FM-106

KNOB 1–4 follow the displayed page; continuous sound values change in increments of three and stay within 0–127. There is no separate shifted knob layer. A held button can still change the page or open a menu.

With REC armed and PLAY running, changed sound controls on any page become locks on the playing step; there are 1,024 lock slots, and a new distinct lock is ignored when the pool is full.

Octave and preset changes alone do not schedule a save; a MIDI preference edit can save them later, while an immediate SAVE before that delayed write can still use older MIDI preferences.

The guide and installer link to the root librarian, which keeps a separate browser library; exports use that copy, Read All fetches the unit’s user records after asking, and Send Bank or Send All asks before replacing 64 or 128 unit slots in memory without undo or a flash save.

Before powering off or switching, open the librarian linked by the guide, use Read All to fetch both user banks into its browser library, check the replies and export User A and User B as separate bank .syx files; these preserve names and classic sound controls only, so record extended values, MIDI settings and the sequence separately.

Exports use the browser library without reading the unit and omit sequence notes, locks, MIDI preferences, octave, bend depths, arpeggio settings and tape controls, reduce chorus I+II to I and can assign names to empty slots; full-library JSON imports start at a user-bank offset, and Read All excludes unsaved live sound edits.

A bank .syx import immediately replaces the supplied browser slots without a question or undo, although the old editor can put back the previously selected user slot; Send Bank and Send All ask before replacing 64 or 128 unit slots in memory, while the Burn dialog’s bank and all choices send those slots without another question before attempting the rejected flash commit, including browser slots absent from the imported file.

Restore Defaults asks before replacing all 128 browser user slots with factory copies, without undo or sending them to the unit; Load template instead replaces the chosen 64-slot browser bank without asking, with the old selected editor able to put one slot back, while Clear Bank asks before choosing the blank template and none of these actions saves flash.

The hardware reset command immediately blanks all 128 user slots in memory without asking or providing undo, reloads the selected sound and attempts the same rejected bank write, leaving stored settings and sequence notes alone.

In the Burn dialog, bank and all send 64 or 128 browser user sounds to unit memory without a further confirmation or undo, then attempt the flash commit that Beta4 rejects; Commit Synth RAM Only sends no sounds and attempts that same rejected write.

Delete Patch asks before blanking the selected browser user slot and, when connected, immediately sends that blank sound to the same unit slot in memory, without undo or writing flash.

DELETED is normally invisible because deletion leaves SAVE PRESET open, and SEQ CLEARED is set on a page that does not draw banners; a saved notice also says nothing about whether Beta4 stored the user bank.

USB carries MIDI and stereo audio to a computer; the MIDI input also accepts notes and control messages, with separate input and output channels in GLO’s MIDI settings.

Two failed application starts lead to USB rescue, and a failure in rescue falls back to the ROM updater; the instrument does not run or save settings in rescue.

Leaving an open SEQ menu with FX or ARP keeps that menu active but hidden, so ALGORITHM cannot change banks on the sound page; press SEQ and then HOME to clear it before trying ALGORITHM again.

STEPS still reaches 1,024, but its value displays as :00 through :24 for lengths 1,000–1,024; this display defect does not shorten the pattern.

The rows below mirror the JSON actions. “Instrument pages and sequence menus” includes both sequence menus; “Sound pages” excludes SEQ. A more specific context refines a broader one. A dash labels a control with no action in that context.

Move between pages, play and manage sounds

Set page values and menu choices

Read the display

SEL, ENV, LFO, EDIT, GLO and HOME have only the faint backlight; their lights do not identify the open page.

• Back up first. Before powering off or switching, open the librarian linked by the guide, use Read All to fetch both user banks into its browser library, check the replies and export User A and User B as separate bank .syx files; these preserve names and classic sound controls only, so record extended values, MIDI settings and the sequence separately.

• Back up in the firmware you are leaving first, with its own tool (above). Anything below marked at risk can be written over; whether an older saved copy survives depends on how often you saved, so do not count on it.
• What installing FM-106 does to the firmware you had before.
  Show the detail

  install using the package’s own loader: After checking the chip key and whole package CRC, erase/program unequal app sectors and verify them. Flash head is not written; no settings or preset initialization here (Valid package and normal loader completion). installation loader completion: Scan the final 256-byte position of each sector (read 80 bytes) for an update-record signature 0x5441 and nonzero CRC-16 matching bytes 2..79; erase only each sector that passes. Explicitly skip 0x97000-0xDFFFF (Record signature and CRC both pass; completion follows app write). normal startup, including first startup: Read 4 bytes at staging start and 8 bytes at 0xE4F00; if any differ from erased 0xFF, erase all five staging sectors. This can destroy a foreign record such as the X0X restore journal. No question or magic check (Any inspected staging byte is not 0xFF. Rescue startup branches before cleanup and does not run it). normal startup settings and user-bank load: Read settings and user presets; invalid records produce RAM defaults. No settings or bank initialization save occurs at boot, and legacy bank conversion stays in RAM (Every normal boot after staging cleanup). deliberately accept an incoming update package while FM-106 runs: Recognize official or own loader, require exact existing head match for official loader, erase five staging sectors, stage/verify loader and write its head, then write/verify a 112-byte update record at 0xE4F00 after host confirmation and restart. Failure/dry run unstages by erasing the five sectors. This is update staging, not preset backup (Updater invoked, recognized package, host confirmation; own firmware loader later writes app only. Official loader whole-image behavior is stated in comments but official source is not present). boot updater entry by OCT- at power-on or runtime rescue request: The boot stub writes only retained RAM while choosing the ROM USB updater or an already valid staged loader; it does not write settings or user data. A handed-off loader may subsequently install firmware; ROM write ranges are not established here (Rescue key or RAM rescue request; valid staged loader is tried first unless an earlier rescue attempt already failed).

  • Stock V15: Possibly at risk (layout reported or inferred): stock settings (and possibly patterns).
  • Baud Girl FM-1+VA: Possibly at risk (layout reported or inferred): Baud Girl presets (128); Baud Girl patterns (16, with locks).
  • Felucca: At risk by itself: settings, button calibration, favourites, MIDI LEARN map.
  • SLOOP: At risk by itself: settings, calibration, song order, SYN1-4 kits, MIDI LEARN, theme and favourites.
  • X0X: At risk by itself: the whole X0X project (settings, sound, all 32 patterns, song, knob motion).
  • JIANT: At risk by itself: settings, calibration, favourites, MENU options.
  • Melodee: At risk by itself: settings, factory favourites, calibration, saved template.
  • FoMni: At risk by itself: FoMni setup (pages, chord buttons, lights).
  • AMB-1: At risk by itself: AMB-1 pieces and setup.
  • ChoralRoot: At risk by itself: options, playing setup and panel calibration.
  • GHOULBOX: At risk by itself: settings and panel calibration.
  • M-VAVE FM-1 Open: At risk by itself: Open shared sample audio. At risk when you act: Open USER project 1; Open USER project 2; Open USER project 3; Open USER project 4; Open USER project 5; Open USER project 6; Open USER project 7; Open USER project 8; Open USER project 9; Open USER project 10; Open USER project 11; Open USER project 12; Open USER project 13; Open USER project 14; Open USER project 15; Open USER project 16; Open device preferences.
  • Hortator: At risk by itself: settings and panel calibration.
  • OberVave: At risk by itself: saved programs and global settings; pattern 1 (its B-track sound can change if it uses a saved program; its pattern notes remain); pattern 2 (its B-track sound can change if it uses a saved program; its pattern notes remain); pattern 3 (its B-track sound can change if it uses a saved program; its pattern notes remain); pattern 4 (its B-track sound can change if it uses a saved program; its pattern notes remain); pattern 5 (its B-track sound can change if it uses a saved program; its pattern notes remain); pattern 6 (its B-track sound can change if it uses a saved program; its pattern notes remain); pattern 7 (its B-track sound can change if it uses a saved program; its pattern notes remain); pattern 8 (its B-track sound can change if it uses a saved program; its pattern notes remain).
  • Polly: At risk by itself: Polly setup and channel sounds.
  • Skiff: At risk by itself: settings, calibration and favourites.
• What the next firmware does to FM-106's data.
  • Stock V15: Possibly at risk (layout reported or inferred): older stored user bank, if present (Beta4 does not store new edits). A valid user bank stored by an earlier FM-106 build can still be present and readable in Beta4; the bank risks listed here, if any, apply if it exists. FM-106 Beta4’s new user-sound edits are only in memory: panel save, delete and librarian bank commit do not store them, even when they report success. Read the unit into the librarian and export both user banks before switching or powering off; those exports omit sequence notes, locks and extended controls.
  • Baud Girl FM-1+VA: Possibly at risk (layout reported or inferred): older stored user bank, if present (Beta4 does not store new edits). A valid user bank stored by an earlier FM-106 build can still be present and readable in Beta4; the bank risks listed here, if any, apply if it exists. FM-106 Beta4’s new user-sound edits are only in memory: panel save, delete and librarian bank commit do not store them, even when they report success. Read the unit into the librarian and export both user banks before switching or powering off; those exports omit sequence notes, locks and extended controls.
  • Felucca: At risk by itself: octave, last selected preset and MIDI preferences. At risk when you act: older stored user bank, if present (Beta4 does not store new edits). A valid user bank stored by an earlier FM-106 build can still be present and readable in Beta4; the bank risks listed here, if any, apply if it exists. FM-106 Beta4’s new user-sound edits are only in memory: panel save, delete and librarian bank commit do not store them, even when they report success. Read the unit into the librarian and export both user banks before switching or powering off; those exports omit sequence notes, locks and extended controls.
  • SLOOP: At risk by itself: octave, last selected preset and MIDI preferences. At risk when you act: older stored user bank, if present (Beta4 does not store new edits). A valid user bank stored by an earlier FM-106 build can still be present and readable in Beta4; the bank risks listed here, if any, apply if it exists. FM-106 Beta4’s new user-sound edits are only in memory: panel save, delete and librarian bank commit do not store them, even when they report success. Read the unit into the librarian and export both user banks before switching or powering off; those exports omit sequence notes, locks and extended controls.
  • X0X: At risk by itself: older stored user bank, if present (Beta4 does not store new edits); octave, last selected preset and MIDI preferences. A valid user bank stored by an earlier FM-106 build can still be present and readable in Beta4; the bank risks listed here, if any, apply if it exists. FM-106 Beta4’s new user-sound edits are only in memory: panel save, delete and librarian bank commit do not store them, even when they report success. Read the unit into the librarian and export both user banks before switching or powering off; those exports omit sequence notes, locks and extended controls.
  • JIANT: At risk by itself: octave, last selected preset and MIDI preferences. At risk when you act: older stored user bank, if present (Beta4 does not store new edits). A valid user bank stored by an earlier FM-106 build can still be present and readable in Beta4; the bank risks listed here, if any, apply if it exists. FM-106 Beta4’s new user-sound edits are only in memory: panel save, delete and librarian bank commit do not store them, even when they report success. Read the unit into the librarian and export both user banks before switching or powering off; those exports omit sequence notes, locks and extended controls.
  • Melodee: At risk by itself: octave, last selected preset and MIDI preferences. At risk by itself, under a condition: older stored user bank, if present (Beta4 does not store new edits). A valid user bank stored by an earlier FM-106 build can still be present and readable in Beta4; the bank risks listed here, if any, apply if it exists. FM-106 Beta4’s new user-sound edits are only in memory: panel save, delete and librarian bank commit do not store them, even when they report success. Read the unit into the librarian and export both user banks before switching or powering off; those exports omit sequence notes, locks and extended controls.
  • FoMni: At risk by itself: octave, last selected preset and MIDI preferences. A valid user bank stored by an earlier FM-106 build can still be present and readable in Beta4; the bank risks listed here, if any, apply if it exists. FM-106 Beta4’s new user-sound edits are only in memory: panel save, delete and librarian bank commit do not store them, even when they report success. Read the unit into the librarian and export both user banks before switching or powering off; those exports omit sequence notes, locks and extended controls.
  • AMB-1: At risk by itself: octave, last selected preset and MIDI preferences. A valid user bank stored by an earlier FM-106 build can still be present and readable in Beta4; the bank risks listed here, if any, apply if it exists. FM-106 Beta4’s new user-sound edits are only in memory: panel save, delete and librarian bank commit do not store them, even when they report success. Read the unit into the librarian and export both user banks before switching or powering off; those exports omit sequence notes, locks and extended controls.
  • ChoralRoot: At risk by itself: octave, last selected preset and MIDI preferences. At risk when you act: older stored user bank, if present (Beta4 does not store new edits). A valid user bank stored by an earlier FM-106 build can still be present and readable in Beta4; the bank risks listed here, if any, apply if it exists. FM-106 Beta4’s new user-sound edits are only in memory: panel save, delete and librarian bank commit do not store them, even when they report success. Read the unit into the librarian and export both user banks before switching or powering off; those exports omit sequence notes, locks and extended controls.
  • GHOULBOX: At risk by itself: octave, last selected preset and MIDI preferences. At risk when you act: older stored user bank, if present (Beta4 does not store new edits). A valid user bank stored by an earlier FM-106 build can still be present and readable in Beta4; the bank risks listed here, if any, apply if it exists. FM-106 Beta4’s new user-sound edits are only in memory: panel save, delete and librarian bank commit do not store them, even when they report success. Read the unit into the librarian and export both user banks before switching or powering off; those exports omit sequence notes, locks and extended controls.
  • M-VAVE FM-1 Open: At risk by itself: older stored user bank, if present (Beta4 does not store new edits). At risk when you act: octave, last selected preset and MIDI preferences. A valid user bank stored by an earlier FM-106 build can still be present and readable in Beta4; the bank risks listed here, if any, apply if it exists. FM-106 Beta4’s new user-sound edits are only in memory: panel save, delete and librarian bank commit do not store them, even when they report success. Read the unit into the librarian and export both user banks before switching or powering off; those exports omit sequence notes, locks and extended controls.
  • Hortator: At risk by itself: octave, last selected preset and MIDI preferences. At risk when you act: older stored user bank, if present (Beta4 does not store new edits). A valid user bank stored by an earlier FM-106 build can still be present and readable in Beta4; the bank risks listed here, if any, apply if it exists. FM-106 Beta4’s new user-sound edits are only in memory: panel save, delete and librarian bank commit do not store them, even when they report success. Read the unit into the librarian and export both user banks before switching or powering off; those exports omit sequence notes, locks and extended controls.
  • OberVave: At risk by itself: octave, last selected preset and MIDI preferences. A valid user bank stored by an earlier FM-106 build can still be present and readable in Beta4; the bank risks listed here, if any, apply if it exists. FM-106 Beta4’s new user-sound edits are only in memory: panel save, delete and librarian bank commit do not store them, even when they report success. Read the unit into the librarian and export both user banks before switching or powering off; those exports omit sequence notes, locks and extended controls.
  • Polly: At risk by itself: older stored user bank, if present (Beta4 does not store new edits); octave, last selected preset and MIDI preferences. A valid user bank stored by an earlier FM-106 build can still be present and readable in Beta4; the bank risks listed here, if any, apply if it exists. FM-106 Beta4’s new user-sound edits are only in memory: panel save, delete and librarian bank commit do not store them, even when they report success. Read the unit into the librarian and export both user banks before switching or powering off; those exports omit sequence notes, locks and extended controls.
  • Skiff: At risk by itself: octave, last selected preset and MIDI preferences. At risk by itself, under a condition: older stored user bank, if present (Beta4 does not store new edits). A valid user bank stored by an earlier FM-106 build can still be present and readable in Beta4; the bank risks listed here, if any, apply if it exists. FM-106 Beta4’s new user-sound edits are only in memory: panel save, delete and librarian bank commit do not store them, even when they report success. Read the unit into the librarian and export both user banks before switching or powering off; those exports omit sequence notes, locks and extended controls.
• Who reads whose data. No other firmware reads FM-106's data, and FM-106 reads none of theirs.
• Every way each write can happen, for all mapped firmwares: the flash atlas's table. Read in each firmware's source (closed ones: their docs or third-party reports); nothing was tested on a unit.

One settings record keeps the last written octave, preset selection and MIDI preferences; 128 factory sounds are part of the firmware, and Beta4 can read valid older user-bank records or convert its legacy bank in memory.

Beta4’s panel save, delete and librarian bank commit change user presets in memory but fail to store the bank, even when they report success; sequences and sound locks have no complete save or export here.

Exports use the browser library without reading the unit and omit sequence notes, locks, MIDI preferences, octave, bend depths, arpeggio settings and tape controls, reduce chorus I+II to I and can assign names to empty slots; full-library JSON imports start at a user-bank offset, and Read All excludes unsaved live sound edits.

A bank .syx import immediately replaces the supplied browser slots without a question or undo, although the old editor can put back the previously selected user slot; Send Bank and Send All ask before replacing 64 or 128 unit slots in memory, while the Burn dialog’s bank and all choices send those slots without another question before attempting the rejected flash commit, including browser slots absent from the imported file.

MIDI-menu edits save settings automatically once more than one second has passed and all keys and synth voices are quiet; incoming MIDI sync changes can also trigger that save, while panel save writes settings immediately and deleting the current user slot does too; these replace the settings record without undo, and normal startup may erase leftover update staging by itself. Every settings save erases the shared settings sector. Back up before switching; see the switching advice in this section for the affected saved work.

Beta4’s failed bank writes leave any pre-existing legacy bank untouched, so returning to a version that reads it can recover that older bank, not recent memory edits; each older version’s reader has not been checked here, and another firmware can overwrite it, so export first.

Back up in the firmware you are leaving first; see the switching advice in this section for risks at installation, startup and during use.

• README page and button list: The README lists four edit pages, says HOME cycles pages, FX cycles chorus and ARP toggles the arpeggio. Beta4 has ten pages; HOME returns to VCF, FX opens chorus or tape, and ARP opens its page without toggling it.
• SAVE timing: The guide calls SAVE a save-menu button. A release before 0.5 seconds performs quick save; a 0.5-second hold opens the destination and name screen.
• User-bank persistence: The librarian offers a flash-bank commit and the panel displays a saved result. The 128 records occupy 10,496 bytes, plus a 16-byte header, but the bank writer rejects anything over 8,192 bytes before erasing; callers ignore the error, so saves, deletes and bank commits change RAM only.
• Saving a sequence: The guide says patch saves retain notes and parameter locks. The save record holds sound and some track settings but has no notes or locks; user-preset loading also leaves the current sequence and track settings in RAM.
• SEL has an extra effect on SEQ: The guide describes SEL as note deletion or a whole-pattern wipe. Every SEL press on SEQ also toggles VCA mode, including presses to navigate a SEQ menu.
• ENV and LFO on SEQ: The guide groups ENV and LFO with page-jump buttons. On the SEQ grid ENV toggles slide, in its menus ENV advances a row, and LFO does nothing.
• Record scope: The guide describes armed panel recording like armed incoming MIDI on any page. Panel note recording is called only on SEQ; incoming MIDI note recording can run on every page, while armed sound-change locks work throughout the instrument.
• Lock pool: The guide describes a 256-lock pool that replaces old entries. The source allocates 1,024 locks and ignores a new distinct lock when all slots are occupied, while existing locks can still change.
• Step gate and velocity: The guide calls K3 and K4 selected-note gate and velocity. Gate and velocity are shared by all notes in a step; K4 selects which pitch to add or remove.
• K4 on an empty cell: The guide says either direction starts from velocity 64. A clockwise fill starts at 68 and a counterclockwise fill at 92.
• Slide sound: The guide calls SLIDE a pitch glide into the next step. Playback keeps the old notes gated while starting the next notes; it has no gradual pitch movement.
• SYNC OFF: The guide recommends SYNC OFF to prevent a DAW from controlling transport. Incoming Start, Continue and Stop still act in every sync mode, and incoming clock can still update the displayed tempo; OFF selects internal sequence timing.
• Bank Select: The guide says bank selection loads a bank’s first patch. Bank Select keeps the current slot number inside the new bank.
• Full-library JSON import: The browser labels its 256-record JSON export as a full-library backup. Its importer starts the exported array at the chosen user bank instead of restoring original slots, so the exported factory records replace browser user records and exported user records are dropped.

• Unison claim: The README advertises unison as a voice mode. Beta4 allocates one voice for each note and exposes no unison setting or control.

• Triplet division names: The guide names the two triplet divisions as quarter-note and eighth-note triplets. The 1/3 and 1/6 beat durations are eighth-note and sixteenth-note triplets, respectively.

• No unit was tested or full application rebuild compared; a static decode of the local Beta4 package confirms its locked boot stub and commit marker, so this map includes the boot-stage source as well as the application.
• Exact held-note gate timing under external MIDI clock is not established: the release handler treats the slave clock’s division units as audio samples, so its durations should not be relied on.
• The separate green PLAY emitter is not individually addressed by the active application or the shared LED helper; only the mapped PLAY button status is established.
• ABOUT has a menu row but no screen-opening handler at Beta4; no separate ABOUT screen is claimed.
• Compatibility on returning to every older FM-106 release is not established without those release trees; the Beta4 loader checks and the legacy conversion are mapped.

Mapped from PatttF/fm-106 at Beta4 (d129b43), 2026-10-16. The application, linked librarian and boot-stage source were read for the mapped actions; its pinned file and line references are in [fm106.json](fm106.json). Updated after the first independent check; no hardware testing is claimed.

FM-106 is GPL-3.0-only; the README credits its platform and DSP contributors. This independent guide uses Les’s own wording and is not affiliated with FM-106, Roland or M-VAVE. Firmware remains available from its own release page and the community hub.