how can I know if my mac is truly communicating with the MD?

[dmitri]

yes, but the schematic is not with the atmega32, so the pins are all different.

Atmega32/324/644 all have the same pinout, but it doesn't matter since I failed to mention it in the documentation.

[jeffbeckib]

Absolutely due to lack of documentation. First off, you have a section on soldering the parts which has No information on it, I still can't even find a schematic of the all in one board. All I can find is the analog and digital board schematics. Basically all the questions I asked in the beginning regarding part identification could have all been answered by 1 page of component identification with a resister color code chart. Even just one picture of the 2.8 all in one board with all the components synthex provided installed would be a big help.
And a troubleshooting section off all the pin testing I did wouldn't be a bad idea either.

You're again mixing up things. I'm loosing the will to help you.

Guys, I don't even know who I'm talking to anymore. What do you mean I'm mixing up things again? What am I mixing up???
Here's an idea, Have a sticky in your forum called "Installation instructions" and have all your information in there, so you don't have to bother with people like me anymore. OR just start building the megadrum yourselves and sell them for profit. I'll try the parallel cable hook up when I get back to NY, after that, I'm done with this project. I regret ever having purchased this kit. It should not have been this difficult. And I'm not blaming anybody for it. You have tried helping me with it, but It is what it is. I've etched 100s of pcbs from scratch and have never had as many problems as with this, but this has been by far the most involved project. I just don't get how it worked fine, and then died after replacing 1 simple button.

[jeffbeckib]

yes, but the schematic is not with the atmega32, so the pins are all different.

Atmega32/324/644 all have the same pinout, but it doesn't matter since I failed to mention it in the documentation.

How does it have the same pinout? the atmega32 has pins 1-40 in sequence, the one in the schematic is all over the place going from 1-8 then jumping to 14-21, 9,12,13. Am I just reading it wrong?

[Synthex]

How does it have the same pinout? the atmega32 has pins 1-40 in sequence, the one in the schematic is all over the place going from 1-8 then jumping to 14-21, 9,12,13. Am I just reading it wrong?

Yes, You are reading it wrong.
PLEASE, watch the pinout I post on this topic !

[Synthex]

The schematic is a schematic, it's not the real components.

[mcalilj]

If you want, you can send me (by airmail) your PCB for a complete diagnosis.
This will avoid a waste of time for Dmitri and me.

Where are you located? France? My bass players wife is in Paris on business, is that anywhere near you? Perhaps I can have her pickup a new PCB all in one. I have a feeling this one may be damaged now and have broken traces.

I assume you're offering to purchase a new PCB kit from him. I suggest you take Synthex up on his offer to diagnose your board, if the offer still stands. It may be cheaper for you to airmail it there and back than for you to buy a whole new kit. This topic is now quite grueling, we're all in pain just trying to follow it . I can't imagine how frustrated you are right now.

And yes, Synthex is only one person, and Dmitri is another, separate person... as prolific as these two guys are, I can see how you might have confused them to be a whole organization of people

Just one more comment: instead of criticizing Dmitri and Synthex for not selling kits pre-assembled, I suggest that, you send your complaints to Alesis, Roland, Yamaha, Simmons, etc. for not offering a module that's as good as MegaDrum. But be prepared to pay at least $400 if any of those companies release a product like this.

Or, better yet, put your money where your mouth is and just buy one of the prebuilt modules Dmitri currently has up for grabs: http://www.megadrum.info/forums/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=519

[jeffbeckib]

First of all, I have not criticized Dmitri or Synthex for anything. I am to blame for this problem. I purchased this Kit and I took a shot at assembling this kit myself. I must say that I probably would not have taken this route if it weren't for the statement on the website that "if you have good soldering skills then Yes you can build this yourself", other than that, I was sold working components and only I can be at fault for how it was all assembled. With regards to just purchasing one of the prebuilt megadrum units from Dmitri, my answer is very simple, [color=#0040BF]I WOULD HAVE IF I KNEW IT WAS AN OPTION. Again, I have to criticize the poorly documents information on the Megadrum site. I had no idea that I could purchase a completed Megadrum, or I wouldn't have wasted my time with this project to save 100.00 us dollars. I would have paid extra just to get the board with the components installed and tested. I purchased this kit because I wanted a better module than what Roland and Alesis offer. I currently own an alesis trigger i/0, and I hate it. [/color]

If you want, you can send me (by airmail) your PCB for a complete diagnosis.
This will avoid a waste of time for Dmitri and me.

Where are you located? France? My bass players wife is in Paris on business, is that anywhere near you? Perhaps I can have her pickup a new PCB all in one. I have a feeling this one may be damaged now and have broken traces.

I assume you're offering to purchase a new PCB kit from him. I suggest you take Synthex up on his offer to diagnose your board, if the offer still stands. It may be cheaper for you to airmail it there and back than for you to buy a whole new kit. This topic is now quite grueling, we're all in pain just trying to follow it . I can't imagine how frustrated you are right now.

And yes, Synthex is only one person, and Dmitri is another, separate person... as prolific as these two guys are, I can see how you might have confused them to be a whole organization of people

Just one more comment: instead of criticizing Dmitri and Synthex for not selling kits pre-assembled, I suggest that, you send your complaints to Alesis, Roland, Yamaha, Simmons, etc. for not offering a module that's as good as MegaDrum. But be prepared to pay at least $400 if any of those companies release a product like this.

Or, better yet, put your money where your mouth is and just buy one of the prebuilt modules Dmitri currently has up for grabs: http://www.megadrum.info/forums/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=519

[mcalilj]

Got it. Not trying to push your buttons... I guess it comes down to the old adage, you get what you pay for. For the amount of functionality you get, these kits are dirt cheap, even with the new 10eu donation. I guess you're paying the difference with a headache. My main point was, quit banging your head against the wall and take Synthex up on his offer to diagnose it for you! That was a very gracious offer from him.

I beg to differ with you on the documentation. There's loads of documentation on this site. I know it's hard to sort through the forums sometimes, but it can be done. If I understand this thread correctly, you weren't even looking at the pdf manual until a few posts ago.

Sure, it would be nice if everything was organized where you can find it more easily. But remember that all the information on this site is provided for free. Dmitri didn't have to share any of this information with us, but he decided to do it anyway. Numerous others have volunteered their time to improve this project. I'm not trying to be flip, but maybe after you get your build sorted out you can volunteer your time to improve the documentation?

[jeffbeckib]

Got it. Not trying to push your buttons... I guess it comes down to the old adage, you get what you pay for. For the amount of functionality you get, these kits are dirt cheap, even with the new 10eu donation. I guess you're paying the difference with a headache. My main point was, quit banging your head against the wall and take Synthex up on his offer to diagnose it for you! That was a very gracious offer from him.I just thought at this stage if I'm gonna pay to send my board from NY to France and wait for it to come back, I may as well just purchase a completely soldered board with the components already in.

I beg to differ with you on the documentation. There's loads of documentation on this site. I know it's hard to sort through the forums sometimes, but it can be done. If I understand this thread correctly, you weren't even looking at the pdf manual until a few posts ago.no I've had the manual, but I can't read schematics like these very well, and I couldn't make out the pinouts on the atmega since it wasn't showing an atmega32 on the schematic, and to my uninformed eye it looked like the pins weren't in sequence like on the atmega32.

Sure, it would be nice if everything was organized where you can find it more easily. But remember that all the information on this site is provided for free. Dmitri didn't have to share any of this information with us, but he decided to do it anyway. Numerous others have volunteered their time to improve this project. I'm not trying to be flip, but maybe after you get your build sorted out you can volunteer your time to improve the documentation?

I would be more than happy to do anything I can to get this product in every drummers hands. I think electronic drums are the way of the future, and finally companies like Toontrack and Fxpansion have sounds that warrant using electronic drums live...

[mcalilj]

I would be more than happy to do anything I can to get this product in every drummers hands. I think electronic drums are the way of the future, and finally companies like Toontrack and Fxpansion have sounds that warrant using electronic drums live...

Very true. Good luck with your build, however you decide to proceed. Will be watching your progress...