PurpleMonkey FM-1
A firmware for the M-VAVE FM-1 for a small child: press any key and something nice happens.
- Custom firmware
- Beta
- Medium brick risk
- Reversible
This project hasn't been claimed by its maintainer yet, so its details come from the community. Is it yours? Claim it
PurpleMonkey 0.11
A small release of fixes after 0.10.
Fixed
- TALK: the big letter now always shows. About half the time (depending on the millisecond a key went down) the letter was cleared in the moment it appeared, so the key spoke but showed nothing.
- The Cat's right ear. Its resting picture was drawn a quarter turn off the other three, and the poses turned it to compensate, so the ear lay over sideways whenever the face changed (singing a note, happy with keys held, surprised, sleepy) and while dancing. The picture is now drawn the same way as the others and each face places its ears itself.
For people animating the pets
- The Face editor of the pet animator (
tools/rig_editor/) has an x and a y for each ear in every face key, next to its turn, and the firmware applies them: an ear's pictures were drawn one by one and do not all sit alike.
Installing over 0.10 needs nothing special: PurpleMonkey stores nothing.
PurpleMonkey 0.11 for the M-VAVE FM-1 (identity FM-1_927): a first instrument for a small child.
Try it in the browser, no FM-1 needed: https://quixotic7.github.io/PurpleMonkeyFM1/emu/
Install from the browser at https://quixotic7.github.io/PurpleMonkeyFM1/ (Chrome or Edge, the FM-1 connected by USB), or with the command-line installer: python3 tools/fm1_install.py purplemonkey-0.11.fwsc.
SHA256SUMS lists the package and the app. The package holds three JieLi AC79 SDK files (Apache-2.0); LICENSE, LICENSING.md and LICENSES.zip carry every licence. Installing firmware is at your own risk.
Full Changelog: https://github.com/Quixotic7/PurpleMonkeyFM1/compare/v0.10...v0.11
Before you start
- How hard is it?
- EasyCopy a file or use a web page. No extra software.
- What you need
- Comfort with the command line
- A computer
- Can it break my device?
- Small chance of trouble, with a way to recover.
- Can I undo it?
- Yes. You can go back to the official software.
Did it work for you?
Did PurpleMonkey FM-1 v0.11 work on your M-VAVE FM-1?
No reports yet for v0.11.
One-tap reports from owners. Bricked reports are checked before they count.
Compatibility
Devices: M-VAVE FM-1.
No compatibility information yet.
Getting started
From the project's README ("PurpleMonkey FM-1"):
A firmware for the M-VAVE FM-1 for a small child: press any key and something nice happens. Six-operator FM notes on a pentatonic scale, synthesised drums, a backing beat, four animal friends (Monkey, Cat, Dog, Llama) on a screen that moves with the music. No menus, nothing to save, nothing to break.
> Status: a first public beta. It has been installed and runs on the owner's FM-1 (2026-10-09); most of what is > checked was checked on the emulator. Before installing, read > docs/PURPLEMONKEY.md, "Install, rollback". > Installing firmware is at your own risk. Update mode is OCT- + OCT+ + HOME held 5 s.
Try it in the browser
(the site, once a release is published): the same firmware compiled to WebAssembly under "Try it first", the browser installer, the manual. Releases, and how one is made: BUILDING.md, "Releasing"; the notes are in docs/releases/.
Try it (Mac, no FM-1 needed)
pip3 install Pillow fonttools brew install libraqm sdl2 sh tools/emu/buildpm.sh build/host/pmemu --front
Computer key FM-1 PurpleMonkey A S D F G H J K L ; ' ] and W E T Y U O P, 2 3 4 5, F1..F4, Tab the note keys play F5 FX DRUMS F6 SEL SYNTH - PLAY BEAT on / off 7 HOME knobs back to normal Page Up / Page Down, then Up / Down select a knob of SELECT, KNOB 1..4; turn it PET, SPEED, BUSY, BOUNCE, SQUISH mouse wheel over a knob any knob, PRESETS and ALGORITHM too SOUND, WORLD …
Risk and recovery
- Brick risk
- Medium
- Reversible
- Yes
- Requires opening the device
- No
From the project's README ("PurpleMonkey FM-1"):
A firmware for the M-VAVE FM-1 for a small child: press any key and something nice happens. Six-operator FM notes on a pentatonic scale, synthesised drums, a backing beat, four animal friends (Monkey, Cat, Dog, Llama) on a screen that moves with the music. No menus, nothing to save, nothing to break.
> Status: a first public beta. It has been installed and runs on the owner's FM-1 (2026-10-09); most of what is > checked was checked on the emulator. Before installing, read > docs/PURPLEMONKEY.md, "Install, rollback". > Installing firmware is at your own risk. Update mode is OCT- + OCT+ + HOME held 5 s.
Try it in the browser
(the site, once a release is published): the same firmware compiled to WebAssembly under "Try it first", the browser installer, the manual. Releases, and how one is made: BUILDING.md, "Releasing"; the notes are in docs/releases/.
Try it (Mac, no FM-1 needed)
pip3 install Pillow fonttools brew install libraqm sdl2 sh tools/emu/buildpm.sh build/host/pmemu --front
Computer key FM-1 PurpleMonkey A S D F G H J K L ; ' ] and W E T Y U O P, 2 3 4 5, F1..F4, Tab the note keys play F5 FX DRUMS F6 SEL SYNTH - PLAY BEAT on / off 7 HOME knobs back to normal Page Up / Page Down, then Up / Down select a knob of SELECT, KNOB 1..4; turn it PET, SPEED, BUSY, BOUNCE, SQUISH mouse wheel over a knob any knob, PRESETS and ALGORITHM too SOUND, WORLD …
Releases
| Version | Name | Released |
|---|---|---|
| v0.11 | PurpleMonkey 0.11Pre-release | 10 October 2026 |
| v0.10 | PurpleMonkey 0.10Pre-release | 10 October 2026 |
Credits, license and support
- License
- GPL-3.0