MIDI Issues Out of the Blue

dmstar1956 wrote on 9/19/2024, 5:07 AM

I have a Yamaha PSR-S910 synthesizer connected to a Dell laptop running Windows 10.

Everything was working fine yesterday. But today Music Maker can't detect a MIDI instrument; the MIDI light doesn't flash when I press a key on the synthesizer, even though when I remove and then reinsert the USB cable back into the laptop, Windows detects a new device.

I've since rebooted my system, checked and confirmed that local control is turned OFF (on the synthesizer), but Music Maker still detects no MIDI.

I've also checked Devices in Windows 10 Home and the system does not show a synthesizer being a connected device, so I don't know what's going on.

Zero issues yesterday, today no MIDI.

Comments

SP. wrote on 9/19/2024, 5:28 AM

@dmstar1956 Can you show us a screenshot of your MIDI ports in your Windows device manager? Also enable displaying the devices that aren't currently connected. Maybe your keyboard MIDI interface is still listed there and you need to uninstall it via the right click menu.

dmstar1956 wrote on 9/19/2024, 6:04 AM

dmstar1956 wrote on 9/19/2024, 6:05 AM

Not sure how to enable display of devices not currently connected. Pls advise.

dmstar1956 wrote on 9/19/2024, 6:23 AM

dmstar1956 wrote on 9/19/2024, 9:21 AM

Here's something else that I can't make sense of:

I don't get any sound when playing the built-in keyboard in Music Maker, but the MIDI light does flash on and off whenever I press a key.

SP. wrote on 9/19/2024, 10:52 AM

@dmstar1956 Did you enable hidden devices in the View menu of the Device Manager? I cannot see Digital Keyboard 1 in your screenshot. If it's listed, try to install it with the right click menu, then restart your computer (select the Restart option and not the Shut down option) and reconnect your keyboard.

dmstar1956 wrote on 9/19/2024, 1:17 PM

Show hidden devices is now enabled. Under what device category should Digital Keyboard 1 be listed? I assume it's Audio Inputs and Outputs, but it's not there. This is so weird. I made absolutely no changes to any settings between last night and this morning. I just closed the lid on my laptop and turned the power off on the synthesizer. That's it.

SP. wrote on 9/20/2024, 2:11 AM

@dmstar1956 Closing the lid should enable standby mode or sleep mode on your laptop. It's possible that your computer has problems to initiate the keyboard connection and audio device correctly after waking up.

But usually, this problem should go away after restarting the computer. You said you rebooted it, but please make sure you don't simply shut it down and turn it back on. That's technically similar to sleep mode. You need to select Restart to reinitialize the device. It can also help in unplug the keyboard and only plug it back in after the computer has finished restarting. After that, start Music Maker and try again to select your keyboard in the program settings.

If this doesn't help I would suggest to uninstall all Yamaha USB MIDI drivers in the device manager (via right clicking on them), then unplugging your Yamaha devices from your computer, restarting the computer and, after restart has completed, to plug your devices back in. The drivers should automatically reinstall.

dmstar1956 wrote on 9/20/2024, 12:03 PM

I followed your instructions but no luck.

Why doesn't Music Maker display the name of the device (PSR-S910) under MIDI Input Devices if I have the right Yamaha driver installed, which I do?

It's weird how my computer seems to recognize a MIDI device is attached (a tone is sounded when I plug the USB cable in, but Music Maker doesn't, yet displays Digital Keyboard-1 under MIDI Input Devices?

Also, I was wondering why PSR-S910 or Digital Keyboard-1 isn't listed in Device Manager under Audio Inputs and Outputs if my computer or Windows recognizes an attached MIDI device?

SP. wrote on 9/20/2024, 1:06 PM

@dmstar1956 Did Windows install a new Yamaha USB MIDI device in the device manager after you plugged your keyboard back in? Maybe it's too old and you need to uninstall it again

Please make sure it's version 3.1.4:

https://de.yamaha.com/de/support/updates/umd_win64_kbd.html

dmstar1956 wrote on 9/20/2024, 1:22 PM

Yup. It is.

SP. wrote on 9/20/2024, 2:11 PM

@dmstar1956 Ok, which MIDI input devices are available in Music Maker?

Please make sure you select an ASIO driver, set the track to MIDI In and load an virtual instrument on your track. That should work.

dmstar1956 wrote on 9/20/2024, 3:24 PM

I uninstalled the driver and related software (since that was an option) and then reinstalled everything but the result was the same. The only input device offered in Music Maker is the Digital Keyboard-1 which is the built-in keyboard. The computer and/or Windows acknowledges a midi synthesizer is connected, but Music Maker does not.

dmstar1956 wrote on 9/20/2024, 3:25 PM

SP. wrote on 9/20/2024, 3:44 PM

@dmstar1956 A user here wrote, that the connection didn't work until they uninstalled the Yamaha USB MIDI driver. So maybe the driver is the problem.

Well I just deleted the Steinberg Yamaha USB driver...

And MIDI works fine now...

I thought that driver was what enabled the Yamaha to communicate with the computer...thought I needed it.

Removed it completely, rebooted, opened REAPER, put the VST organ on, and all good.

Didn't learn anything...but I'm working.

https://forum.cockos.com/showthread.php?t=270112

dmstar1956 wrote on 9/20/2024, 3:51 PM

I loaded a midi monitoring tool.

SP. wrote on 9/20/2024, 4:11 PM

@dmstar1956 And does it get any MIDI data except FE?

dmstar1956 wrote on 9/20/2024, 5:15 PM

Uninstalled the Yamaha midi driver, rebooted, still didn't work.

SP. wrote on 9/20/2024, 8:56 PM

@dmstar1956 If the settings in your MIDI monitoring app are correct and you don't get any input from your keyboard the problem is caused by Windows and not Music Maker.

Firstly, a MIDI port can only be accessed by one application at a time on Windows, as far as I know. If two applications are running and trying to access the same MIDI port, it will be blocked by the first application accessing it. You need to make sure that no other applications are running in the background that block the MIDI input.

Secondly, if you cannot get it to work, a simple solution might be a Windows 10/11 compatible USB MIDI interface or an external USB audio interface with MIDI ports, so you can connect your keyboard to this ports via a MIDI cable. You then select the new MIDI interface input in Music Maker.