Hi,
I have an old BeatBuddy Mini, I’m wondering if there’s any way I could go about a firmware update myself?
I think it has this drifting tempo problem:
It also doesn’t have the option to turn off the intros which is available in later firmware.
Now I know these don’t have a USB so it can be updated conventionally, but I know a bit about embedded, and taking a look inside (well out of warranty now) I see there are some pads for header pins called “CN1” and “HD5”. There is also an array of test points on the back of the PCB.
While I can see the M12L16161A SDRAM IC, two chips (presumably the main uC and some non-volatile FLASH/EEPROM) are hidden under the display and I don’t fancy de-soldering it. Is there a firmware update process that can utilise these? If I need to get the right ISP/ICP/Programmer that’s not necessarily a problem.
While I’m here I want to say it’s awesome to see that Singular Sound has some open source, which is great as a Linux user. Maybe there is a chance here to breath new life in to the old minis? In particular if the exposed connections can be used as GPIO new footswitch and MIDI functions could be added, possibly some sort of communication port (I guess the uC doesn’t have a USB peripheral or else it would be there) which could add possibilities.
Otherwise it’s still been great fun to use.
Thanks!