Free FX v2.0 updates from Laura Tyson...

Hey Art, i'm thinkin i shoulda put this in 'general discussions' no? Anyway, move it or leave it as you see fit. Hope the info helps!

TRIPLE THREAT PRODUCTIONS

"Don't make excuses, Make it happen"

"It is not possible for ME! to clone/copy/duplicate other otherwise render an Update PC card for the Fantoms. So you *have* to bring your machine to the store if you want the update."

So would that mean if you came along with your laptop, then YOU could dump them on to YOUR hard drive.

"*have* to bring your machine if you want the update"
Your machnine... (not fantom) he he

well the machine i would bring is my laptop.. eh!?

Results not Excuses



QuinnX universal tranlator below:-
(lets not be misunderstood)

!!!!!! ephasis not anger
!!?? confusion or Stupidity
ABC are you getting the point
&*$% Anger (but rarely seen)

Hey Quinnx,

At least for now you have a reason to get EXCUSES NOT RESULTS (he he h e)

"So would that mean if you came along with your laptop, then YOU could dump them on to YOUR hard drive. "

The CF card, according to the Roland rep that visited Lincoln, NE, is protected and cannot be copied... :S Has anybody heard of a protected CF card?

Yesterday, some time around 5:30pm, I read this thread's first post, and thought I should call the music store where I bought my FX to find out if they were planning on having somebody from Roland over - I honestly didn't think they would have anybody at all, since the store is pretty small.

So I called and I asked Tim, one of the guys that works in the keyboard section, if he knew anything new about the Fantom X upgrade. He told me that I could get it through Roland's web site for $49. I told him I was aware of that, but I was curious if they were going to have a Roland rep over to do upgrades, just like pretty much every other dealer. He told me that they would only upgrade keyboards purchased in 2005. I told him I was pretty sure they would upgrade any FX, regardless of what date it was purchased. He goes on to tell me that the Roland rep himself told him only 2005 models.

As I am telling him that maybe the Roland rep didn't know himself that 2004 FX's may be upgraded as well, it dawns to me that the Roland rep HAD ALREADY BEEN THERE! So I asked Tim when the Roland rep told him that, and he told me THAT SAME DAY! And that I could ask him myself because he was at their other location. HOLY CRAP!

I promptly called the other location and they told me that indeed, the Roland rep was right there in flesh and blood, so I asked to speak to him. The Roland rep confirmed my belief that any FX can be upgraded at no cost, and he asked me if I could be there in 10 minutes... Not a freakin' chance. I was on the direct opposite side of town, and I still had to stop home and get the FX... @#^%@# @^%#@!!! I asked him if I could bring a CF card and copy his, and he told me that the card cannot be copied because it is protected... I told him that I could make it there maybe in 20 minutes, and he said no can do... that he would be in Omaha (one hour away) the following day. Bummer.

So, feeling like venting, I called the first Dietze location to tell them how bummed I was. This time I got to speak with Doug. When I told him that the Roland rep would not wait for me, he asked me:
-What do you mean he won't wait?
-He won't. He asked me if I could make it there in 10 minutes. I told him maybe 20, and he said he could not wait.
-Oh, he WILL wait! Let me call you back.

So there went Doug, my hero, to save the day. He called me back in about 1 minute and told me:

-Get on your horses! He'll wait for you but you gotta get there now!
-What the hell did you tell him, Doug?
-Well... he's gotta meeting in Omaha at 7 and he doesn't want to be late.

So I took off like a bat from hell, drove home, ran over a couple of old ladies on the way, picked up my FX6 (thank God it's not an FX8) and headed to Dietze's south location. Rush hour.... CRAP!!! It's green, it's green, please stay green... RED! SHIT!!! I finally made it to the store 25 minutes later, and the Roland rep was just about to LEAVE!

10 minutes later my FX had a brand spanking new operating system and a nice shiny sticker stating its new nature.

When I got home, I was hungry and I needed to go to the bathroom really bad, but I didn't care! I HAD 2.0!!! WOOHOOOO!!! FOR FREE!!! DOUBLE WOOHOOOO!!!

I may still order the upgrade online, because I want to get the manual and new editor software, but I'm extremely pleased to have the audio tracks available now.

Things that called my attention the most:

-You can assign the audio tracks to a MON output so that when you resample the keyboard signal, you don't get the audio tracks sampled as well (this one took me a while to figure out...).
-Some of the sounds on the new I bank are great!!! Some are not... Just like any other bank I guess.
-Please someone tell me if this feature was part of OS 1.x and I just never noticed it: You can access the user and card samples as banks. By this I mean that you can scroll through banks A-I, user, card, and then user samples and card samples.
-New sampling interface is prettier and (maybe) more functional.
-You cannot change the Font in Live Setting Play by pressing shift + INC/DEC.
-There is a Font soft button in Live Setting Mode (not Live Setting Play, but the section you access by pressing shift + enter), that will change the displayed font, but I cannot figure out how to make it stay the same for Live Setting Play.
-There doesn't seem to be any automation of the audio track parameters (volume, panning, etc.). You can always resample with the changes, but what if you change your mind later?

I'm at work right now, so there might be some things that called my attention last night that I'm forgetting to include here.

Peace!

Mexico

On Linux and Mac you can do "dd if=/dev/carddevice of=card.img" and that would make a binary copy of any drive ("carddevice" can be /dev/sda1 for example), including the boot sector. Damn, I didn't tell you this


A.

OK, NOW WHAT???

Just a few weeks ago, must all of you guys were all banging on Roland because you would probably, might, most certanly have to buy the OS2.

SO NOW WHAT???
Now you're getting it for free ???
Even those who bought the first Xs models???

DAAMMMM !!!:::

I don't know what Roland is planning to do or doing right now here in Europe (I'm stiil waiting for OS 2 to come in Portugal) but I think its TIME TO BANG, YEAHH

"Just a few weeks ago, must all of you guys were all banging on Roland because you would probably, might, most certanly have to buy the OS2."

As I said on my post, I'm still buying the upgrade - I want the CF Card just in case sh*t happens, and I also want the manual and the new editor. Some people are getting all this for free (2005 buyers), some are not (2004 buyers). I belong to the second group, and I don't have a problem shelling out 49 bucks for it. I would probably pay that for the extra sound bank, so I'm not complaining here.

Some people are getting the whole thing for free? Doesn't bother me. I've been enjoying my FX6 8 months longer than they have.

Peace.

M

Mexico! This is too funny. I was in Keyboard Kastle in Omaha talking to the same rep that upgraded your Fantom yesterday at around Noon. I asked him some questions and he had some pretty good insight into the local area trends.

Suppossedly he has never sold a V-Synth in his territory.

Sells more digital pianos than anything else (RD-700s).

Recently Keyboard Kastle sold a ton of Juno-Ds.

This territory sells more X-8s than X-6s or X-7s.

Modules don't sell in the midwest. Local customers seem to think keyboards are a better value since the board is installed.

He wasn't aware of the X's motherboard problems. (Neither was Keyboard Kastle's repair rep).

He did provide me the serial numbers for the X-8s in the back. They are later ZS's. I'm going to run Nathan's SVQ on them to see if there is any patch delay. I'm still 3 months out from my layaway payoff.

Would love to see you play if you are ever out this way.

maybe some of you...lucky guys...
can update his machine...and then share
it's new 2.0 os..with us????

will be possible...or it's too much?
and then...it's for free?
before wasn't ..so..now it is..

i don't understand...but if one of you
would be so gentle to share with us...

and what about the other softwares...the new editors?

bye

i've loved fantom and tritons then i've found my Oasys..i'm dead...i haven't money for the water...

Mexico
Aside me and a few others, you should also have a Roland cap (he he he) for beeing such a dedicated Fantom user

What I meant was that one way or the other, with or without manual, with or without CF, with or without spending money most of you will certanly get the OS2. I don't know if that will be the case here in Portugal. I'll glady spend some extra for the OS2 (if the price is right) but why do it if I can get it for free ?

Regards,

but ..any chances to share with us the newOS 2.0?
how it's big? How many Megabytes?---128?---such as the cf card ...?
anyone can upload it here or not,,,
i do't understand if it's free for someone...why not for all
so where is the problem in sharin it..
or maybe for roland to make it downloadable from it's site?

any suggestion?
and please..all the new version of Fantom x softs...where are they...?
hidden in the card we have to buy?-..

i've loved fantom and tritons then i've found my Oasys..i'm dead...i haven't money for the water...

I must admit to being somewhat bemused by the way Roland are distributing OS2. Essentially it is free, but if you want your own copy it is $49 (or £49 in the UK) and that appears to be to cover the cost of the media (CF card and CD-ROM). It obviously isn't to stop piracy, after all it is available for free and wouldn't be of any use to anyone but a Fantom X owner. It can't be to stop "industrial espionage" since anyone can buy the upgrade for peanuts. This all leads me to believe the only reason can be that Roland want to tightly control the way we update our Fantoms. I assume it is to avoid "less technically" minded users from screwing-up their FX with "botched" attempts to download the update and copy to a CF card or transfer via USB and then requiring Roland to sort it out under warranty. Maybe there is more of a change "under the hood" that might mean an FX could be rendered unusable if an upgrade failed... maybe a change in the "flash ROM rewriting" routines.

Thoughts anyone?

Dave

http://www.drstudio.demon.co.uk/ "Some musicians have a physical block, some have a mental block, while others have a wooden block". Unfortunately, I'm in the 1st category!

yes i think you're right..
it involves controls on our way to update the keyboards
and to eliminate problems with warranties,,..

by the way i'm lookin for the new os upgrade in Italy
i think it will be available here only after the Spring to come

bye

i've loved fantom and tritons then i've found my Oasys..i'm dead...i haven't money for the water...

dboulden:

You are spot on with your musings. I deal with a number of companies which use CF cards, etc. to update software.

The probability that someone will completely botch the process of copying a CF cards contents, and thereby render their FantomX unusable is very high.

The simple act of maintaining directory structures and file locations with copied update files seems to be quite beyond the average consumer - even those with some computer experience.

This is especially true when people start zipping up files and sharing them with each other over P2P services or email.

Roland is wise to tightly control this process.