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    GM40 Remote with Win10

    kladoa
    kladoa


    Posts : 2
    Join date : 2020-10-21

    GM40 Remote with Win10 Empty GM40 Remote with Win10

    Post by kladoa Wed Oct 21, 2020 2:55 am

    Hello together,
    I use the following equipment:
    Hughes & Kettner GM40
    Hughes & Kettner FSM-432 MKIII
    Roland USB Midi UM-One Interface
    Hughes & Kettner Remote v. 1. 0
    Windows 10-64bit

    If I want to switch from amp to library in the remote it wouldn't work an i get several error messages

    Since I don’t know anything about matter at all, I ask for help here in the board.
    Greeting Klaus
    bordonbert
    bordonbert


    Posts : 1790
    Join date : 2015-01-28
    Age : 72
    Location : Southern England

    GM40 Remote with Win10 Empty Re: GM40 Remote with Win10

    Post by bordonbert Thu Oct 22, 2020 9:32 am

    Hi Kladoa.  It seems you have the right hardware at least.  One thing often missed in MIDI work is that the hardware, in particular your MIDI interface, must support Sysex data transfer.  This is a system where messages are not fixed to the size of the general MIDI protocol.  The Sysex data blocks can be longer than normal.  This is a requirement for the H&K system to work.  Your Roland UM-One interface seems to support this.  Being a known make like Roland means I would have assumed it would.

    So we are left with two main possibilities.  Either the problem is in the connections or the problem is in the setup.  I'm sure you will have at least most of this correct if not all of it.  It may help others who come across this without any knowledge at all so I'll make it as simple and complete as I can.  If anyone else who knows more about MIDI than myself has anything to correct or add, please do!

    How do you currently have your wiring connections between the devices?  You should have the interface plugged into the USB of your controlling Win10 machine of course.  For the other inter-unit connections, here is the advice from the H&K manual:

    H&K FSM432-MkIII User Manual wrote:The "MIDI In" of the MFS-432 MK III is necessary for the use of GrandMeister 36 in combination with the GrandMeister iPad app and a MIDI interface. Connect the MIDI In of your FSM-432 with the MIDI output of the interface and the MIDI Out of the FSM-432 with the amp’s MIDI input. The amp’s MIDI output should be connected with  the  interface’s  MIDI  input.  Learn  more  about  this  feature in the manual of the GrandMeister iPad app. You  can  also  use  the  MIDI  In  to  connect  other  MIDI  devices that can send program changes. In this case, the FSM-432 serves as a true MIDI merger forwarding the MIDI information from MIDI In to MIDI Out

    Personally I think that could be a little clearer!  The interface will have 5 pin DIN Input and Output connectors.  For the UM-One these are shown by the arrows moulded into the plugs on the end which point either to or from the interface unit case.  The MIDI designations for In and Out seem to be standardised to refer to the unit they are on so you do not connect an In with another In or the same for Out.  So for anyone trying to set this up from scratch, the info is NOT easily findable out there!  The interconnects follow this pattern:

    *Output DeviceMarkingConnect ToInput DeviceMarking
    1)Interface OUT----{>>>>>|  ] FSM432 INMIDI IN
    2)FSM432 OUTMIDI OUTAmp INMIDI In
    3)Amp OUTMIDI Out/ThruInterface IN----{<<<<<|  ]
    Assuming all that is correct, make sure you have the channel set correctly for both In and Out under the MIDI menu. You need to have both Device and Channel set correctly for both Input and Output.  Here is the info from the manual which guides you on this:

    H&K GM40D User Manual wrote:As you’ve learned in chapter 2.2, presets can only be changed via MIDI. Sender (controller) and receiver (amp) must use the same channel.  The factory default is MIDI channel 1 and “Omni On”.  If  the amp does not react to program changes properly, the MIDI channel has to be changed.

    Setting MIDI channels and switching Omni On/Off:  Flip the Play/Standby switch to Standby. Now press and hold Noise Gate and FX Loop simultaneously for three seconds. The Store button will light up. This assigns special programming functions to the following LEDs and buttons:
    • FX-Access: lights up to indicate GrandMeister Deluxe 40 is configured to receive incoming program changes via all MIDI channels (Omni On, default). If the LED is not illuminated, the amp receives messages via the selected channel only (Omni Off). To change the Omni mode, just press the FX Access button.
    • Noise Gate now serves as a +1/up button, FX Loop now serves as a -1/down button. Use these buttons to change the MIDI channel.
    • When  configuring  MIDI  channels,  the  four  Channel  LEDs  serve  to  indicate the MIDI channels. Consult the table below for the MIDI channel assignments. They show what in tech-speak is called binary code.

    The binary code representations are then listed using the four Channel LEDs as "bit indicators".  You may well be a mathematician or programmer who has that at his fingertips but don't worry if you are no binary expert, it isn't necessary to be, it's just a pattern representing a number from 1 to 16.  (Pedantic me will point out that it is worth noting that it is actually from 0-15 + 1).  First check that Omni On is selected for input signals, (that is the first bullet point in the Manual list above).  Now check in the app that your controller device has a channel selected for its input signals and the correct device which it is set to receive signals from, your Roland UM-One.  I'm rusty on the use of this app but I think you will find this under the 'MIDI' menu.  You should also see the output device there which I think should be the FSM432, I could be wrong on that.  However, playing with these selections should connect up correctly at some point.

    Now try using the MIDI monitor in the app to see what is happening. You will find it in Tools -> MIDI Monitor, or use Ctrl+M. Then under 'View' set the Monitor to display Raw Data and both In and Out in the monitor's View menu. You will see a pink box and a green box which should show you data passing in and out of the interface.  You should then be able to see what messages are being passed around when you make changes at the iPad and at the amp.

    Keep playing with all of this until you see messages passing both ways every time you make a change at the amp, the FSM432 or the Controller.  Let us know if this doesn't sort out your problem and we can look deeper.  And also let us know if it does!

    I know my electronics but I'm no MIDI expert, there are people around who know a lot more on this than I do. Hopefully one of them will maybe confirm this and offer more options if it turns out to be something complicated.




    EDIT:  On rereading this something has just exploded in my head.  As I mentioned in passing above, the current channel selection on the amp is displayed as a binary number.  ONLY IT ABSOLUTELY ISN'T!  I should have made more of that.  A binary number of 4 bits, that is the four channel LEDs, represents the numbers 0 to 15.  Our channel selection has no channel 0, it is from 1 to 16.  This is the same number overall but if you confuse the two you will be one digit out and the devices will be talking on different channels.  Consider this example:

    If the LEDs on the amp show:- Clean-ON,  Crunch-OFF, Lead-ON, Ultra-OFF, this should represent the binary number 8+2=10.  The manual shows this as channel 11.  If you do think in binary (as I do) and calculate the number the LEDs represent in your head, you must be careful to calculate the number then add 1 to it to get the channel it represents.  If you saw that was binary 10 and put channel 10 into the app as the channel you now have the amp on 11 and the app on 10.  No communication!

    Hope that is clear.


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    kladoa
    kladoa


    Posts : 2
    Join date : 2020-10-21

    GM40 Remote with Win10 Empty Re: GM40 Remote with Win10

    Post by kladoa Mon Oct 26, 2020 2:05 pm

    Hi bordonbert,
    Thanks for the quick response. I'll try this tomorrow or. . . I'm hoping to get somewhere with this.
    VG Klaus

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