Emax

Hello, I am newbie with the Emu-emax and I would like to upgrade my sampler...

My question is: How to upgrade from HxC floppy emulator? Currently I have SD reader model.

Please could you please help me? and (one question more) Do you think is a recommendable this upgrade?

Thank you.

I can’t speak to the HxC part, but there is no reason to NOT do the SE update.
It’s free, and only flips a couple bits in a parameter EEPROM allowing you to use SE functions and boot SE capable OS.


-T

On Dec 8, 2015, at 3:00 AM, yusteromerooscar@... [emax] <emax@yahoogroups.com> wrote:


Hello, I am newbie with the Emu-emax and I would like to upgrade my sampler...



My question is: How to upgrade from HxC floppy emulator?  Currently I have SD reader model.



Please could you please help me? and (one question more) Do you think is a recommendable this upgrade?



Thank you.






[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

Yes, SE adds Synthesis Enhancement.
Also- You can’t change the OS that is on this disk to some other (like 3.2)…. this is a SPECIAL DISK.
You could pull the OS off, and the bank and make an image, and it likely would still not act like this disk does.

When someone sends me a board for SCSI and SE update, I hook a regular floppy up to the unit just for this purpose, update SE, then do the SCSI modifications.
Then I test with flash media drive once SCSI is updated.


Please note that the SE update disk is different from other disks.
It is a “ONE USE” disk with special authorization written to a specific sector of the disk,

This sector may not be normally accessible to read / write commands as it is a copy protection measure.

I’ve never put or converted this image to any other media than floppy.
When using utilities, they are doing a sector by sector RAW write of this floppy image.
I don’t know whether the HxC software writes it’s images in this way.

A normal disk has:
OS, and then likely a bank

This disk has OS, a bank, and special code.

I doubt that the HxC vendor ever tested with this image as, depending on the bits it reads from EEPROM the programming on this disk does 2 different actions:
1) If SE bit not found, it goes into an EEPROM parameter update routine. (assuming the disk hasn’t been used and the authorization bit still exists)
2) If SE found, it APPEARS to boot normally, but it boots the SE OS.

To do testing for this image, the vendor would have needed an actual Emax that is not SE updated.

My recommendation would be to create a floppy disk for just this one time, update the Emax, then hook back the HxC.

Regards,
Ted Summers
Co-Moderator / FAQ Owner





On Dec 9, 2015, at 9:46 AM, yusteromerooscar@... [emax] <emax@yahoogroups.com> wrote:

Thank you for your response, but I am trying to finish the process but it is not working..


Currently I am doing the next steps:

1º I have downloaded EmaxSEUpgrade.img
2º With the HxC software emulator convert to hfe extension.
3º I introduce the sd card to the floppy emulator reader and turn off the Emax, but when I turn on again the sampler, I see "read error"

What am I doing wrong?


Thank you





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IF you load an SE OS- does it say wrong software / fail to boot?
Your Emax may already be SE, in which case, an SE OS would already boot and your activity is not needed.


-T



On Dec 11, 2015, at 9:49 AM, yusteromerooscar@yahoo.com [emax] <emax@yahoogroups.com> wrote:

I don´t understand completely your explanation sorry...


It is strange, because load the bank like a synth, but without the process indicated "reboot software" in the emu..

I am following steps indicated by @esynthesist 

Even I have formatted sd card and I have tried to boot with only the upgrade.. but it was not working..  

:_(
 





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I think you may not understand fully. 

I have written some of this on the FAQ, but perhaps I can clarify it further.

ANY Emax can boot with 3.2 OS (assuming you have current EPROM- but I’ve never heard of anyone not having this capability since I joined this group in 2003).

Only Emax with SCSI can boot OS HD 1.0 or  OS HD 1.1

Only Emax with SE update already completed can boot OS SE 1.1

An Emax with SCSI AND SE can boot ALL of the above, and also OS SE HD 1.1 and OS PLUS 1.0

So- you say you think the Emax has 1.1 version.
But which OS are you booting from now? (check it in the menu)

Emax may already have SE update completed.
The only way to know it is to try and boot with an SE-capable OS version.
If you are only booting with 3.2, you will never know whether you have SE or not…

If you don’t have SCSI, then try and create HxC image and boot with SE 1.1

If you do have SCSI, then create PLUS 1.0 OS HxC image.

If it fails (meaning you DON”T have SE), then you will get “Incorrect Software version” or some similar error when you try and boot.

-T




On Dec 11, 2015, at 12:46 PM, yusteromerooscar@... [emax] <emax@yahoogroups.com> wrote:

No, load the upgrade like a sound bank instead of  like a "software or firmware".. 


My Emu emax has 1.1 version (I think, now I haven´t  in front of me the sampler) and  when I go to the master > special > version 





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Also- in regards to your other question:
>Recently I have bought a Emu emax with HXC floppy emulator, Could you have both floppys in the same sampler?

Emax does not support multiple floppy drives, so no, you can’t have both.
I will add this to the FAQ.

-T


On Dec 11, 2015, at 12:46 PM, yusteromerooscar@... [emax] <emax@yahoogroups.com> wrote:

No, load the upgrade like a sound bank instead of  like a "software or firmware".. 


My Emu emax has 1.1 version (I think, now I haven´t  in front of me the sampler) and  when I go to the master > special > version 





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You have taken the BANK from the SE update image and placed it onto a 3.2 OS, which would mean you still wouldn’t access the SE features.

You have to make an HxC image with SE 1.1 OS and see if it boots to know if you need to run the upgrade.

If it boots- the Emax is already SE.
If it errors / says wrong software- Emax needs SE update.


-T



On Dec 12, 2015, at 11:11 AM, yusteromerooscar@... [emax] <emax@yahoogroups.com> wrote:

But directly I am not having this message in the display and the SE-OS upgrade downloaded from this website is loaded like a sound-bank instead of a software update.. do you know what I mean?








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My Emax has an HxC SD and a slim floppy with a switch. I also added an HD and external SCSI DB-25 port. With the SE update it is now running Emax Plus OS 1.1

Got it as a plain base model Emax and added all the upgrades. Great unit now, use it more than my EII at the moment when just one board but both are especially great together;)

-RVK

> On Dec 12, 2015, at 11:11 AM, yusteromerooscar@... [emax] <emax@yahoogroups.com> wrote:
> 
> But directly I am not having this message in the display and the SE-OS upgrade downloaded from this website is loaded like a sound-bank instead of a software update.. do you know what I mean?
> 
> 
> 
>

Oscar-

I think you are still doing it wrong.
Simply put- SE 1.1 doesn’t say 3.2 when you go in the menu and check the version.
If it still says 3.2- you haven’t changed the OS at all.

You have to take an SE 1.1 and extract the OS, then put that OS in the HxC image to replace the 3.2 OS which you have been using.

I dont’ have an Hxc, but I know that much…

-T





On Dec 12, 2015, at 11:53 AM, yusteromerooscar@yahoo.com [emax] <emax@yahoogroups.com> wrote:

I have added SE1.1 instead of emaxos.emx and the SO is 3.2  (    )





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Please note that once BOOTED, the OS is expected to stay the same.
So if you boot with 3.2 on Hxc, then it will stay 3.2 until you turn Emax off, even if you switch to another virtual floppy and “load bank” or whatever.

You need to take an SE OS and start with only that on the Hxc USB / flash drive - no 3.2 on it at all.
I think maybe this is where your confusion is coming from?

-T


 
On Dec 12, 2015, at 11:53 AM, yusteromerooscar@... [emax] <emax@yahoogroups.com> wrote:

I have added SE1.1 instead of emaxos.emx and the SO is 3.2  (    )





[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

That sounds correct.

So, when you boot from this SD card- you should then see in the menu SE 1.1.

Is that what you see?

If so- it is correct, and no need to do update.

If not- and you still see 3.2, then you have OS listed as 1.1 in your files that is not 1.1
If you see something other than 3.2, please provide what it says exactly.

Those are 2 very specific different OS versions.

-T


On Dec 12, 2015, at 12:23 PM, yusteromerooscar@... [emax] <emax@yahoogroups.com> wrote:

Let´s start again.. 


1º I have formatted my SD card to FAT 32 and the sd card is empty..  

2º Inside of this card I have introduced only SE upgrade and EMAX 1.1  (is this correct?)







[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

No I don’t have a process for updating banks  with HxC because I don’t have HxC.
I have (and sell / install) the SCSI chip upgrade for Emax.

But I have a pretty good understanding of how Emax (at least the electronics of it) work.

You never saw “Updating” like in the PDF because once the Emax has been made SE (probably many years ago), you would never see this message again (unless you removed the parameter EEPROM, so it no longer had the bit set).
The special disk checks for SE bit in Parameter EEPROM, and if it’s there (meaning the update was already done previously), the disk just boots like any normal disk…

-T



On Dec 13, 2015, at 5:13 AM, yusteromerooscar@... [emax] <emax@yahoogroups.com> wrote:

Ok, for me was very confuse because I expected a message updating firmware of the emu emax, in the PDf is a different process..you know...



Than, next steps is rebuild each bank, do you have experience with this?

Thank you very much for your help.





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With regards to 1- I can’t answer- I don’t have HxC as I have mentioned many times now.

With regards to 2 and 3- Please read the SE update PDF. It mentions the added features. Page 29 discusses some experiments that can be done with SE.
I would assume the factory put the banks on the disk as a starting point / example bank for these experiments.

-T

On Dec 13, 2015, at 1:57 PM, yusteromerooscar@... [emax] <emax@yahoogroups.com> wrote:

ok, thank you very much.. 



Than.. three (more) questions:

1º How to "upgrade" my sound banks?

2º Why se-upgrade is loaded like a sound-bank with (of course) with sounds? for example, Sine pattern, Square pattern an so on...

3º What features are added to my banks with this update?  I don´t understand, maybe correctly, new features includes in this upgrade in comparison with a Emu emax with the 3.2 version (with this version were create my banks)

Regards





[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

No- I posted a link a few days ago to the upload of the HD Factory bank collection on zippyshare.
The five factory images in EMXP compatible format are zipped up and uploaded here:

http://www41.zippyshare.com/v/yoe2t6HC/file.html <http://www41.zippyshare.com/v/yoe2t6HC/file.html>

If you download that, load the HD images into EMXP, you can get every available factory bank extracted separately from that.

-T


On Dec 13, 2015, at 2:13 PM, yusteromerooscar@... [emax] <emax@yahoogroups.com> wrote:

Do we have those factory banks in the "files" area?


Thank you!!





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