Yamaha QX-1 Floppy Emulation

[Ricoche]

Hi everyone,

There are quite a few Yamaha QX-1 sequencers floating around that use the Canon MDD221 5.25 DS/DD 96 TPI disk drive. The manual for the Canon drive can be found here: http://www.vintagecomputer.net/fjkraan/ ... 11_221.pdf

As in the link, the Canon MDD221 drive is also used in the TRS-80.

I actually do have an HxC floppy emulator but I get the infamous WEOE error. The HxC if correct does not allow you to initialize or format a disk. Thus in order for this to work, a Yamaha QX-1 image of an original initialized floppy is needed. Then one can convert the image using the HxC software and hopefully then it would work.

I can confirm though that the power and QX-1 disk commands do work when connected to the HxC Emulator. It just hangs on initializing the disk.

If I get any further I'll let you know.

[Jeff]

I actually do have an HxC floppy emulator but I get the infamous WEOE error. The HxC if correct does not allow you to initialize or format a disk. Thus in order for this to work, a Yamaha QX-1 image of an original initialized floppy is needed. Then one can convert the image using the HxC software and hopefully then it would work.

Yes, but this was before .
In your email box you can found the next generation firmware allowing you to format the disk image with the host machine !
For your machine, just select any DD disk image (~2MB HFE file) with the right interface mode (probably shugart) and format it with the Yamaha !

Let me know how the thing works !

[Ricoche]

WOW! PURE GENIUS.

I can confirm that my Yamaha QX-1 is up and running connected to the HxC floppy emulator. No Canon MDD221 disk drive required anymore. So far everything works but I'll update this post once I record a couple of sequences. Note that you will need to get adapters for the power cable and ribbon cable of course to connect the Yamaha QX-1 to the HxC.

Simply Brilliant!!!

You guys made my day.

Best regards,

Jim Atwood

[Ricoche]

Hi everyone,

Here's a quick video I put together on how I connected the HxC to the Yamaha QX-1.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cn4ixUbmyKc

[Ricoche]

Update:

The QX-1 no longer works with the updated HxC. Something in the HXCFE_V1_8_2_10a firmware killed it. Luckily I have a spare and can use the old HXCFE_V1_8_1_9a firmware with it. ALL NEW firmware updates kill the HxC for the QX-1. BEWARE!

I did an upgrade from HXCFE_V1_8_1_9a to HXCFE_V1_8_2_10a due to some erratic behavior on the HxC. A new update was sent to me a while back and I just got around to doing the update. I figure if it ain't broke, then don't fix it. Boy, did I mess up there. The update not only killed the QX-1 connection, but now I can't even revert, nor update to the next latest firmware. My HxC is caught in some sort of funky loop and I can't fix it. It works with other Roland samplers I have such as the S-50 and W-30, but no longer the QX-1. So I am now using my backup which is on HXCFE_V1_8_1_9a. I will NEVER update that one as I'm afraid to break it again with the QX-1.

I'm afraid the Yamaha QX-1 DOES NOT work with the HxC anymore with the newer firmware.

Sorry folks.

Jim

[Jeff]

Something in the HXCFE_V1_8_2_10a firmware killed it...

Ricoche ... you are talking about a 2 months old beta version firmware...
the question is why you didn't tried it before...

Anyway did you notice that a new version is available ? :

v1.8.2.24 :
https://hxc2001.com/download/floppy_driv ... rmware.zip

You have done something wrong during the update.
Take the emulator, connect it on another power supply and retry the update with the v1.8.2.24.

For sure there is no point at all with the QX1 here... And the lastest firmware still working with it...

EDIT : Also ->

My HxC is caught in some sort of funky loop and I can't fix it.

I don't understand well what this mean (please show me this in a video...) but :
Please overwrite the HXCSDFE.CFG on the sdcard with the default one present in this zip :
https://hxc2001.com/download/floppy_driv ... rmware.zip
i suspect a silly mistake by trying to use the old CFG file...

[Ricoche]

Lately I've been having hiccups with running the Yamaha QX-1 and the newly updated HxC v1.8.2.26 running on a rev C HxC Emulator. I actually had it working once and created some tracks but when I shut it down and turned it back on I now get only endless loops as shown in the video. Note that when I first turned on the HxC after the udpate, I got about 2-3 loops and then the Yamaha QX1 popped on. It worked flawlessly until I powered down and later turned it on again. It's now won't kick in and start at all. I may have to revisit the Config file, otherwise the HxC no longer works with Yamaha QX1 unfortunately. I'll keep trying.

Here is a video showing the loop. What puzzles me is that it worked perfectly after the update. I just can't get it to work again.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IdegN3gwWmQ

[Ricoche]

UPDATE:

I unchecked "Load last loaded floppy" in the config file and that seemed to stop the loop and allow me to get the QX-1 going. I then formatted a new blank floppy and "hopefully" all will be well now.

[Ricoche]

NOPE! Sorry folks! Still doesn't work. If I uncheck "Load last loaded floppy" it allowed me to load a floppy disk only once. Then when I restarted the QX1 it asked me to choose the floppy which is fine. When I tried to select the floppy it would not allow me to load it. I then reverted back to checking "Load last loaded floppy" in the config file and the looping started again. So far not much luck on getting this to work. Something is definitely broken from the firmware updates. No matter what, the HxC always reverts back to an endless loop.

This time I managed to get 6 tracks recorded using my QX1 and TX816 combo before the HxC crapped out. I'll try some additional settings and write an update later.

Thanks

Jim

[Ricoche]

Ok! I have no idea how, but the HxC was now able to load a floppy. I took this opportunity to format a fresh file from the QX1. In fact I had 5 floppies and am so far able to format each one by changing disk on the QX1 and loading up a new one with the HxC. I again disabled auto disk loading as that seems to create the endless loop. What remains to be seen is AFTER I record and save tracks to the newly formatted floppies whether I will be able to load or change disks. It's almost like the data from the QX1 is corrupting the floppies on the HxC which in turn causes it to loop. Basically everything works because I'm able to load, format, record, and save. However it's VERY VERY unstable. I'm hoping as I ensure everything is formatted and connected properly that the problems will get ironed out.

I've uploaded a 3rd video to my Youtube account showing the format stage of the QX1. You can see that I'm now able to format floppies on the HxC again using the latest firmware update.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tOShNhSnY0s

[Jeff]

Hi,

This look like to be a power supply problem.
the "brown out" circuit of the hxc reset it when the power supply fall under 4.5V.

I just sent to you a new firmware with this feature disabled. Let me know if this is ok with this one!

[Ricoche]

Thanks very much Jeff!

I'm on HxC ! : v1.8.2.26 right now. Fingers crossed I'm having some success.

After formatting 5 straight floppies on the HxC from the QX1, I seem to have no problems with recording now. I'm not sure what happened, but I was able to get through sequencing a song without issue. We'll see as I progress through the week if any further problems arise.

On another note, I did notice that on a couple of occasions before, the LCD screen turned off and that might have caused it to enter a loop a well. It kind of reminded me of a screen saver. I should check the config file to see if I can either disable or set that for a really long time. It seems the QX1 fails to access the HxC when the LCD shuts off. Does that make any sense I wonder.

I can now say the QX1 and HxC do work together. I'll be working on a couple of songs this week and will hopefully be able to confirm that everything is now stable. Thanks again!!

Jim

[Jeff]

For sure this is a power supply issue: bad connection or something like this.

Please use the v1.8.2.28a which reduce the hxc sensivity to such problem.

[Ricoche]

It looks like Firmware update v1.8.2.28a might have solved my issue. I finished a song this evening without one problem at all with the Yamaha QX1 and HxC Emulator!