Disappearing MIDI Problem in DAW (Ableton)(SOLVED)

[53E7]

I’ve had Ableton Live for a while and I never got around to using it until now. I am having a problem that I hope I can resolve. I save a project in Ableton. When I reopen that project my MIDI configurations seem to get lost. I start Scope before Ableton and I don’t exit Scope until after Ableton is completely closed. I save my project window in Scope for each project, to match the project I’ve saved in Ableton. I set my preferences in Ableton so they should be there when I reopen the project again but they are not. Could someone please help me with this?







Also, is Reaper better for Scope? I have been trying the demo and I really like what I see so far.

[garyb]

annoying, but not the end of the world...

[53E7]

So there is nothing wrong with the way I have things setup? Is that just how it is for all Ableton/Scope users? I don’t know if I made it clear, but each MIDI track has to be reset manually every time I open a project. As my projects become more complex this is going to really suck if that's true. Any Ableton/Scope users out there to comment on this?

[garyb]

sounds like an Ableton problem.

[siriusbliss]

I never get this scenario as LONG as I launch Scope FIRST.
Live SHOULD see the Scope MIDI ports.

How many MIDI ports do you have turned on in Scope?

Live usually keeps it's MIDI port routing setup despite whether or not the MIDI device is changed.
Therefore, I HAVE seen it grayed out IF the MIDI port in the Live channel is set for some previous channel from another project, or if the Live project is opened on another computer that has a different MIDI interface.

I'll check Live again next time I'm back in the studio. Also since Live is not my primary DAW, then I may not come up with a solution.
There ARE other heavy Live / Scope users on the forum though.

Greg

[mausmuso]

I am experiencing something quite weird with REAPER.
I cannot get it to recognise my XITE MIDI A Dest or source modules.
The odd bit is MIDI works if I add a second MIDI Dest module (XITE MIDI B Dest) and use that.
Maybe you could try that?
Add a second MIDI port, connect it to your SCOPE MIDI A Source and then configure in Live.
I would interested to see if it works as that would mirror my issue with SCOPE MIDI and REAPER.

[King of Snake]

I’ve had Ableton Live for a while and I never got around to using it until now. I am having a problem that I hope I can resolve. I save a project in Ableton. When I reopen that project my MIDI configurations seem to get lost. I start Scope before Ableton and I don’t exit Scope until after Ableton is completely closed. I save my project window in Scope for each project, to match the project I’ve saved in Ableton. I set my preferences in Ableton so they should be there when I reopen the project again but they are not. Could someone please help me with this?







Also, is Reaper better for Scope? I have been trying the demo and I really like what I see so far.

The area in Live's midi setup you have highlighted is for setting up a control surface. Since you have not selected a control surface it's useless to select midi in and out ports for that.

I wouldn't say Reaper is better for Scope. Ableton Live works fine for me, and Reaper and Live are quite different beasts and it all depends on what kind of workflow suits your tastes.
Still that shouldn't affect whether or not the midi in the external instrument plugin is greyed out.

[siriusbliss]

When I open Live raw here, it is seeing the Scope MIDI ports.

Perhaps you could consider building a starter template project that can be launched each time you start a new project.
This way, all the routings should be maintained.

My main DAW Samplitude sees all the MIDI ports each time I open the program.

Sorry I don't have any ideas what might be happening here - unless something else is tying up the MIDI ports in the background - like another host program?

Greg

[53E7]

I deleted this post because it wasn't the correct solution (see my next post for how to fix this problem).

[garyb]

yep, that makes sense.

[53E7]

THIS IS HOW TO FIX THIS PROBLEM!

If this happens to you, uninstall the following:

Microsoft Visual C++2005 Redistributable
Microsoft Visual C++ 2008 Redistributable
Microsoft Visual C++ 2010 Redistributable

Download + re-install these from Microsoft (2005 + 2010 have SP1’s, download and re-install them too). After you re-install these three programs and their service packs, DO NOT UPDATE THEM ANY FURTHER!!!!!!!!!!!!! Microsoft will want to automatically update them a day or two later with a security update. THIS UPDATE WILL MESS YOUR MIDI PORTS UP! If you have your PC setup for automatic updates, change it to either notify you what updates are available and let you decide to install them or not, or just turn automatic updates off (this is what I did).

This problem has been bothering me since I first posted this. Only now since I reinstalled Windows 7 to switch to 64Bit did I figure this out. I saw Windows update automatically when I shut down one day. I was suspicious so I restarted my PC and sure enough my MIDI ports were greyed out in Ableton. I immediately checked to see what Windows updated that messed my my MIDI up so badly and that is what was updated. Since I fixed it I haven’t had the problem come back. It’s been enough time now that I know it has been solved.

[petal]

This is interesting. I wonder if this could be the explanation to the midi-timing issues I've been experiencing with Live and Scope.
I'll check this out when I get back home today.

[Eanna]

I had the same problem as yourself. Didn't think to check Windows Update.

What I did is trawl thru the registry, and remove every entry for Scope Midi.
I then fired up Scope, and added a Sequencer Midi In and Out device to a clean project.
Went into Ableton, and there were no problems...

[53E7]

This is interesting. I wonder if this could be the explanation to the midi-timing issues I've been experiencing with Live and Scope.
I'll check this out when I get back home today.

With Ableton, Scope MIDI timing needs to be set manually in the preferences. You need to take the Input Latency and the Output Latency and add that number together. Then take that total, make it a negative number and enter it in the Driver Error Compensation box. The end result should be zero ms of Overall Latency.

As an example, I have Scope latency set right in the middle at 7ms. In Ableton it is read as 6.69ms input latency and 6.69 output latency. Add those two (6.69 + 6.69 = 13.38). Take the total (13.38), make it a negative number (-13.38) and enter it in the Driver Error Compensation box. That makes the overall latency in Ableton zero and now all my Scope MIDI loops time up with my sample loops.

[petal]

Thank you very much for your effort, but I'm afraid to say that it didn't do the trick in my case. However my midi-timing issue is quite different from yours. I'm not getting smooth midi automation data from Live to Scope. It's actually quite horrible.

I have described the problem in detail here on page two:
http://forums.planetz.com/viewtopic.php?f=5&t=31765

My next step is to completely reinstall my computer. I 'm only waiting to see if SonicCore is unveiling Scope 6 on MuiskMesse, though I'm not counting on it

Once I get everything working (I know it's possible) your good advice will sure come in handy though!

Cheers,
Thomas

[53E7]

OK, so I moved a few things around inside my PC and the F***ING problem started up again. But THIS time I finally did it. I found the solution after hours of searching online. Ignore all of my above solutions and follow the steps below to get rid of this terrible problem.

Registry Deletion of Ghost Ports

Windows creates an additional entry when a device driver is being installed again (but not when performing a simple driver update). This means not only during the first installation, but also when:

A PCI card is moved to another slot
A USB device is used with a different USB port than before
The hardware ID changes, e. g. with firmware updates

TO FIX THIS:

Open the registry editor

C:/Windows/regedit.exe

FIRST DO A BACKUP OF YOUR REGISTRY BEFORE PROCEEDING JUST IN CASE YOU DO SOMETHING WRONG. YOU CAN ALWAYS PUT IT RIGHT BACK THE WAY IT WAS.

Navigate to here:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Drivers32

You only need the first midi (with NO number after it).
DELETE ALL ENTRIES named Midi with a number after it.

You can see photo below there are a lot of extra MIDI “ghost” ports that need to be deleted.


This is how it should look (at least in my case only needing the one MIDI input).

[jksuperstar]

I've had to do this before, but not because it caused timing problems. I do wish windows didn't force a new install every time the device is plugged into a new port, or a hub is used, etc. I haven't found a way to automatically clean these up, or a reg setting to force windows to reuse a previously installed device+usb path.

For now, I label all my USB ports with the device that should be connected there to prevent this type of stuff.

Good find though, for sure!

[Bud Weiser]

I've had to do this before, but not because it caused timing problems. I do wish windows didn't force a new install every time the device is plugged into a new port, or a hub is used, etc. I haven't found a way to automatically clean these up, or a reg setting to force windows to reuse a previously installed device+usb path.

For now, I label all my USB ports with the device that should be connected there to prevent this type of stuff.

Good find though, for sure!

For USB devices, incl. cardreaders build in floppy drives and connected via mobo USB connector and Firewire devices,- install USBDLM (USB DRive Letter Manager) !
It solved all my probs w/ ext. USB drives, sticks, Firewire HDs and the 2 cardreader slots in my cardreader which is build in the floppy drive case and creates 2 drive letters.
USBDLM is a service and you can edit your drive letters in a text file.
Practically you reserve drive letters for the cardreader(s), USB drives and sticks and once done, they will never clash again and no new drivers will be created, even you remove drives temporary.
http://www.uwe-sieber.de/usbdlm_e.html

I did it for my XITE-1 DAW machine,- so don´t fear using it.

Bud

[Bud Weiser]

This is how it should look (at least in my case only needing the one MIDI input).


For what its worth, I had to delete ALL the MIDI entries to "reset" all my ports.

I did that too and before I installed USBDLM in addition to prevent creation of new drivers by using removable media devices.

Nonetheless and because I´m at my office machine showing driver issues too ...
In your pic, I see also 2 mixer devices,- "mixer" and "mixer 1" as also "aux" and "aux 1" which are both (wdmaud.drv),- like "midi".

I just deleted mixer 1 and mixer 2 from my machine and see no malfunction,- so I assume ONE mixer ( labeled "mixer") is enough too.

Now, in my registry editor window I see 3 wave drivers (wdmaud.drv),- wave / wave 1 / wave 2 ...

I wonder whether "wave 1" and "wave 2" could be deleted too or are essential.

When I run DPC latency checker on my office machine,- it says "some drivers behave not correctly" or similar and I have DPC latency spikes on this machine and audio streaming sometimes crackles.

My 2nd rackmount machine is the same motherboard and houses SCOPE Pro DSP card.
DPC latency checker shows the same s##t ... even there are no IRQ/ressources conflicts w/ SCOPE card.
Now I wonder if multiple wave drivers in the list are the culprit.

Unfortunately I don´t see in your pic above how many wave drivers you see in your regedit window,- please report.

thx

Bud

[Eanna]

Hi Bud / 53E7, possibly this link may answer some of your questions, or get you in a position to be able to do a more-focussed google search....

http://www.rme-audio.de/en_support_tech ... q_10entryd