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Roland W-30 Information

This is my little trove of technical information on the Roland W-30 Music Workstation.

Contents


Resources


This page lists various resources that may be useful in getting more out of your W-30.


Documentation


W-30 FD Owner's Manual (5.4MB)
Full owner's manual for the W-30. Does not cover the HD or CD functionality.
Service Manual (5.6MB)
Service manual for the W-30. Includes schematics, component lists, PCB layouts setting up instructions, etc. Also includes instructions for installing the KW-30 SCSI kit.

Development Tools


ASSEMBLERS

Phyton Project-96

Phyton have made their 80C196 development tools free download, including the Project IDE with an editor and project manager, a macro assembler/ linker, and a command set simulator (no peripherals can be simulated). All these tools have absolutely no limitations compared to full capable product versions. So you can edit, compile and even debug your applications written in assembly languages in a single development environment absolutely free.

I have yet to try their tools, but if anyone cares to give it a go I'd be interested in your impressions.

There is also an app.note describing the differences between the Intel tools and the Phyton tools, which is interesting reading.

Phyton also do a range of 80C196 development and support tools (emulators and so on), so worth checking out.

TASM

TASM is a shareware table-driven assembler, and as such is not tied to any one target. The package includes a table for the 8096, and while it only generates aboslute code, it does have a quite powerful C-like macro language, which is very nice.

Of the three packages here, probably the one I'd recommend.

XASM

This is a freeware package courtesy of Dunfield Development Systems (see below). These are rather simple assemblers: they generate absolute target code and have no macro capability.

The macro capability is provided by another program (macro) that is only available in the full package, which costs money.

PseudoSam

The PseudoSam range of assemblers are (a) rather old (the author company, PseudoCode, seems to no longer exist), and (b) use a rather strange syntax (AT&T UNIX System V format).

So, its there, but I don't think I would recommend them.

DISASSEMBLERS

There is a free, but basic, 8096 disassembler on the net.

Homepage: http://www.xs4all.nl/~itsme/

Download: http://www.xs4all.nl/~itsme/download/dis8096.zip

The archive includes the C source and, I believe, a DOS executable. Note that I've not tried the executable as I run Linux.

I've taken this program and significantly enhanced it:

Download dis96 package -- dis96.zip

This zip file contains the following three files:

  • dis96.c -- source code of disassembler. Should compile with any standard C compiler (e.g. gcc)
  • 103.bin -- a binary file of the two boot ROMs merged into one flat binary image.
  • w30.d96 -- command file to disassemble 103.bin. This is very much work in progress.

I have compiled dis96 into a Windows command-line program. You should run this from a command window, using the configuration and binary files included in the source package above.

Download Windows executable -- dis96win32.zip

Note The binary file 103.bin is copyright Roland Corp, and so should only be downloaded by owners of Roland W-30 workstations.

To run the disassembler, just specify the command file as the only option. The results of disassembly are sent to standard out, so you can either pipe it through to less or more:

dis96 w30.d96 | less

or capture the output to a file for later viewing or printing:

dis96 w30.d96 > results.txt

The extension to the command file (d96 in the above) is optional. I use it to help my editor work out the file type to enable syntax highlighting. You can either use it as well, leave it off, or use something completely different.

There is no manual, as I'm more interested in exploring the W-30 at the moment! However, the example command file covers most of what to do, and you have the source code as well (hint: read the header of the source code, its quite well commented).

Please note that these files are snapshots, so there may be bugs or errors.

As for license, although I retain copyright in this software, I'm happy to let anyone use them for their own use. If you're a company then invite me round for a cup of tea.

COMPILERS

Dunfield Development Systems

Includes a near ANSI-C compiler, run-time library with source, assembler, ROM debugger, integrated development environment, monitor with source, utilities, and other extras. Although not freeware, the low price ($100), the features, all of the extra goodies, and the good reviews make this a package worth looking at. Near in this instance means: no typedef, no long/double/float/enumerated data types, and no bit fields.

Also, if you're interested in working on more than one family of microcontroller, Dunfield supports a wide range. This means only needing to learn one system, instead of many. The following chips are supported: 6805, 6809, 68hc11, 68hc16, 8051/52, 8080/85, 8086, and 8096. A package including a simulator and a resident monitor debugger are also available for the 8051 for $50.

Intel IC96

After some time of rummaging around the Internet, and various contacts, I have cobbled together the main components of the Intel 8096 development tools. After putting everything together I now have (including versions):

  • IC96 v2.1 C Compiler, with header files, libraries, and floating-point support library
  • PLM96 v1.2 PL/M Compiler
  • ASM96 v1.3 Macro Assembler
  • LIB96 v1.2 Library manager
  • RL96 v2.4 Linker/locator
  • OH v1.1 Object file converter

So, pretty much the beginnings of a software development environment. The next step will be to work out the software operating environment, and put together a framework for writing W-30 software (eg. assembler/C templates, binary image transfer program, etc).

You can download the entire set as a single ZIP file, including header files, library files, and a few more odds and ends.

Documentation

After further rummaging around the web, I have found some documents which describe the Tasking C196 compiler suite. The programs are very, very similar to the Intel ones, so these docs pretty much describe the Intel compiler, assembler, etc. I've also found a manual for PL/M. Ok, its for PL/M386, but it should be close enough, together with the Tasking docs, to work out what's going on.

Note: while these files were downloaded from publicly-accessible websites, the content owners may request their removal, which I will naturally comply with. If you want a copy of these documents for yourself then I suggest grabbing them while you can.

There are also Windows help files for the Tasking V6 compiler available from the Tasking Support Page. I'm not a Windows users myself, so I cannot comment on the contents of these files.

If you're looking to buy a compiler for the 8096 family be sure to check out Tasking's compiler suite at Tasking.com.

IAR ICC96

Okay, here's another "free" C compiler for the 8096. Its by IAR and appears to be the complete set of compiler, assembler, linker, librarian, simulator and IDE.

The download page is here, and includes documentation in PDF:

http://www.ee.uidaho.edu/ee/classes/ee443/downloads.htm

I think this is a demo version, unless you contact them for a licence after 30 days. Which sort of makes it more legit.

Other Tools

Tasking provide a few utility programs that might be of use, including an OMF-to-HEX converter.


Books


The 16 bit 8096: Programming, Interfacing, Applications

  • Ron Katz and Howard Boyet
  • Microprocessor Training Inc
    14 East 8th Street, New York, NY 10003
    212-473-4947
  • Library of Congress Catalog card number: 85-61954
  • According to William Chernoff: "The book is pretty good - mostly software examples. The one hardware thing I looked closely at was wrong - a schematic error. Oh well."

Design with Microcontrollers

  • John B. Peatman
  • ISBN 0-07-049238-7
  • This book is on a more advanced level. Uses both the 68hc11 and Intel 8096 as example systems.
  • Used for a very popular course on microcontroller design at Georgia Tech.

Web


W-30 SITES

Roland W-30 Users Group

  • This is a Yahoo group for us lucky users of the Roland W-30 sampling workstation. There is very little spam or noise (I am one of the moderators), so I do recommend joining if you have a W-30.

W-30 Unofficial Homepage

  • A good resource for the W-30, with OS, utilities, sample banks, FAQ and more. Has a good library of disk for the W-30, as well as the S-330 and the S-550.

The eim Roland W30 Website

  • Another excellent W-30 site.
  • *** Now hosted on this site ***

Sound Manager For W-30 (SMFW30)

  • A DOS or Windows-based sound manager program for the W-30. Looks like it can do just about anything with a W-30 disk!
  • Also the site for RSDISK, which is a nicer version of SDISK and provides a handy little GUI for reading and writing DD disks on Windows 9X/2000/XP.

GENERAL

ftp://ftp.funet.fi

  • this is a good source for various microcontrollers /pub/microprocs/ (subdirectories include: 1802, 6805, 8048, 8051, 8096, PIC and many other microprocessors).

Copyright © 2001-2024 Neil Johnson