TOPIC:

Consider this scenario. A complex 88A configuration is saved to the laptop hard drive, but nowhere else. The laptop hard drive is not backed up. The laptop fails and needs to be replaced. The 88A Utility program is installed on the new laptop, and the user connects to the 88A. He is presented a choice: Synchronize or Restore. Neither option allows the user to connect to the 88A without wiping out the existing complex settings, and the user is forced to start over from the beginning.

Surely a third option, "Connect to 88A and preserve existing settings", would be a welcome enhancement to the program. Is this something MiniDSP Support might consider, or is there another way to recover without wiping out the existing settings?

I would like a 'preserve current configuration' option for regular use, not just when a laptop fails.

Everyone should have backups though.

Ultrasonic wrote:

I would like a 'preserve current configuration' option for regular use, not just when a laptop fails.

Everyone should have backups though.

The 88A already has an option to save the current configuration. Have you not seen it? It is under File/Save Configuration. If you have not already saved your 88A configuration, now would be a good time.

I don't own an 88A but I know and have used the option you mentioned. However, there are times when I've connected to one of my miniDSPs and been faced with the choice you highlighted in your first post when I don't want to do either thing. Yes I can pick one and the reload the saved config but I'd rather have the option to just not change anything in the first place .

Ultrasonic wrote:

I don't own an 88A but I know and have used the option you mentioned. However, there are times when I've connected to one of my miniDSPs and been faced with the choice you highlighted in your first post when I don't want to do either thing. Yes I can pick one and the reload the saved config but I'd rather have the option to just not change anything in the first place .

To be clear about the issue, neither of the choices I mentioned allow you to load a saved configuration. And if you don’t have access to a saved configuration to access once you are connected, you are toast.

AustinJerry wrote:

To be clear about the issue, neither of the choices I mentioned allow you to load a saved configuration. And if you don’t have access to a saved configuration to access once you are connected, you are toast.

I know . I'm not sure why you're finding me agreeing with you so hard to deal with .

In answer to what was already discussed, there isn't unfortunately an easy way around that..
- Dirac Live requires a lot of settings (large FIR + IIR banks) besides our complex BM configuration..
- The DDRC-88A doesn't have a file system per say to "store" that large configuration

So unfortunately on this generation of product we don't have the ability to easily do that recover that config. On simpler configs like the PWR-ICE we do it, in the future, we do plan to have it on other products. It's not always easy as we don't have a file system on the platform with the choice made on firmware a while ago..

DevTeam

Either I am not understanding you, or you are not understanding me. The 88A sits in my configuration for long periods of time without connecting to the laptop plug-in. During that time, the 88A retains both the Dirac calibration information as well as the BM settings. Unless I am mistaken, this information is stored on the device in flash memory. When connecting to the laptop, I am simply asking why one of the options is not “leave the information stored on the 88A as it is”, rather than erasing it. If the information is left untouched, the user would have the option to manually save the information to a file once connected.

Kindly let me know if I am not understanding how it works.

Jerry

There are 2 locations for the files:
- Flash on the DDRC-88A
- Your PC as an XML file that you save.

These 2 locations are completely different in many ways how the data is stored. It's not comparable at all I'm afraid.

For the option to 'leave the information on DDRC_88A" to work, you'd need to "SYNC" whatever is on the DDRC_88A "back" to the PC. Else your PC would have a completely "unsynchronized configuration". (E.g. how would the BM plugin know all the settings of the matrix mixer etc.. ) Do you understand this? Add to the mess that you can't sync from a DSP directly back into a PC some of the low level values. i.e. can't reverse engineer a biquad EQ into some high level Gain/Freq/Q value. Not possible. You need to have that data saved so a completely different mapping of the DSP settings into the flash.

This process (DDRC_88A - > PC sync) isn't supported I'm afraid as it would need a completely different way to "store" that data. you can't store an XML file on a flash in low level unless it's a so called "File system" that is in place on the Flash.

That's the technical explanation, not sure if it's clear but it's a mix of low level firmware/software dev.. As usual, surely everything is possible in the world, it's just that we're all working with limitations as to what a device can and can't achieve..

DevTeam

Thank you for your explanation. I was under the impression that when I run a “save configuration”, the resulting XML file would contain everything required to restore the 88A to its original state. Evidently, I am mistaken.

So, just to make sure I am understanding completely. When I synchronize the configuration between the laptop and the 88A, the 88A is reverted to factory defaults. And then if I load a saved configuration XML file from the laptop, is the 88A back to the desired state that it was in before the synchronization?

AustinJerry wrote:

Thank you for your explanation. I was under the impression that when I run a “save configuration”, the resulting XML file would contain everything required to restore the 88A to its original state. Evidently, I am mistaken.

So, just to make sure I am understanding completely. When I synchronize the configuration between the laptop and the 88A, the 88A is reverted to factory defaults. And then if I load a saved configuration XML file from the laptop, is the 88A back to the desired state that it was in before the synchronization?

When you click "synchronize" whatever configuration that is loaded right now in the plugin is overwritten to the 88A. If you load a saved config the settings in the config XML file are then loaded to the 88a (When you plugin in online) Basically nothing is ever transferred from 88a to PC, only PC to 88a. It's a one way pipeline.

mpbrown2020 wrote:

When you click "synchronize" whatever configuration that is loaded right now in the plugin is overwritten to the 88A. If you load a saved config the settings in the config XML file are then loaded to the 88a (When you plugin in online) Basically nothing is ever transferred from 88a to PC, only PC to 88a. It's a one way pipeline.

Nothing is ever transferred from the 88A to the PC??? When I click on “Save configuration”, an XML file is written to the PC hard drive. Isn’t that transferring something from the 88A to the PC?

You guys can continue ‘splaining this to me, but I still think we should be able to override the “synchronize” and leave whatever configuration is already in the 88A alone.

AustinJerry wrote:

Nothing is ever transferred from the 88A to the PC??? When I click on “Save configuration”, an XML file is written to the PC hard drive. Isn’t that transferring something from the 88A to the PC?

No. It is saving what you've currently set in the plugin.

AustinJerry wrote:

mpbrown2020 wrote:

When you click "synchronize" whatever configuration that is loaded right now in the plugin is overwritten to the 88A. If you load a saved config the settings in the config XML file are then loaded to the 88a (When you plugin in online) Basically nothing is ever transferred from 88a to PC, only PC to 88a. It's a one way pipeline.

Nothing is ever transferred from the 88A to the PC??? When I click on “Save configuration”, an XML file is written to the PC hard drive. Isn’t that transferring something from the 88A to the PC?

You guys can continue ‘splaining this to me, but I still think we should be able to override the “synchronize” and leave whatever configuration is already in the 88A alone.

No, when you save configuration the settings in the plugin only are written to an XML file, nothing in the 88a ever is saved to PC

AustinJerry wrote:

mpbrown2020 wrote:

You guys can continue ‘splaining this to me, but I still think we should be able to override the “synchronize” and leave whatever configuration is already in the 88A alone.

I 100% agree with you, unfortunately that is not how it works or will ever work on this generation.

Basically what I do is always have a saved XML config and a backup somewhere else, then when that dialog ever shows up i click "cancel."
I then load my correct settings XML config, connect and synchronize that config into the 88a.