Hercules RMX and Steel pitch control not centered at 0 mark

[Jens Nachtigall]

I have a Hercules RMX. When the pitch is set to the middle position, the device correctly sends a "3F", but mixxx still does not go to 0 position but takes the pitch to -0.16

output from (which looks correctly to me):
$ mixxx --midiDebug
 ....
Debug: [PM 3. Hercules DJ Console RMX MIDI 1]: "MIDI ch 1: opcode: B0, ctrl: 3B, val: 3F"
Debug: [MidiScriptEngine 2]: Starting one-shot timer: 872415239
Debug: [MidiScriptEngine 2]: Starting one-shot timer: 889192484
Debug: [MidiScriptEngine 2]: Starting one-shot timer: 905969695
Debug: [MidiScriptEngine 2]: Killing timer: 872415239
Debug: [MidiScriptEngine 2]: Killing timer: 889192484
Debug: [MidiScriptEngine 2]: Starting one-shot timer: 989855780
Debug: [MidiScriptEngine 2]: Killing timer: 905969695
Debug: [MidiScriptEngine 2]: Starting one-shot timer: 1023410207
Debug: [MidiScriptEngine 2]: Killing timer: 989855780
Debug: [MidiScriptEngine 2]: Killing timer: 1023410207

Happens with mixxx1.10 and 1.9. I can try to debug it, but I do not know at which src to start looking (e.g. using gdb). Maybe you can give me a pointer.

The problem is first described here: http://mixxx.org/forums/viewtopic.php?uid=3788&f=3&t=2896&start=0

[Jens Nachtigall (nachtigall)]

okay, after some debugging, I found the problem: The expected midInput was set to 0x40 instead of 0x3F. The attached patch fixes this. I tested it and it works now.

=== modified file 'mixxx/res/midi/Hercules-DJ-Console-RMX-scripts.js'
--- mixxx/res/midi/Hercules-DJ-Console-RMX-scripts.js 2010-12-20 00:15:26 +0000
+++ mixxx/res/midi/Hercules-DJ-Console-RMX-scripts.js 2011-10-06 14:41:30 +0000
@@ -537,7 +544,7 @@
 HerculesRMX.Decks.Left.Controls.Vol.minOutput = 0.0;
 HerculesRMX.Decks.Left.Controls.Vol.midOutput = 0.4;
 HerculesRMX.Decks.Left.Controls.Vol.maxOutput = 1.0;
-HerculesRMX.Decks.Left.Controls.Pitch.midInput = 0x40;
+HerculesRMX.Decks.Left.Controls.Pitch.midInput = 0x3F;

 HerculesRMX.Decks.Right.addButton("Keypad1", new HerculesRMX.Button(0x19), "keypad1Handler");
 HerculesRMX.Decks.Right.addButton("Keypad2", new HerculesRMX.Button(0x1A), "keypad2Handler");
@@ -584,7 +591,7 @@
 HerculesRMX.Decks.Right.Controls.Vol.minOutput = 0.0;
 HerculesRMX.Decks.Right.Controls.Vol.midOutput = 0.4;
 HerculesRMX.Decks.Right.Controls.Vol.maxOutput = 1.0;
-HerculesRMX.Decks.Right.Controls.Pitch.midInput = 0x40;
+HerculesRMX.Decks.Right.Controls.Pitch.midInput = 0x3F;

 //Mapping functions

[Jens Nachtigall (nachtigall)]

The same is in Hercules-DJ-Control-Steel-scripts.js

HerculesSteel.Decks.Left.Controls.Pitch.midInput = 0x40;
HerculesSteel.Decks.Right.Controls.Pitch.midInput = 0x40;

I do not have a Hercules Steel, but pretty likely it should be 0x3F here as well, doesn't it? Someone with a Steel should check here, as the middle could be give as 0x40 by the Steel hardware console?!

[RJ Skerry-Ryan (rryan)]

Maybe we can enlist some help testing this in the forums...

[jus (jus)]

I asked in the forum for people who can test the patch , http://mixxx.org/forums/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=2896

[RJ Skerry-Ryan (rryan)]

Looks like this is not limited to the Hercules RMX. Someone in the Vestax Typhoon thread (http://www.mixxx.org/forums/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=1634&start=40) is also reporting a deviation of -0.16 from 0.

[RJ Skerry-Ryan (rryan)]

Oops, nevermind. It looks like that problem is a separate issue with the Typhoon mappings. I followed up with bkgood about that one.

[RJ Skerry-Ryan (rryan)]

Got a bug confirmation from Nathan Dotz. Waiting on him to test the fix.

[Jens Nachtigall (nachtigall)]

When I (the bug reporter) raised the question about "confirmation" this was rather about the Hercules Steel. Because I have a RMX, and actually for me it is "confirmed" ;-) And the patch fixes this.

But I was wondering if this is maybe also a problem with the Hercules Steel, because there the Decks.Left.Controls.Pitch.midInput and Decks.Right.Controls.Pitch.midInput are also set to 0x40 -- albeit I bet a lot that this should also be 0x3F (but I do not have a Steel, so cannot confirm here). So here, someone with a Steel should check, that's all I asked. The patch does not include a (possible) "fix" for this.

Anyway, what surprises me is that this bug went undiscovered for such a long time, since it is very quickly noticable...

[RJ Skerry-Ryan (rryan)]

Hey Jens,

Before making script changes for a given controller we need confirmation from another owner of the controller. That gives us some degree of assurance that what we're seeing isn't some kind of firmware difference between your device and other owners of the Hercules RMX. If that were the case, then we would commit your fix only to break other owners of the RMX. This is particularly a problem with e.g. the VCI-100 where there are many different firmware versions in the wild.

You're right though -- we should find out if Steel owners see this bug as well. :) I'll ask on the mailing list.

[Anders Gunnarsson (d00guan)]

Hi All,

When I wrote the script I did it specifically because my RMX's pitch encoders center at 0x40. I thought it was a bit odd since all other encoders have their center positon at 0x3F. It strikes me now that we should check if it's possible to change this parameter with the Hercules Midi Mapper. I bought mine used so it could have been changed. Otherwise some batch must have encoders with 0x3F as center position and some with 0x40.

If there is need for more help with the RMX script I can help out, since I didn't disappear from earth completely. :-) I just got a lot more to do since the beginning of this year.

[Anders Gunnarsson (d00guan)]

I just tested the Midi Mapper and it was not possible to change the center position on encoders. I guess there are different batches of RMXes with slightly different behavior.

[RJ Skerry-Ryan (rryan)]

Crap. I was afraid of that. So Anders -- with the current mapping of the
RMX shipped with Mixxx, your pitch control is centered at 0?

On Fri, Oct 21, 2011 at 11:34 AM, Anders Gunnarsson <
<email address hidden>> wrote:

> I just tested the Midi Mapper and it was not possible to change the
> center position on encoders. I guess there are different batches of
> RMXes with slightly different behavior.
>
> --
> You received this bug notification because you are a member of Mixxx
> Development Team, which is subscribed to Mixxx.
> https://bugs.launchpad.net/bugs/863683
>
> Title:
> Hercules RMX pitch control not centered at 0 mark
>
> To manage notifications about this bug go to:
> https://bugs.launchpad.net/mixxx/+bug/863683/+subscriptions
>

[Nathan Dotz (sleepynate)]

Tested this patch today. Good news and bad news. Setting the controllers to 3F fixes the center-notch equaling +0.00 %.

However, it also reversed the direction of my left deck in "scratch" mode (or some other rather recent change did).

[Jens Nachtigall (nachtigall)]

Am 22.10.2011 20:49, schrieb Nathan Dotz:
> Tested this patch today. Good news and bad news. Setting the controllers
> to 3F fixes the center-notch equaling +0.00 %.

Ok, then 2 vs. 1 ;) Just for the record: I just perchased my RMX 2
months ago via amazon. The firmware of mine is
Packet: 4.HDJS.2009
Firmware: 1.1.4.31
Driver: 4.7.5.0
DJ API: 2.0.22.6
CPL: 2.0.5.1

I can see this via the Hercules Control Panel on my alternative
WindowsXP. (on the shipped VirtualDJ basic version, the 0x3F seems also
to be expected/normal)

Anders, maybe you can check yours and maybe upgrade your firmware?

> However, it also reversed the direction of my left deck in "scratch"
> mode (or some other rather recent change did).
>

Did you apply any other patch (change)? Actually the variable definition of
HerculesRMX.Decks.Left.Controls.Pitch.midInput = 0x3F;
HerculesRMX.Decks.Right.Controls.Pitch.midInput = 0x3F;
is not used anywhere else in the code. If one greps for midInput in the
midi directory, one sees this. So this should be due to some other change?!

[RJ Skerry-Ryan (rryan)]

Hi Jens,

The button code that handles it is in res/midi/midi-mappings-scripts.js

That file is "magically" included in the MIDI environment before your MIDI script is run. You can see the midInput value is used in the Control.prototype.setValue function in that file.

This is all very troubling that the RMX has differences in their firmware. Not sure what the best route is. Perhaps we should just support the behavior of the latest firmware version and tell everyone who has the problem to update their firmware? In the future, all of our control scripts (MIDI, HID, otherwise) should have the ability to offer up configurable values that show up as GUI widgets in the Mixxx preferences for that script. This would allow the user to select the behavior they prefer and also identify which quirks their device might have without having to get a replacement script.

[Sean M. Pappalardo (pegasus-renegadetech)]

For now, is there a MIDI message that causes the RMX to report its firmware version? If not, mapping for the latest version and telling people to upgrade seems the best option to me.

[Jens Nachtigall (nachtigall)]

Am 24.10.2011 07:55, schrieb Sean M. Pappalardo:
> For now, is there a MIDI message that causes the RMX to report its
> firmware version? If not, mapping for the latest version and telling
> people to upgrade seems the best option to me.

Is there any documentation about by Hercules or anybody else about the
midi messages / API?

[RJ Skerry-Ryan (rryan)]

Stephane List has confirmed on mixxx-devel that his Hercules DJ Control Steel is also affected by this issue and 0x3F is the center position.

[Stéphane List (slist)]

Yes, I confirm that 0x3F is the center position. (using Mixxx from Ubuntu 11.10)

Using Hercules DJ Series Control Panel on Windows, I read :
Package : 4.HDJS 2011
Firmware: 1.0.0.13
Pilote: 5.3.9.0
DJ API: 2.0.23.5
CPL:2.0.9

Hope this help

Stéphane

[Stéphane List (slist)]

That's fun, Using Virtual DJ Free Home edition, I can play 10 minutes with the console.
At the middle position, pitch is set to +0.1

With Mixxx on Windows7 and on Ubuntu 11.10 : pitch is set to -0.16

Nobody's perfect !

[RJ Skerry-Ryan (rryan)]

Very interesting :). I've reached out to Hercules to see if they can
provide us with any guiding details on this issue. Ideally the latest
firmware for each device is uniform in how it handles this (e.g. they
picked 0x3F or 0x40 and stuck with it) so we can just implement what the
latest firmware uses and tell anyone with this problem to upgrade their
firmware.

On Wed, Oct 26, 2011 at 3:50 PM, Stéphane List <email address hidden> wrote:

> That's fun, Using Virtual DJ Free Home edition, I can play 10 minutes with
> the console.
> At the middle position, pitch is set to +0.1
>
> With Mixxx on Windows7 and on Ubuntu 11.10 : pitch is set to -0.16
>
> Nobody's perfect !
>
> --
> You received this bug notification because you are a member of Mixxx
> Development Team, which is subscribed to Mixxx.
> https://bugs.launchpad.net/bugs/863683
>
> Title:
> Hercules RMX and Steel pitch control not centered at 0 mark
>
> To manage notifications about this bug go to:
> https://bugs.launchpad.net/mixxx/+bug/863683/+subscriptions
>

[RJ Skerry-Ryan (rryan)]

Our contact at Hercules just followed up. Here's what I've learned:

1) All DJ Control Steel units interpret 0x3F as the center position.
2) The first version of the DJ Console RMX (firmare revision 1.0.6.31) is centered at 0x40
3) Other RMXs up to the current version (firmware revision 1.1.4.31) are centered at 0x3F
4) The majority of RMXs in the wild are centered at 0x3F.

Unfortunately it's not possible to update the RMX firmware to center at 0x3F if you have the first generation firmware.

So, I think we should change both our RMX and Steel scripts to use 0x3F as the default. In the RMX script, we can provide an option at the top that lets someone easily flip the behavior by setting a variable from true to false.

[RJ Skerry-Ryan (rryan)]

Hi Jens,

I updated your patch to put a flag at the top so that first-generation owners can easily flip a flag. Could you verify that it works?

Thanks,
RJ

[Jens Nachtigall (nachtigall)]

Hi RJ,

thanks! Yes, the patch works for me! (on my RMX).

However, glancing at the patch file I can see that you did for the Steel a
+HerculesSteel.Decks.Left.Controls.Pitch.midInput = 0x35;
+HerculesSteel.Decks.Right.Controls.Pitch.midInput = 0x35;

But you said, that
> Our contact at Hercules just followed up. Here's what I've learned:
> 1) All DJ Control Steel units interpret 0x3F as the center position.

So in the mixxx/res/midi/Hercules-DJ-Control-Steel-scripts.js
it should actually be 0x3F, right?! typo?

Change this to 0x3F and I think we finally got it :)

[RJ Skerry-Ryan (rryan)]

Whoops .. yes that's a typo. Good catch! Fix is now in the 1.9, trunk and 1.10 branches.

[toomuch (toomuch)]

Hi RJ,

#887345
"RJ Ryan (rryan) wrote on 2011-11-27: #5
Hey toomuch,
Sadly our Hercules rep told us that there is no way to update the RMX firmware.
RJ"

So, if there is no other firmware, why is this setting called "HerculesRMX.firstGenerationFirmware"?
Will the next release correct that setting in "c:\Program Files\Mixxx\midi\Hercules-DJ-Console-RMX-scripts.js" or do we have to do it manually?

[RJ Skerry-Ryan (rryan)]

Hi toomuch,

The firmware for the RMX has multiple versions but it is not
user-upgradeable. So people who have the first-generation (buggy) firmware,
must set that setting in the MIDI script. All other RMX owners should be
fine.

RJ

On Sun, Dec 4, 2011 at 3:45 PM, toomuch <email address hidden> wrote:

> Hi RJ,
>
> #887345
> "RJ Ryan (rryan) wrote on 2011-11-27: #5
> Hey toomuch,
> Sadly our Hercules rep told us that there is no way to update the RMX
> firmware.
> RJ"
>
> So, if there is no other firmware, why is this setting called
> "HerculesRMX.firstGenerationFirmware"?
> Will the next release correct that setting in "c:\Program
> Files\Mixxx\midi\Hercules-DJ-Console-RMX-scripts.js" or do we have to do it
> manually?
>
> --
> You received this bug notification because you are a member of Mixxx
> Development Team, which is subscribed to Mixxx.
> https://bugs.launchpad.net/bugs/863683
>
> Title:
> Hercules RMX and Steel pitch control not centered at 0 mark
>
> To manage notifications about this bug go to:
> https://bugs.launchpad.net/mixxx/+bug/863683/+subscriptions
>

[toomuch (toomuch)]

Thanks for the info.
Is it just me or does somebody else see the issue that other knobs (High / Mid / Low / Gain) are also not centered?
See https://launchpadlibrarian.net/84651791/Clipboard.jpg and https://bugs.launchpad.net/mixxx/+bug/887345.

Package : 4.HDJS 2011
Firmware: 1.0.4.13
Driver: 5.2.8.0
DJ API: 2.0.23.5
CPL:2.0.9.2

[RJ Skerry-Ryan (rryan)]

Hey toomuch,

Did you enable the first generation firmware toggle and still have the
issue?

RJ

On Mon, Dec 5, 2011 at 2:02 PM, toomuch <email address hidden> wrote:

> Thanks for the info.
> Is it just me or does somebody else see the issue that other knobs (High /
> Mid / Low / Gain) are also not centered?
> See https://launchpadlibrarian.net/84651791/Clipboard.jpg and
> https://bugs.launchpad.net/mixxx/+bug/887345.
>
>
> Package : 4.HDJS 2011
> Firmware: 1.0.4.13
> Driver: 5.2.8.0
> DJ API: 2.0.23.5
> CPL:2.0.9.2
>
> --
> You received this bug notification because you are a member of Mixxx
> Development Team, which is subscribed to Mixxx.
> https://bugs.launchpad.net/bugs/863683
>
> Title:
> Hercules RMX and Steel pitch control not centered at 0 mark
>
> To manage notifications about this bug go to:
> https://bugs.launchpad.net/mixxx/+bug/863683/+subscriptions
>

[toomuch (toomuch)]

Yes, pitch controls are centered at 0. The knobs are not centered (still as shown in screenshot).

[RJ Skerry-Ryan (rryan)]

Does turning the firstGenerationFirmware flag off result in knobs that are
centered?

On Mon, Dec 5, 2011 at 3:13 PM, toomuch <email address hidden> wrote:

> Yes, pitch controls are centered at 0. The knobs are not centered (still
> as shown in screenshot).
>
> --
> You received this bug notification because you are a member of Mixxx
> Development Team, which is subscribed to Mixxx.
> https://bugs.launchpad.net/bugs/863683
>
> Title:
> Hercules RMX and Steel pitch control not centered at 0 mark
>
> To manage notifications about this bug go to:
> https://bugs.launchpad.net/mixxx/+bug/863683/+subscriptions
>

[toomuch (toomuch)]

Seems that firstGenerationFirmware has nothing to do with it. After turning all knobs to zero and then back to center position it works. :)

[toomuch (toomuch)]

What it be possible / desirable to have an option in the preferences menu to select the firmware version? Or should Mixxx automatically recognize what firmware is present and change the setting accordingly?
From a user perspective it would be bad to always change that setting somewhere in the C: directory when a new version is published.

[RJ Skerry-Ryan (rryan)]

Agreed though we don't have a way to detect the firmware version. We would
have to use libusb to probe the interface and beyond that I don't believe
PortMIDI provides us an easy way to know which MIDI devices correspond to
which USB devices.

We have wanted to expose MIDI script options in the preferences for a long
time now (and have them saved in the database and not as a constant defined
in the script). No work has been done on this and the project is looking
for an owner.

cheers,
RJ

On Thu, Dec 8, 2011 at 1:46 PM, toomuch <email address hidden> wrote:

> What it be possible / desirable to have an option in the preferences menu
> to select the firmware version? Or should Mixxx automatically recognize
> what firmware is present and change the setting accordingly?
> >From a user perspective it would be bad to always change that setting
> somewhere in the C: directory when a new version is published.
>
> --
> You received this bug notification because you are a member of Mixxx
> Development Team, which is subscribed to Mixxx.
> https://bugs.launchpad.net/bugs/863683
>
> Title:
> Hercules RMX and Steel pitch control not centered at 0 mark
>
> To manage notifications about this bug go to:
> https://bugs.launchpad.net/mixxx/+bug/863683/+subscriptions
>

[toomuch (toomuch)]

I just looked into C:\Program Files\Hercules\Audio\DJ Console Series\firmware to find a piece that would Mixxx allow to identify the firmware version.

I found a file named "HDJSeriesUpdater.exe" which seems to be able to update the RMX's firmware. But I see only this window for a split second: http://www.imagebanana.com/view/tatcxdz2/Clipboard.jpg. Nothing else happens. The *.msg-files in the folder contain error message texts in different languages. At the end of a *.msg-file there was a link: http://ts.hercules.com/faqs/eng/her_eng_00384.pdf. It's guide to upgrade the firmware. When you run "HDJSeriesUpdater.exe -manual" you get this http://www.imagebanana.com/view/vodvydkm/Clipboard.jpg and probably be able to upgrade the firmware (which was negated by a Hercules rep (see end of #887345)).

"RMX_TUSB.dja" seems to be the firmware file, but I cannot open it with a normal editor. Maybe this file would to determine the version for the above described scenario.

I don't know if upgrading the firmware on the old devices would be a good idea, but I would like to try it if we could get more info on it (from the Hercules Rep). Why does he say upgrading is not possible?
In my case in "Firmware Controller -> Current" says "4 (Etoms)" whereas in the manual it says "6 (Etoms)". So we need somebody with a fresh RMX console who gives us his "RMX_TUSB.dja".

[toomuch (toomuch)]

Can someone please comment on my message?

[RJ Skerry-Ryan (rryan)]

I'll send an email to our contact at Guillemot to double-check.

[Swiftb0y (swiftb0y)]

Mixxx now uses GitHub for bug tracking. This bug has been migrated to:
https://github.com/mixxxdj/mixxx/issues/5999