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 Forum index » Instruments and Equipment » Waldorf
uWave 1 OS update etc
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Oli



Joined: May 21, 2008
Posts: 250
Location: i think before i ambient
G2 patch files: 1

PostPosted: Fri Jul 31, 2009 10:34 pm    Post subject: uWave 1 OS update etc
Subject description: Updating OS, replacing battery, dumping sounds, etc
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Hi,

Just thought I would share my recent experience with a uWave 1. Mine is the original revision A, with Curtis 3389 analogue VCA/filter chips.

I bought it pretty cheaply (in my estimation) from a recording studio which has recently lost its musician.

It had old OS 1.20 ROMs installed, and had also lost its internal programs.

...

The original EPROM labels had dried up and peeled off the chips. I used photos from this site to determine which chips contained the high and low bytes. The high byte chip is the one closest to the front panel, and the low byte chip is the one closest to the rear panel.

I installed a new CR2032 battery into the battery holder, for the internal program memory.

Last step was to dump some patches/wave data into the instrument. I haven't done this for quite some years, and I couldn't find the old programs I used to use. Sound files on Waldforf's site are stored as either .mid or .syx format.

I tried sending the dumps from Sonar, but couldn't get that to work, though I am new to Sonar. I couldn't see how to insert a MIDI or sysex file into a track, for sending. I read that one can simply open the .mid file as a project for this. I tried that, and Sonar will send the file (somewhere?), though I couldn't see any way to specify which MIDI port/channel to send to. I really don't know Sonar very well, as yet.

In the end, I used MIDIOX to send the .syx files, which worked well, though I haven't yet tried a MIDI file player for the .mid files. I will try Windows Media Player Classic, sending through MIDIOX tonight.

Dumping the sounds into the instrument appears to write to single program banks A and B only. I haven't read my manuals yet, though it seems that banks C and D may be reserved for loading from memory card slot. The multi program banks A and B were not written to, and still contain garbled data from the battery drop out memory loss. I'm not sure what multi programs are, though I expect they are either layered patches, or multitimbral set ups. I haven't yet figured out how to initialise these.

Overall, I'm pretty happy with the outcome.

There is one other thing which I think is worth mentioning, for anyone who may buy one of these. When I received my unit in the post, the brackets holding the encapsulated transformer to the back of the enclosure had smashed. These are just plastic, and I believe have become brittle with age. I think the plastic is too thin for the mass of the transformer anyway. I mention this because it is a common issue with posting these instruments. I remedied the situation with a cable tie harness, which is sufficient for now. I may make up a replacement bracket to strap the thing on more permanently.

The rack ears were also bent in the post, but that's hardly news Wink .

Next thing is to explore the sounds. Waldorf host several of the sound sets on their site, though there are several third party collections which are not available there. I would be pretty happy to preview some of these. I guess I may have to scour eBay for these.

Anyway, hope that helps for anyone who may be interested in this old girl. Methinks she still has some life in her yet.

Cheers,

Oli

edit - should have mentioned, as seen in the photos linked to, the revision A and B uWaves have their ROMs in different locations

edit 2 - Some content removed by author due to potential illegality

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Oli



Joined: May 21, 2008
Posts: 250
Location: i think before i ambient
G2 patch files: 1

PostPosted: Sun Aug 02, 2009 4:03 am    Post subject: Reply with quote  Mark this post and the followings unread

A little follow up. MIDIOX does come with a MIDI file player, which could be used to transfer the Wladorf .mid format sysex dumps.

However, I was getting error messages when trying to use it. Apparently I have to sort out an issue with a Windows Media Control Interface (MCI) in order to use it.

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Oli



Joined: May 21, 2008
Posts: 250
Location: i think before i ambient
G2 patch files: 1

PostPosted: Sun Aug 02, 2009 6:45 am    Post subject: Reply with quote  Mark this post and the followings unread

ah, follow up, just me being daft.

MIDIOX MIDI file player, MIDIBar, uses the Microsoft MCI midiseq.dll, which is rather poor at handling any sysex content. The sysex send function of MIDIOX works fine for .syx files, but can't be used for .mid files.

Got the dumps sorted with Sonar.

Overall, I have enjoyed some of the mellow PPG textures, but haven't yet seen much that's inspiring. I guess I will have to explore some patching of my own to get that.

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Oli



Joined: May 21, 2008
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Location: i think before i ambient
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PostPosted: Sat Aug 08, 2009 3:03 am    Post subject: Reply with quote  Mark this post and the followings unread

Follow up: received an email from Waldorf, saying it would be OK for me to copy an EPROM from another synth, to get OS 2.0 running for myself. I have already found an OS image for myself. I replied to the email, asking if it would be OK for the image to be hosted on a forum, and also if I may burn chips for other users, without profit to myself.
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yezaev



Joined: Jan 06, 2009
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Location: Colorado

PostPosted: Sat Sep 19, 2009 10:01 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote  Mark this post and the followings unread

Oli wrote:
Follow up: received an email from Waldorf, saying it would be OK for me to copy an EPROM from another synth, to get OS 2.0 running for myself. I have already found an OS image for myself. I replied to the email, asking if it would be OK for the image to be hosted on a forum, and also if I may burn chips for other users, without profit to myself.

you'd be a hero for many if you did this or provided instructions for others. the main choice most have is watching german ebay for long periods of time...
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Oli



Joined: May 21, 2008
Posts: 250
Location: i think before i ambient
G2 patch files: 1

PostPosted: Sun Sep 20, 2009 10:15 am    Post subject: Reply with quote  Mark this post and the followings unread

Hi, sorry, the update is that it was forbidden for me to make this public. The situation is complicated somewhat with the situation with Waldorf's history. I was told that I could be pragmatic about this, in private (pm sent).
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cappy2112



Joined: Dec 24, 2004
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Location: San Jose, California
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PostPosted: Sat Jan 09, 2010 10:24 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote  Mark this post and the followings unread

Oli wrote:
Hi, sorry, the update is that it was forbidden for me to make this public. The situation is complicated somewhat with the situation with Waldorf's history. I was told that I could be pragmatic about this, in private (pm sent).


http://www.waldorf-forum.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/user-forum

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