How to Make an Old Midi Keyboard Work on a New Operating System

So, here's the dilemma: You have this old MIDI keyboard sitting around, gathering dust, and you want to use it on your new operating system (OS). The thing is, when you try to install the driver, it doesn't support your OS, so you can't use it, but worry not, there is a way to get round this!

Steps

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    If you have Windows 7, download the driver for the PC-50 here [1]
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    Unzip the file, and place it somewhere obvious such as your desktop.
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    Open the unzipped file, then open the folder 'Files', and look for a file called 'RDIF1053.inf'
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    Open the file with notepad, and scroll down to where it says '[Roland.NTamd64.6.1];; Windows7%RDID0053DeviceDesc%=RDID0053Install, USB\VID_0582&PID_008B ; PC-50'
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    Keep notepad open, and open 'Control Panel', and click on 'Hardware and Sound', then under 'Devices and Printers', click on 'Device Manager', which should have a blue and yellow shield next to it.
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    Enter administrator login information if needed.
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    Look for 'Unknown Device', right click on it, select 'Properties' and click on the 'Details' tab, it should give you a list of 'Hardware IDs'.
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    Right click the top entry, and select 'Copy'.
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    Go back into notepad, and replace 'USB\VID_0582&PID_008B' with the ID that you just copied.
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    Save the file and exit it.
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    Go back to 'Device Manager'
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    Look for 'Unknown Device' again, right click on it, and select 'Update Driver Software...'
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    Select 'Browse my computer for driver software'.
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    Then select 'Let me pick from a list of device drivers on my computer'.
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    Select 'Have Disk...'
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    Click 'Browse...'
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    Browse to the place where you saved 'RDIF1053.inf' and select it.
    • Your new driver should be ready to use with any MIDI-supported programs.

Article Info

Categories: Computers and Electronics | Hacks