Some USB devices not recognised

[Ted Raven]

Some of my USB devices are not being recognised by Cakewalk, though they are present and active in the device manager (Win10 Pro 64, CW 2020.10). When I disconnect one of these unrecognised devices from its USB port, Cakewalk does actually recognise that it has been disconnected and suggests to reroute the MIDI ports (which obviously have not been routed before I disconnected the device). After reconnecting the device, it is being recognised by Cakewalk but therefore another USB MIDI device won't be recognised anymore. When I disconnect and reconnect the latter, the first device is not listed as active anymore. A vicious circle. It clearly is not a certain device that won't be recognised by CW. I have to admit that I have quite a few USB devices, as there are a sixteen port MIDI interface (with six ports deactivated in CW), four synths connected directly to the computer's USB, and two controllers with direct USB connection. All the ten synths connected via the sixteen port interface work fine, while at least three of the directly connected devices are inactive or not even listed at all. So I have a maximum of thirteen devices connected to four USB ports I can use at the same time instead of sixteen devices connected to seven USB ports. I do use a USB hub (active) but there does not seem to be any rule if the devices are connected to the hub or directly to the PC.

[John Vere]

When I’ve had this issue it was because windows update had overwritten the midi driver for the device. Try re installing the manufacturer supplied midi driver if it came with one. Most name brands like Roland and Yamaha do 

[Ted Raven]

Thanks for your reply. I tried this but it did not solve the problem. Actually I did not really expect it to, since it does not happen to a certain device.

[Ted Raven]

Where can I post bug reports? Is this the place? Will questions be read by (or forwarded to ) Cakewalk developers? The USB issue is a serious problem and will make it impossible for me to use Cakewalk anymore. Actually I am currently pausing my work in hope for a bug fix.

If needed, I will not hesitate to provide whatever information I can.

[Nigel Mackay]

Email to support@cakewalk.com

[Ted Raven]

Thanks!

[Ted Raven]

I completely forgot that I opened this thread. 

So, I e-mailed the support. after a bit of e-mail correspondence ich which I explicitly stated that I am using Cakewalk by Bandlab, I got the answer that I should be aware that Sonar X2 is not being supported anymore.  WTH? My reply, that I am not using X2 but CbB has been ignored since. So no help from the support. If Cakewalk wasn't the DAW with by far the best MIDI implementation I would switch to another one.

Edited June 2, 2021 by Ted Raven

[scook]

Check the MIDI driver mode.

Some devices only work with MME and will not show when running UWP

[Ted Raven]

It's old, I know.

@scook, I always run MME. The problem still exists. It's not, that particular devices won't be recognised. When I attach, say, sixteen MIDI capable USB devices twelve of them are being recognised. I disconnect any of these twelve, restart Cakewalk/Sonar, one of the missing four will be displayed in the list instead. So all the devices work with Cakewalk, just not at the same time. I want to connect my USB MIDI capable synths, MIDI interfaces, and controllers via USB. Quoting Rincewind: "That doesn't work!"

[msmcleod]

From Google AI:

The 16-device limit is a legacy problem often caused by "ghosted" or duplicate MIDI drivers in Windows' Device Manager, not a true Windows limit. To resolve it, you must show hidden devices in Device Manager (by typing set devmgr_show_nonpresent_devices=1 in Command Prompt) and then uninstall the greyed-out, unused MIDI devices. After deleting the duplicates, restart your computer to fix the limit and allow more devices to be connected. 

Steps to Fix the Limit

1. Open Command Prompt as Administrator: Search for "CMD", right-click it, and select "Run as administrator". 
2. Enable Showing Hidden Devices: Type the command set devmgr_show_nonpresent_devices=1 and press Enter. 
3. Open Device Manager: Search for "Device Manager" and open it. 
4. Show All Devices: Click on the "View" menu and select "Show Hidden Devices". 
5. Locate and Uninstall Ghosted MIDI Devices: Expand the "Sound, video and game controllers" section. You will find greyed-out entries for unused MIDI or USB audio devices. Right-click on these greyed-out devices and select "Uninstall". In the dialog box that appears, make sure the option to delete the driver software is unchecked to keep the "real" port working. 
6. Delete Duplicate Entries: You may find multiple duplicate entries for a single device; delete the greyed-out ones. 
7. Restart Your Computer: After deleting the ghosted devices, restart your PC. 

Why This Happens

Driver Duplication:

When you uninstall a MIDI device, sometimes Windows doesn't fully remove its driver. Each time you reinstall the device, a new driver entry is created, leading to duplicates. 

Ghosted Devices:

These duplicate entries count against a hidden device limit, even though the device is no longer in use. 

Legacy Limitation:

This is often a remnant from older system designs and not a fundamental Windows limitation on the number of devices you can connect. 

FWIW - I've had a similar issue before, and the easiest way to stop it is to always use the same USB port for each device every time. 

A switched USB hub (i.e. with switches on each USB port) can help with this, as you can leave them plugged in and just use the switch to switch them on as needed.   Just make sure it's just your MIDI devices on the hub, and not your audio interface!

[Ted Raven]

14 minutes ago, msmcleod said:

The 16-device limit is a legacy problem often caused by "ghosted" or duplicate MIDI drivers in Windows' Device Manager, not a true Windows limit. To resolve it, you must show hidden devices in Device Manager (by typing set devmgr_show_nonpresent_devices=1 in Command Prompt) and then uninstall the greyed-out, unused MIDI devices. After deleting the duplicates, restart your computer to fix the limit and allow more devices to be connected. 

But I don't have a 16-device limit in Windows, I have a twelve device limit in Cakewalk/Sonar. In Windows, all my USB devices are being recognised, which are many more than 16, and work perfectly well. Only in Cakewalk, there seems to be a limit of up to twelve MIDI devices.

[msmcleod]

42 minutes ago, Ted Raven said:

But I don't have a 16-device limit in Windows, I have a twelve device limit in Cakewalk/Sonar. In Windows, all my USB devices are being recognised, which are many more than 16, and work perfectly well. Only in Cakewalk, there seems to be a limit of up to twelve MIDI devices.

There is no imposed device limit in Cakewalk or Sonar - they simply list the devices available from Windows.

I've got 22 MIDI input/output devices listed on my office PC.  I'm using MME as my MIDI driver mode.

[Ted Raven]

Many thanks @msmcleod, with this information it seems that the source of the Problem is either one of my USB hubs or the USB controller of my mainboard. But I'm still wondering, why other DAWs, eg. Cubase, don't have the issue. Well, I'm going to try a different mainboard with a more powerful USB controller as soon as I can.