I'm guessing not then...?

You've waited days for answers to these questions - have you tried googling it in the meantime? I found this in about 10 seconds for example: Update SC-55 ROM

badmojo wrote on 2025-05-20, 11:53:

You've waited days for answers to these questions - have you tried googling it in the meantime? I found this in about 10 seconds for example: Update SC-55 ROM

Which none answer my questions. Nothing I've seen so far explain things clearly for me to understand. I've seen something mentioned about getting another ROM...? But nothing into how to take out the old and replace it with the new. Nothing about how to find my current firmware. I'm a total noob to this.

EDIT: Okay, granted, found the info about the current firmware version.

EDIT 2: ...which I've tried and it doesn't work.

So I get bitched at for resurrecting an old thread about a topic I need help with and I get bitched at for 'not searching the forum for a similar thread'. And usually said threads still don't explain things clearly for me to understand. >_> I thought the whole point of a forum, and posting to one, is to 'get help'...? And not all situations requiring help are the same either. Apologies if I'm coming across as 'arsey' here, but it does piss me off, frankly. It frustrates me. I've been on other forums where I've had similar snarky and unhelpful remarks, too.

I'm not completely savvy on certain topics and a lot of the tech questions I've been asking are about things I have zero experience with. This included. I've read nothing here so far that fully explains what I need to do and how to go about it. A lot of jargon. I have zero experience with opening one of these devices up and replacing chips or flashing firmware. And no idea on what kind of programmer I'd need, if I even need one. The advice I've read about checking my current firmware hasn't even worked for me, either.

From How to display Control ROM version on a Roland SC-55?:

Put the unit in standby mode (orange led is lit) and press simultaneously: both "Instrument" and both "Midi Ch" buttons .
If you do it correctly the screen will come up and display the control rom version. It might take some tries but you'll get it right, you really need to press all 4 buttons at the same time.

From Update SC-55 ROM:

IIRC you need a 256kbytes rom so a 27C020 and variants will work fine

edit: yep 27C020 is the correct part - I used in the past some 27SF020 eeproms
look at the rom pic here: https://modelrail.otenko.com/retro/roland-sound-canvas-sc-55

Further on on that same thread there are comments on what kind of programmer to get, and pictures of the location of the ROM chip on the main board.

Not sure what else you need to know about the BIOS upgrade, unless you need help removing the screws to open the unit? It's not that you are getting bitched at for not searching the forum but rather that it's much easier for you to do a simple Google search than expecting someone to write up detailed instructions that are readily available elsewhere. Otherwise the forum would become an absolute mess like Reddit where the same topic is brought up over and over again.

In any case, even if you have a unit where the firmware is upgradeable (1.20 to 1.21) it's not going to make any difference for gaming (AFAIK). For the other SC-55 variants there is no update available. Maybe you can tell us what you expect to achieve with a firmware update? Otherwise don't worry and just enjoy the MIDI music, some people make it seem as if there are major differences between revisions but in reality it's quite minimal in most cases and most games will sound just fine with whatever SC-55 model you have.

TheMobRules wrote on 2025-05-20, 20:31:

From How to display Control ROM version on a Roland SC-55?:

Put the unit in standby mode (orange led is lit) and press simultaneously: both "Instrument" and both "Midi Ch" buttons .
If you do it correctly the screen will come up and display the control rom version. It might take some tries but you'll get it right, you really need to press all 4 buttons at the same time.

Yeah, that's what I tried. Tried it several times and made sure all four buttons were pressed at the same time. No other display/text came up.

TheMobRules wrote on 2025-05-20, 20:31:

From Update SC-55 ROM: […]
Show full quote

From Update SC-55 ROM:

IIRC you need a 256kbytes rom so a 27C020 and variants will work fine

edit: yep 27C020 is the correct part - I used in the past some 27SF020 eeproms
look at the rom pic here: https://modelrail.otenko.com/retro/roland-sound-canvas-sc-55

Further on on that same thread there are comments on what kind of programmer to get, and pictures of the location of the ROM chip on the main board.

Not sure what else you need to know about the BIOS upgrade, unless you need help removing the screws to open the unit? It's not that you are getting bitched at for not searching the forum but rather that it's much easier for you to do a simple Google search than expecting someone to write up detailed instructions that are readily available elsewhere. Otherwise the forum would become an absolute mess like Reddit where the same topic is brought up over and over again.

I get that. I do. But in some cases, I (or others) may have specific questions that aren't mentioned. Concerns that require some additional guidance or reassurance. Maybe even to just start up a discussion. My first created thread, asking for guidance on a Windows 98 setup, went on for 20+ pages, I think. I mean, how does one go about putting the ROM onto the chip? What do you connect it up to to put the ROM on? I take it any you buy off eBay are typically empty...?

In any case, even if you have a unit where the firmware is upgradeable (1.20 to 1.21) it's not going to make any difference for gaming (AFAIK). For the other SC-55 variants there is no update available. Maybe you can tell us what you expect to achieve with a firmware update? Otherwise don't worry and just enjoy the MIDI music, some people make it seem as if there are major differences between revisions but in reality it's quite minimal in most cases and most games will sound just fine with whatever SC-55 model you have.

This is also the kind of info I want. If it isn't worth it, fair enough. Although I did see mention that Duke Nukem 3D makes use of specific sounds that an older version doesn't play properly? If I did upgrade it, it would be purely for the benefit of owned games playing tunes correctly if they don't currently.

DustyShinigami wrote on 2025-05-20, 20:54:

I get that. I do. But in some cases, I (or others) may have specific questions that aren't mentioned.

If I've done my research and still don't have what I need then I put the effort in to explain that when asking the forum. I.e. "I found X and it told me Y, but I still don't understand how to do Z". By not doing that you're expecting someone to explain the whole thing from scratch, which is unreasonable I think.

I'm sure there's a thread here somewhere, and millions like it elsewhere, on how to ask questions the smart way. I can't be bothered finding it though 😋

badmojo wrote on 2025-05-20, 22:16:

DustyShinigami wrote on 2025-05-20, 20:54:

I get that. I do. But in some cases, I (or others) may have specific questions that aren't mentioned.

If I've done my research and still don't have what I need then I put the effort in to explain that when asking the forum. I.e. "I found X and it told me Y, but I still don't understand how to do Z". By not doing that you're expecting someone to explain the whole thing from scratch, which is unreasonable I think.

I'm sure there's a thread here somewhere, and millions like it elsewhere, on how to ask questions the smart way. I can't be bothered finding it though 😋

I get that too. Though I have asked for similar before, such as an explanation on audio - sound cards, midi devices, and sound fonts etc - and had some helpful and informative responses. Someone could have easily told me to look them up on Google, but they didn't. I would also chalk this up to my autism/Asperger's. Most of the time, a lot of explanations I find aren't very clear, such as in that linked thread. I get lost and confused easily. A lot of things I need someone to explain things better. Even some explanations can take me a while to process and understand. Some I don't.

Do you know how to solder/desolder?

EmperorGrieferus wrote on 2025-05-21, 02:59:

Do you know how to solder/desolder?

No, I don’t. Is that required? It’s something I want to try learning though.

DustyShinigami wrote on 2025-05-21, 04:38:

EmperorGrieferus wrote on 2025-05-21, 02:59:

Do you know how to solder/desolder?

No, I don’t. Is that required? It’s something I want to try learning though.

When I got mine a few months ago, I had the same question. I came across this link: https://monotanz.de/product/roland-sc-55-vers … grade-download/. It made me realize that the process would be a lot of work for relatively little gain. You’d need to get a new EEPROM chip, purchase an EEPROM burner and learn how to use it, desolder the current EEPROM from your SC-55 using a desoldering tool (a regular soldering iron won't cut it), and then solder the new EEPROM into the unit.

After two years of working on small soldering projects, I finally feel confident enough to take this on. But the whole EEPROM process is still new territory for me.

Linoleum wrote on 2025-05-21, 13:14:

DustyShinigami wrote on 2025-05-21, 04:38:

EmperorGrieferus wrote on 2025-05-21, 02:59:

Do you know how to solder/desolder?

No, I don’t. Is that required? It’s something I want to try learning though.

When I got mine a few months ago, I had the same question. I came across this link: https://monotanz.de/product/roland-sc-55-vers … grade-download/. It made me realize that the process would be a lot of work for relatively little gain. You’d need to get a new EEPROM chip, purchase an EEPROM burner and learn how to use it, desolder the current EEPROM from your SC-55 using a desoldering tool (a regular soldering iron won't cut it), and then solder the new EEPROM into the unit.

After two years of working on small soldering projects, I finally feel confident enough to take this on. But the whole EEPROM process is still new territory for me.

See. Thank you. You’ve proven my points. None of the threads I’ve seen mentioned anything about that. Nothing has been mentioned about soldering, which I have zero experience with at the moment. So thank you for clarifying. As you say, it sounds like a lot of work for a small gain, so I think I will give it a miss. 🙂

DustyShinigami wrote on 2025-05-21, 13:59:

Linoleum wrote on 2025-05-21, 13:14:

DustyShinigami wrote on 2025-05-21, 04:38:

No, I don’t. Is that required? It’s something I want to try learning though.

When I got mine a few months ago, I had the same question. I came across this link: https://monotanz.de/product/roland-sc-55-vers … grade-download/. It made me realize that the process would be a lot of work for relatively little gain. You’d need to get a new EEPROM chip, purchase an EEPROM burner and learn how to use it, desolder the current EEPROM from your SC-55 using a desoldering tool (a regular soldering iron won't cut it), and then solder the new EEPROM into the unit.

After two years of working on small soldering projects, I finally feel confident enough to take this on. But the whole EEPROM process is still new territory for me.

See. Thank you. You’ve proven my points. None of the threads I’ve seen mentioned anything about that. Nothing has been mentioned about soldering, which I have zero experience with at the moment. So thank you for clarifying. As you say, it sounds like a lot of work for a small gain, so I think I will give it a miss. 🙂

Alternatively, you can try Nuked-SC55.

EmperorGrieferus wrote on 2025-05-28, 02:30:

DustyShinigami wrote on 2025-05-21, 13:59:

Linoleum wrote on 2025-05-21, 13:14:

When I got mine a few months ago, I had the same question. I came across this link: https://monotanz.de/product/roland-sc-55-vers … grade-download/. It made me realize that the process would be a lot of work for relatively little gain. You’d need to get a new EEPROM chip, purchase an EEPROM burner and learn how to use it, desolder the current EEPROM from your SC-55 using a desoldering tool (a regular soldering iron won't cut it), and then solder the new EEPROM into the unit.

After two years of working on small soldering projects, I finally feel confident enough to take this on. But the whole EEPROM process is still new territory for me.

See. Thank you. You’ve proven my points. None of the threads I’ve seen mentioned anything about that. Nothing has been mentioned about soldering, which I have zero experience with at the moment. So thank you for clarifying. As you say, it sounds like a lot of work for a small gain, so I think I will give it a miss. 🙂

Alternatively, you can try Nuked-SC55.

When you have the real thing, not sure this is an interesting route to take... However, even though I own a SC-55, I still use my MT32pi because of it sounds different and its specific compatibility/instructions.

I have an SC-55 (one with just the GS logo) that has a serial starting with CD, came with 1.20 firmware. I'm assuming the ones that start with DD have 1.21. The ROM chip inside was socketed for me.

To tell which version you have: while unit is in standby (plugged in, powered off), press both instrument buttons and both midi ch buttons and the LCD should come on and tell you the version for a few seconds. I had to do it a few times to get it to show because it's not too easy to press 4 at once.

I had a bunch of winbond W29C020C spares I use when working with motherboards., they work for all my socket 7, slot 1 & socket 370 mobos, so I got a bunch a while back. I looked at the Roland chip's pinout vs the Winbonds I had, and the only difference seemed to do with writing, which made sense considering the Roland ROM is not an EEPROM.

So I YOLO'd an attempt - flashed the 1.21 firmware on one of my W29C020C, put it in, and it works completely fine, now with 1.21 😀

The interesting bit with these chips is that if you have a motherboard that takes them, you could boot into dos, remove the chip while the PC is on, put a new one, program it with the Roland rom using something like uniflash and put the original bios chip back in your PC, and the newly programmed chip into your SoundCanvas. I have an XGecu T48 programmer so I used that instead though, but I have hotflashed using a PC in the past. Just absolutely make sure you put the chips the right way or they will short/magic smoke.

macinbest wrote on 2025-06-01, 04:25:

I have an SC-55 (one with just the GS logo) that has a serial starting with CD, came with 1.20 firmware. I'm assuming the ones that start with DD have 1.21. The ROM chip inside was socketed for me.

I also have a SC-55 with only the GS logo, serial prefix CD, and socketed ROM - it came with firmware v1.21. I went down a rabbit hole of reading about the different versions, and it seems like there is a certain degree of variation that makes it hard to predict firmware versions from logo and serial. I am going to assume the early SC-55 (pre-mk2) was the era of active development and HW/SW revisions.

macinbest wrote on 2025-06-01, 04:25:

I have an XGecu T48 programmer so I used that instead though, but I have hotflashed using a PC in the past.

Cool, I was considering getting one of those for other hardware hacking projects. It is good to know that it would be useful for this purpose too.

macinbest wrote on 2025-06-01, 04:25:

I have an SC-55 (one with just the GS logo) that has a serial starting with CD, came with 1.20 firmware. I'm assuming the ones […]
Show full quote

I have an SC-55 (one with just the GS logo) that has a serial starting with CD, came with 1.20 firmware. I'm assuming the ones that start with DD have 1.21. The ROM chip inside was socketed for me.

To tell which version you have: while unit is in standby (plugged in, powered off), press both instrument buttons and both midi ch buttons and the LCD should come on and tell you the version for a few seconds. I had to do it a few times to get it to show because it's not too easy to press 4 at once.

I had a bunch of winbond W29C020C spares I use when working with motherboards., they work for all my socket 7, slot 1 & socket 370 mobos, so I got a bunch a while back. I looked at the Roland chip's pinout vs the Winbonds I had, and the only difference seemed to do with writing, which made sense considering the Roland ROM is not an EEPROM.

So I YOLO'd an attempt - flashed the 1.21 firmware on one of my W29C020C, put it in, and it works completely fine, now with 1.21 😀

The interesting bit with these chips is that if you have a motherboard that takes them, you could boot into dos, remove the chip while the PC is on, put a new one, program it with the Roland rom using something like uniflash and put the original bios chip back in your PC, and the newly programmed chip into your SoundCanvas. I have an XGecu T48 programmer so I used that instead though, but I have hotflashed using a PC in the past. Just absolutely make sure you put the chips the right way or they will short/magic smoke.

Thanks for the further info and suggestion. My serial starts with DD, so I presume I have the latest version anyway...? 😁

I honestly can't get that firmware check to work. I've tried with it switched on and in standby mode. Both MIDI and Instrument buttons pressed at the same time, the first two and then the second two... Nothing happens. 🙁

DustyShinigami wrote on 2025-06-01, 14:03:

I honestly can't get that firmware check to work. I've tried with it switched on and in standby mode. Both MIDI and Instrument buttons pressed at the same time, the first two and then the second two... Nothing happens. 🙁

It is tough to get the timing just right. I often have to try 4-5 times.

Put it in standby mode. All 4 buttons need to be pressed at the exact same time.

Fazeshift wrote on 2025-06-01, 17:32:

DustyShinigami wrote on 2025-06-01, 14:03:

I honestly can't get that firmware check to work. I've tried with it switched on and in standby mode. Both MIDI and Instrument buttons pressed at the same time, the first two and then the second two... Nothing happens. 🙁

It is tough to get the timing just right. I often have to try 4-5 times.

Put it in standby mode. All 4 buttons need to be pressed at the exact same time.

Nahh, I've tried it several times, as well as different combinations, and nothing happens. Is the screen supposed to light up if it works? Is there anything in the manual about it? I have a PDF version, but I've not been able to find anything.