dsmcu – setup instructions

HOW TO CONNECT DSMCU TO REAPER ON A PC

Note: in theory this stuff all works on Linux and OSX but you’re on your own, let me know if you get it working!

(click through for more info…)

HOW TO CONNECT DSMCU TO REAPER ON A PC

Note: in theory this stuff all works on Linux and OSX but you’re on your own, let me know if you get it working!

Maybe print this out before you start.

  • Obtain a Nintendo DS and a cartridge that will let you run homebrew (I use an R4DS – http://www.r4ds.com – works great). If you get stuck here, hit up Google.
  • You need a wireless router or something else that will let you connect your DS to the network your computer is on. Make sure that you can connect to the Nintendo WFC online services. If you get stuck here, hit up Google.
  • Go to http://www.midiox.com/myoke.htm#Download and download MIDI Yoke NT 1.75 (163K 09-23-07) (NOT the manual install). Run it. You might need to reboot.
  • Go to http://dsmi.tobw.net/index.php?cat_id=1 and download the DSMIDIWiFi Server for Windows. Extract and run it.
    • Set input to “IN FROM MIDI YOKE PORT 1”
    • Set output to “OUT TO MIDI YOKE PORT 2”

setup dsmi

  • Download the dsmcu.nds file and get it onto your DS flash card (i.e. R4DS, whatever). You don’t need to patch this file or do anything weird with it, just put it on there.
  • Boot your DS and run the dsmcu.nds file. If it locks up with a faint “MIDI: ?” message on the bottom screen, that means it can’t connect to your network. If you can play DS Tetris on the internet and this still doesn’t work, contact me.
  • If dsmcu can connect to the internet, the screen will fill with faders. This is good.
  • Download and run Reaper. Go to options/preferences and select the Control Surfaces section (near the bottom). Click Add to add a new control surface.
    • Set: Control surface mode: Mackie Control Universal,
    • MIDI Input: IN FROM MIDI YOKE 2
    • MIDI Output: OUT TO MIDI YOKE 1,
    • Leave everything else at default settings.
    • When you click OK, everything should work.

setup reaper

If it’s doesn’t work, try setting the DSMI output to Microsoft GS Wavetable Synth and seeing if noise is made when you click on the transport buttons on dsmcu.

14 thoughts on “dsmcu – setup instructions”

  1. i have done all the tings in the manual but i get midi?
    i have a cyclo ds evolution

    can you help me?

  2. not sure if i understand your problem there – all control data is sent/received as midi. the device doesn’t do any actual audio mixing, that’s the job of the DAW (e.g. reaper).

    send me an email, i’ll see if i can sort you out.

  3. hey there remaincalm.org
    Just downloaded this and successfully used it with reaper. i am trying now to use it with another daw known as sonar (7 to be exact). unfortunately, sonar doesn’t have a mackie controller universal surface. it does have a “generic surface” which i think is responding to the controller. would it be possible to give me a list of the midi channels dsmcu uses?

    thanks, ryan

    p.s.: I don’t know if it is your website or something, but I cannot capitalize my letters. stuff like exclamation points and parenthesis work.

  4. (yeah, it’s my website – i thought it would be a good idea to turn off caps using css. sorry about that…)

    re: i’ll email you a partial controller list. if anyone else needs this, comment here and i’ll post it to you.

  5. Actually, I figured it out:
    the “cakewalk generic surface” has a “learn” function which determines where a signal is being sent from, and from that point, I can assign a function to be controlled by that midi signal.
    there are only two problems, the first of which being that sonar won’t let me choose a “no midi input” for its midi tracks (which is no fault of your own, obviously) and recording midi might be problematic when moving the sliders requires sending midi data over a channel that might be in use. a way to remedy this might be to use a given note on a given channel for each slider and use the note velocity to control volume. in the future, you might consider adding the ability to control which channel/note a slider is broadcasting over, though I could probably go down the banks (my songs don’t involve many midi channels right now) and have some of the higher channels control the lower channels’ volumes.
    The second problem is that i have no idea how to send out the vu data to my ds so i can use your nice bar graphs with sonar. sonar probably has some method of sending that data out, and it’s only a matter of time until I discover it.
    other than that, everything works great!

    thanks for the great homebrew!
    ryan
    p.p.s: It appears that my letters are being capitalized, but they don’t appear capitalized in the textbox for comment submission below. Bug?

  6. Just a quick query… do you know if its possible to get dsmcu working on a pc running ableton live?

    i’ve got dswifimidi working fine, midi yoke installed and i’ve even got dsmcu working with reaper.

    any ideas?

    p.s. love the concept

  8. Hey,

    Just wondering if there’s any news on an update?

    By the way thanks for making all of us slightly happier when making
    tunes!

    -David

  10. Thanks for this great app,

    Im using it with ableton live on a mac and everything is running smooth.

    This app makes me want to learn programming.
    I could do with some more buttons and faders tho, a new page with lots of buttons or some way of switching between different setts of midi outs. What do you plan on doing next with it?

    thanks a lot

  11. Together with Colors, this is the best application for the DS !

    In Ableton Live, just choose the Mackie control and everything will work. This is the same for Logic Pro

    Thanks for this great application

  12. Hi there.

    I am trying to use your app on a Nintendo ds Lite with Reaper.

    1. The WiFi settings on the Nintendo are OK; in fact, it can correctly connect to the Internet (I tested this with several applications and games)
    2. Also, DSMidiWifi is working correctly: I used it with several applications

    Now, I had DSMCU working just once, using Mackie Control Universal as you suggest.

    Then, I tried to change the control surface to Behringer BFC2000 (since I have one): now, it does not connect anymore to the network (not even if I select again the Mackie Control Universal). The app keeps showing “MIDI ?” and the led on the Nintendo blinks slowly (no network connection).

    What am I doing wrong?

    Thanks for your help.

    Regards,

    Giuseppe.

  13. not sure off the top of my head – i’ll scope out the source again this week and let you know what that means (it’s been a while since i’ve opened that up, sorry!)

  14. Great app.
    I started testing and after fiew days when i ran dsmcu “midi?” apears for 5 minutes. It means ds wont connect.
    I started checking every possible properitys. All was ok. HMMM. Router?
    Mariocart over WFC works fine.
    When i change channel from 6 to 8 on router’s wifi settings all comes back.
    App runs great. Connection works. I’ve got plans to use dsmcu on my live PAs. We’ll see.
    So check everything including router.
    Probably too big traffic on wifi freq.
    TXH for app and waiting for news and updates.

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