Published by Nig on 06 Nov 2016 at 08:04 am
SYSTEM-8
Power on modes
The System-8 only appears to have single power on mode that allows updates to the firmware. Press and hold the KEY TRIG button whilst turning on the System-8. This will open the System-8 drive on the connected PC. DO NOT copy any files in here other than those supplied by Roland for the System-8!
The other Power-on modes, such as used on the System-1, TB-3 and MX-1 for functions like turning off the Screen Saver, are no longer required as they are available via the [MENU] button, mostly under the SYSTEM menu.
For instance, to turn off the Screen Saver mode on the System-8, press [MENU] then use the cursor buttons to scroll thru the options until the dislay reads SYSTEM and press [ENTER]. Use the cursor buttons again until the display reads LED Demo and adjust the [VALUE] knob until the display reads OFF. Press [EXIT] twice to leave the menu and return to PATCH/PERFORMANCE mode.
Any changes made to the SYSTEM settings can be saved by pressing [WRITE] and using the cursor buttons until the display reads SYSTEM. Press [ENTER] twice to store the changes.
SD Cards
The SD card in the System-8 can be used to backup all patch and performance banks as one file and also export individual patches and performance setups. Any generic SD card should work in the System-8. I’m currently using a Sandisk SDHC 32GB card without any problems. As the files stored on the SD card are quite small, a 32GB card is going to take some time to fill!
- Backup files have a file extension *.bin and are approximately 4.3MB in size. The backup files contain all the patches for the System-8, Plug-outs 1, 2 and 3 plus the Performance data.
- In PATCH mode, exported files have a file extension of *.s8p and are 17KB for each patch exported. Multiple patches are exported as a single file.
- In PERFORMANCE mode, exported files have a file extension of *.s8f.
The files themselves are not readable in programs such as Notepad or Wordpad, but each file that is backup or exported is saved with a text file that details what is in the saved file.
When naming files there are a couple of shortcuts that can be used so that you do not need to keep turning the VALUE knob in order to insert or delete characters. These are:
| Key | Function |
|---|---|
| SHIFT + < | Delete character at the cursor position |
| SHIFT + > | Insert character at the cursor postion |
| SHIFT + VALUE | Switch between upper/lower case and numeric |
These functions can also be used when naming patches and performances.
This page has the following sub pages.
Werner S. on 25 Sep 2017 at 7:37 pm #
Dear all,
without success, I tried to load a complete set of patches for the System 100 PlugOut into my System-8. The 64 patches were exported by use the export function of the PlugIn on my DAW. Since I have my System-8 in another rooms, I want to use the SD card to “move” the sounds from the DAW to my System-8. I have two issues.
– obviously by exporting the sounds, the *.TXT file with the names is not created and so the System-8 does not recognize the *.s8p file. What is the work around?
– If I export a set of patches from the System-8 to the SD card, one file with all the patches is created. How do I import all 64 patches at once to my System-8? It seems that I only can import one patch at one time. What did I do wrong?
Any help will be highly appreciated.
Thank you very much in advance.
Kind regards,
Werner
Nig on 30 Sep 2017 at 6:20 am #
Hi Werner, I’ve not tried recreating the S8 files, so not sure what else you need to do. Could you look at one of the exprted bank files and see what may be different to the one you have created. Also, could you recreate the txt files as well?
Cheers
Nig
Antoine on 18 Jul 2019 at 8:48 pm #
How do you backup the entire bank to the SD card ?
My system 8 only has the option to export the factory patches one by one – which makes it awfully slow given that the synth’s memory is full by default.
I wish I had the option of opening patches from the SD card directly.
Nig on 22 Jul 2019 at 6:21 pm #
You can backup the System-8 so all your patches, performances and sequences are saved as one file (MENU/UTILITY/BACKUP) or you can export your patches either individually or as a group, you select each one using the VALUE knob.
If you want to re-import them your can either restore your backup, or import individual patches from either backup files, or from the patch export.
Take a look at the ref manual p.31
HTH
Luke on 13 Jan 2021 at 8:27 pm #
Hi. There’s a Roland System 8 ”ultimate” guide on their website that says you can save the patch you are working on by simply pressing and holding one of the eight patch buttons but I’ve never gotten this to work. The manual describes an entirely different set of steps involving hitting the write button and going through a series of screens, something that seems like overkill when you just want to save something really quickly and don’t care about the patch name etc. Is there a way to make this single-button save function work or is it a typo in their online guide?
Nig on 14 Jan 2021 at 6:58 pm #
Doesn’t work on mine either, pressing and holding a patch button just reloads the patch and doesn’t save any edits. Not sure how old that page is, so maybe an update coming?
Presume this is the page?