Firmware Update (version 1.04) for Micro BR

[guitarron]

Personally, I'll wait for Roland/Boss USA to issue the update. I'd hate to find that things get translated to German or something =)

...or worse... all your songs could come out like Nena's 99 luftballons

lmao-thats a blast from the past

[Blooby]

Personally, I'll wait for Roland/Boss USA to issue the update. I'd hate to find that things get translated to German or something =)

...or worse... all your songs could come out like Nena's 99 luftballons

I agree.  That was funny as Hell.

Blooby

[Ted]

Hey 64,  Have you ever heard of anyone hacking a BR of any kind, and adding unsupported features, or completely replacing the OS?  BR Linux!

Just wondering.

[64Guitars]

Hey 64,  Have you ever heard of anyone hacking a BR of any kind, and adding unsupported features, or completely replacing the OS?  BR Linux!

Just wondering.

No. I haven't heard of anything like that. I would imagine that it would be pretty hard to make any useful changes to the code without reverse-engineering the OS or getting access to the source code. Although, you could probably make simple text changes or replace preset patches by editing the update files (unless it does a checksum on the files before updating to authenticate them). But, why bother when there's already a bank of user patches which you can easily rewrite without hacking. The only useful hack I can think of would be to replace the wav samples for one of the drum kits to make your own custom kit. It might be possible to do that by editing the update files, though it wouldn't be easy.

[Ted]

But, why bother when there's already a bank of user patches which you can easily rewrite without hacking.

Why?  Mostly because I think it's cool when hackers do stuff like that.  (See iPodLinux and Xbox Linux.) But also MIDI support, editable drum patterns, and some of the other things on the wish list that don't involve hacking the interface.

Alas, the MicroBR is not an iPod or an Xbox, so there's nowhere near the demand for an alternative OS.

[64Guitars]

Why?  Mostly because I think it's cool when hackers do stuff like that.  (See iPodLinux and Xbox Linux.) But also MIDI support, editable drum patterns, and some of the other things on the wish list that don't involve hacking the interface.

My rhetorical "Why?" was only in reference to changing preset patches by hacking the update files. A complete replacement OS that would add new features would be cool. But I don't expect to ever see one since Roland isn't likely to release their source code and reverse-engineering the existing OS would be a big job (and probably illegal). By the time anyone could figure it out, the BR would be replaced by a newer, better model anyway.

I think the only way we'll ever see some of the things from our Micro BR wish list is if Roland releases a "Micro BR Version 2" with those features. When they did that with the BR-900 and BR-1600, they made the firmware update available for free to owners of the original 900 and 1600 so that they could have a version 2 machine without buying new hardware.

[Glenn Mitchell]

1.03, but I remember installing this update. I've had mine for a few years now.

[cuthbert]

Mine came with 1.03....bought it new on eBay a few weeks ago.

[Jim1970]

1.03 here

[Ted]

I asked Roland support, and this was their response:

We are looking into getting it on our site, but at this time the firmware update is not available for download. If you'd like to have your Micro BR updated, you can send it to us and our Service Center will do this for you. Contact Customer Service at 323-890-3700 and they will give you the information you need to send it in.

For free?

They didn't respond to my question about what the update fixes or improves, so I'll ask again and post the response here.