Colin P. Fahey

DOWNLOADING YOUR OWN RING TONES

CREATE OR ACQUIRE A MIDI (*.MID) FILE

You can create or acquire a MIDI sound file (*.mid) from any source.  I found
the theme to the classic 80's television show "Knight Rider" in MIDI format
(knightrider.mid) while surfing the net.

The following image gives you some idea of how a MIDI file shows up in a MIDI
editor.  Note that it is TOTALLY UNNECESSARY to have a MIDI editor to get music
on to your phone!  You can get a MIDI (*.mid) file from any source!  I just
wanted to point out that you can use a MIDI editor to create your own original
polyphonic music.



FIGURE: Cakewalk Home Studio: Playing "knightrider.mid"


MAKE SURE THE WWW SERVER KNOWS THE MIDI MIME TYPE

If you have an Apache web server, you need to create or edit an ".htaccess"
file for your web page root directory.  This file allows you to override the
Apache configuration, such as adding or overriding MIME types.  You must add
the MID type, as shown in the following:


AddType audio/midi mid


Since I already needed other MIME types (JAD, JAR, WML) for downloading J2ME
applications and WAP pages, my ".htaccess" file now looks like this:

[FILE: .htaccess ]

AddType text/vnd.sun.j2me.app-descriptor jad
AddType application/java-archive jar
AddType text/vnd.wap.wml wml
AddType audio/midi mid


Notice that my final line adds MIDI (*.mid) support.

Apparently, creating or modifying this file results in an immediate change of
server behavior.  I guess the server checks if the ".htaccess" file
modification date and time has changed before processing each transaction.

If you have another kind of web server, you must determine how to specify MIME
types and make sure MID is specified just as it is above.

You will know if the MIME types have not been set up if the phone refuses to
download your *.MID file with a message like:

     "406: Not Acceptable"


PUT THE MIDI FILE (MID) ON YOUR WWW SITE

I copied the image "kr.mid" to the root directory of my WWW site.

DOWNLOAD THE MIDI FILE TO YOUR PHONE "OVER THE AIR" (OTA)

Simply go to the WebAccess menu, and select "Go To URL", and type in the URL to
your image.  In my case I typed in the following URL:


http://www.colinfahey.com/kr.mid

      
If the download is successful you will be given the option of storing.  When
you decide to store, you are given the option of simply storing in your set of
tones or setting as the ring tone (which also stores in your set of tones).

  

[1] Main Screen: Hit key that brings up the main menu.
[2] Main Menu: Go to "WebAccess" item.
[3] WebAccess: Go to "Go to URL" item.

  

[4] Enter URL: Type in URL of a MIDI (*.mid) file on a WWW site.
[5] Connecting: Wait for download to begin.
    (If you get "406: Not Acceptable", you didn't set the MIDI
     MIME type as described in a previous section.)
[6] Downloading: Wait for downloading to complete.

  

[7] Download Complete: Wait for this screen to finish.
[8] MIDI Playback: Sound starts playing immediately.
      (OPTIONAL) Hit the menu key to get the Tone Menu. Go to [9].
       Hit the "STORE" button, and go to step [12].
[9] (OPTIONAL) Tone Menu:  You have the option of playing...

  

[10] (OPTIONAL) Tone Menu:  You have the option of getting details.
[11] (OPTIONAL) Details (of MIDI file): Here we see the size in bytes.
[12] Store Options: From step [8] we can hit the "STORE" button
       to get to this menu.  You have the option of storing to
       the phone's collection of tunes.  Hit "SELECT" to store.

 

[13] Stored: The MIDI tune has been stores.
[14] Total Bytes Transferred: Just a notification of data downloaded.


PLAY MIDI TUNE AT ANY TIME

You can play the stored MIDI files at any time, and you can use any MIDI file
as your ring sound.

  

[1] Main Screen: Hit key to go to main menu.
[2] Main Menu: Go to "Media Center".
[4] Media Center: Go to "My Tones".



[4] My Tones: Highlighted tone starts playing immediately.
      You can change the name with the "EDIT" option.
      Hitting the menu button gives you other options.


SET RING STYLE TO USE MIDI FILE

Go through the following menu screens:

  [1] Main screen 
  [2] Main Menu
  [3] Ring Styles -- "SELECT"
  [4] [Silent, Soft, Loud] Detail -- "CHANGE"
  [5] Calls: [current ring style/tune] -- "CHANGE"

  Scroll though list of ring styles (silent, vibration styles, permanent ring
tunes, etc), and at the bottom you will see your downloaded tunes.  Just hit
the "SELECT" button to make your new ring tune official!

CONTACT INFORMATION
Colin P. Fahey
cpfahey@earthlink.net
http://www.colinfahey.com