Roland Soundbrush SB-55

HxC Floppy Emulator Roland Samplers/Keyboards support
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acoutron
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Joined: Wed May 04, 2011 11:16 am

Roland Soundbrush SB-55

Post by acoutron »

hi,
can you tell me if the emulator will work in this machine?
thanx!

Jeff
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Re: Roland Soundbrush SB-55

Post by Jeff »

acoutron wrote:hi,
can you tell me if the emulator will work in this machine?
thanx!
Probably but never tested!

Gutkid
Posts: 5
Joined: Mon Dec 19, 2016 1:06 am

Re: Roland Soundbrush SB-55

Post by Gutkid »

Jeff,
I have an SD Slim I bought several years back to try to get working with a Roland SB-55. I became frustrated and lost interest. Since then I have tried once again to see If I could get it to work and saw various post about other pieces of Roland Equipment that also used a Chinon FZ354 Floppy drive. I have four of these which are an integrated part of our band's performance. The SB-55 is convenient and compact that I do not want to used a computer. So, I would really like to find an alternative for the Chinon FZ354. The SD Slim seems to be exactly what I'm looking for...if I can get it to work. I hope with your help I can. I have been in touch with Roland and they are no help.

The Jumpers on the Chinon FZ354 are on as follows:
DS0
MM
Ready

Also, I have read through the directions for the Dip switch settings, but I'm a bit confused on exactly how they should be set.
I had only the first (S1) switch set, but I'm not sure if this is correct.
I need help with how to setup the SD card so it is recognized by the SB-55.

I bit of background on the SB-55
The SB-55 works by loading a portion of a MIDI file into its local memory and sends the MIDI data out to the keyboard. As the Memory is completely read or becomes depleted, the SB-55 reads more of the MIDI file from the disk and refills the local memory. It does this until the MIDI file is done playing then stops. The SB-55 only uses 720K disks for this purpose.

I have loaded the latest firmware and I believe the correct operational software. Not sure what else to do.

Can you help????

If I can get it to work I will be buying more. :D

Jeff
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Re: Roland Soundbrush SB-55

Post by Jeff »

Set the first switch.
Is this machine using dos type disk readable by a computer ?

Gutkid
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Joined: Mon Dec 19, 2016 1:06 am

Re: Roland Soundbrush SB-55

Post by Gutkid »

Yes. The disks are readable by a computer. I'm not sure if they are FAT12 or FAT32.
My guess because of 720k formatting they are probably FAT12.

Gutkid
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Joined: Mon Dec 19, 2016 1:06 am

Re: Roland Soundbrush SB-55

Post by Gutkid »

However, when I format the disks, it is in Windows. The machine itself has an "Initialization" feature.
I believe this si the same as formatting because it allows you to read the disk on a PC.

Jeff
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Re: Roland Soundbrush SB-55

Post by Jeff »

Gutkid wrote:However, when I format the disks, it is in Windows. The machine itself has an "Initialization" feature.
I believe this si the same as formatting because it allows you to read the disk on a PC.
set the ID0-A (1) switch to ON and unpack this zip to the root of the sdcard :

https://hxc2001.com/download/floppy_driv ... NDEXED.zip

Gutkid
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Joined: Mon Dec 19, 2016 1:06 am

Re: Roland Soundbrush SB-55

Post by Gutkid »

:D :D :D
That did it!!! Thank you very much!!!

I will be testing the full capability of the SB-55 with its new SD Slim. How large of a Disk-Image can I effectively create and have work with this configuration?

Could you explain to me what parameters I needed to select(or how I needed to set this up) to have this work as it does? I want to learn more. Also, when I create a Disk Image, given how I explained that this worked, what is the best Image to create? There is a long list of images available.

Do you all sell the standard size case only? This slim is only the board. The case configuration might be the best way to mount it.

Please add this to your compatibility list as "being tested". I want everyone who has an Roland SB-55 to know that there is a very nice upgrade for it. :o

Thank you again!!! 8)

Gutkid
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Joined: Mon Dec 19, 2016 1:06 am

Re: Roland Soundbrush SB-55

Post by Gutkid »

Jeff,
Could you show a screen shot of the "SDCard HxC Floppy Emulator settings" Configuration screen with the correct settings that made this work? I want to learn more about how this was setup

opjose
Posts: 1
Joined: Mon Sep 20, 2021 1:56 am

Re: Roland Soundbrush SB-55

Post by opjose »

In case anyone is searching this topic.

The HXC firmware works great with the Roland Soundbrush SB-55.

Here are some tips:

Remove the M0 and S1 jumpers on the GoTek and instead install a jumper on S0.
You can install a speaker on the JB jumper if desired. The OLED screen and rotary/switch are also good to do but see below.

Once you have the GoTek flashed, use the controls to configure it as follows.

Interface CFG : Shugart or EMU-Shugart (I use the latter)
System Family: IBM PC/XT
User Interface: Normal
Auto Select : No Auto Select

Then place 720K DOS Floppy images on the root of the drive with your files and/or use a 720K blank floppy image as "/mount/emptyfat.img".

If you will be using mounted folders, make sure that each directory/folder name ends with ".mnt"; e.g. RolandDemos.mnt
Then each folder should contain NO MORE than 720KB worth of files.

Note that some non-alphanumeric characters cause the building of the mount.img disc to fail or freeze up. Apparently this is a bug.

You can select the image you want loaded via the rotary knob or buttons.

When you turn on the SB-55 the disk light should turn off immediately letting the unit start up and show the three dashes " - - - " as normal.

When you mount a valid image in the Gotek using a USB drive, the disk light (and the Gotek's LED" will flash and the SB-55 should try to start playing the first song it finds in the image.

Remember that your images and folders MUST only be 720K in size. This is a limitation of the Roland SB-55 not the HxC firmware.

Re: Mounting GoTek

There is a 3D printable "sled" available on Thingiverse that will accept the Gotek with OLED screen and can be mounted in the SB-55 without modification. But this does not permit the installation of the rotary switch.

I carefully removed the front cover and cut a hole for the GoTek with rotary switch. Then I used a small rectangular piece of black plastic to hide the actual cut and give the installation a factory look.

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