actually CHATGPT says u can; i asked chatGPT does the boss dr-880 support midi over USB to a computer?

Yes — the Boss DR‑880 supports MIDI over USB, but there are a few details to be aware of:

According to the manual, there is a “USB MIDI driver” that allows MIDI data to flow between the DR-880 and your computer.
Roland
+2
Sweetwater
+2

To use MIDI over USB, you need to set the DR-880’s USB Mode to “MIDI” (not “STORAGE”).
ManualZilla

After changing that setting, you must power the unit off and on again for it to take effect.
Roland Support
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On Windows, you might need to install the DR-880’s USB MIDI driver.
BOSS
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On macOS, there are also drivers provided by Boss / Roland.
BOSS
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Caveat: The USB port also supports a “storage” mode (for doing file backups and SMF import/export), so make sure you're in the right USB mode for MIDI use.
synfo.nl

If you tell me your computer (Windows / Mac) and what DAW or software you're using, I can walk you through how to set up the DR-880 as a MIDI device. Do you want me to do that?

In summary, we found these causes:
1) speakers
2) capacitors
3) cables, poorly maintained
4) headphone jack
My thoughts on my PowerBooks.
Three of my PowerBooks have never been opened, so I can rule out poor maintenance. Regarding capacitors, you need an electronics engineer to check sound cards; I'm not capable of doing that. As for the headphone jack, I can say that in the "sound" control panel, inserting and removing the jack is correctly recognized by the system, displaying the jack/speakers switch. Perhaps I would rule it out. Are the speakers subjected to high voltages? Being laptops, are they subjected to mechanical stress? Indeed, even the initial "boom" sound when turning on, if set high, could be a real blow to the small speakers. Are the speaker cables prone to detachment over time and with movement? Everything needs to be verified. Maybe it's all of these elements or just one in particular. The fact remains that too many Apple laptops don't have audio. As soon as I have some time I'll try to check these out. Thanks for giving me ideas on what to look for!

OK, here is my label. Another code is 820-1445-A ©2002. It's covered by the modem card.

I forgot to add that oftentimes people eff up the headphone jack by breaking off a cable/connector in it then prying out the broken end. THAT can and does kill the audio output by breaking the jack.

OMS and/or Freemidi drivers are not device-specific. They are generic comm tools that work with all things MIDI. So, any OMS driver will work.

What you cannot do, is plug a cable from the DR-880 USB port into your OS9 computer and transport MIDI over it. You will need a MIDI interface in between. Which interface will depend on which computer is used, which you didn't mention.

The best thing you have going for you is that Roland products generally have the most complete MIDI implementation available. So, whatever it is you want to do here, there certainly will be a way to do it.

Any useful info beyond this will need more info from you first: Computer model especially, what software you want to run etc.

for your GM/GS expander it might a be a good idea to concentrate on classical music midi files.

the instrument assignments and the velocity curves of such material will often instantly match for those, since they often follow these GM standards.

there are various sites around with thousands of classical midi files free to download, but for republishing and redistribution one might still have to clear the copyrights.

https://www.google.com/search?client=firefox-b-d&q=classical+midi+download

Hi Gary,
Thank you for your kind reply... I am taking a look at this site, but I am not sure if they are only audio/loop files or also MIDI files.
https://www.ghosthack.de/

Someone also suggested downloading MIDI files of classical music and isolating certain parts, such as an arpeggio, an intro, or a string section, and “assembling” them in the sequencer.
Given the type of goal, pads and broad synths are probably best suited.

>Does anyone have audio problems with other models?

No sound on my PBG4 800 (Titanium 15"). Just one of many problems on this lemon of a machine. Ligh non-travel use, never taken apart.....

I have 4-5-7

Hello -- according to the documentation, there was a CD which came with the Boss DR-880 that would have MIDI drivers for Mac OS 9.  I'm guessing they released OMS and FreeMIDI drivers.

I don't have the CD... and Roland/Boss don't have Mac OS 9 downloads available for the DR-880. 

Does anybody have these miraculous files somewhere??  I'm almost ready to try installing every Roland OMS USB MIDI driver I can download from their site, just to see if any of them work... but I guess this is not an emergency.