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I don't understand why Roland implemented the merging of only 2 IN Ports.
What is it
The Roland A-880 can be seen as a patch bay, supporting one IN to many OUT (MIDI splitter).
However, It does not support many IN to one OUT, only 2 fixed IN to many OUT (MIDI merger).
Already assigned OUTPUT Ports can not be assigned to a another (second ot third) INPUT Port. Which would be very handy for a MIDI merge function.
However, there is a MIDI merge function, but you are not free to route several IN-ports to several OUT-ports. You can only merge 2 INPUT Ports together, namely the IN Port to which the Remote Control to the A-880 is assigned (the programming port), and the IN Port to which the MIDI Clock signal is assigned. Both functions can also be performed by just one IN Port. However, when you assign these functions to 2 different IN Ports, the "normal" MIDI signals to these Ports will also be merged and relayed to the chosen OUT Ports. This gives the unit some rudimentary MIDI merge function.
Factory settings
After a Factory Reset, the IN Port 1 is set to receive the Remote Control data and the IN Port 2 is set to receive the MIDI Clock data. This way, these 2 Ports are merged and the output signal is split to OUT Port 1 and 2. Ports 1 and 2 are conveniently placed on the front of the unit. Concerning the ports on the back: the IN Port 3 is connected to the OUT Port 3, IN 4 to OUT 4, and so on.
Controlling and programming the A-880 via MIDI
Remote control from MIDI consists of 2 different possibilities:
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you can select a different patch setting from the A-880 memory with a MIDI "Program Change" message, and
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you can completely control the A-880 using SysEx messages.
Software exists that is able to perform all the front panel operations with a nice graphical interface on your Windows or Apple computer. Search for "A-880 Mountain Utilities".