MIDI Rocker Release Notes and Version History
Release 2009.3.14 (14 March 2009)
This release contains some bug fixes to the firmware and
a new feature in the software. Please see the User's Guide for information on
using the MIDI Rocker and the software.
- Bug Fix: The position of the HOME button is now
reported properly when viewing the diagnositics in the GUI software.
- New "Note Chart" Feature: There are now
multiple note charts available for several different drum sets, as well as a
user-editable chart.
Release 2009.3.9 (9 March 2009)
This release contains some major enhancements to the
firmware and major changes to the software. Please see the User's Guide for
information on using the MIDI Rocker and the software.
- New "Switchable" Firmware: You can now
switch back and both between Rock Band and Guitar Hero World Tour mode by
holding the navigation switch to the left or right when plugging in the MIDI
Rocker USB connection. Hold the switch to the LEFT to activate Rock Band mode,
hold it to the RIGHT for World Tour mode. Each time you plug it in, the MIDI
Rocker will remember what mode it was in last and stay in that mode until you
change it.
- Change to SELECT button: Pressing down on the
navigation button is now equivalent to hitting the green drum. This makes
navigating the menus in the game easier. If you hold down the button, it
is like pressing the SELECT button on the controller.
- Support for Multiple Note Maps: The MIDI Rocker
now has two separate note maps, and you can switch between them "on the
fly".*
- Change to FUNCTION switch: The Function switch is
now used to select the active note map.*
- Change to MODE switch: The MODE switch is now
used to select between normal "play" mode, and Program 1 mode (used
to program drum channels) and Program 2 mode (used to program cymbal
channels).*
* Please see the User's Guide for details on programming
the MIDI Rocker from the front panel.
- New "Map Tab" Feature: Tabs are now
present for each of the available note maps so that you can easily switch
between maps and view the contents.
- Change to Note Map File Format: When you save or
recall a note map to/from a file, BOTH maps are now saved/recalled at the same
time. If you recall a file that was saved using a previous version of the
software, it will contain only a single map and will be loaded into the
currently displayed map tab.
- Change to MIDI Note Logging: The MIDI log data is
now displayed in a grid format for easier viewing. The data file format has
been changed to be CSV (comma-separated-values) and can be read into most
spreadsheet programs or word processors.
Release 2009.2.9 (9 Feb 2009)
This release introduces support for emulating the Guitar
Hero drums and fixes some bugs.
There are now two different versions of the firmware
which can be loaded onto the MIDI Rocker -- they are almost identical, except
that one version "acts" like a Rock Band 2 drum controller with 4
pads, 1 pedal and 3 cymbals, while the other version is like a Guitar Hero
World Tour drum controller with 3 pads, 1 pedal and 2 cymbals. The firmware is
loaded the same way as installing a firmware update, and you can switch between
versions by loading a different one.
- Bug Fix: Fixed an issue which could cause a note
map entry to get set to 0 when the first pluggin the MIDI Rocker into the game
console.
- Bug Fix: Fixed so all the button positions are
reported correctly when using the diagnostics feature in the GUI
software.
- Change: The default MIDI note duration setting is
now 50ms.
- New Feature: The MIDI Rocker can now emulate the
Guitar Hero World Tour drums (3 pads, 2 cymbals and a pedal). This requires
that you load a different version of the firmware.
- Change: The layout of the GUI has been changed a
little and other costmetic improvements were made.
- New Feature: Support for Guitar Hero World Tour
drums. The software will automatlcally detect which version of the firmware you
have loaded and will modify its display accordingly. It also displays a little
color-coded picture of the appropriate drum set.
- Change: Added more notes to the note
chart.
Release 2008.12.4 (4 Dec 2008)
This is a release to mainly fix an issue with some drum
brains (notably the Alesis), and to add some special diagnostics to help
troubleshoot problems in the future.
- Bug Fix: Fixed an issue with some drum brains
that send out a NOTE OFF right after the NOTE ON. This would cause the game (RB
or GHWT) to only intermittently respond to a note. You would typically see the
MIDI light flash quickly, but no response in the game.
- Change: Changed so that you can now assign the
same note to multiple outputs, and ALL the outputs assigned to that note will
be activated. For example, if you've assigned the kick pedal to both the Orange
and Blue outputs, whenever you hit the pedal both outputs will be activated. In
previous versions, only the first output would get activated. (As far as
gameplay goes, this is not particularly useful, but at least now when you do
accidentally assign a note twice, you will be able to tell).
- New Feature: Added a new "MIDI Note
Logging" feature. When used in conjunction with the latest version of the
GUI software, you can now view and save a log of the MIDI data, including the
notes and velocities.
- New Feature: The firmware now supports a special
diagnostic mode for checking the functionality of all the buttons and knobs on
the MIDI Rocker when using the GUI software.
- Change: The layout of the GUI has been changed a
little and other costmetic improvements were made.
- New Feature: Added a new "MIDI Note
Logging" feature. (Requires firmware V2.3 or greater). You can now view
and save a log of the MIDI data, including the notes and velocities.
- New Feature: Special diagnostic mode for checking
the functionality of all the buttons and knobs on the MIDI Rocker. (Requires
firmware V2.3 or greater).
Release 2008.11.25 (25 Nov 2008)
This is a minor release of the firmware to fix a bug.
Only those who use the "device driver" version of the firmware
updater need to install this firmware update.
- Bug Fix: fixed interrupt vector mapping issue
that would cause the firmware to crash if the firmware update was loaded using
the "driver version" of the firmware updater software.
- Change: The USB LED stays on steady in PS3 mode
once the USB has been initialized (it no longer continues to blink).
Release 2008.11.20a (20 Nov 2008)
This is a major release of both firmware and software to
add new features and bug fixes.
- New Feature: Support has been added for cymbals
in Rock Band 2. The Function switch is now active and is used to select between
different drum modes. In the UP position (position A), drum buttons 2, 3, and 4
function as the Yellow, Blue and Green cymbals in Rock Band 2. When in the DOWN
position (position B), the drum buttons function as the normal drums (Red,
Yellow, Blue, Green and Orange). NOTE: When the switch is in the UP
position, the Red and Orange buttons on the MIDI Rocker are not functional.
While playing notes on drums (or other instrument) plugged into the MIDI input,
it doesn't matter what position the Function switch is in -- the Function
switch is just used for selecting the function of the drum buttons on the MIDI
Rocker (drums or cymbals) during programming, or when "playing" using
the drum buttons on the MIDI Rocker.
- New Feature: the MIDI note velocity is now
transmitted to Rock Band and is used by Rock Band 2 to change the volume of a
note when you are playing in Freestyle mode or in a drum fill during a
song.
- New Feature: if you press the BACK button while
programming any of the drum buttons, it will erase all the MIDI note
assignments for that button.
- Bug Fix: fixes were made to the code that writes
to the EEPROM (memory where the note maps are stored) to improve
reliability.
- Bug Fix: The HOME button is now functional at all
times, both in Rock Band and in the XMB menus.
- Change: Pressing down on the nav button (the
little "joystick" on the MIDI Rocker) is now equivalent to pressing
the SELECT button on a Playstation controller.
- Change: The default MIDI note duration is now
40millisecs instead of 30millisecs. This seems to fix an issue with occasional
dropped notes with some setups.
- Change: the firmware has undergone a complete
overhaul to address many issues and add new features. The USB communication
code has been completely reworked to be more reliable and work better with the
PS3 and Rock Band 2.
- Change: USB LED behavior is now different. When
in PS3 mode, the LED flashes periodically indicating activity, in Xbox mode the
LED will stay on continuously.
- Change: the mechanism for communicating with the
PC when using the GUI program has been changed to improve reliability.
- NOTE: This version of the software requires version
2.1 (or greater) of the firmware.
- New Feature: Support has been added for the Rock
Band 2 cymbals
- New Feature: More diagnostic indicators have been
added to test the functions of various buttons.
- Change: The communication protocol with the MIDI
Rocker has been reworked to be more reliable.
Release 2008.11.6 (6 Nov 2008)
This release fixes a bug in the GUI software -- the MIDI
Note duration was not being displayed or set properly.
Release 2008.11.05 (5 Nov 2008)
The following changes have been made to the MIDI Rocker
firmware since V1.2. This new release is primarily aimed at improving stability
(fixing bugs) and adding initial compatibility with Rock Band 2.
- Fixed an EEPROM memory corruption issue when using
"Program 2" mode. Depending on the order in which buttons were
programmed, and how many notes where assigned to each button, this issue may or
may not have affected you. (EEPROM memory is where the note mappings are
stored). If you noticed any "wierdness" related to using Program 2
mode, these problems should now be fixed.
- Fixed a problem that would cause the MIDI port to stop
responding to incoming data if data was recieved while the system was busy
writing notes into non-volatile memory (EEPROM). This would especially occur if
you hit your drums while the MIDI Rocker was initializing after being first
plugged in. The MIDI LED would stop responding when this happened.
- Changed the USB protocol for Rock Band 2 compatibility.
The extra features of Rock Band 2 (cymbals and note velocities) or NOT
supported yet, but will be added in the next release.
- Changed so you can no longer program duplicate notes for
the same button in "Program 2" mode. The LED will remain lit and not
blink when you press a note which is already programmed to that button.
- Changed so you when you fill up all 10 note
"slots" for a drum button in program 2 mode, the LED will flash and
then go out. When this occurs, you can still replace the last note (in the 10th
slot) by pressing the drum button again and then hitting the note you want to
put in that slot.
The following are known problems or limitations which are
not addressed in this release, but will be fixed in a future release:
- Home button functionality - the Playstation does not
seem to always recognize the Home (or "PS") button on the MIDI
Rocker. This seems to be a side-effect of changes that were made to the
firmware for Rock Band 2 compatiblity. I will address this issue in the next
release.
- MIDI Note Duration setting - this version of the
firmware defaults to a note duration setting of 30 millisecs (displayed as
"3" in the old GUI software). Some users have reported problems with
dropped or missed notes using this setting and have reported that increasing it
to 40 millisecs fixes it. The next release of firmware will default to 40
millisecs.
- Fixed a timing issue in storing maps on to the MIDI
Rocker which would sometimes cause a map to note get stored properly.
Previous Changes:
- You can now "drag and drop" notes from the
drum note chart into slots under each output.
- A reminder message is displayed to check that the MIDI
Rocker is in "PS3" mode (set by the switch on the back).
- Cosmetic changes to the GUI to make it a little
cleaner.
The driver used to communicate with the MIDI Rocker when
updating the firmware (when the switch on the back is in the "Update"
position) has been updated. If you had problems previously, I recommend
updating to this new driver. The new driver is installed in the "Program
Files/Byte Arts/Driver" folder.