Hey guys,
 
So i got one of those Jamstik+ guitars. It's really cool for brushing up on guitar skills if you're a beginner and I'm going to be doing  a review on my website soon.
 
However, it's also supposed to work as a MIDI guitar over bluetooth or USB. Supposedly it's just simple plug and play on Mac, and while they say that Windows is supported, they don't seem to have much in the way of info other than that it should just work once you plug it in. When I plug it in, pretty much instantly, Windows 7 recognizes it as an "Unknown Device" ... Device Manger doesn't even give me a chance to try specifying another kind of device. And if I do the search for drivers, it says that the best driver is the one currently being used.
 
Of course as an "Unknown Device" however, Sonar can't see it, so it won't work. Anyone have any ideas? Is there a generic USB Midi Guitar driver out there I could use?
 
Thanks for the help.

You are most likely dealing with  a class compliant driver. What that means is that if Windows recognizes the device as a MIDI controller, then it will use built in Windows drivers. So when you ask Windows to search for a driver, it tells you one has already been installed, and none more recent is available in the Web Based Windows driver catalog. The good news, you probably have a driver. The bad news, you do not know how to connect your application to the driver.
 
First check in device manager and see if your device name or an unknown device or a device with a mysterious name shows up under sound video and game controllers. Check for an error sign or under properties to see if it is working properly i.e. connected to Windows via a working driver. If everything there is working start Sonar from scratch and Edit/preferences/Midi devices. Look for anything in the available MIDI inputs. It is possible that your device does not announce its identity to Windows, at least not as something you recognize, so if there is anything in the available list that either has no name or is a name you do not recognize try connecting to that. 

Hi thanks for the response.
 
Yes in Device Manager it shows up as "Unknown Device" and that "Unknown Device" disappears as soon as I unplug the usb cable, so I'm sure that's the one it's picking it up as.
 
I've tried both a USB2.0 an 3.0 port, both have the same result. Sonar definitely isn't going to see it because even Device manager doesn't recognize it as a MIDI device.

So where  (under which heading) does device manager show the unknown device?
Does it show the unknown device as working or with an exclamation point?
Look in the device properties (right click) and see if you can find driver details. Also there is a lot of valuable information in the drop down under properties in the details tab if the device is working. If the device class is media, then Windows probably does think it is a MIDI controller.
A lot of plugging and unplugging may exceed the Window MIDI port limit, so you might want to clean out unused ports:
http://www.harmonycentral.com/articles/solving-the-windows-midi-port-problem
 
 

Under Device Manager, it shows up in the Universal Serial Bus controllers category and it shows as Unknown Device (with no ! or ?, just normal like something that was installed properly).
Under Properties and Driver Details it says no Drivers were loaded or needed for this device.
 
If I try to update driver, it says the correct driver is installed. Under details it's basically just unknown and other gibberishy code stuff.
 

Guess what? I got it :-)
 
For some reason it shows up as an unknown device when hooked into either of my front usb ports (one is 2.0 and one is 3.0) but when plugged into any of my rear usb ports, it gets recognized right away as a USB Audio device and can be selected as a MIDI input in Sonar. Awesome.
 
Now I just gotta get used to loading 6 channels of sounds so each of the strings gets sound. It's weird wrapping my head around that haha.

If that Jamstik guitar doesn't work out for you, take a look at Jam Origin's MIDI Guitar......I'm very happy with it's use-ability.
http://www.jamorigin.com/products/midi-guitar/
 
 
 

That is really cool! I'll have to check it out. I got the Jamstick mainly for its smartphone based lessons/games though, the midi guitar feature is more of an extra bonus feature (especially since its just 5 frets). But once I play around with this I might have to look into that :-)

The best part is you get to play your current electric and the tracking & pitch bends are very accurate.......of course, you will need to adjust your playing slightly (depending on the synth/sounds patch you're using). As a guitarist, this is the best $99 I spent (coz my keyboard playing skills are like two left feet dancing...lol).
 
This is a thread discussion we had after the latest version of Midi Guitar was released: http://forum.cakewalk.com/Midi-Guitar-m3352747.aspx
 
Just download the free demo.  
Best of luck!!