• SONAR
  • Yamaha USB MIDI driver not recognized properly
2015/05/03 09:15:32
GeirH
Hi all,
 
I'm running Sonar 8 PE on a DSP Factory-based Win7 x86 rig, with a bunch of hardware synthesizers. Among them is a Yamaha Motif Motif ES7, which has been working just fine via USB MIDI for years. I recently added a Motif ES8 and a Motif-Rack ES to the setup, and I now have serious problems with the USB MIDI connections...
 
I have installed the latest (3.13) Yamaha USB-MIDI driver for all three Motifs onto a clean (i.e. freshly installed) system with nothing but the bare essentials. I get no errors during the install, and there are no alerts reported by Windows' Device Manager. The USB-MIDI utility in the Control Panel looks OK, and the built-in "Send NoteOn" and "Send NoteOff" function works as it should. The Yamaha Studio Manager software (standalone version - not the OPT view) lists all of the inputs/output ports:
Input Ports:
* Yamaha MOTIF ES-1
* Yamaha MOTIF ES-2
* Yamaha MOTIF ES-3
* Yamaha MOTIF ES-4
* Yamaha MOTIF ES-1
* Yamaha MOTIF ES-2
* Yamaha MOTIF ES-3
* Yamaha MOTIF ES-4
* Yamaha MOTIF-RACK ES-1
 
Output Ports:
* Yamaha MOTIF ES-1
* Yamaha MOTIF ES-2
* Yamaha MOTIF ES-3
* Yamaha MOTIF ES-4
* Yamaha MOTIF ES-5
* Yamaha MOTIF ES-6
* Yamaha MOTIF ES-7
* Yamaha MOTIF ES-8
* Yamaha MOTIF ES-1
* Yamaha MOTIF ES-2
* Yamaha MOTIF ES-3
* Yamaha MOTIF ES-4
* Yamaha MOTIF ES-5
* Yamaha MOTIF ES-6
* Yamaha MOTIF ES-7
* Yamaha MOTIF ES-8
* Yamaha MOTIF-RACK ES-1
* Yamaha MOTIF-RACK ES-2
* Yamaha MOTIF-RACK ES-3
* Yamaha MOTIF-RACK ES-4
* Yamaha MOTIF-RACK ES-5
* Yamaha MOTIF-RACK ES-6
* Yamaha MOTIF-RACK ES-7
* Yamaha MOTIF-RACK ES-8
 
The above is all like I'd expect: 1 input/8 outputs from the Motif Rack ES, and 4 inputs/8 outputs from each of the Motif ES keyboards. Although they appear in groups, there is no identifier to tell the two keyboards apart, so a little trial and error is needed to find out what goes where, but that's just a minor niggle. When I try to sync the three instruments, however, the two keyboards just time out with no data transmitted, and I only get the voice data (and not the multi setups) from the Rack ES.
 
When I load Sonar and open its MIDI Devices menu, this is what I see:
Input Ports:
* Yamaha MOTIF ES-1
* Yamaha MOTIF ES-2
* Yamaha MOTIF ES-3
* Yamaha MOTIF ES-4
* Yamaha MOTIF ES-1
* Yamaha MOTIF ES-2
* Yamaha MOTIF ES-3
* Yamaha MOTIF ES-4
* Yamaha MOTIF-RACK ES-1
 
Output Ports:
* Yamaha MOTIF ES-1
* Yamaha MOTIF ES-2
* Yamaha MOTIF ES-3
* Yamaha MOTIF ES-4
* Yamaha MOTIF ES-5
* Yamaha MOTIF ES-6
* Yamaha MOTIF ES-7
* Yamaha MOTIF ES-8
* Yamaha MOTIF-RACK ES-1
* Yamaha MOTIF-RACK ES-2
* Yamaha MOTIF-RACK ES-3
* Yamaha MOTIF-RACK ES-4
* Yamaha MOTIF-RACK ES-5
* Yamaha MOTIF-RACK ES-6
* Yamaha MOTIF-RACK ES-7
* Yamaha MOTIF-RACK ES-8
 
The 1 input and 8 outputs coming from the Motif Rack ES are still clearly identifiable. Two sets of 4 inputs from the Motif ES Keyboards are also visible. I get only one set of 8 Motif ES outputs, though, which is the first indication that something's wrong. Also, four of the input ports can't really be activated, as they always are reverted the nect time i open the MIDI devices menu.
 
Selecting one of the Motif ES keyboards as track input, while both devices are active, I get no MIDI signal at all (no MIDI activity indicated in the system tray, nothing recorded onto the track). If I turn one of the keyboards off, Sonar warns me that a MIDI device is no longer available and asks me if it should be deactivated. When I click "yes", I'm left with one complete set of 4ins/8outs, like it should be. The remaining Motif ES keyboard then works like a charm again.
 
I've contacted Yamaha about this, as it appears to be a driver problem. I'm not very confident that I'll get a reply, though, since the Motif ES-series has been out of active support for quite some time. Therefore, I'm also reaching out to you guys, as well as the Motifator community, to see if others have had the same issue. Any thoughts on what can be done?
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