News

Update checks on Windows work again & Config errors no longer block applications

Submitted by Mark van den Berg on Tue, 2020-11-17 19:19

Today new versions of all Mountain Utilities applications (except DF) were released.
These updates feature two small but important improvements:

Most importantly, the update check mechanism works again on Windows 7, Windows 8 and older (i.e. pre-TLS 1.3) Windows 10. (This got broken recently when the Mountain Utilities webhost stopped supporting TLS 1.2.)

Secondly, the applications have become more user-friendly concerning data errors in ".stp" and ".mru" configuration files (as reported by several people on macOS for BC Manager and for FCB1010 Manager):

  • On startup, when an application encounters a data error in a configuration file, the application now mentions the exact name of the offending file, and no longer refuses to start. Hence it is no longer necessary to delete corrupt configuration files manually.
  • On exit, an application reports any errors while saving configuration files.

Improved user interfaces of all applications

Submitted by Mark van den Berg on Mon, 2020-09-14 18:11

Today new versions of all Mountain Utilities applications (except DF) were released.
These updates mainly feature improved user interfaces, though in totally different ways for the macOS and Windows editions:

macOS:

  • The applications no longer use the 32-bit Carbon interface, but the 64-bit Cocoa interface. Thus, they run on any macOS version from 10.6 (Snow Leopard) onward, including macOS 10.15 (Catalina) (which doesn't support Carbon). And of course the applications no longer suffer from any Carbon-related problems; on the other hand, they may now suffer from a few Cocoa-related problems.
  • A few MIDI-related problems have been fixed.

Windows:

  • All applications now come with manuals.
  • Skins: 39 alternative user interfaces (mainly color schemes).
  • Support for Windows 10's "Per Monitor v2" DPI awareness protocol, providing razor-sharp text characters at any resolution, on any monitor.
  • Some layout and scaling problems have been fixed.
  • The installers allow you to deselect non-essential files, such as the manuals and the skins.
  • Some applications feature application-specific improvements. See the pertinent download pages and manuals.

All editions:

  • The applications run slightly faster due to the disabling of some debugging safeguards.
  • The update check mechanism should now work again on any operating system capable of running these applications, including Windows XP and all versions of macOS from 10.6 (Snow Leopard) onward.

macOS editions released with fixed update checkers

Submitted by Mark van den Berg on Tue, 2019-07-16 21:37

Today updates to all extant macOS editions of Mountain Utilities applications were released:

All these updates can be downloaded from their respective download pages.

These updates should make the update checkers of these application work correctly again, at least on OS X 10.9 (Mavericks) and later.
See comment #8 in https://mountainutilities.eu/forums/i-get-error-opening-fcb1010-manager for full discussion.

Updates to all macOS editions released

Submitted by Mark van den Berg on Thu, 2019-01-10 16:02

Today updates to all extant macOS editions of Mountain Utilities applications were released:

All these updates can be downloaded from their respective download pages.

New features:

  • Support for Unicode characters in MIDI input/output device names. (Previously, these applications would sometimes refuse to run when encountering "weird" characters, cf. https://mountainutilities.eu/forums/manager-fail.)
  • The update mechanism of A-880 Manager, FCB1010 Manager and MIDI Tools now allows you to specify in which update types you are interested: alpha (development) versions, (‘public’) beta versions, release candidates and release versions. (The previous macOS edition of BC Manager already had this update mechanism, just like the Windows editions of all Mountain Utilities applications.)
  • A few minor changes concerning specific applications. See the respective download pages and manuals for details.

As can be seen from their version numbers, these releases bring the macOS editions back in line with their Windows counterparts.

BC Manager 4.0.2 for Windows released

Submitted by Mark van den Berg on Wed, 2018-07-25 11:26

BC Manager 4.0.2 for Windows was released today.

To download the application, please visit the BC Manager page at this site.

In this version the "next/previous preset" buttons in the layout windows work correctly again. (This bug was introduced in BC Manager 4.0.0 for Windows.)

There are also two improvements to the "Send firmware" operation:

  • A dialog box warns the user about the dangers of the operation.
  • The operation inserts a delay of 125 msec between consecutive SysEx messages, thereby hopefully eliminating the risk of buffer overflow in MIDI interfaces with small input buffers.

Note that there is no macOS edition of BC Manager 4.0.2: the bug concerning the next/previous preset buttons doesn't exist on macOS, and the improvements concerning "Send firmware" aren't important enough to warrant a whole new version. (Of course these improvements will be included in the next macOS edition of BC Manager, whenever that is released.)

Please visit the B-Control forum at this site for all discussion of BC Manager.

Many apps released as Windows portables and dual 32/64-bit installers

Submitted by Mark van den Berg on Sat, 2018-06-16 06:39

In recent days I have released the following applications:
A-880 Manager 3.1.0
BCN44 Manager 1.4.0 Alpha 1
CSV Doctor 1.4.0 Alpha 1
D-5 Manager 2.0.0 Alpha 1
FCB1010 Manager 2.1.0
MIDI Tools 2.1.0
ProMix 01 Manager 1.4.0 Alpha 1
R-8 Manager 1.5.0 Alpha 1
XG Manager 1.5.0 Alpha 1

The only reason some of these new releases are called "Alpha" is that these don't come with "real" manuals yet, only with "stub" manuals: apart from this, these Alpha releases are fully functional. Hopefully in the coming months (or years...) I'll find the time to come up with their "real" manuals.
The non-Alpha releases already have "real" manuals.

Each application in the above list now comes in three Windows editions:

  • dual 32/64-bit installer
  • 32-bit portable
  • 64-bit portable

The dual 32/64-bit installer automatically installs the 32-bit or 64-bit edition of the application corresponding with the operating system: the 32-bit edition on 32-bit Windows, the 64-bit edition on 64-bit Windows.

The portables don't need to be officially installed: you only have to unzip the zip file to a folder of your own choice, then you can run the exe file from there.
The application will maintain all its configuration files (*.ini etc.) in the same folder. So you must have write-access to this folder when running the application, which means that on Vista and later you should not use any folder under "C:\Program Files" or "C:\Program Files (x86)".
A 32-bit portable can run on 32-bit and 64-bit Windows.
A 64-bit portable can only run on 64-bit Windows.

Note that BC Manager, GS-10 Manager and GT-3 Manager already came as 32/64-bit installers and 32- and 64-bit portables.
So this leaves the Delta Framework application as the only Mountain Utilities application still only available as a 32-bit installer.

BC Manager 4.0.1 for Windows released

Submitted by Mark van den Berg on Sat, 2018-03-03 18:24

BC Manager 4.0.1 for Windows was released today.

To download the application, please visit the BC Manager page at this site.

The main new features of this version:

  • Bug fix: The application’s setup files now always use the decimal point as the decimal separator, irrespective of the operating system’s decimal separator. (Previously, on a Windows system where some other character (typically a comma) was defined as the decimal separator, every start of the application would lead to three error messages.)
  • Improvement: In the 'Compare preset names' dialog box, the grid updates while the user is dragging the thumb of the scroll bar.
  • Several additions to the manual, most notably a section describing the MIDI controllers window in detail.

See section 2 of the manual for the full list of changes.

Note that there is no macOS edition of BC Manager 4.0.1, since the bug that prompted 4.0.1 for Windows doesn't exist on macOS.
However, macOS users interested in the additions to the manual can of course download it separately from the BC Manager page.

Please visit the B-Control forum at this site for all discussion of BC Manager.

GS-10 Manager 2.3.0 for Windows released

Submitted by Mark van den Berg on Sat, 2017-11-25 14:32

GS-10 Manager 2.3.0 for Windows was released today. (No, there is no macOS edition yet...)

To download the application, please visit the GS-10 Manager page at this site.

The main new features of this version:

  • The installer automatically installs the edition of GS-10 Manager matching the operating system: the 32-bit edition on 32-bit Windows, the 64-bit edition on 64-bit Windows. (Previously there was only a 32-bit edition, which was installed on 32- and 64-bit Windows alike.)
  • The GS-10 Manager update mechanism allows you to specify in which update types you are interested: alpha (development) versions, ('public') beta versions, release candidates and release versions.
  • You can switch between different setups for the program (including MIDI I/O device states) and between different window layouts ('desktops').
  • Many internal improvements to MIDI input and output communication.

See section 2 of the manual for the full list of changes.

Please visit the GS-10 forum at this site for all discussion of GS-10 Manager.

BC Manager 4.0.0 for macOS and Windows released

Submitted by Mark van den Berg on Thu, 2017-11-23 12:32

BC Manager 4.0.0 for macOS and Windows was released today.

To download the application, please visit the BC Manager page at this site.

The main new features of this version:

  • The new ‘Print overlays’ operation (accessible via the File pull-down menu of the layout windows) opens a dialog box from which you can print complete or partial colored overlays for your BCF or BCR.
  • Several new features in the BCL editor windows, most prominently syntax highlighting.
  • On Windows, the installer automatically installs the edition of BC Manager matching the operating system: the 32-bit edition on 32-bit Windows, the 64-bit edition on 64-bit Windows. (Previously there was only a 32-bit edition, which was installed on 32- and 64-bit Windows alike.)
  • The BC Manager update mechanism allows you to specify in which update types you are interested: alpha (development) versions, (‘public’) beta versions, release candidates and release versions.

See section 2 of the manual for the full list of changes.

Please visit the B-Control forum at this site for all discussion of BC Manager.

Six applications modernized

Submitted by Mark van den Berg on Sun, 2016-03-27 19:40

In recent days new versions of the following six applications have been released (Windows editions only):

The main focus of these releases is modernization:

  • MIDI I/O handling has been improved.
  • The user interface implements advanced setup and desktup management.
  • The applications no longer refer to the old Mountain Utilities web site in their links and update mechanism.

Additionally, each of these releases introduces application-specific improvements, often concerning the user interface.
See the above-mentioned web pages for all the details.

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