OS update - v1.4.2

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John Bowen
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OS update - v1.4.2

Post by John Bowen »

Hello All,

Today we are happy to announce another new update to the Solaris OS! Here is v1.4.2, with additional features added (and more bugs fixed).
solarisos_v1.4.2.raw.zip
(2.31 MiB) Downloaded 985 times
Please remember to unzip and rename the file as ‘solarisos.raw’ so that it will install in your Solaris. (Put in in the OS folder on your CF card, then hold down the Enter button when you boot up, and select Option #1 when you see the special menu. Follow the directions in the display...)

The main new feature is the ability to rename Banks and Presets with descriptive, human-readable names instead of only a numbered file name. EDIT: Note that you CAN edit the name directly from the computer with the CF card plugged in, but this name will not be the name that appears in the Solaris display. That only applies when saving a Preset from the Solaris itself. If you are only using the computer-generated name for ease of finding presets, then you can rename them via computer to whatever you want (exception for the invalid characters, listed below). Just know that this will not edit the name shown when loaded into the Solaris. Bank names must be edited using the computer, and are not visible in the Solaris. Please see the Rules below as to details.

There are also some improvements to the MIDI code for CC64, CC66, and and CC7, how controllers act when Local = Off, as well as speedier MIDI over USB.

As before, we are deeply grateful to Jim Hewes for his excellent work!


Rules for re-naming Preset and Bank files

Preset files can now contain a middle part to provide a descriptive name. An example of the format is:

p0.JB Rotor Dreams.pre

In this case, the Solaris will load any file that starts with "p0." and ends with ".pre" as preset 0. Uppercase or lower case is allowed. The middle text between the two periods doesn't matter for loading purposes.

When saving, a preset will be saved with the middle part the same as the preset name entered by the user. However, characters that are invalid in the file system will be replaced by the space character. Also, trailing space characters are removed. If a preset name contains only invalid characters and spaces, or contains only spaces, then the filename will be "pnn.pre" where nn is the preset number. (i.e. not "pnn..pre") Invalid characters are: / ? < > \ : * | "

The user may manually rename the middle part of the file and it will still be loaded. However, upon saving again the name will be overwritten to the default.

You may have multiple files in the same folder that begin with the same preset number "pnn." and end with ".pre". In this case, the file that actually gets loaded to the Solaris is undefined.

NOTE! When saving a preset with preset number nn, all files that begin with "pnn." and end with ".pre" in the same folder will be deleted. Be aware of this if you want to retain backup copies of preset files in the same folder. It is recommended that you append those files with ".bak" or some similar change.
The purpose of deleting these extra files is to simplify the situation. First, it avoids a collision when the Solaris wants to save a preset and there is already a file with that name. Second, it helps to avoid the case when the user has multiple files that begin with "pnn." and end with ".pre" and the file actually being loaded is not the one expected.

Bank Folder Names

- Bank folder names must begin with the four characters "Bank". The case doesn't matter.
- This must be followed by a number consisting of from one to three digits. The number must be within the range 0 to 127. Leading zeros are fine as long as there are no more than three digits total.
- This may optionally be followed by a period and then additional text. The additional text may be anything and is ignored.
- The total length of the bank folder name cannot exceed 80 characters or it will be ignored.
- Bank numbers no longer need to begin at Bank 0 and no longer need to be consecutive.

Examples of valid names:

Bank0.John Bowen
Bank14.My presets
Bank032

Examples of invalid names which will be ignored:

Bank128 (bank number too high)
Bank0064 (more than three digits)
Bank25_Really_great_sounds (25 is not immediately followed by a period)

Note that any older OS version (1.4.1 or earlier) will not be able to read the newly re-saved Preset and Bank files.


Here's a complete Change List, with explanatory notes:

1. Reverted the Assign buttons back to original behavior before version 1.4.1. When a preset is loaded, the target of an assign button takes on the state that was stored with that parameter and is not governed by the saved state of the assign button. For example, if Assign 1 button is set to control Osc 1 glide and Osc 1 glide parameter is saved as On, then when the preset is loaded the Osc 1 glide will be On regardless of the saved state of the assign button. However, for the case when the Assign button target is set to Arp Transpose the behavior is not reverted.

2. Fixed a bug in which the Osc wavetable index shown on the character display did not match the index shown on the status line of the graphics display.

3. Fixed keyboard self test. This got broken in version 1.3.0.8. (*)

4. The following controllers no longer affect the internal sound engine when Local is Off: pitch wheel, modulation wheel, joystick X & Y, ribbon 1 & 2, aftertouch. (However, MIDI messages from these are still sent out.)

5. The MIDI volume message is no longer sent out when the Volume parameter is Off and the volume is adjusted.

6. It's no longer possible to enter invalid values for LFO DelStart, FadeIn, and FadeOut using the data wheel, numeric pad, or inc/dec buttons.

7. The ChoFla and Phaser frequency parameters now display the full resolution of .01Hz for the entire range, not just the low values. Note that using the regular encoder and pressing shift still only allows increments of 0.02Hz.

8. In the first step of storing a preset, the correct preset name is now shown when you use the numeric pad to enter a target preset number.

9. When an object copy is pending, pressing any button which is not an object of the same type will now abort the copy operation. For example, if you press and hold the Osc 1 button to start a copy of oscillator 1 and then press, say, a Main/Mod button or the Exit button or a Filter button then the copy is aborted.

10. Previously if an object copy operation was pending and you pressed a button for a different type object while the blinking LED was in its OFF phase, then that LED would stay OFF rather than go back ON. This is fixed.

11. When pressing Compare while saving a preset, a MIDI program change message was being sent out but should not be. This is fixed.

12. Previously if you pressed Compare while saving a preset but then aborted the save, compare no longer worked correctly. (The target preset was then used instead of the original.) This is fixed.

13. If you begin selecting samples to load but then decide not to, it was difficult to stop the process and to stop the Enter LED from blinking. This is now fixed so that while browsing samples, pressing any button other than Enter will abort the process.

14. By default, presets are now saved with filenames based on the name of the preset. See Rules for more detail.

15. Bank folders can also now have descriptive names. See Rules for more detail. Note that if bank names are changed, OS versions prior to 1.4.1.3 will crash on boot up.

16. The ribbon hold position is now reset to zero when a preset is changed.

17. The USB product ID has been changed to avoid a collision with Creamware Prodyssey. When plugging in for the first time after updating, the computer's OS should automatically reinstall the Solaris.

18. If you begin saving a preset from preset mode, you are now returned to preset mode after the save is done. (Previously you were always returned to edit mode.)

19. Saving a preset now writes a valid timestamp which is always 1/1/1980 12:00AM.

20. Fixed a bug in which the Solaris would crash if a bank folder was empty. (Note that a bank folder must at least contain a subfolder named "Patch" or it will be ignored.)

21. Previously, when a MIDI CC64 was received it only affected sustain. This is changed so that a received CC64 now affects whatever function the SusPed1 parameter is currently set to. Similarly, CC66 affects whatever function the SusPed2 parameter is currently set to, not just sostenuto.

22. With Local set to On, local key press notes are now sent out over MIDI if the Arp is Off even if the SendArp parameter is On.

23. Fixed a bug in which a SysEx message was sent out when changing the Local parameter even when TxSysEx was Off.

24. Fix a problem where MIDI notes were not being sent out correctly when polychain and SendArp were both On.

25. Removed redundant note-off messages sent out over MIDI when SendArp was On and the Arp was running or had just stopped.

26. Fixed a problem with the performance of outgoing USB transfers. This could affect the timing of MIDI clocks. The problem was introduced in version 1.4.0. Performance should now be improved for notes and controller messages over USB.

27. While controller CC64 is considered sustain in MIDI, the Solaris interprets CC64 as equivalent to the pedal switch 1 which may or may not be set to sustain. Likewise, CC66 is interpreted as pedal switch 2, which may or may not be assigned to sostenuto.

28. If polychain is OFF, then a SysEx message is sent out to both USB and DIN MIDI according to the function sent in SusPed1 and SusPed2 parameters.

29. If polychain is ON, A SysEx message is sent out only to USB according to the function sent in SusPed1 and SusPed2 parameters. CC64 and CC66 are forwarded to DIN MIDI output to the slave (regardless of the setting of MIDICtrl) and no SysEx message is sent out of DIN MIDI.

30. In general, if polychain is ON, all SysEx and controller messages are passed through to the slave over DIN MIDI. The exception is notes. Notes are played by the master and only the overflowed notes are passed on the to slave over DIN MIDI.

Arp Note
If you have the Arp running and the Arp Hold On and then turn Hold off, the arpeggio will stop playing even if you are still holding keys down.
wouter
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Re: New OS update - v1.4.2

Post by wouter »

Excellent, thank you guys for your hard work :)
synthwalker
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Re: New OS update - v1.4.2

Post by synthwalker »

Outstanding, thanks guys !
chapolin
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Re: New OS update - v1.4.2

Post by chapolin »

Thank you very much for this summer gift ! :)
josebasse
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Re: New OS update - v1.4.2

Post by josebasse »

Thanks guys too for that great job :D
éternel apprenti..!mais je m´ accroche! ;-)
bennethos
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Re: New OS update - v1.4.2

Post by bennethos »

great, this instrument keeps getting better and better with every update. It's a bit like the Tesla model S really :)
Owner of Solaris #00324
Oehi
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Re: New OS update - v1.4.2

Post by Oehi »

Thank you so much for maintaining the OS of this fantastic Synth (c:
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