🧬Biotron Advanced — experimental MIDI control

Parent page: Biotron — your plant as a MIDI instrument. Start there for normal setup.

Experimental status

Current firmware source contains incoming MIDI CC and SysEx handlers, but this is not yet a supported live-performance interface. Rapid CC bursts, deferred settings persistence, exact value semantics, and behavior on released hardware still require physical validation. Do not build a performance or installation around incoming automation until a tested firmware release documents it.

The former version of this page listed CC numbers, SysEx bytes, file paths, and real-time workflows that did not match the current firmware source. Those claims have been removed rather than presented as a specification.

What can be tested now

• Biotron sends plant sensor CC90 on its configured plant channel in current source.
• Current source registers incoming CC 3, 9, 14, 15, 20–28, 30, 31, and 85–87.
• Only some incoming commands use the channel to select plant or light; other commands are global and ignore it.
• The current source includes device-specific SysEx handling, but users should not construct messages from undocumented examples.

See Biotron MIDI CC for the source-derived CC test map, scope labels, Reaper routing, and current limitations.

Before a firmware-level test

Record the Biotron hardware revision, firmware filename and hash, operating system, DAW version, MIDI channel, CC number/value, and the observed result. Keep the settings website closed while the DAW owns the MIDI port. A result on one unit is not evidence that multiple identical units can be selected reliably. The current supported configuration interface is the website in a compatible desktop browser. No desktop application is announced or required by this guide.

Still stuck

Email [email protected] with the subject Biotron Advanced #[order number] and include the test details above. Firmware source: Playtronica/biotron-firmware. We aim for 24 hours, but a reply may take up to 3 business days.