fm1-break-choppah

The post for Dogs on Acid, the drum and bass forum.

• CHOPPAH now has a thread to be posted in on Dogs on Acid — the drum and bass forum that has been running since 2001, and the right place for an open-source break chopper. The text is in docs/promo/POSTS.md, section 5b, ready to paste into the "Deals/free/opensource CENTRAL!!!" thread.
• The promotion kit is up to date: every catalogue says where CHOPPAH stands now, and the remaining hand-written posts (Reddit, Discord, the blogs) are written and waiting.

The firmware itself is unchanged: eight Amen-family breaks, sixteen slices each, a live generator, a four-slot FX chain and a DJ filter — and it installs on the newer units with the UC25HQ80 flash.

The letter to the Firmware Hub is sent.

• The mail went out on 4 November 2026, from Laurens' own address. It names release v0.89 and the package that goes with it, and carries only what the Hub's rules ask for: the name, the maker, the repository with the release, the identity, the licence, and that it was tested on a real FM-1 and you can leave it again.
• Everything else the Hub shows — what the firmware does, the picture, the manual, the browser version — comes from fmhub.json in the repository root, so it can be changed there without mailing again.
• The letter's status is in docs/hub/SENT.md.

The firmware itself is unchanged: eight Amen-family breaks, sixteen slices each, a live generator, a four-slot FX chain and a DJ filter — and it installs on the newer units with the UC25HQ80 flash.

The letter to the Firmware Hub is sent.

• The mail went out on 4 November 2026, from Laurens' own address. It names release v0.89 and the package that goes with it, and carries only what the Hub's rules ask for: the name, the maker, the repository with the release, the identity, the licence, and that it was tested on a real FM-1 and you can leave it again.
• Everything else the Hub shows — what the firmware does, the picture, the manual, the browser version — comes from fmhub.json in the repository root, so it can be changed there without mailing again.
• The letter's status is in docs/hub/SENT.md.

The firmware itself is unchanged: eight Amen-family breaks, sixteen slices each, a live generator, a four-slot FX chain and a DJ filter — and it installs on the newer units with the UC25HQ80 flash.

The letter to the Firmware Hub, at this release.

• The letter names this release and the package that goes with it, and carries only what the Hub's rules ask for: the name, the maker, the repository with the release, the identity, the licence, and that it was tested on a real FM-1 and you can leave it again.
• Everything else the Hub shows — what the firmware does, the picture, the manual, the browser version — comes from fmhub.json in the repository root, so it can be changed there without mailing again.

The firmware itself is unchanged: eight Amen-family breaks, sixteen slices each, a live generator, a four-slot FX chain and a DJ filter — and it installs on the newer units with the UC25HQ80 flash.

Full Changelog: https://github.com/profikid/fm1-break-choppah/compare/v0.88...v0.89

The site gives the package a stable name, so a catalogue's link keeps working.

• The site's download keeps the one package of the build that made it, so its file name carries the version and the older URL is gone at the next release. The same package is now published under choppah-latest.fwsc as well, so a catalogue can point at that name and keep working from release to release.
• Everything in the catalogues was brought up to date with it.

The firmware itself is unchanged: eight Amen-family breaks, sixteen slices each, a live generator, a four-slot FX chain and a DJ filter — and it installs on the newer units with the UC25HQ80 flash.

The letter to the Firmware Hub, at this release, and the release notes filled in.

• The letter names this release and the package that goes with it, and carries only what the Hub's rules ask for. It can go out: CHOPPAH has been tested on a real FM-1, installed over the official V15 and over another firmware, and another firmware installs again afterwards.
• The releases from v0.77 on now carry their own notes instead of only an automatic changelog: the Hub and the community read them.

The firmware itself is unchanged: eight Amen-family breaks, sixteen slices each, a live generator, a four-slot FX chain and a DJ filter — and it installs on the newer units with the UC25HQ80 flash.

Everything in the catalogues brought up to date, and the test on a real FM-1 done.

• The letter to the Firmware Hub is at this release and carries only what the Hub's rules ask for. It can go out now: CHOPPAH has been tested on a real FM-1, installed over the official V15 and over another firmware, and another firmware installs again afterwards.
• The catalogues that name a version were brought to this release: the emulator's own list, the fm1-editor card (its "Latest" line, its release link and the strip at the top), and the Mooring catalogue's entry (the signed one, which Gustavo Barron publishes himself).
• mutant.cloud follows the releases on its own.

The firmware itself is unchanged: eight Amen-family breaks, sixteen slices each, a live generator, a four-slot FX chain and a DJ filter — and it installs on the newer units with the UC25HQ80 flash.

The letter to the Firmware Hub, at this release, and the letter's facts checked against the build.

• The letter names this release and the package that goes with it. Every value in it was read out of the build that made the release: the package's size and the identity in the build log, the USB port's name out of the firmware's own configuration.
• The letter carries only what the Hub's rules ask for: the name, the maker, the repository with the release, the identity, the licence, and that it was tested on a real FM-1 and you can leave it again.

The firmware itself is unchanged: eight Amen-family breaks, sixteen slices each, a live generator, a four-slot FX chain and a DJ filter — and it installs on the newer units with the UC25HQ80 flash.

The letter to the Firmware Hub, at this release.

• The letter names this release and the package that goes with it, and carries only what the Hub's rules ask for: the name, the maker, the repository with the release, the identity, the licence, and that it was tested on a real FM-1 and you can leave it again.
• Everything else the Hub shows — what the firmware does, the picture, the manual, the browser version — comes from fmhub.json in the repository root, so it can be changed there without mailing again.

The firmware itself is unchanged: eight Amen-family breaks, sixteen slices each, a live generator, a four-slot FX chain and a DJ filter — and it installs on the newer units with the UC25HQ80 flash.

The letter to the Firmware Hub, at this release.

• The letter names a release that is live and the package that goes with it, and carries only what the Hub's rules ask for: the name, the maker, the repository with the release, the identity, the licence, and that it was tested on a real FM-1 and you can leave it again.
• Everything else the Hub shows — what the firmware does, the picture, the manual, the browser version — comes from fmhub.json in the repository root, so it can be changed there without mailing again. The Hub takes every later release by itself.

No change to the firmware itself: eight Amen-family breaks, sixteen slices each, a live generator, a four-slot FX chain and a DJ filter — and it installs on the newer units with the UC25HQ80 flash.

The letter to the Firmware Hub, at this release.

• The letter names this release and the package that goes with it, and carries only what the Hub's rules ask for: the name, the maker, the repository with the release, the identity, the licence, and that it was tested on a real FM-1 and you can leave it again.
• Everything else the Hub shows — what the firmware does, the picture, the manual, the browser version — comes from fmhub.json in the repository root, so it can be changed there without mailing again.

No change to the firmware itself: eight Amen-family breaks, sixteen slices each, a live generator, a four-slot FX chain and a DJ filter — and it installs on the newer units with the UC25HQ80 flash.

The letter to the Firmware Hub: the upstream flash fix, in English, in the pull request.

• charlesvestal/fm1-base PR #35 carries the fix that lets the storage use the UC25HQ80 flash, with the test run in its description. It was closed without a merge and is open again; issue #36 stands next to it.
• The letter to the Hub no longer mentions the flash chip: the Hub's own rules keep it out, and the fix belongs upstream where every firmware can use it.

No change to the firmware itself: eight Amen-family breaks, sixteen slices each, a live generator, a four-slot FX chain and a DJ filter — and it installs on the newer units with the UC25HQ80 flash.

The letter to the Firmware Hub, at this release.

• The letter names this release and the package that goes with it, and carries only what the Hub's rules ask for: the name, the maker, the repository with the release, the identity, the licence, and that it was tested on a real FM-1 and you can leave it again.
• Everything else the Hub shows — what the firmware does, the picture, the manual, the browser version — comes from fmhub.json in the repository root, so it can be changed there without mailing again.

No change to the firmware itself: eight Amen-family breaks, sixteen slices each, a live generator, a four-slot FX chain and a DJ filter — and it installs on the newer units with the UC25HQ80 flash.

The letter to the Firmware Hub, ready to send, and the watcher's own rules.

• The letter points at this release and carries only what the Hub's rules ask for: the name, the maker, the repository with the release, the identity, the licence, and that it was tested on a real FM-1 and you can leave it again.
• The watch that checks the catalogues every twelve hours now reads the merged state of every pull request, so a pull request that is closed without a merge is caught instead of quietly disappearing.

No change to the firmware itself: eight Amen-family breaks, sixteen slices each, a live generator, a four-slot FX chain and a DJ filter — and it installs on the newer units with the UC25HQ80 flash.

Documentation: the promotion kit's own files, kept next to the letter to the Firmware Hub.

• docs/hub/ holds the letter, the explanation and the upstream fix's pull request text, so the whole submission is in one place in the repository.
• docs/promo/POSTS.md holds the texts for the other catalogues and the communities.

No change to the firmware itself: eight Amen-family breaks, sixteen slices each, a live generator, a four-slot FX chain and a DJ filter — and it installs on the newer units with the UC25HQ80 flash.

Documentation: the flash fix upstream is a pull request again, with the test run in it.

• charlesvestal/fm1-base PR #35 was closed without a merge, so the UC25HQ80 fix was not in fm1-base's own main after all. It is open again, with the test output in the description and an issue next to it.
• The letter to the Firmware Hub no longer carries the note about the flash chip: the Hub's own rules keep that out of the mail, and the fix belongs upstream.

No change to the firmware itself: eight Amen-family breaks, sixteen slices each, a live generator, a four-slot FX chain and a DJ filter — and it installs on the newer units with the UC25HQ80 flash.

The promotion kit is up to date, and the promotion text is where it belongs.

• docs/promo/POSTS.md now lists every catalogue CHOPPAH lives in — mutant.cloud, the emulator, the awesome lists, fm1-editor, the Atlas, the Mooring catalogue — plus the blogs that write about FM-1 firmware, with the submission form of fm1firmwarehub.online filled in.
• The README's "Where to find CHOPPAH" table points at the same places.

No change to the firmware itself: eight Amen-family breaks, sixteen slices each, a live generator, a four-slot FX chain and a DJ filter — and the UC25HQ80 flash fix, so it installs on the newer units.

The promotion round: CHOPPAH is now listed in more places, and the catalogue text is better.

• mutant.cloud lists CHOPPAH: https://mutant.cloud/#/p/choppah — install it over USB-MIDI straight from the browser, no account needed. The repository publishes to it on every release from now on.
• The repository description now reads as a proper catalogue entry (it is what mutant.cloud, FM1 Manager and the emulator show).
• The README points at every place CHOPPAH lives.
• The promotion kit (docs/promo/POSTS.md) is up to date with the new catalogues and the blog list.

Still the same firmware: eight Amen-family breaks, sixteen slices each, a live generator, a four-slot FX chain and a DJ filter. It also carries the UC25HQ80 flash fix, so it installs on the newer units that other firmwares cannot be written to.

The UC25HQ80 flash fix, verified end to end.

Units made from late 2026 (mostly the AliExpress ones) carry a UC25HQ80 flash instead of the Puya P25Q80. The old check only accepted the Puya's JEDEC id, so on those units saving failed, the data area was not writable, and the update loader never started: no firmware at all could be installed.

The check now accepts both chips (0x856014 and 0xB36014) in base/device/fm1_flash_ok.h, with a test for it. The build uses the pinned fix commit e75b072 from charlesvestal/fm1-base until it lands upstream (PR #35).

If you have one of those units: update to CHOPPAH 0.71 or later, or you cannot flash anything.