X3 Studio with Akai Advance 61 doesn't show up

I recently picked up the new Akai Advance 61 controller - very cool to use, that is, when Sonar decides to detect its presence.  I have it hooked in via a single USB cable to a USB port on my motherboard.  
 
Sometimes it shows up as a MIDI device in X3, sometimes not.  I thought if the keyboard is on before starting Sonar, it would work, but even then it mostly doesn't even show up in the list of MIDI devices.  And even when it does, it's hit or miss if it actually triggers a VST.  The VST works fine, the track is set to OMNI input, the Akai is transmitting on channel 1, but no sound.
 
Any help here?  With my previous controller, I gave up on the USB connection and went with old school MIDI into my interface.  But with the Akai, there's kinda no point unless you use the USB for the VIP software, but it seems USB for MIDI is just as flaky as it was 10 years ago.  There doesn't seem to be a pattern to when it works.
 
This really kills the creative buzz....any suggestions would be appreciated
 
Neel
 

I did check Device Manager, and it wasn't there either.  However, now I've tried switching from a USB3 port to USB2 port and it seems to work better.  Maybe that's the trick, the keyboard doesn't like USB3.
 
The other thing is that when I first start up Sonar, although the Akai shows up in the list of MIDI devices, it's unchecked, and I have to switch on both the input and output to use it.  Is there any way to tell Sonar, always turn this device on when it's detected?
 
Thanks
 
Neel

Whenever I plug in my Korg nanoPad, Sonar says it's detected a new MIDI device, do you want to stop the transport to add it (even though the transport isn't running)?  Click yes, and the device is added and checked off so it's included in "OMNI" input.  I don't care for the dialog, but it's only one click and I'm good to go.
 
Turn on the Akai, no message (well, sometimes), but I have to press "P" click on MIDI devices, check off the input and output for the advance, exit Preferences, then I can use it.  It's a pain and seems unnecessary.
 
Also, my old keyboard used old-school MIDI jacks to my interface, which for MIDI, is essentially a USB MIDI interface, and it never left Sonar's attention.
 
So I wonder why the Akai has trouble being found.

Sorry, double-post...

Thanks, I'll keep that in mind for the future.