Roland MS1 bios update problems

[gmeredith]

OK tell us more!!

[Berman87]

Hi to all! First of all, thanks for all the links and info about the issue. Unfortunatelly, I can't manage to update my MS-1.
I have my working Roland UM-One midi interface connected to the MIDI IN of MS-1. I go into Boot Mode on sampler and the display says "Boot Mode 1.02". Then I'm sending the 1.12 file with UpdSMF software, and I have the OUT light blinking on UM-One indicating that it's sending information. However, the MS-1 screen doesn't react to it and permanently shows "Boot Mode 1.02" as if it's not receiving anything. I also tried sending the 1.12 file first, waiting a few seconds and after that going into Boot Mode on sampler, with no success. Tried doing it with Cubase instead of UpdSMF and the problem persists. Also, if I press Pads 1+8 and power on MS-1 it says "Ver1.03 5/02/07" (not sure if it's relevant here). I would be very grateful to anyone who may suggest a solution or point out what might be the problem!

[gmeredith]

Make sure your UM-1 is in Advanced mode. There is a little switch on the side of it. If it isn't in Advanced mode, it won't pass sysex information, only note info. Try putting the switch in the other position, then send it again

[jake_rj]

Wanted to pass this along just as FYI:
I picked up inexpensive MS-1 with v1.00(94/12/20) firmware. Saw reported issues with 1.13.

Since the good 1.12 version was available (thank you gmeredith!), thought I would give v1.13 (00/06/12) a try. Grabbed it from http://cms.rolandus.com/assets/media/zip/ms1v113.zip

Updated via UpdSMFJ with a MOTU Microlite.
No issues during update or after repower on.
Plugged in a SanDisk PCMCIA SDB3B PC ATA 32MB card. Formatted (6BU) quickly no issues.
Recorded mono samples to all 5 Banks and pads. Powered off and recalled/played all banks-pads with no issues.

Not sure if it was because I went from 1.00 to 1.13, Roland had a good copy of 1.13 at some point but never released, or I may experience some issue in the future that hasn't reared it's head yet

When I get some time, will see if I can find my old PCMCIA to CF adapters and old CF cards to test with.

Cheers

J

[gmeredith]

Great news Jake. I got that 1.12 OS from a Roland Tech who knew about the dud 1.13 OS on the Roland Japan website, and has notified them about it, to no avail. He had this good OS on his service computer for whenever people bricked their MS1s with the dud one. Apparently they never brought out a good 1.13, the 1.12 is the last official working one.

So interesting that the US site has 1.13. Did you actually check it after installing and it says 1.13 on the screen, or that they just labeled it 1.13 on the download and its actually 1.12?

My one was later than 1.00 (1.06 or something) but the 1.13 bricked it. The 1.12 fixed it, and now I can read the bigger cards. Very happy now, I get huge sampling times now with my bigger card

[jake_rj]

Hi gmeredith.

Yes. The file extracted from the zip I grabbed from rolandus is 0_s113.mid and I confirmed on the MS-1 (Pad 1+8, power on) that it is indeed Ver1.13 (00/06/12) that is installed.

I haven't done extensive testing, just recorded to all banks (A-E) as noted above, but when I get some time will put it through the paces.

What size and type (PCMCIA, CF) of cards can you use with 1.12?

With 1.13, I tried a 48 and 128 PCMCIA I had. It stays on Formatting task forever, BUT if I turn OFF/ON, the card is formatted, shows about 39 minutes of time remaining and I can record and playback samples on C-E no problem.

[jake_rj]

Tested every function (sampling, sequences, MIDI, etc.) and had no problems with this v1.13 on my chassis.

Used both a Transend and LILIWELL PCMCIA to CF adapter testing with (2) SanDisk 64MB CF(SDCFBI-64-101-00). Both instantly formatted with largest backups (20 BUF) and gave 31 minutes available using Standard-Mono samples, (2 BUF) = 40 mins with same Standard/Mono

Anyhow, It was kind of fun playing with this limited 'oldie' however I think I will stick with my E4 Platinum, Yammy A5000 and RS7000 for any 'hardware' sampling-sequencing and filter-effects needs