MP3 Trigger Firmware Version 2.22 release

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Fixes, Shorter Looping Gaps and New Features:

For some time I’ve been getting reports of users having issues with certain MP3 files, involving some kind of problem when the track finished – either hanging the MP3 Trigger or producing chirping or squeaking sounds. Finally, someone was helpful enough to email me one of these tracks and I was able to duplicate the problem here in the lab. As a result, I have not only fixed this issue but in the process also discovered the reason some folks were legitimately complaining about the length of the gap when looping sounds. There was indeed a bug in recognizing the end of MP3 files that produced a longer than necessary period of silence at the end of a track.

I have not yet measured it on the scope, but I would estimate that the audible gap when looping a track (that has no silence at the beginning or end) is now consistently around 100 msecs (a tenth of a second). It has similarly reduced the time it takes to send the “end-of-track” serial message following the completion of the track.

This latest version also incorporates “Quiet Mode”, an option that can be enabled via the serial control port. In this mode, the triggers don’t start tracks directly but instead produce a serial message indicating which triggers were activated. A host microcontroller (Arduino, for example) can thus monitor the trigger inputs and then start any track or sequence of tracks via the serial control port, making the triggers much more flexible. An updated User Guide includes the details of this new feature.

So here is the new firmware in the different baudrate versions. Please note that these updates are only for the MP3 Trigger V2.

MP3 Trigger V2 Firmware v2.22 38.4k baud
MP3 Trigger V2 Firmware v2.22 9600 baud
MP3 Trigger V2 Firmware v2.22 2400 baud

Instructions on how to update your V2 firmware are in the datasheet, but here’s a quick review:

1) Download and unzip one of the files above.

2) Copy the resulting hex file to a microSD card and rename it to: “MP3TRIGR.HEX”. It does not need to be the only file on the card – it just needs to have that precise filename.

3) Insert the microSD card into your MP3 Trigger V2 and turn the power on while holding down the center navigation switch.

4) Wait for the Status LED to go solid, then cycle the power. You’re now running the new firmware.

Please refer to the datasheet for a more detailed description of the Status LED indications when running the bootloader.

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