Zodiac -> MIDI player

[Cyker]

Does anyone know if there is a MIDI player for the Zodiac that uses it's Yamaha chip?

Alternatively, a software one that uses SoundFont banks or GUS Patches would do too.

I found a Timidity port by that yoyo guy who did LJP/LJZ and ZDOOMZ etc., but it appears to just be a library with no actual MIDI player...??

[Tam Hanna]

What aboutMMPlayer? It can play MIDIs, but I dont know if it supports any hardware...

[tungsten t5]

why do you need to play MIDI's? If all you can find is mmplayer, don't buy it. TCPMP is waaaaaaaaaaaaaaayyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy better and free (but don't know if it plays midi's)

[Cyker]

TCPMP can't play MIDI files, and definitely can't play them in hadrware.

MMPlayer can play MIDIs, but it does it in software (You need GUS patches) - I tried it on my TH55 a while back and it wasn't very good on more complex MIDI files.

It's a bit better on the Zod, but still not fantastic...
I used to use the player on my T665 for MIDI playback but I don't know how to convert MIDIs to work with the Zodiac's polyphonic alarms.

As for the why, well MIDI files are a lot smaller than MP3s, and I have some old retro tunes I like listening to (The ChronoTrigger, Doom and Sonic tracks, and some by people like Virt and Jeff Dawson)

[jjesusfreak01]

There are some handhelds with midi libraries. Look for a free player, because there may be a few around.

[kennyd]

TCPMP can't play MIDI files, and definitely can't play them in hadrware.

MMPlayer can play MIDIs, but it does it in software (You need GUS patches) - I tried it on my TH55 a while back and it wasn't very good on more complex MIDI files.

It's a bit better on the Zod, but still not fantastic...
I used to use the player on my T665 for MIDI playback but I don't know how to convert MIDIs to work with the Zodiac's polyphonic alarms.

As for the why, well MIDI files are a lot smaller than MP3s, and I have some old retro tunes I like listening to (The ChronoTrigger, Doom and Sonic tracks, and some by people like Virt and Jeff Dawson)

Clie Polyphonics:
I loaded ClieSounds on my Zod and renamed the "system midi" to "tapwave midi" or something like that and it worked. I've got awesome polyphonic alarms on my Zod. I know your looking for a player but it seems that the clie polies play well on the Zod even as system alarms.

[Cyker]

COOOOL!!!!!

I wonder if I can import the Clie Sound utility to play them then...?!
If so, I could use it in conjunction with the Sony Sound Convertor to make new MIDI patches which the Sound Utility can import into the System MIDI file!! (I did this a lot on my T665; Ended up with a 5MB System MIDI file for alarms!!! :D)

[kennyd]

COOOOL!!!!!

I wonder if I can import the Clie Sound utility to play them then...?!
If so, I could use it in conjunction with the Sony Sound Convertor to make new MIDI patches which the Sound Utility can import into the System MIDI file!! (I did this a lot on my T665; Ended up with a 5MB System MIDI file for alarms!!! :D)

Update and info on this is a must. I have been through 3 clie's through the years and never made a copy of the CD but I have a friend with a TH55 (I don't know if these utilities came with it or not) but I would love to be able to add more system sounds to the Zod. I know how to change the system midi's for alarms, but do you know how to change the system sounds i.e. clicks etc. I'd love to have a type writer for text entry.

[kennyd]

BTW. From what I understand the Zod is using a similar if not the same yamaha chip that the clies had loaded on them when they were capable of polyphonic alarms etc.

[Cyker]

HAHAHAHAHAHA!!! IT WORKS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

It complains that it's for CLIE only, the screen's all messed up and it won't redraw properly but it WORKS!!! :P

Method:
Copied "Sound Utility", "PA1 Lib" and "SonySndLib" from T665 ROM to MS and then used
PFB to inject them directly into internal RAM (Alt. method, just copy them to SD card and use FileZ to copy them back. I didn't try HotSync - It may work but it usually blows up when doing system stuff like this so I didn't risk it)

Sound Utility appears in the Utilities group - Just run it! :D

Downsides: This is still subject to ALL the limitations of the T665's Sound Converter program, e.g. MIDI files can't be larger than 64kb when converted (Will be truncated).
Also, on the T665, if you use the Sound Convertor to convert MIDI type0 files to PDBs for HotSyncing and HotSync them in, Sound Utility will look for these files when you load it and patch them into the System MIDI file. Now, this doesn't exist on the Tapwave (I had to copy my 5MB System MIDI file from my T665 and rename it to Tapwave MIDI Sounds), and when you load Sound Utility with those files present it doesn't add them so there doesn't appear to be a way to add MIDI files at the moment :(

I wish I knew HOW to write a MIDI player for the Zod - Clearly it doesn't need to be signed like I thought, so if I knew howto it would be a LOT better than this hack-job method :(


Re Default sounds: Alas I don't know howto change the default system sounds, this seems more like a question for Pruss/CliePet/dmitry ;)

[Cyker]

Warning!: Don't use the Sound Util from the TH55 - If you're lucky it will work then crash with a Divide by Zero error.

If you are unlucky it puts your Zod into a hard lockup that needs a Function button/Warm Reset and FileZ to remove!

[kennyd]

Too bad. I was looking forward to having the ability to manage my alarms...deleting and adding. Is there another utility out there that is capable of doing anything like that.

[Cyker]

I'm trying to figure out the alarm merging mechanism atm. (I wish you could run SoftIce on PalmOS!!! :D)

I have a big feeling that if MakeMeClie worked on the Zod2 instead of giving me that authentication error then it might work. I suspect the Sound Utility does the conversion when it loads, but when it loads it brings up an error complaining that you're not using a Clie and I suspect that's blocking the conversion, despite the program running anyway...