PLUG v1.1

Finally! After 9 months new version is here!

Changes includes:

  • brightness switch in amplifier’s settings
  • USB gain knob in amplifier’s advance controls
  • accessibility descriptions in the interface
  • updated effect’s parameter names
  • other small changes

As usual please send me an e-mail if you have any questions / suggestions / ideas / complaints.

New version soon

It’s been long time since I wrote anything here. Time to shed some light on current development plan:
New (soon to be released) version of PLUG will add brightness switch in amplifier’s settings, accessibility descriptions in the interface, (hopefully) support for the USB gain control that’s been added in the newest firmware and few small fixes under the hood.

So stay tuned. Version 1.1 is coming soon. :)

One year passes

Exactly one year ago, on December 13 2010, I made the first commit to PLUG repository. :D

Since that time exactly 90 commits were made introducing many new features, often features which I have never imagined this program will have. This is thanks to your ideas and thanks to your e-mails in which you wrote how much you like PLUG. This posts keeps me going on and adding still new features. I promise I will keep developing PLUG to make it better and better.

And for now: Happy Birthday PLUG! :D

Finally – version 1.0

Today I have decided that PLUG is mature enough to call new version 1.0. This of course doesn’t mean that development is over. I will still be adding new features (although I have no ideas for them) and fixing bugs. This number only means that program is good enough for everyday use.

I hope that you will like it and that you won’t stop sending me your ideas for new features.

Changes in this version:

  • Support for Mustang III, IV and V
  • Quick preset loading using number keys
  • Small changes and fixes

Support for Mustang III, IV and V

Since commit 77 (6ebb8c84890f) PLUG supports also newer Mustangs. Although there is one problem – I only have Mustang I and I can’t test this properly. So please do some tests and let me know if anything is wrong.

Version 0.7

With some delay due to my normal work, version 0.7 is finally released. It introduces only three changes but quite useful:

  • firmware update
  • library view
  • checking effects on other slots

When you select “Update firmware” option window will appear which will tell you that it is dangerous. Usually it’s not. This function is very well tested and nothing should go wrong. But you know how it is with computers – you can never be 100% sure.

[NOTE for Ubuntu users:]
To be able to update firmware you will need to change /etc/udev/rules.d/50-mustang.rules file. For details check previous post, README file in PLUG package or wiki on Bitbucket.

Library view is a very nice feature requested by davephilips and miroslavv. It allows you to quickly load any file from selected directory or preset from the slot. This should come handy while playing gig’s.

Last thing is a functionality that checks if effect from the same family is not loaded on any other slot. So for example it prevents setting “Compressor” while “Overdrive” is set on other slot. This is because these effects are from the same family, so they are set on the same DSP processor so setting the second one would overwrite the first one.

Enjoy new version and please send me some new ideas because I’m out of ideas for new functions.

Firmware upgrade now possible with PLUG

As new firmware release for Mustang amplifiers is closing I have added a long awaited feature for updating Mustang’s firmware. New functionality is available since commit 68 (c7f581968dd8).

I have tested it with latest stable firmware 1.6.0 and used it to upload new beta firmware to my Mustang I and everything works great.

[EDIT]
Ubuntu users again will have a problem connecting to the amplifier as normal users because Mustang in update mode identifies itself as a completely different device. The fix is the same as for normal operation of the amplifier but number changes. So if you want to be able to use all PLUG features your /etc/udev/rules.d/50-mustang.rules file must contain this two lines:

SUBSYSTEM==”usb”, ENV{DEVTYPE}==”usb_device”, SYSFS{idVendor}==”1ed8″, SYSFS{idProduct}==”0004″, GROUP=”plugdev”
SUBSYSTEM==”usb”, ENV{DEVTYPE}==”usb_device”, SYSFS{idVendor}==”1ed8″, SYSFS{idProduct}==”0006″, GROUP=”plugdev”

Splash screen

Yesterday I have received a proposition of a splash screen image. It is done by Hannu “luppa” Kuisti and looks like this:

I like it very much, but if you have other idea you can still send me your propositions for splash screen. Usually it is more interesting when there is a competition. :-)

And speaking of competition: I heard that some people are installing Virtual Machines and Linux on them just to run PLUG instead of Fender’s FUSE.