MIDI ports appear un-named after reinstall? [SOLVED]

[Indyman]

Hi Folks,

I had to reinstall my entire music PC (long story) recently and of course all of my software (since I didnt have a recent backup!😡)  Of course that included both SONAR Platinum and Cakewalk by Bandlab.   Weird thing is, after reinstall the ports for my MOTU Midi-express XT only show up in Preferences as un-named Midi ports (see first pic).  What's strange is that in other applications the names appear correctly, as in Dimension Pro below, even plugins within Cakewalk; also before the re-install the ports were showing up correctly as named ports.  I uninstalled and re-installed SONAR, Cakewalk by Bandlab and my MOTU drivers but same thing.  I can't tell which port is which or make assignments.  Anyone see this before?

Edited May 11, 2019 by Indyman
changed title

[msmcleod]

Cakewalk just returns what Windows tells it the name is called, which is in turn taken from the drivers.

Are you using MME or UWP as your driver mode (under MIDI/Playback and Recording in Preferences) ?

I've found the name changes depending on which driver mode you're using. 

Personally, I've never got UWP to work reliably for me, with half the ports missing (probably my old MIDI interfaces)  so I always stick to MME for MIDI.

[msmcleod]

Forgot to say... you can also do this (from the Cakewalk reference manual page 223):

Creating friendly names for MIDI output and input devices

You may find that a name you make up yourself for a MIDI device is easier to remember or more descriptive than a device’s original name. The friendly name for a MIDI device is the name you will see places such as MIDI track Input and Output menus, and the Controllers/Surfaces dialog box, if you enable the Use Friendly Names To Represent MIDI Devices check box at the bottom of the MIDI Devices dialog box. To make up a friendly name:

1. Go to Edit > Preferences > MIDI - Devices.

2. Double-click the name of a device in the Friendly Name column, type a new name, and press ENTER.

3. Select the Use Friendly Names To Represent MIDI Devices check box.

4. Click OK

[Indyman]

 

11 hours ago, msmcleod said:

Cakewalk just returns what Windows tells it the name is called, which is in turn taken from the drivers.

Are you using MME or UWP as your driver mode (under MIDI/Playback and Recording in Preferences) ?

I've found the name changes depending on which driver mode you're using. 

Personally, I've never got UWP to work reliably for me, with half the ports missing (probably my old MIDI interfaces)  so I always stick to MME for MIDI.

 

msmcleod - you sir are a genius!  I went back and sure enough I had driver mode set to UWP.  When I changed it to MME all of the Midi port names appeared (see screenshot).  I'm marking this one SOLVED - thanks again 😎  Now I'm going to make a backup!

Edited May 11, 2019 by Indyman

[RobertWS]

"Now I'm going to make a backup!"

I backup often to sub-directories, a second machine, the cloud, CD/DVDs, thumbdrives (hidden in my office) and to offsite storage in a safe deposit box.

Funny, I've never lost any data since following a strict regime.