MIDI cable problem

[kr2]

Hello,

I have a usb MIDI cable which worked fautlessly on XP but Win7 won't accept it. It tried to load a driver to it (generic Windows?) then said 'failed'. That was that

What are my oprions please?

* Are there other MIDI drivers out there that I can download?

* Is there a recommended MIDI connection cable for Windows 7 (32 bit) operating systems?

And finally, why have Windows authored '7' to refuse MIDI connectivity? I am perplexed.

Thank you,

Ric

 

[fireberd]

That particular device is apparently incompatible with Windows 7. What is the brand name of the device? I use MIDI but it's through my recording interface equipment. Does the device vendor have a Vista/Windows 7 driver? Whatever driver you have, have you tried installing it in Windows XP compatibility mode?

Use the System Restore and restore the PC back to a date PRIOR to first attempting to install this device if it's fairly recent. That will give you a "clean start" to try and install in.

I do a lot of support on the Dell users forum (community). I don't recall anyone posting a compatibility problem with a USB/MIDI device.

 

[kr2]

That particular device is apparently incompatible with Windows 7. What is the brand name of the device? I use MIDI but it's through my recording interface equipment. Does the device vendor have a Vista/Windows 7 driver? Whatever driver you have, have you tried installing it in Windows XP compatibility mode?

Use the System Restore and restore the PC back to a date PRIOR to first attempting to install this device if it's fairly recent. That will give you a "clean start" to try and install in.

I do a lot of support on the Dell users forum (community). I don't recall anyone posting a compatibility problem with a USB/MIDI device.

Hi Fireberd,

This device was from the Bay, I have since discovered the brand name VIEWCON. The web site is a joke, it only accepts buyers enquiries but even then, you enter your message and get an error code message (sigh). There are download support files but they can't be opened once downloaded. I am ready to defenestrate this cable. What can I use instead please?

I am running a Dell Inspiron 531 2Core Windows 7 / 32 bit.

No, unfortunately I am not given an XP compatibility option, although this cable works perfectly with XP.

What else can I use to MIDI-connect my Yamaha E303 piano keyboard to my pc please?

Many thanks,

Ric

 

[fireberd]

The MAudio unit appears to be compatible. It lists Vista and Vista devices are Win 7 compatible.
http://www.m-audio.com/products/en_us/Uno.html

It's available on line from Sweetwater
http://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/Uno/

 

[kr2]

The MAudio unit appears to be compatible. It lists Vista and Vista devices are Win 7 compatible.
M-AUDIO - Uno - 1-In/1-Out USB Bus-Powered MIDI Interface

It's available on line from Sweetwater
M-Audio UNO | Sweetwater.com

Thanks. Can you give me some more on this please? It gives: "Windows 98SE / Me / 2000 (SP4) / XP (SP2)* / Vista (32 bit)", no mention of Windows 7, which looks a tiny bit suspect to me?

I just discovered my old XP P4 is inert, so I am really stuck at the moment, can't test the MIDI cable on anything now.

 

[fireberd]

If it's Vista compatible it's Win 7 compatible as Win 7 is basically "Vista Improved".
However, there are Windows 7 drivers listed on the MAudio (Avid) site.

 

[kr2]

Fast Track Pro?

If it's Vista compatible it's Win 7 compatible as Win 7 is basically "Vista Improved".
However, there are Windows 7 drivers listed on the MAudio (Avid) site.

Thanks Fireberd,

With respect the Dell support forum told me Vista is a completely different OS to Win7 and that I should erase an entire backup partition for Vista since I updated to 7, because the backups won't do anything for a 7 OS?

But be that as it may, or may not, be -

M-Audio make their FastTrack Pro interface which has two MIDI (in/out) sockets. Can I not use this between my piano keyboard and Win7 computer?

Thanks for help

Ric

 

[fireberd]

I have a Fastrack Ultra 8R and it has MIDI. Any recording interface device with MIDI should work. I use Sonar X1 software in my recording studio.

With respect to your backup partition, it is no longer valid once you install a different operating system. But, Win 7 is basically "vista improved", they took the Vista foundation as a start to building Windows 7. Many of the functions and Control Panel items are identical. Vista device drivers in almost all cases will work in Windows 7 (Soundblaster sound drivers are an exception). There are many documented cases, on the Dell forum, of users that have upgraded to Windows 7 and used Vista device drivers.

 

[kr2]

Thanks Fireberd,

I have a Fastrack Ultra 8R and it has MIDI. Any recording interface device with MIDI should work. I use Sonar X1 software in my recording studio.

I have been using M-Audio FastTrack USB interface with 'MixCraft' software and getting good results, but this interface has no MIDI connectivity. My MIDI cable worked on XP but it is not even working on an old XP system now, so I think MIDI cables are a problem. Took me ages to set it up originally years ago, but it did work then. Not now.

With respect to your backup partition, it is no longer valid once you install a different operating system. But, Win 7 is basically "vista improved", they took the Vista foundation as a start to building Windows 7. Many of the functions and Control Panel items are identical. Vista device drivers in almost all cases will work in Windows 7 (Soundblaster sound drivers are an exception). There are many documented cases, on the Dell forum, of users that have upgraded to Windows 7 and used Vista device drivers.

One thing which crashes constantly on 7 is Windows Media Player. It never crashed on Vista and never ever crashed on XP, yet there is a 50:50 chance it will crash on 7 as soon as you try to use it. I have spent months chatting to Microsoft Forums technicians about this and got nowhere. Eventually they stated the obvious: "Media Player has crashed", and that was the end of the thread - in other words they had no more answers. Is that not ridiculous? I really like WMP and am constantly fed up that it is unreliable on 7.

Thanks again,

Ric

 

[fireberd]

Some of the MAudio equipment is not Vista/Win 7 compatible. I've seen postings on the Avid forum (the company that owns MAudio, ProTools, etc) about some equipment not having drivers for Vista/Win7.

Beside the Fastrack Ultra 8R, I also have a Firewire connected Focusrite Saffire Pro 40 (my main recording interface) and it too has MIDI, and I've used this for a MIDI keyboard. The Saffire Pro 40 (and Ultra 8R) are a lot more than what you want just for MIDI I/O. I've also got a Behringer BCF2000 Control Surface unit and it too has MIDI.

I haven't had any problems with WMP, but I don't like it or the way it works compared to older versions. I've also got iTunes installed as I have an iPod but iTunes is only used with the iPod.

 

[kr2]

Some of the MAudio equipment is not Vista/Win 7 compatible. I've seen postings on the Avid forum (the company that owns MAudio, ProTools, etc) about some equipment not having drivers for Vista/Win7.

Thanks. This is shaping up to be a real problem. I can't play my keyboard in MIDI mode right now, despite having a MIDI piano, a MIDI cable and MIDI software on several computers [Win7, XP]. I can't visit my local store and buy a new interface because as yet there is no guarantee that the Fast Track device that I want will be supported by Win7, this is despite posting on the M-Audio forum (no reply) and emailing generally on this topic.

Is this why a music college I walked into recently was laid out with wall-to-wall Macs I wonder?

Increasingly surprised by the limitations of Windows 7.

Thanks again,

Ric

 

[fireberd]

It's not that Mac's are better or easier. They have the same requirements for external devices that are connected to them. If you visit the gearslutz forum (basically a recording forum) you will see many problem posts by Mac users with as many problems as Windows users.

Mac's also have some compatibillity issues between OS versions.

Most of the Sonar X1 users appear to be Windows 7 users. Many are using devices with MIDI.

Call Sweetwater music and talk to one of the reps and they will find a compatible unit, if the MAudio device you want is not Win 7 compatible. Sweetwater even has their own tech support for products that have been purchased from them and many times better than the vendor tech support.

Keep in mind the PC, and operating system -whether a Windows PC or a MAC does not have to be compatible with any hardware or software. The hardware and software must be compatible with the Windows or MAC PC hardware and Operating System.

 

[kr2]

the long wait for MIDI ...

Many thanks Fireberd,

Yes I have worked with Mac's, I wasn't entirely 'won over' at all - but I still remain curious.

I'm going to try a Roland MIDI cable which has Windows 7 drivers you can download (I checked ahead). I am buying this cable in person locally [UK] so that if it still doesn't work I can take it back in person.

Remain amazed that MIDI technology - being electronic - is not 'ABC' to the digital technology industry, it's almost as troublesome as trying to convert old ciné films to digital video format, when I would have thought that MIDI should be a 'plug in and play' scenario.

Still, I must kick my heels for a week now till the cable is in stock, sad but true. Never mind.

Best thanks,

Ric

 

[fireberd]

I would have looked at Focusrite, which is a UK company. The Focusrite Saffire Pro 40 that I have is far superior to the MAudio Fastrack Ultra 8R that I have, including documentation. I've dealt with Focusrite support and they are first rate too. I had the power on/off switch fail - out of warranty - and one of the support managers sent me a free switch, from the UK.

 

[kr2]

Thanks Fireberd,

There's also the Focusrite SAFFIRE 6 USB but I already have an interface which handles electric, acoustic, bass guitar, electronic drums, quality vocals (xlr mic) and almost anything else I want to put through it. I really don't want to drop that for something exactly the same but with MIDI ports. So I will be keeping my fingers and toes crossed that Roland and its Win7 drivers do not let me down over their cable. I'm like a crashed computer at the moment with projects saved in limbo. I am not impressed, if I had some analogue synth backup it wouldn't be so bad but there is nothing. I have recorded the keyboard by way of line-in in the past, but it is not what the mix software likes - you sometimes get a ghostly blip on the track, this interface was never designed to handle keyboards that way, I could spend hours on a project and have to delete the whole thing because of some weird latency gemlin or something. This actually happened before I worked out how to use MIDI.

Thanks for the Focusrite heads up

Ric