SuperOS-606

SuperOS-606 v0.6

Firmware updates over MIDI, with no panel access: send F0 7D 4A F7 and the device drops into the resident bootloader from either firmware; MIDI updates leave patterns and settings intact, and F0 7D 02 F7 escapes without flashing.

MIDI sync: incoming clock is jitter-smoothed by a phase-locked timebase (uClock model, 96 PPQN) — the sequencer steps at predicted tick times and can never drift against the host. A received MIDI Stop always stops the box, even when it was started from the panel.

Config menu, paged: step 1 opens a MIDI channel submenu (default channel 1, WRITE/NEXT = omni), step 2 switches the SysEx link on or off entirely, CLEAR backs out one level, FUNCTION exits, and edits persist automatically. The FUNCTION tool map is gapless (1 Length .. 13 Save); the accent tool is gone — the accent track is edited on INSTRUMENT dial position 0.

Stock-firmware (emulator) mode now carries the same config menu with the same shared settings, follows MIDI clock and Start/Stop per the shared clock source, and switching between the firmwares is much faster.

Fixes: swing changes latch at the beat pair and can no longer pull the bar off the clock; trigger-pulse crosstalk hardening cures a step-1 retrigger.

Flash the .syx over MIDI (tools/send_syx.py or any throttled SysEx utility), or the -full.hex over ISP. Never flash a bare app hex over ISP.

SuperOS-606 0.5a. Everything since the last release (0.2a): the D650C emulator with user-supplied ROM, the FUNCTION tool layer, and the v0.5 performance tools, with a one-file install.

Install (the SPM flash service is bundled in BOTH files; one install is complete on its own, no separate service-install step):

• MIDI: hold WRITE/NEXT (TAP) while powering on (step LEDs 1-4 blink twice, step 1 stays lit), then send the .syx with a throttled SysEx sender (tools/send_syx.py, SysEx Librarian, MIDI-OX). If LEDs 1-4 blink together, power-cycle and resend slower.
• ISP (Atmel-ICE / usbasp): write the -full.hex (app + MIDI bootloader
  • flash service in one image).

Pattern format changed in v0.5. Patterns saved by earlier versions, and .syx backups taken from them, come up empty instead of loading corrupted data. Back up before updating, rebuild after, take a fresh backup.

v0.5

• Ratchet: per-voice, per-step 2x/3x/4x retriggers (FUNCTION 7), locked to the tempo and spaced inside the step's real swing-adjusted length. Up to 16 per pattern.
• Probability: per-voice, per-step play chance in 16ths (FUNCTION 6); every hit rolls independently, and a chance on the accent row thins the accent.
• Timing fix: dense patterns (especially the GEN tool's random fills) no longer walk off time. The common-trigger pulse couples into the tempo-clock sense line and could fake clock edges; the clock sampler now blanks while a trigger pulse is in flight.
• One-file install: the flash service is bundled into the update .syx (and the full .hex as before); the separate service-install.syx step is gone. Updating from an older install just refreshes the service.
• Web editor: ratchet edit mode, per-row loop length and Bar/Poly controls, the new pattern format (with automatic migration of older editor-saved patterns), and a wider SysEx transport for the larger patterns.

v0.4

• FUNCTION tool layer in Pattern Write: hold FUNCTION for the tool map, FUNCTION + step to open a tool. Length (pattern / per-voice / global), Scale + Swing, Copy/Paste/Clear, Transform (rotate / reverse / randomize), Accent, Poly, Mute, Reslice, Arp, Direction, Generate, Save.
• 64-step patterns: four sections of 16, PATTERN GROUP pages sections.
• Per-voice loop length with bar-reset or free-running polymeter per row.
• Config menu (FUNCTION + PATTERN CLEAR): MIDI channel, clock source (MIDI auto-slave / internal + DIN), MIDI OUT/THRU, save-all.
• Owner's manual PDF.

v0.3

• D650C stock-firmware emulator (combined build): boot the original 606 firmware or SuperOS per an EEPROM selector, switchable from the config menu and over SysEx. The mask ROM is user-supplied: upload a dump of your own ROM over MIDI; it persists in EEPROM. No ROM ships with this repo.
• ROM-status SysEx and a "ROM on device" indicator in the web editor.
• Firmware version reporting over SysEx (and on the LEDs from the Save tool).
• Step-LED ghosting fix in the panel scan.

Web editor + basic 606 functions.

SuperOS-606 v0.1-alpha — first alpha bring-up firmware for the Roland TR-606 "Drumatix" on a µPD650 CPU-replacement board.

What it does

A voice button test: on power-on, step buttons 1–7 are mapped to the seven drum voices, so you can play each instrument by hand and confirm it triggers.

Press a button to fire that voice once (one hit per press); its step LED lights while held.

Flashing

• SuperOS-606_v0.1-alpha_app_2a79f32.syx — send to the unit over MIDI via the resident SysEx bootloader.
• SuperOS-606_v0.1-alpha_2a79f32.hex — merged app + bootloader image for Teensy Loader / ISP.

Early alpha — bring-up only; the sequencer is not implemented yet.