MIDI Device Issues

[DAWsCW]

Hello,
I have been having issues with MIDI Device management in Cakewalk for sometime. I've looked through the forum and knowledge base and didn't find anything on this topic. I'm hoping it's user error and someone can advise me on how to resolve these issues.

I have the latest version of Cakewalk (v.2022.02 build 039) and I'm running the latest version of Windows 10. I have several devices setup in the Cakewalk MIDI config under PREFERENCES > MIDI >DEVICES and CONTROL SURFACES. I am using AZ Controller for some of my devices like my X-Touch, NanoController2 and Akai MPK25. See the attached screenshot.

Here is my problem. Any time I physically disconnect a MIDI device (unplug USB for example), such as the X-Touch Controller, it becomes very difficult to get Cakewalk to recognize it and have it function again when reconnecting it. If I disconnect the USB cable to the X-Touch and reconnect it later, Cakewalk will not recognize it again without me deleting the X-Touch entirely from the MIDI configuration and re-adding it with AZController while restarting Cakewalk. Even then, sometimes I have to do this multiple times while restarting Cakewalk in between each step to get Cakewalk to recognize the X-Touch again. It's not just the X-Touch. The same thing happens with the NanoController2 and the Casio Keyboard. It's super frustrating and makes dealing with MIDI devices in Cakewalk a major headache. On top of all of this, when a MIDI device is unplugged, Cakewalk may shuffle how the MIDI devices "IN PORT" and "OUT PORTS" are organized and configured under the CONTROL SURFACES section of Preferences > MIDI. It will also change how MIDI VST inputs are setup choosing random MIDI devices as the input controller. This means I have to go back, reconfigure how each device is setup and configured reassigning the "In Ports" and Out Ports". This has become a major inconvenience and a real pain. How can I avoid having to reconfigure my MIDI devices in CONTROL SURFACES any time something is unplugged? Why does Cakewalk mix up the MIDI CONTROL SURFACES config when devices are disconnected? How can I avoid this? I hope there is something I am doing wrong and I can resolve this.

Thank you!

Edited March 11, 2022 by DAWsCW

[Byron Dickens]

The simple solution is to not swap devices around while Cakewalk is running. Make sure to connect whichever you are going to be using before launching CW.

[DAWsCW]

Thanks for your reply. 

EDIT - I'm going to pay close attention to when I disconnect devices and how Cakewalk reacts. Hopefully this is that simple and that will resolve it.

Thanks!

Edited March 11, 2022 by DAWsCW

[Base 57]

Perhaps CbB could handle this better, but I believe the real problem lies with how Windows reacts to disconnecting and reconnecting USB Midi peripherals.

I don't know specifically about your devices. But I used a MidiSport for many years and had problems similar to yours. Eventually I discovered that there were hundreds of instances of the MidiSport listed in the registry. Windows was creating a new instance of the device every time I reconnected it.

After removing the extra entries from the registry I stopped disconnecting the device and didn't have problems with it afterward.

FWIW, I have since replaced the MidiSport with an iConnectivity MIO xl. It connects via ethernet and RTP Midi. The ports show up in Cakewalk even if the device is turned off. And you can connect class compliant usb midi devices directly to it instead of the computers usb ports.

Edited March 11, 2022 by Base 57
additional info

[David Baay]

21 minutes ago, Base 57 said:

FWIW, I have since replaced the MidiSport with an iConnectivity MIO xl

I just picked up one of these to replace my ancient MIDI Express XT. My main goal was to reduce MIDI transmission delay, and the mio XL delivered in spades. The MOTU was one of the first Windows-compatible versions delivered, and  was quite slow - about 5ms each way. The mioXL is barely over 1ms each way - gotta love it.

Unfortunately I don't have much to offer the OP in the way of suggestions other than to leave everything connected as bdickens suggested and make sure it's all turned on before starting Cakewalk. And whatever you  do, don't re-save a project that isn't routing correctly.

That said, even when I would forget to turn on the MOTU, Cakewalk was picking it up just fine when it was turned on with a project already open running, and I've never had soft synth ports get mixed up when hardware ports were missing. But  I don't have any control surfaces set up at the moment which may be a factor. And I don't run other USB MIDI devices  either; everything went through the MOTU and will now go through the mioXL.

[John Vere]

Another place to look is in Device manager and open "show Hidden Devices"  There is a 10 device limit that can get messed up by plugging midi devices into different ports etc. 

I demonstrate  in this video at the beginning.  

https://youtu.be/AcDcCmjPaWg

The other thing to keep in mind is I find that devices that came with Midi drivers from the Manufacture don't behave the same as the ones that use generic drivers. I can unplug my Roland Keyboard and plug it back in with Cakewalks running. I cannot do this with my Akai. 

[Byron Dickens]

Plugging USB MIDI devices into USB hubs can be problematic as well.

[DAWsCW]

Thanks, everyone. I appreciate the feedback.