Genius Eurorack Module

OWL
#21

so today i tried to update the firmware on the genius, i think i managed it but i lost all patches, now my genius is empty and i can’t find the example patches. can someone please point me to these patches, or am i wrong and they are in the patch-library??
sorry, i’m very new to this all and it’s a bit hard to navigate and find the correct ressources:)
and thanks @mars for the recompiled bells, i will try them asap! and to answer your questions: no, no english bell on the right output and no djembe on the right button!
cheers

update: bells now work, thanks @mars !

#22

@mars where can i download the factory patches for the genius?

#23

Martin hasn’t published them in patch library yet, but the sources are available in his patches repo

1 Like
#24

Hi there, I recently ordered a Genius and I have a few questions that I can’t seem to find answers to in the online documentation. 1. Approximately how many patches / how much disk storage is in the unit? 2. Is there a specific midi channel for controlling the device and are there specific default Midi CCs for the parameters in the unit? Can this be managed or determined in the unit settings? If not, I guess that’s my sly way of making a feature request :wink: Thanks for all you do! --Chad

#25

40

8 Mbytes for patches and resources

It’s listening to all channels by default. There is a settings that makes it listen only on particular MIDI channel, however I think that saving settings might be broken with current firmware version.

1 Like
#26

Is there a way to access the Genius firmware with a hardware debug interface like ST-Link?

#27

Yes, it’s certainly possible, but requires soldering a debug header to your Genius (I think it’s not there as very few people mess with firmware here) and a cable or a custom adapter to connect to debug probe. Connecting debugger to other OWL boards (OWL1/2, Xibeca) is much easier. May I ask what do you want this for?

#28

I have a project called CLAMS (Command Line Algorithmic Music System). There’s not much of a plan yet but I can give some highlights:

  • CLAMS will be an interactive interpretive system based on Forth. The intended use case is livecoding / algorithmic composition / digital sound synthesis on microcontrollers using serial communications over USB.
  • CLAMS will target Arm Cortex M microcontrollers. The goal is to run on the Electro-Smith Daisy, the Teensy 4.1 and the Raspberry Pi Pico. The initial implementation will be for the Raspberry Pi Pico, which is the least powerful of the three boards.

I just discovered the OWL platform and its associated hardware yesterday and I’m considering adding it to the target hardware list. I may not need a hardware debugging capability, given that Forth allows interactive access to the hardware, assembly / disassembly and examining memory / registers. But the Daisy and Pico H and HW have debug connectors on them if I need them.

This is all in the early research / planning phase. I have Daisy and Pico hardware already and ran across the OWL platform yesterday via another search. I was looking for Eurorack DSP / effects modules and found the Befaco Lich. From there I discovered the OWL platform and the Genius, which seems like a more powerful device.

I should add that I don’t currently have any Eurorack hardware, just desktop synths. So the Witch would be a better fit for me musically than either the Lich or the Genius. Is there a debug connection on the Witch?

#29

OWL patches are compiled as standalone programs with stack pointer in a specific address. The firmware copies the generated code to expected address and executes it. Then patch runs until it ends processing next audio buffer and blocks until firmware gets another buffer of audio ready. Patch code is executed inside RTOS thread and firmware effectively controls its execution. Shared memory is used for communication between patch and firmware code (exchange pointers to data, parameters, pass callback functions both ways).

Because of this isolation, only firmware accesses ARM hardware directly. The patch itself contains only the DSP code. When you try debugging it, you can use ST-LINK and gdb with firmware code, but the patch is seen as some blob inside RTOS. The point is, you can’t debug patches themselves (only firmware) and you probably don’t need to make a custom firmware to run a FORTH interpreter on it. With OWL3 (Genius, Xibeca) you can build a patch up to 512kb in size.

There’s no support for serial USB in firmware, but Martin was adding keyboard input a while ago.

Regarding hardware selection, it would make more sense to use Genius as you’ve suggested, simply because it contains a display. Another OWL device that includes an OLED display is Magus, but it’s running with STMF4 MCU rather than H7 as on Genius. As you haven’t ordered it yet, you probably can get a debug connector soldered and the necessary adapter added if you write a comment about it in your order details.

Btw, you’ve mentioned Daisy here and I should mention that I’ve made an unofficial fork of OWL firmware that runs on it. However, none of the supported devices contain USB host ports.

#30

How big a patch can I build in an OWL 2 device? 512KiB is more than enough.

[quote]
There’s no support for serial USB in firmware, but Martin was adding keyboard input a while ago.
[\quote]

What kind of keyboard?

The Magus is listed as out of stock. I’m pretty sure the F4 is sufficiently powerful for what I’m doing as long as there’s space in RAM for the Forth dictionary. A 16-bit Forth will work for what I’m doing and that only needs 64KiB. And I don’t need a display on the device, but If the Magus exists that would be better than the Witch for my musical workflow.

And If I go Eurorack I will need to buy a case and find a space in my tiny apartment for a soldering station. The upside of Eurorack is that I’d only need one Forth interpreter module / control voltage processor and I could do that on any programmable device that had the connectivity.

Thanks! If I decide to go with the Genius I’ll do that.

I have a Daisy Field, two Daisy Pods and three Daisy Seeds. All have USB connectors. Is the lack of USB host port something that can be done in the firmware?

#31

144 kB

Any standard USB HID keyboard.

The firmware supports it, but you’d have to make a custom project that configures available peripherals. I’ve only mentioned this in case if you have any need for keyboards or anything else connected to USB host port that doesn’t exist there unless you make a custom board. Anyway, discussing Daisy doesn’t belong to this forum.

#32

OK. Let me do some more reading on the platform software before I decide. Either way (desktop or Eurorack) I only need one Forth device, so it’s going to come down to DSP capabilities and cost. Thanks!

#33

Update: I am going with the Witch, for a number of reasons:

  1. Perfect Circuit here in the US has them in stock and they have a Halloween discount and free shipping.
  2. The patches out of the box and workflow are a great fit for my current musical style. I especially love the VoSim patch!
  3. It will give me a way to learn the OWL platform at my own pace. For what I’m doing, a Forth interpreter on another device will work just fine as long as it can send and receive MIDI and control voltages.

I do plan to get a Genius, but I need to take some more time researching Eurorack case options and figuring out what other modules I want to put in it. I may end up with one of those small single-module desktop cases and just putting the Genius in it.