Hunterizzle
Offline
Austin, Texas

Ok, so I'm working on my fourth ArduinoBoy and so far none of them have worked... at least not for very long. The specific one I'm building now is installed inside of a DMG and everything seems to be working fine except that there doesn't seem to be any midi information coming in. I had the latest version of the ardionoboy code flashed on the RBBB arduino clone and every time I tried to sync my microKorg with LSDJ in slave mode the screen would say "Too Busy" or LSDJ would just freak out and go to this "Don't Panic" screen with a bunch of numbers on it. When I switch LSDJ to master mode the arduinoboy's lights blink according to the tempo. When I put the arduinoboy on mGB mode and press a key on my keyboard, nothing happens. I just switched the arduino back to the 1.1.0 version of the arduinoboy code and still no luck with midi in. I have checked my connections over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and everything is correctly connected according to trash80's schematic. I have tried switching the wires going to midi in jack, I have tried flipping the diode, I have tried flipping the optoisolator, I've switched out all parts for the midi in part more than once just in case I had some faulty parts and still absolutely nothing. Although I have checked my connections a million times I wouldn't be surprised if I still connected something wrong. I would greatly appreciate any help at all, I have been trying to build a working arduinoboy for over 4 months (yes, I know I'm lame) and it would be very nice if I could finally get this one up and running.

P.S. - On my previous arduinoboy I did get the midi in to work for a short amount of time, but I have absolutely no idea how I did it...




Thanks!!

nickmaynard
Offline
rochester, ny

i would suggest trying to build a working external arduinoboy before building it into your gameboy.

Hunterizzle
Offline
Austin, Texas
nickmaynard wrote:

i would suggest trying to build a working external arduinoboy before building it into your gameboy.


I've already tried making 3 external ones and all of them have ended with the same results... and actually the one that is inside the dmg is mostly external now because I can't figure out what's wrong with it...

Trash80
Offline
Los Angeles

Hmm. Have you tried other midi devices? or other midi cables? The key is to isolate the issue. If you dont get lights blinking in the right mode on the arduinoboy (aka mGB mode with keyboard notes from midi channel 1, or slave mode with midi sync being sent from a host sequencer) then there is something wrong with the MIDI end and not the gameboy.

Hunterizzle
Offline
Austin, Texas

Ah yes that would make sense, when I was working on the previous arduinoboys that were somewhat function I was using a different midi cable, I'll try using the old one and see if it works

Hunterizzle
Offline
Austin, Texas

ok so i switched the midi cable and reset my microkorg back to factory defaults and now the arduinoboy will sync with lsdj but it only works with the 1.1.0 version of arduinoboy, when i tried switching it with a 1.2.0 pic it stopped syncing with lsdj and just did the same shit that it was doing before... also when the 1.1.0 is synced with lsdj, its not on the right mode, it syncs with it on mode 5 which is the mgb mode i think, and the leds dont blink when synced. oh and it does absolutely nothing with mgb with either of the versions.

PLEASE HELP ME!

NeX
Offline

how can you get this thing so horribly wrong? i have built maybe 100 arduinoboys every one of them worked and about 80% worked first time with no problems.

i will happily build one for you if you want me to, but troubleshooting on a forum with no pics is very difficult, and there are soooo many things that you could have got wrong, for example the link cable wiring, the sync mode, LSDJ settings, midi channel settings, wrong port etc and then on top of that you have to know that all the parts are working, the gameboy, the midi device, the cable, and every aspect of the arduinoboy.

combatdave
Offline
Iceland
NeX wrote:

how can you get this thing so horribly wrong?...

...there are soooo many things that you could have got wrong...

But yeah, without pics or something, this is impossible. Are you using the right versions of lsdj and mgb??

Hunterizzle
Offline
Austin, Texas

yeah I see what you guys mean, I'll get some pics up here later today, but yeah I don't understand how I can fuck up this bad on something that is apparently pretty simple... but thanks for any help!

Hunterizzle
Offline
Austin, Texas

ok so I built another arduinoboy to replace the faulty one inside my DMG and somehow this one works, I think I either blew out a part on my old rbbb arduino board or I had a bad solder point or something, but everything is up and running now! Thanks everyone for all of the help, I greatly appreciate it!

Hawkfather
Offline
Xonthox

Yeah what's with the "too busy" message.  I get that when trying to use LSDJ in the arduinoboy midi sequencer mode.

nordloef
Offline
sweden
Hawkfather wrote:

Yeah what's with the "too busy" message.  I get that when trying to use LSDJ in the arduinoboy midi sequencer mode.

http://www.littlesounddj.com/lsd/latest/CHANGELOG wrote:

2010-01-02: v4.0.0 - service pack 4

* program now takes a billion random keypresses in no$gmb without
   crashes or exceptions
* bugfix: fix song copy/paste bug introduced in 3.9.k.
   (thx trashcanman)
* improved emergency stop, stop playback nicely when program
   is too busy.
* when changing instrument type to KIT, make sure resulting kit
   is valid.
* groove cursor could get drawn outside screen bounds.
* lot of different minor copy/paste fixes.

But I have no idea what causes the "Too Busy" to appear.

herr_prof
Offline
Unsubscribe

I ran into this problem last weekend, and it was caused by swapping the midi in/out cables.. whoops!

Didnt find any help when researching the issue myself, hope it helps someone else looking for trouble.

RyuX
Offline
Austria

you got the Pins wrong, this is what happens when you switch the pins of the GB Link Cable.
The Pins on the Schematic are from the cable (looking at the cable). Also look if you got the Midi Port Pins right (if it synced before you got them right already i guess).
Check if you have wired everything right (check newest schematic).
http://trash80.com/arduinoboy/arduinobo … _1_1_0.png

Also which Arduino are you using at the moment ?

sounds like a pin swapping problem to me. Also check that you have got no shorts to ground and recheck everything.
pics would be helpful..