Greetings, and a few questions

[brussell]

Hey there Trinity Community.

I'm a long-time Trinity owner (had it about 14 years), but I've never really dug deep into what it can do. I've simply had it as an accessory, and played largely default patches. I play my acoustic piano much more than my synth, but things are starting to move in the other direction.

So I read through pretty much every thread on the Trinity forum over the past few days to familiarize myself with the content here, and have (re-)learned quite a bit.

I sat down last night to do some patch programming, and thought it would be a good idea to back up my onboard PCG. However, every floppy I put into the drive would read, but would come back as unformatted. I would then attempt to format, it would begin the process, then tell me that formatting failed. Is this an indicator of a failed floppy drive? Or just a series of bad disks?

Lastly, I tried to use Trinitro v3.8, but was unable to make a connection. Trinitro would see my Midi device, and MIDI-OX detected the send/receive MIDI signals, but on Windows 7 (using no compatibility, XP sp3 compatibility and 98/Me compatibility) and on a Windows XP sp3 machine, I couldn't get Trinitro to pull from the Trinity. I've checked the Global settings on the keyboard, and all seems right. Any tips?

Thanks all!

Brussell

[variant966]

However, every floppy I put into the drive would read, but would come back as unformatted. I would then attempt to format, it would begin the process, then tell me that formatting failed. Is this an indicator of a failed floppy drive? Or just a series of bad disks?

Most of all - the drive is faulty (broken head alignment). Change the floppy diskette drive. This will solve the problem. The process of change is very simple and requires little technical knowledge. Good luck!

[brussell]

Great, thanks. Do I need a special, proprietary drive? Or can I buy any drive at any computer supply shop?

I managed to get Trinitro to work using an older media interface, but can't update my system using that technique. PCG management is do-able now, but still, I don't like having the floppy not work. :)

Thanks!

[variant966]

Yes, you can buy a floppy drive in any computer store. Floppy drives have a single standard connection. Carefully remove (unscrewing the screws), the old drive. Remember how it was installed. Remove it and install the mounting brackets to the new drive. Fixing a drive - a single standard. Set in Trinity, tighten the screws. Plume coming from the drive, connect to the motherboard TRINITY (standard connector). Do not forget to connect the power connector to the drive.

[syah]

Yes, you can buy a floppy drive in any computer store. Floppy drives have a single standard connection. Carefully remove (unscrewing the screws), the old drive. Remember how it was installed. Remove it and install the mounting brackets to the new drive. Fixing a drive - a single standard. Set in Trinity, tighten the screws. Plume coming from the drive, connect to the motherboard TRINITY (standard connector). Do not forget to connect the power connector to the drive.

I'm not really sure that a standard floppy drive will work. My sister has a Korg i4s and tried to put a recent floppy drive in. It didn't work. She needs a very old drive to make it work. I guess the same would apply to the Trinity too?

[variant966]

I'm not really sure that a standard floppy drive will work. My sister has a Korg i4s and tried to put a recent floppy drive in. It didn't work. She needs a very old drive to make it work. I guess the same would apply to the Trinity too?

If the problem is in the drive (for a description of the problem and is) the replacement drive will solve the problem! Approved - 3.5 "drive has a single standard. Remove the drive from the system unit and easily install in your TRINITY, this is tested by me on my instrument (there was a similar problem).

[brussell]

Awesome. Thanks all. I have some old floppy drives in some old computers out in the garage I think. May just have to put some time into the Trinity this weekend!

[MusiKman]

If you don't play live, then trinitro would be the best way to store your pcgs and songs. I havent used it in a while but it really works. Now for playing live its a different thing. I wonder if in the future, some one can make an Droid or Iphone app that stores your midi stuff. I know Line 6 already has the midi connector for the iphone, but i wonder if that would work with the trinity... anybody ever checked it?

[brussell]

Well, I use the Apple USB Camera kit to connect my Trinity to my iPad, using a $6 USB midi cable kit bought from Amazon. Works great for accessing virtual synths and sample/sound libraries on the iPad.

As far as storing PCGs on my iPad, that'd be cool. But I just use my little netbook to transfer PCGs and songs back and forth if needed, before a show.

What I'd really love to see though is some of the bigger names (Korg, Kurzweil, etc.) make RS emulator apps for IOS. Or even scaled down IOS versions of Kontakt, Omnisphere, etc. I'd love to have Oasys-type sounds and programming options right there on my iPad. And play them all with my Trinity. Talk about a lightweight road kit.

I've heard NanoStudio is a decent IOS DAW, but I haven't bought it yet.

[Timo]

However, every floppy I put into the drive would read, but would come back as unformatted. I would then attempt to format, it would begin the process, then tell me that formatting failed. Is this an indicator of a failed floppy drive? Or just a series of bad disks?

Have you tried formatting the same floppy disks using your PC? If they work, then your Trinity may be to blame. If it doesn't, then the disks are to blame.

That said, I have a relatively high number of floppy disks that had PCG and SNG data on them that I made from when I first got my Trinity in about 1999 that no longer work via both the Trinity nor the PC. The disks became unformattable, too, even. I get critical error messages when trying to do so. I came to the conclusion that floppy disks perish, or I may have placed them somewhere where they've been exposed to magnetic fields (speakers, PSUs, etc.) or the like.

Well, I use the Apple USB Camera kit to connect my Trinity to my iPad, using a $6 USB midi cable kit bought from Amazon. Works great for accessing virtual synths and sample/sound libraries on the iPad.

That allows you to load Trinity PCGs from PCGs stored on your iPad?

[brussell]

That allows you to load Trinity PCGs from PCGs stored on your iPad?

Unfortunately not. I'm not aware of a PCG library manager for IOS, yet. But it does allow for cheap, easy connecting to the many Core MIDI virtual synths and samplers in the market.

Would be sweet to be able to manage the Trinity PCGs via IOS though, I agree.

As for the disks, heck, I don't even have access to a working PC with a floppy drive anymore. The box of disks I 'appropriated' from the office was new, so I'm more and more convinced something isn't right with the drive. Haven't had time to swap it out yet, but hopefully soon.

[synthjoe]

...I'm more and more convinced something isn't right with the drive.

A Head cleaning kit sometimes works miracles. Cah be had for a couple of dollars in quite a few computer stores. Worth a try.