Can Spin FV-1 programs easily be ripped and swapped?

[kaeth]

Let me start by saying I know very little about programming. I can solder chips, follow instructions, and maybe graft other people's code together at best, but have a weak understanding of how it works, myself. I have a Bitquest and a couple other single-program pedals that use the Spin FV-1 chip. The Bitquest is awesome, but a few of the programs I don't use at all. Is it possible for me to rip the programs from the Bitquest and other pedals, and amalgamate them into a new "best of" ROM chip to plug back into the Bitquest? I appreciate all of the builders in the community and the hard work they put into making these effects, which is why I bought the pedals in the first place and I don't intend to sell the originals. I'm not interested in cloning them or sharing intellectual property without permission. I just want to more efficiently use my board space. Also, would the size of the programs perhaps limit me to less than 8? Is that why some FV-1 based pedals only have 1 or 3 programs instead of filling all 8? I'm not looking to step on anyone's toes, so let me know if this is a taboo subject and I can remove it. Would appreciate any help or resources. Thanks much.

[BetterOffShred]

From what I understand the aspects of these pedals that are similar are all ripped to an EPROM and you can swap them from circuit to circuit.

It's definitely cool to ask man. Some guys here probably know exactly what you're asking. Have you downloaded the Spin software? I got it and an EProm flasher and was fixing to get into this at some point myself.

[kaeth]

Thanks for the response. No, I haven't checked the software and haven't purchased a flasher yet, because I wasn't sure if what I wanted to do was even possible. If you try out that flasher and like it, I'd be interested in which model it is since I guess I gotta put one on my shopping list.

[oldangelmidnight]

I've messed around a little with writing and editing some spin programs. It's easy enough to rip the complete code of an eeprom but I don't know how to separate out the individual patches and save them as separate files. There are different levels of programming complexity that you can use to do this stuff and what you're asking is beyond my beginner understanding.
And the programs aren't always compatible between different hardware. I've swapped chips between Keeley, Drolo, Pladask and a couple others and they don't always work the same or at all.

[aen]

Yeah the physical interface has a lot to do with the programs functioning, also a lot of folks have mix/feedback circuits that aren't in the program, so if those arent working right then you shit outta luck!!

[JonnyAngle]

The quick answer is yes.

Like Aen said, there's more to the circuit than just the code.

[kaeth]

Thank you. I figured the Bitquest would be the best vessel for it since it already has mix and tone controls, so hopefully none of the other programs I want require an analog feedback circuit. I should probably just get a flasher and start digging in. I appreciate the help.

[whoismarykelly]

For the amount of effort you would put in determining how to copy/paste/burn the info you want from a given company's programs, you could probably write your own from tips and available snippets of code on the spin forum.

[BetterOffShred]

You can read the EProm with the flasher I believe, so if nothing else you could see what they are doing as far as code architecture. I'm curious myself.

Everything is going DSP and now people are treating their code all secret, but at least they can't goop it..

[adamajah]

I think @gatedfuzz is dabbling in this stuff currently

[UglyCasanova]

You can read the EProm with the flasher I believe, so if nothing else you could see what they are doing as far as code architecture.

You can grab the hexadecimal file from the eprom, as that's the compressed file you flash the chips with, but you need the .spn files (that's now one .hex file) to see the actual code. So, copying the entire chip is easy, but converting the hex code to spn to see the actual code and custom tailor a single chip is more troublesome. There's a site where you can convert from hex to spn. While it's not a perfect conversion, it helps to make more sense of the code and what the programmer did. I don't feel comfortable sharing the link though, because someone with less good intentions might use it for shady business.

Tldr; possible, but a lot of work.

[BetterOffShred]

Tom cloudy guy open sources his gear that's legit.

I'll probably give a spin chip a whirl here pretty soon. Bugg from DIYSB's sells a development board to help people get their feet wet. Appreciate the conversation

[kaeth]

You can read the EProm with the flasher I believe, so if nothing else you could see what they are doing as far as code architecture.

You can grab the hexadecimal file from the eprom, as that's the compressed file you flash the chips with, but you need the .spn files (that's now one .hex file) to see the actual code. So, copying the entire chip is easy, but converting the hex code to spn to see the actual code and custom tailor a single chip is more troublesome. There's a site where you can convert from hex to spn. While it's not a perfect conversion, it helps to make more sense of the code and what the programmer did. I don't feel comfortable sharing the link though, because someone with less good intentions might use it for shady business.

Tldr; possible, but a lot of work.

I think this is the answer I was looking for. Thanks for explaining. It does seem like it might be more over my head than I was hoping. I'm still interested in the platform, but it sounds like I have a lot more homework to do before I take this on.

Some good info in this thread to get me started. Much appreciated!

[cloudscapes]

look up spincad designer.



If you can get around the hardware hurdle (learning how to reprogram eeproms, etc), spincad is a visual way of making effects for the platform. it won't do what a seriously advanced coder can, but it'll do a lot.