Trigger Finger, BCR2000, USB MIDI devices ugh!

So I currently have the following setup:
+Edirol PCR-50 (USB)
+BCR2000 (USB)

I just added a Trigger Finger (USB), and I'm having some problems getting it to play nice.

Generally, it seems if I open Enigma first then SONAR, the Trigger Finger works. SONAR can see it, I can play drum pads. The problem is that it de-selects my BCR USB MIDI device AND my Presonus Firebox MIDI port. Reselecting them in OPTIONS|MIDI does nothing.

If I close Enigma, or start SONAR without Enigma, all my devices are back, and selectable, but Trigger Finger doesn't talk to SONAR at all.

Anybody have any tips? Hardware and drivers is where I come up empty in the good ideas department!

Wicked,

First make sure you get the LATEST drivers from M-Audio. The standard windows driver is not multi-client, so definitely use the m-audio drivers.

Then, make sure you have everything plugged in and turned on (ALL USB devices, etc) before booting up the computer and/or Sonar.

I use a number of devices and I, too, had problems initially with the TF. But all is well now with the proper drivers and making sure everything is ON first.

Good luck.

ORIGINAL: ...wicked

Shoot. Nobody? Must be a slow weekend.

okay, updating time is sooner than I thought!

With the TF working fine, I disengaged the audio engine and minimized SONAR so I could play a track on a CD in Windows Media Player. When that was done I brought SONAR up, re-engaged, and nothing. TF is dead.

Hmmm, that's weird, let me restart the whole computer, just in case. Upon restart, TF is still dead. I'm gonna reinstall the drivers and see if it works again. This is one delicate driver config!

Do you have "Shared audio drivers with other apps" checked?

You'll need that if you're switching between apps that use sound.

ORIGINAL: ...wicked

okay, updating time is sooner than I thought!

With the TF working fine, I disengaged the audio engine and minimized SONAR so I could play a track on a CD in Windows Media Player. When that was done I brought SONAR up, re-engaged, and nothing. TF is dead.

Hmmm, that's weird, let me restart the whole computer, just in case. Upon restart, TF is still dead. I'm gonna reinstall the drivers and see if it works again. This is one delicate driver config!

Can you try plugging the TF into a different USB port? (Reboot of course).
Or maybe it's just a bad cable ?

ORIGINAL: ...wicked

I don't have it checked, but prior to integrating the TF, disengaging the audio engine would allow me to open another app for sound. And that part worked fine, but after closing the app and re-engaging SONAR's engine, the TF was nowhere to be found. Restarting the whole dang 'puter didn't bring it back either. It's definitely some strange and fragile connection that thing has. More troubleshooting tonight. Or just shooting if it doesn't work.

ORIGINAL: ...wicked

Thanks, I'll give that a shot! Of course, you and I know that it rarely is something like that, so my hopes aren't high it'll solve the problem.

I have a hunch that the drivers are fighting. Especially the BCR and the TF. But if I get home and swap cables and everything works I'm going to buy you a beer!

Heh, no beer necessary - just make some good music :)

Good luck - let us know how things go.

Ok - so first, calm down ;) Try to be deductive.

Have you tried :

1: NOT plugging in the BCR. Does the TF work fine that way?
2: Changing cables on both?
3: Changing ports?
4: uninstall the BCR and the TF software/drivers, reinstalling the TF first, then the BCR?

What I'm trying to get you to do is be logical, methodical in debugging this - or you're gonna go nuts LOL

Also - make sure the TFhttp://forum.cakewalk.com/fb.asp?m=1329700

ORIGINAL: ...wicked

AGH!!! What a night!

Well, it kind of worked, then just died.

Some sharing issues with BCR again. So I ripped everything out. Tried all the USB ports, different cables and everything. No luck. Reinstalled everything. No luck.

Now I get a "USB Device Not Recognized" error whenever and wherever I plug the TF in. So I said, "oh crap, maybe the TF is busted." and I hooked it up to my laptop.

WORKS FINE.

Damnation. Now I can't even get it recognized on the DAW. Tried some suggestions on the M-Audio site, no luck.

I'm exhausted. I hate hardware!

Ah, one thing you said that just kicked in my memory ...

I had a system that would have trouble with an iPod ... it would say "USB device not recognized". OR it was try to install a "standard USB device" (which of course was wrong).

So I deleted it from the device manager and tried again. No go.

One day - I decided to reset the motherboard. IOW, I removed the CMOS battery and moved the jumper on the mboard to "clear" the CMOS. Then redid all the CMOS/BIOS settings again.

From that day on - the system worked great. So maybe you should try this.

ORIGINAL: ...wicked

Sorry, I should've updated a little more clearly.

I disconnected everything and started from scratch. With the TF as the only USB device plugged in I was still getting no love. I tried a few different cables and all the ports.

I did some searches and found a slew of articles on the "USB device not recognized" message. I just went through a round of registry hunting (and deleting), and all sorts of disconnected wonkiness. What I'm going to try next is powering the machine down for a while to let the capacitors discharge and see if it "resets".

All my computer/bios/mobo drivers/windows updates are current. But now the TF just doesn't play with the DAW. Talks to my laptop fine though.

Ha, just found my own thread trying to re-troubleshoot this problem.

I dusted off the Trigger Finger today and tried to get it working again. Had to swap a few USB ports around before it would install (odd). I finally got Enigma to see it so that's okay.

SONAR sees the MIDI Ports but it won't receive any input. No meter indicators. I also don't have an option to add it as a Control Surface, tho I suppose that's not critical for just thrumming along.

So, still stuck with this. I tried it on my laptop and it works fine, so methinks the problem is somewhere between the TF and my host controller on my main DAW. Anyone use this thing, or should I sell it?

Yeah, that's what I figured. I suppose I can scare up a power supply for it. And I've got an old 2x2 MIDISport around here somewheres...

...wicked


Thanks man. I was already using current drivers but I decided to strip everything out and start over. Definitely a finicky process.

Right now, it's working great. Trigger Finger is up and running in SONAR and I have all my controllers. But it doesn't seem stable. If I close SONAR and do anything like open Enigma and close it, then restart SONAR, everything is muck again. Hopefully this won't matter much since I'm using Trigger Finger mainly as a drum controller.

I'll use this thread if it up and dies on me again. Sheesh hardware....

A few thoughts:
 
Make sure you install the M-AUDIO drivers, including the MIDI driver, or the system will only see it as an "Audio Device".  That's a generic driver.  The specific Trigger Finger (M-AUDIO) drivers solve that and allow for multi-client use (ie, app sharing).
 
The same is true for the BCR.   Get their MIDI driver (and any other updates for your model).
 
I had similar issues as you until I did the above.
 
 

UPDATE:
I spent some more time ganking around with this, mostly out of pride. I can get the Trigger Finger installed and recognized, and Enigma can send and receive banks from it, but the actual pads and sliders don't transmit any data. I confirmed this with MIDIOX.

So I plugged it in on my MacBook for verification and tho it took a little futzing (which is mostly my own dumminess I think) I was able to get it working fine, and in no time I was drumming in parts in Reason's ReDrum.

So, I opened a ticket on M-Audio's site to see what kind of madness they propose.  Ultimately I'm considering selling it off and replacing it with a padKontol, tho I have an old 2x2 MIDIsport and if I can find a power supply I'll consider hooking it up via MIDI. I'm just not crazy about all the extra cables.

I also tried every USB port on the DAW, and there's only two that it seems to like (why I have no idea).