Fourbanks mode external is not working

DJTT Gear & Custom Mods Midi Fighters
1

Fourbanks mode external is not working

If i have Fourbanks mode activated and some buttons attached to the digital inputs, i receive two midi notes of my digital inputs. Actually its switching between two notes. After pressing one of the external buttons its switching to one note. but it doesnt seem to be like in Fourbanks mode internal at all. Sometimes the notes are switching if i press one of the external buttons, sometimes they dont.

I had the same problem with one button soldered directly and also with four buttons breadboarded for testing.

Fourbanks mode internal works great as it should. Also the activated digital and analog inputs ive tested with activated internal mode or just in “normal” mode, worked great.

I have a new MF with the latest Firmware.

Has anyone tested this before or had similar problems?

I’m sorry, my english isnt the best. Thank you for helping.

Edit: I took everything off the digital and analog inputs and tested it again. The MF is still constantly switching between two midi notes. This happens only in Fourbanks mode external.

the notes are: C-1/D#-1

For testing this, you have to activate the digital inputs first and then activate the Fourbanks mode external. Else you wont get a signal from the digital inputs.

Any solutions? Should i flash the firmware again?

Edit2: Ive flashed the firmware again and had a successful flash but i still got the “switching notes” problem in fourbanks external mode.

2

4-banks mode sends a “Bank Select” note on a keydown so that the software can work out which bank is currently active and act accordingly (i.e. set modifiers in Traktor). When you change bank the MF send a note-off for the currently selected bank to tell us the bank has been deselected and then sends a note-on for the newly selected bank. This way the state is kept consistent. This is why you’re seeing two notes on a bank change.

Additionally the Bank buttons also have their own note which sends a note-on when the key is depressed and a note-off when it is released. We use this additional note for special effects so that in 4-banks internal mode the bank buttons can serve dual purpose - switch banks and, if you hit the currently selected bank, do something else (like reset the effects or toggle a window swap).

So it sounds like it’s acting correctly, just probably a little more than you expected!

3

Its constantly switching, before i touch anything. I dont think this is normal.

The external mode should act like the internal. Except in Fourbanks mode external, the bank buttons are external, right? But i have no strange switching in internal mode. Also in internal mode, i always get the same note from one of the digital inputs, in every one of the 4 banks.

theres definitely something wrong here.

Sendt you a pm with a video ive recorded, to show the problem.

Thank you for helping me out.

4

You’ve not connected anything to the digital pins, so you’ve got an open circuit. Expect randomness when you have an open circuit!

Having said that, we do enable the internal pull-ups on the digital inputs so you shouldn’t be getting random firing of an open pin.

5

sounds logical but i had the same issue with 4 buttons connected to all 4 digital pins.

Edit: I mean inputs not pins, sorry.

6

So you connect one side of the switches to the digital pins, and the other side of the switch to… where?

7

I mean 4 digital inputs not pins, sorry. I had 4 buttons connected to the digital inputs so the circuit was closed. The buttons only have two pins each, one goes to ground, one to the input.

But if its normal to have random notes if the circuit is open, why i dont have any random notes in “normal” and internal mode? Actually there not random its always the same two notes.

Edit: Now ive tested with the first digital input activated and a button attached to the first digital input. The circuit should be also closed, right? But i still got the strange switching notes.

Edit2: I had the chance to test a friends mf, his unit had the same problem.

8

Ive tested all kinds of settings, connections, buttons, wires etc. now, to eliminate any kind of hardware and software related problems and i always had the same described result.

Can someone share his experiences, who tested fourbanks external with 4 buttons connected to the digital inputs. And the latest Firmware on the mf.

I always had the strange note switching and bank select did not work properly.

Any Idea?

9

Try and get a hold of sidetrakd he made an awesome MF custom controller,
He might be able to help

10

You could try putting in some pull-up resistors? Fatlimey has enabled the internal pull-ups in the Atmel but you could try it just to rule it out.

Connect your button as normal and put a 10k resistor from 5v to input.

Can we get a few pictures or video? Have you definitely ruled out bad solder joints/broken wires?

11

Ive sent you a video of the switching notes.

Without pull-up resistors i have random notes, right?
but i always have the same two notes, theyre not random. And only until i hit one of the bank buttons. I dont think its because i dont use a resistor.

At the moment i have everything breadboarded also the header is only plugged to the connections for testing. But i tried all kinds of variations and had always the same result.

Do you have a mf with latest firmware and working fourbanks mode extrenal?

12

First solder in the header as that could be the problem.
Even when soldered a bad solder joint could cause glitchy values.

The “random” notes without pull-ups aren’t exactly random it will be what ever note is assigned to the button that doesn’t have a pull-up. So if you have two buttons without pull-ups you will have two notes

13

But the note switching appears only in fourbanks mode external, not in “normal” and internal mode.

If the problem is the fact that i have no resistors, i should get random notes in all modes, right?

I can hardly believe the non soldered header is the problem. The Arcade Buttons arent soldered too. And i plugged the header in a similar way.

Who has a mf with latest firmware and proper working fourbanks mode external?

14

If the external buttons are causing the problem then no you would not have problems in any other mode.

From my experience I can tell you that a bad solder joint can cause unstable values.
The arcade buttons are plugged into sockets that have a good connection
I still think your problem is most likely the plugged in header.
Solder it in properly and see what happens

edit: Yes I have tried my midifighter with external banks and it works

15

Thanks for your answers. I’ll give it a try and solder the header.

But one thing i still dont understand, why should the external buttons only causing problems in external mode and not in the other modes?

16

The external buttons only get read when in external mode, so you won’t see any problems when this is not enabled.

17

But the external buttons/digital inputs also get read in “normal” and internal mode, if i have the digital inputs activated. As additional buttons for example. I did that and it workd without note switching. So why it should only causing problems in external mode?

18

Oh thats a good point. So, the buttons work fine as MIDI notes, but not to switch banks?

19

Right, they work properly as midi notes in internal and “normal” mode.

If i turn on external mode, before i touch anything i have these strange switching notes until i hit one of the external buttons. Then i can switch banks but it doesnt work properly, this is difficult to describe but i can do you a video of my midi logger.

The switching notes are always 0/3, or in notes C-1/D#-1

20

This is my midi log in external mode, as you can see its not constant.

Time			Source		State		Ch.	Note	Velo.
-------------------------------------
Strange note switching:
-------------------------------------
10:13:55.184	From Midifighter	Note On		3	0	127
10:13:55.185	From Midifighter	Note Off	3	0	127
10:13:55.194	From Midifighter	Note On		3	3	127
10:13:55.195	From Midifighter	Note Off	3	3	127
10:13:55.205	From Midifighter	Note On		3	0	127
10:13:55.205	From Midifighter	Note Off	3	0	127
10:13:55.215	From Midifighter	Note On		3	3	127
10:13:55.216	From Midifighter	Note Off	3	3	127
10:13:55.225	From Midifighter	Note On		3	0	127
10:13:55.235	From Midifighter	Note Off	3	0	127
10:13:55.235	From Midifighter	Note On		3	3	127
10:13:55.236	From Midifighter	Note Off	3	3	127
-------------------------------------
Button 1 / Digital Input 1:
-------------------------------------
10:13:55.225	From Midifighter	Note On		3	0	127
10:13:55.235	From Midifighter	Note Off	3	0	127
10:13:55.235	From Midifighter	Note On		3	3	127
10:13:55.236	From Midifighter	Note Off	3	3	127
-------------------------------------
Button 2 / Digital Input 2:
-------------------------------------
10:14:05.578	From Midifighter	Note On		3	1	127
10:14:05.588	From Midifighter	Note Off	3	1	127
10:14:05.588	From Midifighter	Note On		3	2	127
10:14:05.589	From Midifighter	Note Off	3	2	127
-------------------------------------
Button 3 / Digital Input 3:
-------------------------------------
10:14:15.687	From Midifighter	Note On		3	2	127
10:14:15.833	From Midifighter	Note Off	3	2	127
-------------------------------------
Button 4 / Digital Input 4:
-------------------------------------
10:14:39.579	From Midifighter	Note On		3	3	127
10:14:39.589	From Midifighter	Note Off	3	3	127
10:14:39.589	From Midifighter	Note On		3	0	127
10:14:39.590	From Midifighter	Note Off	3	0	127
-------------------------------------
Button 3 / Digital Input 3:
-------------------------------------
10:14:50.497	From Midifighter	Note On		3	2	127
10:14:50.507	From Midifighter	Note Off	3	2	127
10:14:50.507	From Midifighter	Note On		3	1	127
10:14:50.509	From Midifighter	Note Off	3	1	127
-------------------------------------
Button 2 / Digital Input 2:
-------------------------------------
10:15:03.707	From Midifighter	Note On		3	1	127
10:15:03.847	From Midifighter	Note Off	3	1	127
-------------------------------------
Button 1 / Digital Input 1:
-------------------------------------
10:15:13.447	From Midifighter	Note On		3	0	127
10:15:13.457	From Midifighter	Note Off	3	0	127
10:15:13.457	From Midifighter	Note On		3	3	127
10:15:13.459	From Midifighter	Note Off	3	3	127
-------------------------------------

Digital input 1 is note 3, input 2 is note 2, input 3 is note 1 and input 4 is note 0.

In external mode the note switching appears also without connected anything to the digital inputs. Theres no note switching in the other modes with activated digital inputs.