In an ideal world, equipment and software would work perfectly together. Any equipment that performed the same task would be compatible with software for controlling that task.
This is not an ideal world. And the world of MIDI interfaces and System Exclusive software is much further from an ideal world than most.
Please read this page before emailing me if you have any problems with SysEx Solution. This page details 90% of the potential problems out there. Also, and this is important, it may not be possible to make sysex97 work with your setup. Do not register the program until you know it works and you are satisfied with the way it works.
Contents
- Using Windows 3.1
- Using SysEx Solution 95
- Does the editor work on my instrument?
- The program hangs on the title screen
- "Can't open MIDI device"
- "Out of memory"
- Transmission errors and unreliability
- After upgrading from sysex95 to sysex97, things break
- Actual bugs
Using Windows 3.1
SysEx Solution does not support Windows 3.1. However there is an older version of one module of the program (the "SysEx Manager" module) which does. You can download this from this link, and feel free to register it using the online ordering service as for sysex97 if you like; you don't need to use the "paper" ordering service described in the help for that older program, unless it's more convenient.
Using SysEx Solution 95
Sysex Solution '95 (sysex95) is an older version of the program, though not all that much was changed in the newer version. It has problems that the new version does not. If you are having trouble with sysex95, please go download the '97 version in case your problem was already fixed.
Does the editor work on my instrument?
The short answer is no, unless you have a Korg M1.
The long answer involves me explaining the difference between an editor and a librarian. A librarian program allows you to store sounds from your instrument on the computer. You can store sounds with their names etc., and you can store more sounds on the computer than will fit in your instrument's memory. You can mix-and-match from those sounds to choose the ones that are appropriate, and use the librarian program to put those in the instrument's memory. Sysex97's librarian supports a number of instruments, and if you are a MIDI sysex expert you might be able to program in support for more.
An editor, on the other hand, lets you alter the parameters (attack speed, pitch, sample used, filters, etc.) of the sound using your computer instead of the controls on the instrument. Sysex97's editor only works for the Korg M1.
The program hangs on the title screen
It didn't hang. Due admittedly to poor coding, the title screen doesn't go away if there is a problem with starting the program. There will be a program error message hidden underneath the title screen.
You can get rid of the title screen, to see the message, by clicking on it and pressing Alt-F4.
"Can't open MIDI device"
This error message occurs when you load the program and it cannot access your MIDI interface or soundcard for some reason. The most common reason for this is that you have another MIDI program loaded which is using the soundcard or interface. However, you probably already thought of that one. So, there are other possibilities:
- You have two MIDI interfaces installed, and one of them does not work; either because you installed the software but no longer have the hardware, or for some other reason.
- Your MIDI interface just plain isn't working. This is unlikely if other MIDI programs work.
- SysEx Solution is trying to open an interface that doesn't exist. This most often happens when its settings get messed up after you upgrade version. See this advice.
If you have two MIDI interfaces as described above, you can alter the one sysex97 tries to access. Unfortunately this procedure is not as simple as it should be. (Once you get into the program it's easy to change interface, but until you get into the program...)
- Open RegEdit. To do this, click the Start button, click Run, and type "regedit" (without the quotes) into the box.
- On the left-hand side of the window is a list in a fairly standard Windows 95 form. Start by double-clicking on "HKEY_CURRENT_USER". Then choose "Software", "Software Forge", "SysEx Solution", and "2.0".
- You should now see, on the right-hand side of the window, a list of the program's settings. Two of the settings should be "InputPort" and "OutputPort". These settings should currently be 0.
- You can alter the settings by double-clicking on them and typing in "1". This means that Sysex97 will attempt to use the second sound card in your system.
- Try loading sysex97 to see if it worked.
"Out of memory"
The full error mentions a name like "MidiInPrepareHeader" at the top of the error window as well as the "out of memory" comment.
This error does not mean you are out of memory. (The error message is a standard error message provided by Microsoft. Using these standard error messages was probably a mistake.) A computer with only 8 Mb should be perfectly able to run sysex97. The error indicates there is a problem with your soundcard and the way sysex97 works.
Sometimes sysex97 will automatically recover from the error, and you'll see a message box explaining that (about "buffers"). If this is the case then everything should be okay and you shouldn't see the message again. If this is not the case, then there's a problem. You might like to try using a different MIDI interface if you have one available (see above instructions in previous section if necessary).
Transmission errors and unreliability
Owing to the general poor state of MIDI interface drivers for Windows 95, especially their sysex implementations, you can sometimes experience transmission errors. The actual low-level transmission of sysex data is handled by the operating system and not by sysex97 (sysex97 controls the operation in general) so any problems here are not likely to be specific to sysex97.
Transmission errors include things like, when you send the same piece of data from your keyboard several times, sysex97 reports it as different sizes. This normally means that in some of those transmissions (the smaller ones) some data was lost, and they wouldn't work if you sent them back to the keyboard.
Sometimes the problems can be solved by using old Windows 3.1 software like the original version of SysEx Manager (see earlier topic). At other times, the problem can be reduced by making sure you don't do anything while data is transferring - even moving the mouse can cause problems. (Yes, I do have a MIDI interface setup somewhere that works fine to receive sysex data, but only as long as you don't move the mouse.)
One other thing to watch out for is to make sure you are not sending any more data than you intend. For example, on some instruments, even pressing buttons to change mode can send tiny sysex messages. To avoid problems caused by this, make sure to get the instrument absolutely ready to send (it should be the next button you press) and then ensure the Sysex97 left-hand window is clear of data. If it isn't, press the Clear button. Then do the send.
After upgrading from sysex95 to sysex97, things break
Sysex '97 does not contain very many improvements over sysex95. It was designed mostly in order to work with more interfaces and soundcards that sysex95 already works with.
Because this kind of software is so touchy, I strongly recommend that if sysex95 works, you don't upgrade to '97 unless there's some good reason. (If sysex95 doesn't work, go ahead; it might fix the problem.)
Sometimes when you upgrade the settings get messed up, this can turn into a variety of errors. You can clear settings by "uninstalling" - press Ctrl-U from the main screen. This doesn't delete the program, only clears the settings. Exiting the program and loading it again will restore default settings.
If you can't get into the program, but you still want to clear the settings, it's possible to do so manually using Windows Regedit. Note that if you make a mistake here you can end up messing your computer up, so if you're not confident that you know what you're doing, it might be best to avoid this.
- Open RegEdit. To do this, click the Start button, click Run, and type "regedit" (without the quotes) into the box.
- On the left-hand side of the window is a list in a fairly standard Windows 95 form. Start by double-clicking on "HKEY_CURRENT_USER". Then choose "Software", "Software Forge".
- You should now see a "Sysex Solution" folder. This folder contains the settings. Click on it and press Delete to remove it.
- Try loading sysex95/97 to see if it helped.
Actual bugs
There are not very many known bugs in sysex97 apart from in the editor part, which has a selection of minor problems that I mostly forget.