[LAU] McMillen SoftStep controller

[plutek]

From: plutek <plutek at infinity.net>
Subject: Re: [LAU] McMillen SoftStep controller
Date: Thu, 31 Mar 2011 12:45:43 -0400 (EDT)

> From: Paul Davis <paul at linuxaudiosystems.com>
> Date: Thu, 31 Mar 2011 12:25:06 -0400
> 
>> On Thu, Mar 31, 2011 at 12:14 PM, plutek <plutek at infinity.net> wrote:
>>> greetings!
>>>
>>> just wondering if anyone here has used the Keith McMillen SoftStep controller on linux. i believe it's a class-compliant USB device, so it should work fine just connected via USB. failing that, there's a MIDI expander which provides standard MIDI I/O.
>>>
>>> there's also some software for programming the device -- it's Win and OSX, so i'm hoping it'll run under Wine.
>>>
>>> here's some info about SoftStep:
>>> http://www.keithmcmillen.com/softstep/overview
>> 
>> totally a guess, but i'd bet that without the MIDI expander it does
>> not deliver MIDI data and does not appear as a MIDI device. i'm basing
>> this solely on their diagram and what little i know of how such things
>> are usually implemented and from their description of what the s/w
>> does. i saw no mention of it being part of any USB device class.
> 
> hmmm.... yes, i was confusing it with another device i was looking at when i thought it was class-compliant. i've posted a question on their forum, and will report back, in case anyone else is interested. looks like a useful device...

keith (head of the company) has replied on the company forum:

"SoftStep is class compliant so plug it into anything and it will work. This is why we have Standalone mode.(Editors only in Mac / PC)."

so it should be possible to use it as a USB device under linux. it remains to be seen whether the editor functions in Wine. does anyone know the status of class-compliant USB support in Wine?

thanks... cheers!
.pltk.