"Megadrum Config Tool" released

[Ben]

Hi all, I ran MCT 1.62 on a Macbook and ran into a few troubles.

- Firmware/ 'check for updates' does not indicate current version on MD, and thinks the latest version available is 20090326. It should be 10090528, no?

- 'Firmware update' says firmware sent, but MCT didn't show any indication that it transferred successfully. To make things even more challenging, I won't have an LCD hooked up for a couple more weeks; had fantasies of operating MD in embedded mode.

- 'Load selected pad settings from MD' works once. Then I have to go to options/ configure to change midi devices to something else, apply, then change it back to MD. Then it works again, but just once. Is MCT getting stuck waiting for an EOF after reading MD?

It's possible, likely even, that I've got the wrong firmware and most of these observations are crap. Does anyone with a Mac, MD and an LCD see this kind of behavior? I want to try this on my PC, but it'll have to wait 'till tomorrow.

[elrules]

- Firmware/ 'check for updates' does not indicate current version on MD, and thinks the latest version available is 20090326. It should be 10090528, no?

Dmitri should upload to the site the latest firmware, because the one uploaded right now is out of date. About MCT not able to read firmware version, keep on reading...

- 'Firmware update' says firmware sent, but MCT didn't show any indication that it transferred successfully. To make things even more challenging, I won't have an LCD hooked up for a couple more weeks; had fantasies of operating MD in embedded mode.

You need to install this libraries:
http://www.humatic.de/htools/mmj.htm
It is known that the Java MIDI library for Mac is a bit weird. Try with this library first of all.
On the other hand, we all thought that firmware updating through MCT was broken, but I found this week that my MD updates correctly. The problem seems to be related with the new bootloaders. I have the first clock-selector version of the bootloader and firmware update with MCT works nice.

- 'Load selected pad settings from MD' works once. Then I have to go to options/ configure to change midi devices to something else, apply, then change it back to MD. Then it works again, but just once. Is MCT getting stuck waiting for an EOF after reading MD?

It is a known problem. Anyway, thanks to your info, I may know how to solve this issue, I will upload tonight or tomorrow a version with a fix for you Mac users to test.

Using MCT with a Mac has been discussed a lot in this board ("Related software"). Take a look at old posts and you will find a lot of info. You will find that there have been problems with all of this.

Anyway, although I don't have a Mac, I will try to do my best to find solutions for these bugs.

[elrules]

Stay tunned for a mayor update before this weekend...

[elrules]

I proudly announce I have just released version 1.7 of MCT:



Attention! Firmware version 20090528 or newer must be written in Megadrum for this new version of MCT to work properly.

Features added:

- Load MD settings at startup: In the Options window, you have a check to enable the automatic loading of MD settings at program startup.
- Live Editing: In the Options window, you have a check to enable the Live Editing. With this option enabled, each time you change a parameter, after a moment, the settings will be automatically sent to MD.
- Midi Through: In the Options window, you can choose another MIDI output as a MIDI Through device, so all the received MIDI messages received from the MIDI Input are forwarded to the MIDI Through. With this technique you can use MCT to configure your MD at the same time you can trigger a VST instrument with it. I also added some checkboxes to Midi Device configuration to make it more intuitive to use.
- Task Progress Bar: A progress bar has been added to the upper-right corner of the GUI. This bar will give you some graphical feedback of what is happening each time you perform an action.
- Editing Pad List names: The inputs' name table has been redesigned. Now, besides single input names, you can also edit the pad names that are shown in the Pad List.
- Support for the new bootloader: Added support for the new version of the bootloader. With this bootloader you can press the <Left> key of MD to send a MIDI message to confirm a correct selection of clock. MCT will allow the firmware update only if it receives that confirmation MIDI message.
- Simple Midi Log: A simple Midi Log is now shown in the main window. It only shows vertical bars representing velocity of received notes.

Changes:

- Attempt to fix issues of Mac users. Please, first of all install the mmj library by copying the "mmj.jar" and "libmmj.jnilib" files to the /Library/Java/Extensions directory. Link to mmj library webpage
- Added new options to Hihat Panel and Miscellaneous Panel to make it compatible with firmwares 20090528 or newer.
- Changed the way in which the Midi Monitor shows the hihat pedal value received. Now it actually shows the REAL value. A value of 0 means open, and a value of 127 means closed. Take that into account when you configure the new hihat parameters of the latest firmware.
- Rearranged the GUI: Added quick access buttons for all MD related actions (removed the from/to file buttons). Left some space (new panels) for future new features.
- Added item in the Help menu to see which firmware version is recommended for this version of MCT.
- Added "set-all" buttons for the rest of the parameters of the pads.
- Added midi note names to the textfields that had midi note numbers.
- Added full support for the new release of the bootloader (you can read the firmware you are writting to check if it was sent ok).
- Changed the way sliders are shown. Now, to show the slider of a parameter, you have to click once inside the textfield. To hide the slider click again or move the mouse out of the component.
- When you perform a "Send all settings to MD" action, it will also send automatically a "Write in Slot 1" request.
- When opening and closing the application, current config of the GUI is loaded/saved, as before. Besides saving it to the computer, when you try to close the application, now it will ask you if you also want to SEND TO MD the current config.

Bugs fixed:

- Fixed 3rd zone management. Now, if you set 3rd zone BNote = Disable, MCT will automatically set BThreshold = 0, to physically disable triggering of that 3rd zone in MD.
- Choke notes are now visible in the Midi Log, with a red background and a "CHOKE" label inside the bars.
- Fixed issue when you first load the app, and it couldn't communicate over the set MIDI, so you had to open the options, change the MIDI, then change it back to what it was first set to before it will communicate with MD.
- Fixed the firmware version check. Now the default firmware version (if you have not set it) is 00000000, instead of taking the current date, what was causing MCT to think you have a version higher than last one.

Notes:

- Apparently the firmware updating is working for Megadrum devices with an old bootloader (the first rudimentary bootloader and the first bootloader with clock selection).

[dmitri]

Great work, elrules! Live editing is very nice and MIDI Through is what I asked for!

Pity that the firmware update with Secure and Secure+MIDI bootloaders still doesn't work.

[alchemicus]

yes, live editing is the best new feature!
I will try midi trough....for sure important to set MD with a vsti!

[Ken Forgettable]

Pity that the firmware update with Secure and Secure+MIDI bootloaders still doesn't work.

I think this problem will go away shortly.

[elrules]

yes, live editing is the best new feature!
I will try midi trough....for sure important to set MD with a vsti!

hmmm live editing, that feature probably was the one that took me less time to implement ...

[dmitri]

elrules, don't you think it is better to separate 'Send to MegaDrum' and 'Save to Slot1' functions?

[userfriendly]

elrules, don't you think it is better to separate 'Send to MegaDrum' and 'Save to Slot1' functions?

I'd think so too.

But... yay, live editing.