VG-88 - Goodbye Fusion, Hello Parallels

Started by taupo_axeman, February 04, 2016, 12:24:26 AM

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taupo_axeman

Just picked up an immaculate VG-88 from eBay Germany and decided to download VEditor and hook it up to my Mac.
First I tested it on BootCamp running Windows 10, and was pleasantly surprised it worked, without worrying about Compatibility Mode setups

Then fired up OSX and VMware Fusion (v7.1.3) running Windows 7 and no way could I get it to see the Midi driver (tried a cheap Chinese import midi interface, and also a Roland UA-101)

After Googling around I could not seem to find much info re Midi support on Fusion...?
Also read some issues regarding USB3 driver support - I wondered if plugging a USB2 Midi driver into the USB 3 ports on the Mac were causing issues..  Admittedly I had not downloaded the latest version 8 of Fusion but I didn't want to pay the upgrade price if there were still issues with it.

While I was pondering all this, I downloaded the free trial of Parallels.  It read and converted my current Windows 7 Fusion Image very quickly, and... BANG it ALL worked.  My VG-88 was talking to VEditor.

So, VG-88 -> Edirol UA-101 MIDI (not class compliant) ->Mac (El Capitan) -> Parallels Desktop 11 -> VEditor

I have always relied on VMware for many aspects of my computing world, but I think it's time to switch.
OK, maybe I did not pursue the technical issues on Fusion... but one of my criteria for software is that it's easy to setup and drives itself!

BTW - I also had some weird issues with the cheap Chinese made USB interface.  As mentioned here it can be overloaded with a lot of Midi Data.
https://www.vguitarforums.com/smf/index.php?topic=11433.0

How that manifested itself for me, was that VEditor seemed to work perfectly when changing patches or even Syncing using SysEx dumps, but when I tried changing any parameters it choked and would not work... too much CC data I guess.  I plugged in the UA-101 and it all worked fine.

I just LOVE this VG-88.  The VG8 and GP-10 will now go into retirement.
https://www.gigbag.app/
Guitars: 1975 Strat, Godin XTSA, Maton Acoustic, Roland GC1
Amp:Tech 21 Trademark 60
P.A.: Mackie SRM 450's, 15 Mackie Active Subs
Floor: Boss GP-10, VG8 EX, VG-88
Studio: Logic Pro, Omnisphere, Korg Triton, Tria Event speakers
www.tasmanhoppers.com/music/

Elantric

Great info - thanks for sharing.

Time to install Parallels on my Mac, I got a copy  with a deep discount as part of  a recent OWC Hard drive kit purchase
https://www.macsales.com

MCK