Intermittent fault.

[Roger Taylor]

I am using Ableton Live 8 on a Windows XP laptop for live performances. It is hooked up to a Roland Fantom 8 keyboard via a USB midi which lets me play sounds created in live with the Roland keyboard. The problem is that recently the PC has intermittently stopped recognising the keyboard. I have not been able to identify any particular event that accompanies this breakdown. The only way I have been able to resolve it is to turn of the PC and turn it on again. Any ideas how to prevent this?

Thanks for any help.

[ukslice]

Check XPs event logs and see if you can see the usb disconnecting and reconnecting. If there are no system events then at least that would rule out hardware (dodgy port, bad cable etc). Physically disconnect and reconnect to get an eample of the messages you will be looking for.

[Ableton_David]

Hi Roger, it might be that you need more power than the USB can provide. Do you have the keyboard plugged in directly, or through a hub? If it's a hub, is it a powered hub? Lastly, is there an external power supply that you can use for the phantom?

[Roger Taylor]

Thanks for replies. The keyboard plugs directly into the PC not through a hub and the Fantom is powered separately. It's a keyboard workstation which can be set up to act as a midi keyboard but is not designed primarily for that purpose.