MT Classic: Automatic rescanning resets ports to none...

I have been trying to use MIDI Translator recently and have succeeded in getting it to do what I want it to, but every time any of my various USB-MIDI controllers becomes disconnected from its socket, MT seems to rescan the ports and lose connection with the only one I had connected to MT.

I am using MT just for a Nanokontrol2, but am using several other controllers too (that connect directly to other software) and when any of these others are disconnected, it resets MT to no input/output, forcing me to have to restart the program (as an error is thrown when just trying to reset the ports) and then manually reset the ports.

I have tried piping MT with MIDI from a virtual port instead, but it makes no difference. If any of the ports/controllers shown in MT's inputs and outputs are disconnected, MT resets and needs to be restarted. This becomes a real issue for live performance. But is this just the way it is and the way MT works?

Thanks for any comments and help.

Hi Mister36

Just for some follow up information, are any of those controllers connected to external software also connected to MIDI Translator, even just as checked off in Active Ports?

I'm also going to pass this up to Florian who should be getting back to you shortly.

Jared

DvlsAdvct wrote:Just for some follow up information, are any of those controllers connected to external software also connected to MIDI Translator, even just as checked off in Active Ports?

Thanks for your response.

Only the Nanokontrol2 is actually connected to MT and I have tested (and reproduced) with only MT running.

Hi,

are you on Windows or Mac?

And, no, MT is not at all supposed to work like that. If you unplug one device (be it in use or not), MT should keep all other MIDI ports AS IS. You can unplug a device that is in use in MT and replug it, and MT will gracefully reconnect it as if nothing had happened. In fact, many people use MT solely as a MIDI hub because other software will crash or freeze if you unplug a MIDI port while it is in use.

Can you give step by step instructions how to reproduce this issue? Are the other MIDI devices used in other software?

Thanks,
Florian

Thanks for your response, Florian.

I am on Windows (8.1 Pro, x64).

I didn't think MT was supposed to function this way and it seemed very odd that other, seemingly unrelated MIDI controller drivers would cause MT to "reset" its MIDI connections.

Simple steps to reproduce:
1. Have more than one USB-MIDI controller connected
2. Open MT (just a blank template will do) and open just one of them in the inputs, use a virtual connection for the only output
3. Monitor the input port view and disconnect one of the other USB-MIDI devices

Observed outcome: MT resets input and output ports to none.
Expected outcome: disconnecting devices other than the one connected to MT should have no effect on MT


I cannot test again until later, but will try a few things and report back. Although I run a pretty tight ship (as they say) with regard to my music machine, I will check and clean up and unused MIDI drivers and try reinstalling MT.


Please let me know if there's anything you can think of that could cause this. Thanks again for your response and inputs.

To my utter dismay and frustration, after testing various things and possibilities, I can't stop MT from doing this. It seems to be that replugging a device is causing the "rescan" and for some reason MT is not re-finding the right in/out ports, despite those not being the ones that were disconnected and reconnected. I just don't get it...

Any thoughts, advice, or suggestions are welcome.

Hi,

sorry to hear that your problem persists. I've tried numerous times and cannot reproduce this issue. I've followed your description exactly and the ports always keep on working.

Once the port does not work anymore, does it help to invoke the MIDI|Rescan menu?
In MT's MIDI port list, is the port still checked? Is it still listed as "open"?

Thanks,
Florian

Why do I always get the unreproducible problems with software? :p

Manually rescanning does not seem to do anything. At least, it does not restore the ports that should be connected to MT, though they are all still open.

I now can't remember, as it's been a while, whether this was occurring when disconnecting any device or just one in particular. I know it happens when disconnecting my Maschine (MkI) controller, even though its MIDI driver has been disabled in Device Manager and Maschine has nothing to do with MT.

It's all very annoying and frustrating. Especially as you can't reproduce and I can't find any other details to help you to do so. I was so close to finishing my perfect setup too!

Hi, oh no!

So the NK port basically becomes dysfunctional, although Midi Translator claims to be using the port ("open")?

• do you use the latest version of Midi Translator? -- (1.7.2 as of July 2014)
• could you try enabling the Maschine controller in Device Manager and see if the behavior still happens?
• have you tried the same scenario with another simple MIDI software, e.g. SendSX:
  • plug in NK and Maschine
  • open NK port in SendSX
  • unplug Maschine
  • check if port still works in SendSX
• last, but not least, it would be great if you could test this on a different computer...

I really hope to nails this down!
Thanks,
Florian

I have found that it is not restricted to the nanoKontrol2, as I tried piping its MIDI through MIDI-OX first and so the input to MT is a virtual MIDI cable - same thing happens when disconnecting a hardware connection.

Maschine was previously enabled in Device Manager when this starting happening. I only disabled it to troubleshoot this issue.

I have not tried with SendSX, but it does not happen with MIDI-OX when all MIDI devices are connected to it.

I will try on another machine if/when I can and report back.

And I always keep all my software updated, including all drivers etc. However, I may have now discovered a significant part of the puzzle... I am using MIDI Translator Classic, so am running version 1.6.1. I'm so sorry and feel terrible that I forgot to mention this (thought I would have done in the OP), but have only just realised we've been talking about different versions.
Could this just be the problem then? That this is how MT Classic is?

Thanks for all your help so far though, by the way. And sorry again.

yes, this might be a bug in MT classic. Feel free to try with the trial version of MT Pro:
http://www.bome.com/products/miditranslator/downloads

If we ever release an update of MT Classic, it will be fixed...

Regards,
Florian