I have 2 vg 99s. I just got the second one through ebay. The first I've had for a couple of years. The vg 99 is an essential part of my sound. My problem at the moment is that I can't do a bulk dump from the vg99 editing software to the new vg 99, as I can to the old vg 99. Using the new vg99, when I click the editor>vg99 button on the editor the individual patch is sent, but not the whole set. When I do this on the old vg 99 the entire patch set is transmitted. Additionally, and this may be more the problem, when I bring the set of patches into the editor when it is hooked up by midi to the new vg99, I get one patch that is correct but as I scroll through the others they are the ones that are already on the new vg99. In other words I can't bring in and scroll through the correct patch set when the new vg99 is hooked up. I've compared the midi settings between the old and new vg99 and they look exactly the same. I appreciate any help.
I found a V-guitar forum which I think will probably be right up your street:
http://www.vguitarforums.com/smf/index.php
Assuming you are not already a member.
In General discussion, under VG-99 - Top things to know:
"Do not use the software that come with the VG-99"
It recommends downloading the latest drivers, and editing software from Roland Japan.
In fact there is a hoard of info there, so it's worth a look.
Thanks again. Here are the directions for updating the vg 99. I have found the firmware is 1.03, so there may be other reasons I can't use this vg 99 with the patch editor. I also haven't been able to locate the updSMF.exe program described in these directions. Does anyone know where I can find the updSMF.exe program?
System Update Procedure
1. Connect the computer’s MIDI OUT to the VG-99’s MIDI IN (use an USB MIDI
interface), or Connect computer and VG-99 with a USB cable.
2. Simultaneously hold down [<PAGE] and [CATEGORY] and turn on the power.
“SYSTEM UPDATER Please wait...” appears in the display.
3. Wait several seconds until “Waiting SMF...” is displayed.
4. Start up the application for transmitting MIDI data on the computer (e.g., UpdSMF),
and transmit the MIDI data for update.
Thank you very much Paul. I tried a second reset after receiving your response. I tried one earlier in the day, before updating the software from 1.03 to 1.04. I'm still having the same problem after the reset. The vg 99 editor syncs to the vg 99, and reflects all of its patches but I can't dump a user patch set into the user section of the vg99. I am using midi cables, and this process works great with my first vg 99. Thank you very much for entering into this dialogue with me.
Thanks again, Paul. I just did a midi dump of the patches from the first (older) vg 99 to the new one, and that was successful. Bypassed the computer completely. I'll see now how the new one responds to the editor now that its parameters have been set to those of the older vg 99. Hopefully it will "behave" now.
Well keep trying..
At least you've got the info inside now, I assume you wanted a back-up in case of disaster of your main one. As you said it's an essential part to your sound.
Also good to see one used creativity. Roland keep pushing the envelope with the V tech, plus they are one of the few companies that have stayed with guitar modelling, and synthesis.
If you do find the solution to the problem, let the forum know.
Just in case another VG-99 owner comes across a similar issue.
Thank you again for all of your kind help, Paul. The way things stand now is this: I can alter individual patches and move them around and save these changes on the new vg 99. However I still can't take a pre-existing user patch set and load the whole thing into the new vg 99, as I can with the older vg 99. It is a limitation I can work with as I will probably just be editing the existing patch set on the new vg 99, and dumping the whole set from the computer, as needed, into the older vg 99, which can receive a computer dump of a whole patch set. I'll let you and the forum know if I become able to dump a whole set of user patches into the newer vg 99. And, of course, if anyone has any ideas about this I welcome hearing them.
Make sure your communication settings match between the VG-99's, in particular is the Midi "Unit ID" settting. This setting must match or else one unit will not be able to read data from the other unit.
The purpose of the UNIT ID is to be able to destingush between the two units if they are both connected to the same midi network. Just like a key.
You know I think this may be the issue because now my older vg 99 can't receive a dump of the patch list that I created and saved on my new vg 99. By "unit id" do you mean the "device id" shown on the first page of midi specifications? This "device id" is set on "1" for each of the vg 99 units. Should I change one of the units to "2." ?
Well I would have thought a 'factory reset' would make the unit default to the settings described in the manual.
In the MIDI page (SYSTEM page 1, then F6), the setting I would expect to see are;
MIDI = ch 7 (why 7 I don't know)
OMNI = On (so it should receive on any MIDI channel)
and device ID = 1
I think the device ID's will match as the old VG dumped into the new one.
See if the MIDI channels match, check the 'old one' first, and change the new one to match.
Then see if the editing software works.
What's the OS version of the 'old VG', and which version of the editing software are you using?
Don't do this if it means the 'old one' loses it's data, or settings. While it's functioning as expected I don't want to risk ballsing it up.
It's interesting that the 'old one' could dump to the 'new one', but not back again.
It's suggests that something is holding it back.
If it is a MIDI channel, OMNI being off, or the device ID, it would be great.
Thanks friends for all your help. It looks like these two vg 99s can dump to each other but will not accept dumps of patch sets opened up in the computer editor. When the editor is opened up with either of the vg 99s attached by usb or midi, the editor reflects the patches in the unit and these can then be individually edited, moved around etc. and saved as a patch set in the software. So at the moment I've resigned myself to dumping a whole patch set from one vg 99 to the other if I need to, and editing the patches using the editor. All the settings of each unit are identical, including midi settings. I'll check out the firmware version of the old vg 99 shortly. The newer vg 99 has been updated to version 1.04.
I seem to to remember a similar problem I had dumping patches off my VG8 many years ago and if memory serves me right, the communication error was down to the soundcard and midi features not being correctly enabled on my PC. I know it seems obvious but thought its worth a shout.
