elekloader
A mod loader for Elektron firmware. You pick mods and supply the stock OS file Elektron publishes for your device. elekloader builds a custom OS file on your own machine, and you flash it the way you flash any OS update.
- Nothing from Elektron is distributed. A mod (
.elemod) carries only its author's bytes, the short instruction fragments needed to hook the OS, and hashes of the stock bytes it expects. Every build starts from your own stock file, recognised by its hash. - The bootloader is never touched. Mods change the main OS, and on the Digitone II a SHARC mod may also change the DSP's section 7, inside fixed limits. Each output file is re-read and verified before it is written. So the stock OS file always recovers the device.
- Mods are checked against each other before anything is built. Two mods may not touch the same bytes, claim the same memory or the same named resource, or leave a requirement unmet.
| Device | OS | Status |
|---|---|---|
| Digitakt (mk1) | 1.53, 1.54 | supported |
| Digitakt II | 1.17 | experimental: whole builds (format-1 mods) and linkable mods with its own core (the hook bus's tick, draw, key and encoder events), sealed as the unit checks them; boots in digikit's emulator; core with a key-swap mod works on a unit (Transfer over USB) |
| Digitone (mk1) and Digitone Keys | 1.43, 1.44 | supported |
| Digitone II | 1.12 | experimental: whole builds, linkable mods, SHARC mods (one mod's code on the DSP, at the master output, in mono) and selectable synth and filter mods through the mk2 machine interface; UI events and remote input checked on a unit, and sine variants with the same DSP bridge and layout ran ten-minute note sweeps and limited project/effects checks there (device evidence, DSP evidence and limits) |
| Octatrack (MKI and MKII) | 1.40C | supported: whole builds (format-1 mods); linkable mods with its own core: boots on an MKII, not yet run on an MKI |
| Model:Cycles, Model:Samples | 1.13 | supported: linkable mods with their own core (the hook bus's tick, draw, key and encoder events); builds work on both units (Transfer over USB) |
| Analog Rytm MKII | 1.74 | supported: linkable mods with its own core (the hook bus's tick, draw, key, encoder, SETTINGS and render events); builds with the core work on a unit (Transfer over USB) |
| Analog Four MKII | 1.56 | experimental: linkable mods with its own core, a proof of concept (core-a4: the Analog Rytm MKII's hook bus and mod storage); the hook bus, mod storage, the unused DDR and recovery checked on a unit (hooks-check-a4, store-check-a4, ddr-canary-a4) |
| other Elektron devices | planned: see docs/DEVICES.md |
Get started
- In your browser, nothing to install: https://elekloader.github.io/elekloader/. Drop in your stock OS file, add mods from its shop or your own, build, and download the result. Your files are never uploaded.
- Windows or macOS: the apps on Releases, with the core mods built in.
- From source, on any system: Python 3.9 or newer and nothing else:
python -m elekloader.
Each way needs the stock OS file for your device, exactly as Elektron
publishes it; the .zip from Elektron's site works as it is.
docs/INSTALL.md says which file each device needs and
how each way starts.
Then tick your mods and build. Send the .syx to the unit with Elektron
Transfer, as for any OS update; the Octatrack takes its .bin from the
card. See docs/BUILDING.md.
If a custom OS will not start: the bootloader is never changed, so the
stock OS file always restores the unit. On a Digitakt mk1, a Digitakt II,
a Digitone mk1 or a Digitone II, hold FUNC while powering on for the
startup menu, press TRIG 4 for OS UPGRADE, and send the stock .syx
with Transfer's legacy OS upgrade mode (on the Digitakt II and the Digitone
II, over its MIDI ports: not USB; the Digitone II's recovery was checked
with stock 1.12 on a unit). On the
Octatrack, hold FUNC while powering on, press TRIG 3 for MIDI
UPGRADE, and send the stock .syx over 5-pin DIN MIDI (USB MIDI does not
work for this). On a Model:Cycles or Model:Samples, hold FUNC while
powering on, press TRIG 4 for OS UPGRADE, and send the stock .syx over
5-pin DIN MIDI. On an Analog Rytm MKII, hold FUNC while powering on for
the STARTUP menu, press TRIG 4 for OS UPGRADE, and send the stock .syx
over 5-pin DIN MIDI (not USB). The Analog Four MKII's is the Rytm's: FUNC
at power-on, TRIG 4, the stock .syx over 5-pin DIN MIDI.
Mods
Mods are .elemod files: a whole build in one file, or linkable mods that
combine, on top of the core mod for your device. Cores add things of
their own. On the Digitone, for example, holding a track key opens the Mod
Menu, where you pick what your mods add (docs/CORES.md):
Find mods in the web page's shop, or write your own: docs/ADAPTING.md takes you from the first build to done. Made one? Publish it in a GitHub release and fill in the Submit a mod form: a check reads your files and opens the shop's pull request for you. After that, your newer releases reach the shop by themselves (Your mod in the shop).
Contributions are welcome and encouraged. The core grows from what mods need: when yours needs an event, a table or a firmware address the core lacks, a pull request that adds it is the intended path (Growing the core). So are new devices, OS versions, fixes and docs (CONTRIBUTING.md). For something to start on, Contribute to elekloader! has the community's to-do list for the core.
Documentation
The docs are elekloader's wiki:
| for | pages |
|---|---|
| Using it | Install · Build, flash and recover · Cores · The web page |
| Writing mods | Adapting your mod · Growing the core · Contribute · The file format · Adding a device · coding agents: AGENTS.md |
| On your own site | The kit · The engine in TypeScript |
| Maintaining it | Releasing · The apps · Tests |
Licence
GPL-2.0-or-later. See LICENSE, and NOTICE for the code that comes from digikit and for the credits. elekloader is not affiliated with Elektron. Flashing custom firmware is at your own risk.