Can anyone help me? I have an E-mu Vintage Keys module. the first 254 presets--the RAM files, that is--have gone out and no longer work in any way. The screen for them displays only gibberish, no sounds. Over ten years ago, I wrote E-mu and the then-head of the technical department sent me a floppy with the downloads to fix the module. The problem is, I have no idea how to use this disk and neither does anyone else. I bought a midi-to-USB cable to carry out the operation and still, I can't figure out how to actually send the information to the module. A computer tech friend of mine told me once that the disk was in DOS format, but I don't know. I can't get DOS-prompt to do anything with it either. If anyone can help me, PLEASE e-mail me at englet0290@clarkstate.oh.cc.us.
Thanks!

I'm guessing the files on the disk were sysex files that just need to be transmitted using any program that supports sending sysex. Do you have the files on your harddrive now or can you still copy them from the floppy? If you don't have them on your harddrive I'd recommend you copy them while you can. 10 years is old for a floppy disk and eventually the data will become corrupted.

Hi Nigel,
Thank you for replying! I transferred the files from floppy to my flash drive. Two of the files are simply called RCD and SD, and they are .exe execute files. Two others are .emu files named VINT, VINTOLD, and VINTNEW, whose application software is listed as 'unknown'. I haven't been able to get them to run on anything I have, but then I'm not familiar with sysex. I would appreciate any more advice you might have.
Thanks again
Tony

Have you tried running the RCD and SD exe files to see what they do? Run them from a DOS Window so you can see what messages they print when you run them.

Hi Nigel,
I've tried to open them in DOS. All that happens is, a screen full of words opens for about one second, then closes again before I can even pick up what it's telling me. I did it about a dozen times and made out the words: "Switch and parameter for rcd.exe. Type in rcd? for more details." But of course, by the time I even think about typing something in, the screen has closed. The thing will do nothing.
Thanks again
Tony

Tony how about you zip all those files up into a single zip file and email it to me at nigelsp@synthzone.com and I'll take a look at them and see if I can work out what they are. I can't guarantee anything but I will check them out to see if I can find out anything.

Tony, thanks for sending those. I checked them and the 2 data files are definately standard sysex files. I have put them up here for other Vintage Keys owners at http://www.synthzone.com/midi/emu/vintagekeys

Start by replacing the internal battery..

There's an internal battery???

Fran, please tell me more. By the way Nigel, I'm glad you posted the files, I hope they come in handy for other EMU users. Now if only i could figure out how to get them to work for me....lol
Thanks again
Tony

Yep. all synths with patch memory have to have a internal battery to keep the memory intact when the unit is unplugged from the mains. Eventually that battery dies and is what causes the patches to all disappear or go bad. If you have lost the internal patches like you have you should open it up and replace the battery you find inside.

Those files you sent me are sysex files and can be transmitted to your Vintage Keys using any software with sysex transmit capability.

Hi Nigel,
Thanks for the info. I'll get a new battery as soon as I can, and try to find some downloadable software that transmits sysex. Can you recommend a specific program?
Thanks again
Tony

You can try Freeloader from Alesis. There are free Mac and Windows sysex tools at http://www.alesis.com/index.php?id=58,43,0,0,1,0

I haven't tried them myself as I always use the one built into the MIDI sequencer I use but they should work fine for you and they are free to try.

If the program won't recognize those .EMU files as sysex then simply rename them from .EMU to .syx That is why I did that myself when I put them up in my file archive. The .EMU extension was just what those Emu .exe tools were expecting.

And you can try them out on your Vintage Keys before you replace the battery. But if the battery was the problem then you'll have to do the same thing each time after you power off. But I'd still go ahead and try them out anyway.

The PC version of Freeloader also has sysex record which is useful if you ever tweak the patches yourself. You can send the patches back to the PC so you can keep a backup of your own customized patches in case the problem occurs again.

Hi again,
I went ahead and downloaded FreeLoader with no problem; I unzipped the files and installed the software. However, when I tried to open it, the following message popped up: "DispMCI Error: A device ID has been used that is out of range for your system." Not having much knowledge of programming, I really don't know what this means; the application opens, but 'sysex' on the file menu is greyed out, and I have to think it has something to do with the message.
Any ideas?
Thanks again for your help
Tony
P.S. I successfully converted the EMU files to SYX files to make things easier.

I guess perhaps that that program may not be compatible with the latest versions of Windows. It is quite old now.

Definately get MIDI OX from http://www.midiox.com/ It should work for you ..... fingers crossed.

Hi Nigel,
I downloaded MIDI OX and it works fine. In fact, it's a formidable programme; something tells me that if I ever learn to use it properly, I'll be using it a lot. I hooked up the EMU to the computer via a Yamaha USB-to-MIDI cable, selected it as an output, loaded the files (which loaded fine), and apparently sent the files out successfully. However, the EMU unit remains unchanged. The titles are still scrambled, and there is still no sound. Is there something in particular I need to do with the EMU while I'm sending out the sysex files, some sort of input mode or something? I can't figure out why it's not working.
Thanks again for your help
Tony

Was there any MIDI receive light flashing on the Vintage Keys when you sent the data? Did any message show up on it's display? I took a look at the manual but didn't see much about receiving sysex data. The only thing of note I saw was if it was transmitted too quickly it could fail. But I would expect there would be an error message if that was the problem. Does MIDI-OX have any control over the speed the data is sent?

It is possible a flat battery could be screwing everything up. But I thought it would still work while powered up.


[This message has been edited by Nigel (edited 05-30-2007).]

Hi Nigel,
Actually no, there was no display message and no lights flashed. I will check the speed, MIDI OX has all sorts of controls. I didn't know if there should be some sort of 'receiving mode' I should put the unit into, or what.
Thanks again
Tony

Hey Nigel,

I went to your ftp site and downloaded the Vintage Keys editor, but it's a PPC file. I'm not familiar with this extension.

What does it mean and how can I open it?

The only thing I could find by searching was "Pocket PC," but that doesn't seem to make sense.

Thanks!

I think that the editor is probably for PPC Macs.

Oh ok thanks.

You don't happen to know of an editor for PCs do you?

Thanks!