Port the actual Elektron Machinedrum firmware to the Octatrack, as close to 1:1 as possible.

The aim is to run the original Machinedrum OS and DSP programs on Octatrack hardware, preserving its machines, effects, sequencer, UI behavior, MIDI, sampling, and saved state. Hardware differences may require small, documented adaptations. Each change must be backed by evidence and a comparison with the original behavior.

Current stage: feasibility research. The local MD UW OS 1.63 image has been identified and trace instrumentation has been compiled. Machinedrum boot on octemu or Octatrack hardware, ported DSP audio, and a flashable build are still unproved. See project status for the current evidence and next work.

Getting started · Port plan · Contributing · Agent handoff

You can contribute to documentation, source research, and synthetic tooling without firmware or an Octatrack. The repository checks need Git, Make, and Python 3.10+, with no third-party Python packages.

git clone https://github.com/repeat98/octamachine.git
cd octamachine
make check

This validates the reference manifest, compiles the Python scripts, and runs the synthetic capture-comparison checks. Emulator builds and firmware execution have separate prerequisites.

1. Establish reference behavior. Identify exact firmware/source revisions and capture Machinedrum behavior in Gearmulator MD/MM.
2. Prove the target setup. Run unmodified Octatrack firmware in octemu, both headless and with its real-time front panel.
3. Choose a feasible architecture. Verify CPU, DSP, memory, and peripheral requirements against mechanisms that can run on the physical Octatrack.
4. Adapt and compare. Bring up the original host firmware and DSP payloads, then test controls, sequencing, audio, MIDI, and persistence.
5. Validate on hardware. Proceed through image, recovery, and physical parity gates before claiming support.

The port plan breaks this into numbered work packets with prerequisites, deliverables, acceptance checklists, and handoffs. Every work prompt records completed and remaining work. A successful emulator experiment only establishes the behavior that was measured.

octemu is included as source. Build it locally with its dependencies and your own Octatrack OS; the pinned version documents a macOS setup. It currently boots Octatrack firmware. A Machinedrum target profile is future port work. Emulator setup and run commands.

The first technical assignments are source provenance (WP-01), firmware/target profiles (WP-02), and capture/comparison contracts (WP-03). Check the live queue before claiming one.

Use a task branch or fork, advance one observable result, and submit a PR with reproduction steps and evidence. Update the packet's status, completed/remaining checklist, and next action after every work prompt. CONTRIBUTING.md covers the full flow, including the protected main branch and required CI check.

These projects supply the research and tooling foundations. Each has its own license and support scope.

references.json records the research repositories and selected pins. make refs fetches missing checkouts; it leaves existing directories untouched. Only vendor/octemu is a tracked submodule. Other research checkouts remain ignored. Local emulator changes are kept as reviewable patches under patches/.

Firmware is supplied locally by contributors. Keep ROMs, OS files, extracted DSP programs, derived images, raw captures, and private samples/projects out of Git. Put Machinedrum inputs in ignored base_firmware/; see the artifact guidance before sharing evidence.

The pinned octemu README documents restrictions on distributing its combined binaries. Follow each upstream project's license; linking or fetching a project does not grant permission to redistribute its code or firmware. This repository has not yet declared a project-wide code license.

There is no supported installation or flashing procedure for this port yet. Physical tests require the plan's emulator, image, recovery, and authorization gates.

octamachine is independent of Elektron and the upstream projects listed above.