I'd mentioned on the SGroup several days ago that Chicken Systems Translator 6 www.chickensys.com now can write Roland .OUT files (this can be DS/DD and DS/HD on Mac to USB Floppy Drives. (On Windows it's just a regular thing.)
I put this on Translator and Translator Free. They are not the public versions, but will appear in v6.1. If anyone is interested, contact me off-list and I'll give instructions how to get the build right away.
Garth Hjelte
Sampler User
At 04:46 PM 9/29/2015, you wrote:
>Yes! That's so awesome! Thanks for posting this Garth. I'll email you directly with more info, but wanted to publicly say that this rules.
It's definitely fun to do. I got it done, loaded it in my S550, works perfect. Unusual because I'm so used to using a XP computer for floppy things. Nice to use a Mac for once.
>On Tue, Sep 29, 2015 at 1:52 PM, Garth Hjelte <<mailto:garth@chickensys.com>garth(a)chickensys.com> wrote:
>At 05:30 PM 9/28/2015, you wrote:
>
>I read with interest on this thread, and I got Translator and Translator Free <http://www.chickensys.com>www.chickensys.com running where you can write S5x floppy images (usually .OUT files) to DS/DD floppies using a USB floppy drive on a Mac. Fortunately this works because the Roland is a 9-sector geometric format, just like a MS-DOS disk. (If it were a 10-sector one like Akai or Ensoniq or Emu, it'd be different.) But of course it's not a MS-DOS file system so that's where Translator comes in.
>
>It's not public yet, but it's done, so if the OP is interested, or anyone else, please email privately and I'll give details and link info.
>
>For a screen shot on what this sort of looks like, see:
>
><http://www.chickensys.com/_images/s5xfloppy.png>www.chickensys.com/_images/s5xfloppy.png
>
>Also, using the USB floppy of mine, which is nothing special, it works just fine in Yosemite. OSX formats a DS/DD floppy as well as a DS/HD - just go into Disk Utility and Erase to MS-DOS (FAT) format. AFAIK these things never need "drivers" or anything so I'm a little confused what you guys were talking about.
>
>>I used to use CDXtract to convert S550 and S760 sounds to EXS24 format to use in Logic. (I also have many disks for both machines.) If I ever want to use CDXtract, I still have it available on my old G4 or on an alternative OS boot drive (10.6). The conversions are very good. There's also Translator for conversions.
>
>Just to note, CDx does NOT support S5x, only S7x. (Perhaps you were using the Convert Load S5x images that you converted into S7x images.) Translator has a very advanced S5x convertor to other formats, does the job very, very well. It also is a modern program that runs on Yosemite and even El Capitan, as well as Windows 10 down to XP. (And it runs as low was Tiger OSX 10.4 and PPC machines.
>
>We are also working on a ->S5x conversion routine, it's not done because - well, it's an old format, and people aren't threatening us with death on getting it (as opposed to other more modern needs). If you are all desperate for it, threaten us with death or torture and maybe we'll hurry it up. =)
Garth Hjelte
Sampler User
Back again...
I noticed from a further post that you're running Yosemite.
It's highly unlikely that you'll find a drive that has up to date drivers for any newer Mac OS than 10.6
I have an old Imation Superdrive which used to work under OS 10.6 but there are no longer drivers for it, and the Mac doesn't even see the drive anymore. I've kept a "legacy" G4 that runs OS 10.2 and even OS9, simply to be able to read and write (and convert) floppies and run old programs that could read Roland format disks.
Do you perhaps have an old computer lying around gathering dust? That may be the answer....or a friend that still has an old Mac.
Regards - Colin
On 28Sep, 2015, at 12:11, Colin Shapiro <musos(a)mac.com> wrote:
> Hi Duncan,
>
> I'm replying to your original post, mainly to ask some questions.
>
> First and most important, what OS are you running on the Mac?
> Next, what disk drive did you get?
> What type of connection does it have to your Mac?
>
> The DD 720K disks you have are perfect for the S550, but they must be formatted in MS-DOS format to work on the S550.
>
> The problem is that the Mac most likely will not even see the drive, let alone the disks.
>
> I'll wait for your answers before continuing...
>
> Regards
> Colin
> ______________________________________
>
> On 28Sep, 2015, at 0:35, Duncan Malashock <duncanmalashock(a)gmail.com> wrote:
>
>> Hi Sgroup,
>>
>> How's it going? First time posting to the group, so thanks for having me.
>>
>> I recently purchased an S-550 and love the sound. I'm mostly interested in
>> using those great samples that I'm sure you've all heard in the Sunday Paper
>> <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6-_YmUmAMwU> demo. I'm hoping that the
>> seasoned experts among you may be able to help me make that a reality.
>>
>> My unit came with two system disks, and it seemed like only one of them
>> loaded completely. Through doing program changes I was able to get a couple
>> samples working (one of a string section and one of an orchestra hit). I'm
>> finding it very difficult to see what samples are available through the
>> front panel. I had hoped the Sunday Paper samples were pre-installed, but
>> it seemed trying to load the samples I was after was going to take more
>> work.
>>
>> So my next step was to try to write disk images to floppies to use in the
>> S-500. I tracked down 10 DD 720K disks (old stock, not the new ones which
>> I've heard are unreliable), and the RSB sample library in .OUT format
>> <http://llamamusic.com/s50s550/unusual_samples.html>. I'm on a Macbook Pro
>> running OS X Yosemite, so SMAC doesn't seem like a possibility, and the
>> Sabrent USB floppy drive I bought doesn't seem to read the DD disks. So
>> right now I'm stuck.
>>
>> Thanks for reading this far. Can anyone help me find a way to write these
>> disk images to the floppies using my Mac? Many thanks for any help.
>>
>> All best,
>> Duncan
>> _______________________________________________
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>> sgroup(a)sgroup.ca
>> For subscribe/unsubscribe: http://lists.sgroup.ca/mailman/listinfo/sgroup
>> See http://www.generalconcepts.com/sgroup/ for more information.
>
Hi Sgroup,
How's it going? First time posting to the group, so thanks for having me.
I recently purchased an S-550 and love the sound. I'm mostly interested in
using those great samples that I'm sure you've all heard in the Sunday Paper
<https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6-_YmUmAMwU> demo. I'm hoping that the
seasoned experts among you may be able to help me make that a reality.
My unit came with two system disks, and it seemed like only one of them
loaded completely. Through doing program changes I was able to get a couple
samples working (one of a string section and one of an orchestra hit). I'm
finding it very difficult to see what samples are available through the
front panel. I had hoped the Sunday Paper samples were pre-installed, but
it seemed trying to load the samples I was after was going to take more
work.
So my next step was to try to write disk images to floppies to use in the
S-500. I tracked down 10 DD 720K disks (old stock, not the new ones which
I've heard are unreliable), and the RSB sample library in .OUT format
<http://llamamusic.com/s50s550/unusual_samples.html>. I'm on a Macbook Pro
running OS X Yosemite, so SMAC doesn't seem like a possibility, and the
Sabrent USB floppy drive I bought doesn't seem to read the DD disks. So
right now I'm stuck.
Thanks for reading this far. Can anyone help me find a way to write these
disk images to the floppies using my Mac? Many thanks for any help.
All best,
Duncan
