Anyone know of a driver for OS9.0.4, usb to midi?
TIA
PowerMac, Mac OS 9.0.x, G4
In my experience,a MIDI driver is ALWAYS associated with a physical piece of hardware such as a PCI card or a USB box of some sort.
Do you have a particular USB device in mind?
Gary
Hi Gary, thanks for replying.
Yeah, that has been my experience as well with much of my gear.
I bought a USB to midi converter from e-bay that boasted of the ability to load the driver for OS 9.0.4 from the unit. I should have known better.
My G4 is not online, due to OS being left in the dust. I use it to run 2 older Opcode programs that are the best notation and sequencer programs that I have ever seen, and I am not willing to let them go.
The device I bought also runs on PCs. When I hooked it to my PC, it automatically started searching for the driver. It found the driver at a Microsoft site, and was immediatedly ready to be used. I have another device similar to the new one that I purchased, and it works well on the PC as well, but needs OS 10 to run on a Mac.
I am not willing to upgrade my G4 past system 9 as it will lose the ability to run my 2 programs. Soooo, finding a driver for USB to midi is the way I need to go, if such an animal exsists, and if I am going to use USB.
I have found nothing on the Apple site that will scratch this itch.
I did however find a card that uses the modem connection from within the G4, to set up a serial interface that will interface with my Studio 128 midi device.
Since I first put out this quiry, I also found out that the USB to midi ability of the G4 was a little shakey, as it used the USB (bus) for everything, and reportedly caused some issues.
I am relying on info I retrieved from several music related sites. The reviews were from Nov. and Dec. of 2000!
That's one of the beauties of the internet, old news can be good news at times, and old products can be a good thing as well, as I found the card on e-bay for $20.
I didn't intend on such a long post, but I did want to explain my situation and also thank you for taking the time to reply.
If you come across a USB to midi driver by chance let me know, it would be interesting to see how it actually fares, as the review mentioned that with some devices there was little to no problems.
Blessings;
Ian
Ahhh. The Opcode 128. I bought one of these myself (ebay) thinking: no problem. I'll just download the Mac OS 9 driver from MOTU and go.
But NO! MOTU is blissfully unaware of anything besides the latest piece of Apple's planned obsolescence operating system. THAT is exactly why I moved away from their products.
I never tried calling them (MOTU), but due to your heavy dependence on their software, you should try. Ocassionally I've convinced a vendor to look in the back room for an old CD left over from a spring cleaning ...
Gary
Hey Gary;
I did find a piece of hardware that is still being made by MOTU. I never used any of their products as I was happy with Opcode. Like I said, Overture and SVP were tops, and I believe they still are.
The MOTU USB to midi unit does not carry OS 9 software anymore, kinda like you mentioned.
Opcode was bought out by Gibson and pretty much tabled. Opcode really had it all in one bag. I have used Overture and Studio Visoin Pro for many recordings in conjunction with Cubase and Reaper, and have had good success with my colaborations.
I probably won't call MOTU, as I am expecting the card I bought to work perfectly.
I also have an ace in the hole, in the form of a Power Mac 6500 that runs the software as well. My thinking is that the G4 will probably be a bit faster, but, the 6500 still hold it's own.
I use my PC for audio, with reaper, and I am truly happy with it's performance.
I use my Mac gear for midi, and it has done well over the years, and like I said, I have viewed and tested several other programs, and nothing has touched Opcodes stuff. Cakewalk took over Overture for a time and a season, and then passed it on, but it hasn't touched my version on my trust old Macs.
Thanks again for the reply;
Ian
PS It would be cool if someone with a vintage mindset could wrangle the Opcode gear from Gibson, at this point I am sort of glad I sold my Les Paul and ES 175
Ian -
OOPS! I mixed up Opcode with MOTU. I forgot that Gibson was the company that bought out Opcode NOT MOTU.
Anyway, it occurs to me that you will have all the driver you need once the serial interface arrives. The driver is sitting on your 6500. Copy it over and go.
Gary
Gary;
Yeah, the card is approaching my doorstep!
Did you mean the driver is sitting on my 6500 now? That would be shocking!
Ian
Yes. It is sitting on your 6500 - assuming that you've used the Studio 128 plugged into one of the 6500's serial ports successfully.
Or did I read too much into your previous post?
Gary
Hey Gary;
Just had a wild ride thru yesteryear!
when I received your reply, I thought you meant there was a USB to midi driver in the OMS folder.
I went searching, again, and in the sys. folder there is an OMS folder. In the OMS folder, there was an ext called USB manager.
I had looked all thru my G4 for something USB related, but after finding this ext, and going thru all the loading from a floppy, etc, I found out it could not scratch the itch. I did find out the ext. was put into the G4's ext manager though. So, a short ride thru memory lane.
I did locate an older MAudio Uno user guide that states there is a USB to midi driver for OS 8.1-9. I may contact MAudio, or Avid, or whatever they are nowadays. (Used to be midimac)
Yeah, I'm using the 6500 to drive the midi, thru the Studio 128 and into a Presonus interface, then into Reaper, which is the host DAW for my VSTs.
It will be interesting to get back inside the G4 to install the serial card, it's been awhile.
Blessings;
Ian
driver for usb-midi for mac g4 sys 9.0.4
