As some of you posted in my ArduinoBoys for Sale topic in the Trading Post, you were having problems getting the MIDI out and thru on your ArduinoBoys to work. It appears that I read Trash80's original ArduinoBoy schematic incorrectly, believing the picture to depict the front of the DIN-5 socket when in fact it depicted the back. The MIDI data wire and a 5V wire first passed through a 220 ohm resistor are switched, rendering the ArduinoBoy's MIDI out and MIDI thru capabilities useless. For those of you willing to do a little soldering, all you have to do is switch the red and green wires on the DIN-5 socket farthest from the GameBoy Link Cable. This only affects owners of the Gilberti Industries ArduinoBoy, specifically those of you who have bought one of the first 39. This will not affect future versions. I am truly sorry about this: it was an amateurish goof on my part that would have been caught sooner if I had properly tested the thru feature in the first place. Stay tuned for details on a potential recall and replacement/repair program.
This is the fix.
I hadn't used my ArduinoBoy in a MIDI chain - I use a MIDI thru box for all my kit.
I saw this thread, tries the ArduinoBoy's MIDI thru, and indeed it didn't work.
Swapping the wires on the thru DIN socket cured it.
Thanks scienceguy8 - as far as I'm concerned, you've no need to apologise!
hey man, shit happens. no hard feelings over here.
i love my arduinoboy and it shipped fast, so i really hope this doesn't affect anything for you in the future. you do good work. and it means a lot that you owned up to it too.
i'm not scared of a little soldering. so, i'll try this soon and post the results.
i did the same thing the first time when i built mine too!
good thing I never use midi out on it!!! using MGB right now and its great! thanks scienceguy8!
no offense, but didn't you test your units before you shipped them?
can you post a picture of the arduinoboy with arrows pointing towards the wires i have to switch?
no offense, but didn't you test your units before you shipped them?
I did, I just didn't test that particular feature. I didn't know how to at the time. Turns out it is as simple as connecting the MIDI in and out on my computer simultaneously to the ArduinoBoy to make sure the same MIDI data comes back. All future units will be tested in this manner.
can you post a picture of the arduinoboy with arrows pointing towards the wires i have to switch?
Sure thing. First thing after work tomorrow.
The one on the left depicts the way they were wired. The one on the right shows how they should be wired. Just switch the red and green wires on the MIDI out socket and everything will work just fine. Don't switch the wires at the board, as this will mess with the color coordination (red=positive voltage, black=ground, green=data), but more importantly, unless you have a dedicated desoldering tool, you will not be able to get the wires back into the holes after you remove them.
The one on the left depicts the way they were wired. The one on the right shows how they should be wired. Just switch the red and green wires on the MIDI out socket and everything will work just fine. Don't switch the wires at the board, as this will mess with the color coordination (red=positive voltage, black=ground, green=data), but more importantly, unless you have a dedicated desoldering tool, you will not be able to get the wires back into the holes after you remove them.
PERFECT.
i'll do this tonight and report back. thank you.
An email has just been sent to all the addresses I have on record. I strongly urge anyone with an affected unit to attempt to repair it themselves. If you cannot, contact me so that we can arrange for you to ship it back (at your expense, I'm afraid) so I can repair it. I will ship it back to you at my expense.
don't sweat it man. shipping was fast, thing was beautifully built and at a very honest price.
So far I'm using only MIDI in, but in the near future I'll suck out the solder from the midi-out din and resolder it. Thanks for warning us.
Im just glad it was only a wiring issue and not firmware/circuit related
easy fix, although those wires are stiffer than nails
funny you didnt test for it, as for me, that was the first feature i wanted to use (×̯×)
Last edited by Emar (Jun 18, 2010 5:04 pm)