emulatorII-list

Greetings!
Well I've finally done with HxC installation. After some time of thinking do I really need it in addition to Mac setup I decided to speed up booting and OS response time and make it more reliable. This time I used production version of HxC floppy emulator (revB) but my DPX-1 still has own prototype installed. Sure, nothing could happen without E-Synthesist support and helping in preparing disk images. 

So, there are no problems from technical side, however HxC PCB layout is not very good for 5.25 mounting. You need the case, remote mounting for LCD, buttons and LEDs. 
For the case I used plastic blanking cover from PC. I don't know how to find the same but it's general idea. I tried metal covers also but using plastic one is simpler. Then new buttons, new LEDs and the part of IDE cable for LCD connection. That's it.
Photo report is bellow:
http://www.deftaudio.ru/files/EII/IMG_0596.JPG
http://www.deftaudio.ru/files/EII/IMG_0597.JPG
http://www.deftaudio.ru/files/EII/IMG_0598.JPG
http://www.deftaudio.ru/files/EII/IMG_0600.JPG
http://www.deftaudio.ru/files/EII/IMG_0602.JPG
http://www.deftaudio.ru/files/EII/IMG_0603.JPG
http://www.deftaudio.ru/files/EII/IMG_0604.JPG
http://www.deftaudio.ru/files/EII/IMG_0605.JPG
http://www.deftaudio.ru/files/EII/IMG_0606.JPG

And the result:
http://www.deftaudio.ru/files/EII/DSC07080.JPG

You see I'm not the mechanical engineer )))) Medium soldering skills are needed to complete this project. And you must be careful while sawing the plastic. 

Issues... some... may be only one. HxC floppy emulator has an option to boot the last image on power on. If this option is enabled then during power on EII informs you about wrong diskette. I think the problem is that EII inits faster than HxC completes image loading.
You just need to switch to another image and it will boot fine. E-Synthesist, do you have the same with HxC standalone?

Andrei.


--- In emulatorII-list@yahoogroups.com, emulator_island <mothrecords@...> wrote:
>
> greetings! I believe the strongest future for all emulator samplers lies
>  in the SDHxC + KyroFlux alliance.. their efforts/ambitiousness (along 
> with members: wintermute // esynthesist) to preserve the EMU legacy is 
> of immense value. The EMuSer is certainly another ideal choice for a 
> PC/EMXP/SoundDesigner alliance however
> 
> cheers, emulator_island 
> 
> --- On Wed, 12/1/10, James Ulibarri <jamesulibarri@...> wrote:
> 
> From: James Ulibarri <jamesulibarri@...>
> Subject: [emulatorII-list] EMuSer ?
> To: emulatorII-list@yahoogroups.com
> Date: Wednesday, December 1, 2010, 3:31 PM
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
>  
> 
> 
> 
>   
> 
> 
>     
>       
>       
>       Does anyone have any updates on the
>  EMuSer?
> 
> I really want one but it seems so elusive at this point. 
> 
> 
> Thanks,
> James
>

Super super super! SUPER!!!

Hi,

This looks great.

Can you give a little bit more details how to "remote connect" other buttons and LEDs to the HxC ? For the LCD it is quite simple, because the HxC (rev C...) already has an array of pins for using a ribbon cable.
Also... if you can give a hint on where this kind of plastic housings can be found, that would be great too !

The automatic load issue of the most recently used floppy disk image is a known issue on the E-II.
After booting the EII, the EII will report a missing or bad disk, but by selecting an image with the buttons on the HxC, the E-II will boot and from then on the HxC can be used as if it were a floppy drive.

Jeff knows about the boot issue and he was going to have a look at it.
I'll have to contact him about the status... He was also working on the write-support which would allow for saving banks on the EII, but I didn't hear from him neither about this activity.

///E-Synthesist



--- In emulatorII-list@yahoogroups.com, "andrei.kudryavtsev" <andrei.kudryavtsev@...> wrote:
>
> Greetings!
> Well I've finally done with HxC installation. After some time of thinking do I really need it in addition to Mac setup I decided to speed up booting and OS response time and make it more reliable. This time I used production version of HxC floppy emulator (revB) but my DPX-1 still has own prototype installed. Sure, nothing could happen without E-Synthesist support and helping in preparing disk images. 
> 
> So, there are no problems from technical side, however HxC PCB layout is not very good for 5.25 mounting. You need the case, remote mounting for LCD, buttons and LEDs. 
> For the case I used plastic blanking cover from PC. I don't know how to find the same but it's general idea. I tried metal covers also but using plastic one is simpler. Then new buttons, new LEDs and the part of IDE cable for LCD connection. That's it.
> Photo report is bellow:
> http://www.deftaudio.ru/files/EII/IMG_0596.JPG
> http://www.deftaudio.ru/files/EII/IMG_0597.JPG
> http://www.deftaudio.ru/files/EII/IMG_0598.JPG
> http://www.deftaudio.ru/files/EII/IMG_0600.JPG
> http://www.deftaudio.ru/files/EII/IMG_0602.JPG
> http://www.deftaudio.ru/files/EII/IMG_0603.JPG
> http://www.deftaudio.ru/files/EII/IMG_0604.JPG
> http://www.deftaudio.ru/files/EII/IMG_0605.JPG
> http://www.deftaudio.ru/files/EII/IMG_0606.JPG
> 
> And the result:
> http://www.deftaudio.ru/files/EII/DSC07080.JPG
> 
> You see I'm not the mechanical engineer )))) Medium soldering skills are needed to complete this project. And you must be careful while sawing the plastic. 
> 
> Issues... some... may be only one. HxC floppy emulator has an option to boot the last image on power on. If this option is enabled then during power on EII informs you about wrong diskette. I think the problem is that EII inits faster than HxC completes image loading.
> You just need to switch to another image and it will boot fine. E-Synthesist, do you have the same with HxC standalone?
> 
> Andrei.
> 
> 
> --- In emulatorII-list@yahoogroups.com, emulator_island <mothrecords@> wrote:
> >
> > greetings! I believe the strongest future for all emulator samplers lies
> >  in the SDHxC + KyroFlux alliance.. their efforts/ambitiousness (along 
> > with members: wintermute // esynthesist) to preserve the EMU legacy is 
> > of immense value. The EMuSer is certainly another ideal choice for a 
> > PC/EMXP/SoundDesigner alliance however
> > 
> > cheers, emulator_island 
> > 
> > --- On Wed, 12/1/10, James Ulibarri <jamesulibarri@> wrote:
> > 
> > From: James Ulibarri <jamesulibarri@>
> > Subject: [emulatorII-list] EMuSer ?
> > To: emulatorII-list@yahoogroups.com
> > Date: Wednesday, December 1, 2010, 3:31 PM
> > 
> > 
> > 
> > 
> > 
> > 
> > 
> >  
> > 
> > 
> > 
> >   
> > 
> > 
> >     
> >       
> >       
> >       Does anyone have any updates on the
> >  EMuSer?
> > 
> > I really want one but it seems so elusive at this point. 
> > 
> > 
> > Thanks,
> > James
> >
>

General info:
http://hxc2001.free.fr/floppy_drive_emulator/

As many as you wish but you can select it by scrolling up or down buttons. So, it's more the question of sense )
Andrei.

--- In emulatorII-list@yahoogroups.com, Damir Rogina <roginator1@...> wrote:
>
> That looks great!!!!
> 
> I need info :)
> 
> Im searchin and cant find... 
> 
> How many disk images can we store on Card.. 
> as much as card is big ... or there is limited number of images per card!!
>  
> THANX A LOT
> 
> D
> 
> Synthetic Arts Studio
> http://www.syntheticarts-studio.com/
> phone: 00 385 95 91 21 772
> Skype & Facebook : Damir K Rogina
> http://www.discogs.com/artist/Damir+K.+Rogina
> 
> 
> 
> 
> ________________________________
> From: andrei.kudryavtsev <andrei.kudryavtsev@...>
> To: emulatorII-list@yahoogroups.com
> Sent: Sat, December 25, 2010 8:45:50 PM
> Subject: [emulatorII-list] Re: EMuSer ?
> 
>   
> Greetings!
> Well I've finally done with HxC installation. After some time of thinking do I 
> really need it in addition to Mac setup I decided to speed up booting and OS 
> response time and make it more reliable. This time I used production version of 
> HxC floppy emulator (revB) but my DPX-1 still has own prototype installed. Sure, 
> nothing could happen without E-Synthesist support and helping in preparing disk 
> images. 
> 
> 
> So, there are no problems from technical side, however HxC PCB layout is not 
> very good for 5.25 mounting. You need the case, remote mounting for LCD, buttons 
> and LEDs. 
> 
> For the case I used plastic blanking cover from PC. I don't know how to find the 
> same but it's general idea. I tried metal covers also but using plastic one is 
> simpler. Then new buttons, new LEDs and the part of IDE cable for LCD 
> connection. That's it.
> Photo report is bellow:
> http://www.deftaudio.ru/files/EII/IMG_0596.JPG
> http://www.deftaudio.ru/files/EII/IMG_0597.JPG
> http://www.deftaudio.ru/files/EII/IMG_0598.JPG
> http://www.deftaudio.ru/files/EII/IMG_0600.JPG
> http://www.deftaudio.ru/files/EII/IMG_0602.JPG
> http://www.deftaudio.ru/files/EII/IMG_0603.JPG
> http://www.deftaudio.ru/files/EII/IMG_0604.JPG
> http://www.deftaudio.ru/files/EII/IMG_0605.JPG
> http://www.deftaudio.ru/files/EII/IMG_0606.JPG
> 
> And the result:
> http://www.deftaudio.ru/files/EII/DSC07080.JPG
> 
> You see I'm not the mechanical engineer )))) Medium soldering skills are needed 
> to complete this project. And you must be careful while sawing the plastic. 
> 
> 
> Issues... some... may be only one. HxC floppy emulator has an option to boot the 
> last image on power on. If this option is enabled then during power on EII 
> informs you about wrong diskette. I think the problem is that EII inits faster 
> than HxC completes image loading.
> You just need to switch to another image and it will boot fine. E-Synthesist, do 
> you have the same with HxC standalone?
> 
> Andrei.
> 
> --- In emulatorII-list@yahoogroups.com, emulator_island <mothrecords@> wrote:
> >
> > greetings! I believe the strongest future for all emulator samplers lies
> >  in the SDHxC + KyroFlux alliance.. their efforts/ambitiousness (along 
> > with members: wintermute // esynthesist) to preserve the EMU legacy is 
> > of immense value. The EMuSer is certainly another ideal choice for a 
> > PC/EMXP/SoundDesigner alliance however
> > 
> > cheers, emulator_island 
> > 
> > --- On Wed, 12/1/10, James Ulibarri <jamesulibarri@> wrote:
> > 
> > From: James Ulibarri <jamesulibarri@>
> > Subject: [emulatorII-list] EMuSer ?
> > To: emulatorII-list@yahoogroups.com
> > Date: Wednesday, December 1, 2010, 3:31 PM
> > 
> > 
> > 
> > 
> > 
> > 
> > 
> > Â 
> > 
> > 
> > 
> > 
> > 
> > 
> > 
> > 
> > 
> >       Does anyone have any updates on the
> > Â EMuSer?
> > 
> > I really want one but it seems so elusive at this point. 
> > 
> > 
> > Thanks,
> > James
> >
>

Hi E-Synthesist,
Both revB and revC have the same front panel connector
http://www.deftaudio.ru/files/EII/frontpanel.png
I used pins 7,8,9. these are for buttons. for LEDs I directly soldered to existing LEDs even without removing them. 

hint )
this cover came by default in external enclosure by AgeStar:
http://www.agestar.com/english/products/sub5a1.asp


Andrei. 

--- In emulatorII-list@yahoogroups.com, "esynthesist" <esynthesist@...> wrote:
>
> Hi,
> 
> This looks great.
> 
> Can you give a little bit more details how to "remote connect" other buttons and LEDs to the HxC ? For the LCD it is quite simple, because the HxC (rev C...) already has an array of pins for using a ribbon cable.
> Also... if you can give a hint on where this kind of plastic housings can be found, that would be great too !
> 
> The automatic load issue of the most recently used floppy disk image is a known issue on the E-II.
> After booting the EII, the EII will report a missing or bad disk, but by selecting an image with the buttons on the HxC, the E-II will boot and from then on the HxC can be used as if it were a floppy drive.
> 
> Jeff knows about the boot issue and he was going to have a look at it.
> I'll have to contact him about the status... He was also working on the write-support which would allow for saving banks on the EII, but I didn't hear from him neither about this activity.
> 
> ///E-Synthesist
> 
> 
> 
> --- In emulatorII-list@yahoogroups.com, "andrei.kudryavtsev" <andrei.kudryavtsev@> wrote:
> >
> > Greetings!
> > Well I've finally done with HxC installation. After some time of thinking do I really need it in addition to Mac setup I decided to speed up booting and OS response time and make it more reliable. This time I used production version of HxC floppy emulator (revB) but my DPX-1 still has own prototype installed. Sure, nothing could happen without E-Synthesist support and helping in preparing disk images. 
> > 
> > So, there are no problems from technical side, however HxC PCB layout is not very good for 5.25 mounting. You need the case, remote mounting for LCD, buttons and LEDs. 
> > For the case I used plastic blanking cover from PC. I don't know how to find the same but it's general idea. I tried metal covers also but using plastic one is simpler. Then new buttons, new LEDs and the part of IDE cable for LCD connection. That's it.
> > Photo report is bellow:
> > http://www.deftaudio.ru/files/EII/IMG_0596.JPG
> > http://www.deftaudio.ru/files/EII/IMG_0597.JPG
> > http://www.deftaudio.ru/files/EII/IMG_0598.JPG
> > http://www.deftaudio.ru/files/EII/IMG_0600.JPG
> > http://www.deftaudio.ru/files/EII/IMG_0602.JPG
> > http://www.deftaudio.ru/files/EII/IMG_0603.JPG
> > http://www.deftaudio.ru/files/EII/IMG_0604.JPG
> > http://www.deftaudio.ru/files/EII/IMG_0605.JPG
> > http://www.deftaudio.ru/files/EII/IMG_0606.JPG
> > 
> > And the result:
> > http://www.deftaudio.ru/files/EII/DSC07080.JPG
> > 
> > You see I'm not the mechanical engineer )))) Medium soldering skills are needed to complete this project. And you must be careful while sawing the plastic. 
> > 
> > Issues... some... may be only one. HxC floppy emulator has an option to boot the last image on power on. If this option is enabled then during power on EII informs you about wrong diskette. I think the problem is that EII inits faster than HxC completes image loading.
> > You just need to switch to another image and it will boot fine. E-Synthesist, do you have the same with HxC standalone?
> > 
> > Andrei.
> > 
> > 
> > --- In emulatorII-list@yahoogroups.com, emulator_island <mothrecords@> wrote:
> > >
> > > greetings! I believe the strongest future for all emulator samplers lies
> > >  in the SDHxC + KyroFlux alliance.. their efforts/ambitiousness (along 
> > > with members: wintermute // esynthesist) to preserve the EMU legacy is 
> > > of immense value. The EMuSer is certainly another ideal choice for a 
> > > PC/EMXP/SoundDesigner alliance however
> > > 
> > > cheers, emulator_island 
> > > 
> > > --- On Wed, 12/1/10, James Ulibarri <jamesulibarri@> wrote:
> > > 
> > > From: James Ulibarri <jamesulibarri@>
> > > Subject: [emulatorII-list] EMuSer ?
> > > To: emulatorII-list@yahoogroups.com
> > > Date: Wednesday, December 1, 2010, 3:31 PM
> > > 
> > > 
> > > 
> > > 
> > > 
> > > 
> > > 
> > >  
> > > 
> > > 
> > > 
> > >   
> > > 
> > > 
> > >     
> > >       
> > >       
> > >       Does anyone have any updates on the
> > >  EMuSer?
> > > 
> > > I really want one but it seems so elusive at this point. 
> > > 
> > > 
> > > Thanks,
> > > James
> > >
> >
>

This is really really cool.

I can't seem to find info on if you can 'Save' to the SD card from the E2.

Kind regards
Mike

At the moment write to the image is not supprted. But you can export bank to the Sound designer and then convert for sd card usage. 

--- In emulatorII-list@yahoogroups.com, "Mike" <mrjdevries@...> wrote:
>
> This is really really cool.
> 
> I can't seem to find info on if you can 'Save' to the SD card from the E2.
> 
> Kind regards
> Mike
>

From: andrei.kudryavtsev
Subject: [emulatorII-list] Re: EMuSer ?
To: emulatorII-list@yahoogroups.com
Received: Monday, 27 December, 2010, 7:03 PM

�

At the moment write to the image is not supprted. But you can export bank to the Sound designer and then convert for sd card usage.

--- In emulatorII-list@yahoogroups.com, "Mike" wrote:
>
> This is really really cool.
>
> I can't seem to find info on if you can 'Save' to the SD card from the E2.
>
> Kind regards
> Mike
>

There's no problem at all with using the SD files on a PC; this is being done by many forum members here.

Perhaps you can check the manual of EMXP (www.emxp.net), in which you can find how to transfer the SD files to a PC and how a PC can deal with these files (e.g. EMXP is using them too).

The HxC uses the very same SDforEII files; you need the special HxC software to transfer these files to the SD card. They can't just be copied to the SD card...

PS: As mentioned in a message yesterday, the write support in the HxC should be on its way but I have to contact Jeff about the latest status of this upgrade.

///E-Synthesist

--- In emulatorII-list@yahoogroups.com, Mike de Vries <mrjdevries@...> wrote:
>
> Cool, do you know if it is planned to be implemented? It would be good not to have to need a vintage mac and SD.
>  
> Did you use a mac to transfer the ".SD" files across to the SD card? I'm wondering if a PC will be capable.. or would XP mess up the file like it usually does with file types it doesn't recognise.
>  
> Regardless, I ordered one off ebay. 
> looking forward to it.
> 
> Kind regards
> Mike
> --- On Mon, 27/12/10, andrei.kudryavtsev <andrei.kudryavtsev@...> wrote:
> 
> 
> From: andrei.kudryavtsev <andrei.kudryavtsev@...>
> Subject: [emulatorII-list] Re: EMuSer ?
> To: emulatorII-list@yahoogroups.com
> Received: Monday, 27 December, 2010, 7:03 PM
> 
> 
>   
> 
> 
> 
> At the moment write to the image is not supprted. But you can export bank to the Sound designer and then convert for sd card usage. 
> 
> --- In emulatorII-list@yahoogroups.com, "Mike" <mrjdevries@> wrote:
> >
> > This is really really cool.
> > 
> > I can't seem to find info on if you can 'Save' to the SD card from the E2.
> > 
> > Kind regards
> > Mike
> >
>

Update:

The SAVE BANK & COPY SOFTWARE support (i.e. "write" support) can be expected very soon now in the SD HxC floppy drive replacement kit.

I have just been beta-testing the new firmware that Jeff from the HxC2001 team is finalizing at this moment, and with the latest build I was able to save banks to the SD card on both of my Emulator-II's.

FYI: this new firmware also supports write-activity on the Emulator-I. Those tests were successful too !

So... keep an eye on http://hxc2001.free.fr/floppy_drive_emulator/ to see when the new firmware will be released.

///E-Synthesist
  

--- In emulatorII-list@yahoogroups.com, Mike de Vries <mrjdevries@...> wrote:
>
> Cool, do you know if it is planned to be implemented? It would be good not to have to need a vintage mac and SD.
>  
> Did you use a mac to transfer the ".SD" files across to the SD card? I'm wondering if a PC will be capable.. or would XP mess up the file like it usually does with file types it doesn't recognise.
>  
> Regardless, I ordered one off ebay. 
> looking forward to it.
> 
> Kind regards
> Mike
> --- On Mon, 27/12/10, andrei.kudryavtsev <andrei.kudryavtsev@...> wrote:
> 
> 
> From: andrei.kudryavtsev <andrei.kudryavtsev@...>
> Subject: [emulatorII-list] Re: EMuSer ?
> To: emulatorII-list@yahoogroups.com
> Received: Monday, 27 December, 2010, 7:03 PM
> 
> 
>   
> 
> 
> 
> At the moment write to the image is not supprted. But you can export bank to the Sound designer and then convert for sd card usage. 
> 
> --- In emulatorII-list@yahoogroups.com, "Mike" <mrjdevries@> wrote:
> >
> > This is really really cool.
> > 
> > I can't seem to find info on if you can 'Save' to the SD card from the E2.
> > 
> > Kind regards
> > Mike
> >
>

> The SAVE BANK & COPY SOFTWARE support (i.e. "write" support) can be expected very soon now in the SDHxC floppy drive replacement kit.
> 

Great news!

Since I should be getting my SD card HXC floppy emulator very soon, I was wondering if anyone can explain how it would be possible to convert from Emulator II sound designer files (Say, for example from a CD that has plenty of banks) to a bunch of Disk Images?

ie, I would be great if we could bulk convert all the Emulator II banks to a stack of disk images for the SDHxC. This would equal a few hundred disks at your desposal on emulator II's fitted with SDHxC.

I've read some of the EMPX manual, but it seems that this will convert Sound designer files to various formats, but I can't see any mention of converting to a disk image?

Am I missing something here? 

Any imput will be greatly appreciated. 

Regards
Mike

Mike,

As I explained a few messages ago, you can simply use the HXC software (downloadable from the HXC website) to create disk images for the SD HXC.
This software can make these disk images starting from the SoundDesigner files !!
So there's no need for any other software, and there's also no need to even use EMXP for getting the sound banks on your SD card.

In short: you can simply copy all the SoundDesigner (=.EII) files you want to a folder of your choice and then ask the HxC software to do a bulk conversion of these files to disk images which can be saved immediately to the SD card. These disk images are called "HFE" files in HxC jargon...
It's really that easy.

The only thing that the HxC software also needs besides the Sound Designer files is an Operating System "overlay" file. This one should be present in that folder too before the bulk conversion can start. Otherwise it will fail. As you know, every EII disk (and hence also HFE disk image) needs an OS on it, besides the sound bank... So the HxC software will need the OS file too before it can create an HFE file.
The OS file is different depending on the OS version you need. I will probably upload some of these files soon (for non-HD EII: v2.1, v2.3 and v3.1)

FYI: an EII disk image is nothing more than the OS file concatenated to with a Sound Designer file. No magic here.  

One last note: the other way around will not be possible yet: if you will save a bank on the Emulator-II to a disk image on the SD card, and then copy this file to your PC, the HxC software will only be able to create a "RAW" disk image file from it. This "raw" file is the merged file containing the OS and the Sound Designer bank. To extract the Sound Designer and/or OS file from that raw file, there's no software yet available. This is a very (very) simple thing to do though, so if it will not become part of HxC software itself (I'll ask...), I will upload a small tool for it myself and later I will make sure EMXP will support this too.

///E-Synthesist

--- In emulatorII-list@yahoogroups.com, "Mike" <mrjdevries@...> wrote:
>
> 
> > The SAVE BANK & COPY SOFTWARE support (i.e. "write" support) can be expected very soon now in the SDHxC floppy drive replacement kit.
> > 
> 
> Great news!
> 
> Since I should be getting my SD card HXC floppy emulator very soon, I was wondering if anyone can explain how it would be possible to convert from Emulator II sound designer files (Say, for example from a CD that has plenty of banks) to a bunch of Disk Images?
> 
> ie, I would be great if we could bulk convert all the Emulator II banks to a stack of disk images for the SDHxC. This would equal a few hundred disks at your desposal on emulator II's fitted with SDHxC.
> 
> I've read some of the EMPX manual, but it seems that this will convert Sound designer files to various formats, but I can't see any mention of converting to a disk image?
> 
> Am I missing something here? 
> 
> Any imput will be greatly appreciated. 
> 
> Regards
> Mike
>