settings applied to sysex librarian. Microwave reports 'Bulk midi Error'  :o

OS9 G4 MDD and Unisyn 2.0 and the Steath serial card with a Studio 5LX - same problem.  I tried various speeds, rates etc via adjusting settings in OMS as the Studio 5LX has various settings and it can also emulate midi time piece.  :(

OS8.1 840AV Quadra and Unisyn 1.4 and a midiman 1in1out - it works every time, no hitches.  :D

Is the 840AV serial midi just more reliable in this instance?  Any opinions?

Title: Re: Large bulk midi dumps : old 68k macs vs anything else
Post by: macStuff on January 16, 2018, 12:27:41 PM

interesting observations
i have often thought about predicaments like this and some thoughts i had were that perhaps the 840av has a closer relationship between cpu speed + serial speed
wheras on the g4 the cpu is faster then the serial uart can handle? or somethign to do with speed/throttling..

also note that similar observations can be made on vintage windows machines performing more reliably on some tasks than modern hardware.
id love to have this question answered once + for all..

Title: Re: Large bulk midi dumps : old 68k macs vs anything else
Post by: GaryN on January 16, 2018, 04:54:17 PM

Quote from: Syn-Fi on January 16, 2018, 01:46:25 AM

OSX 10.11, Mac Mini 2014, with Edirol UM-550 - didn't work with various settings applied to sysex librarian. Microwave reports 'Bulk midi Error'  :o

OS9 G4 MDD and Unisyn 2.0 and the Steath serial card with a Studio 5LX - same problem.  I tried various speeds, rates etc via adjusting settings in OMS as the Studio 5LX has various settings and it can also emulate midi time piece.  :(

OS8.1 840AV Quadra and Unisyn 1.4 and a midiman 1in1out - it works every time, no hitches.  :D

What makes this really difficult is that you're comparing three entirely different setups of both hardware and software. Three different OS's compounds the mix even more. You're going to have to do some process of elimination.

Start with the stuff that works - move one component - either the interface or Unisyn version to the system that doesn't work and test. You've got to isolate what is probably one item that's not working / incompatible.

Title: Re: Large bulk midi dumps : old 68k macs vs anything else
Post by: Syn-Fi on March 08, 2018, 11:45:37 PM

hi

Gary i will be doing this soon and reporting back. Specifically, trying the 5LX on 840AV and seeing if it stacks up. 

however, Unisyn 2.0 doesn't work on my 840AV.

Title: Re: Large bulk midi dumps : old 68k macs vs anything else
Post by: macStuff on March 11, 2018, 09:33:05 AM

is the reason for the problems is because of faster SCSI speeds
thats why the mac doesnt screw it up because it uses the lowest SCSI speed
(SCSI-1?)

err wait.. they didnt even say they were using scsi.. this is just MIDI?

unisyn 2.0 wont work because its too new for the 840AV.