Live suddenly ceases to receive MIDI from controller

[camilomusic71]

Hi all!

Last night I started having some problems using my SAMSON Graphite 49 MIDI controller with Live. I'd start playing some notes, jamming along some drum pattern and bass line I had laid when all of the sudden Live would stop receiving MIDI information from my controller, as if it would have been turned off. My Graphite 49 was, of course, still on, displaying feedback info in its LED screen for the notes I played.

I tried switching the controller on and off in the Audio/Sync tab in Live, but that didn't work. Only after turning the Graphite 49 off and then back on again using it's power switch, or after restarting Live, it would be recognized again.

I looked around but I couldn't find any information regarding my particular controller as it is relatively new. I'm not very acquainted with the whole hardware setting up stuff, but I'm quite sure I did it right the first time as I followed the instructions step by step, and it seemed to work just fine until this came up. Is this something usual? I really can't get my head around what could be causing it, would this be a hardware or a software problem? As I said, my Graphite appears to be working fine, except when every once in a while it seems to lose connection with Live .

Anyone who could shed any light onto this will be greatly thanked.
Thanks!

[trevox]

In Windows, you need to restart Live for any newly added controllers to show up, so if your controller connection drops, you need to restart Live. Are you using Windows or OSX?

Generally any issues I have had with controllers are due to power or driver issues, so if you do not believe it is a driver problem, I would think it may have something to do with power. Is your controller drawing power from your computer? If so, are you using a USB hub? If so, is the hub powered?

[camilomusic71]

Thanks trevox! That does make sense. I'm using Windows, I forgot to mention that. Along with the Graphite 49, I've got a Launchpad too, both of them being USB-powered. They're drawing it directly from the computer, so it is possible that the Graphite 49 may occassionally drop its connection due to some kind of power overload, I don't know. It's quite a heavy controller after all.
The only thing I still can't shake, would be why would this start happening right now, and didn't it happen during the first two months I used it (maybe I didn't use it as heavily as I am right now?).

[trevox]

Thanks trevox! That does make sense. I'm using Windows, I forgot to mention that. Along with the Graphite 49, I've got a Launchpad too, both of them being USB-powered. They're drawing it directly from the computer, so it is possible that the Graphite 49 may occassionally drop its connection due to some kind of power overload, I don't know. It's quite a heavy controller after all.
The only thing I still can't shake, would be why would this start happening right now, and didn't it happen during the first two months I used it (maybe I didn't use it as heavily as I am right now?).

Sorry, should have checked - are you using USB bus power or are you powering using an AC adapter? If powering through USB, try powering with the AC adapter. If using the AC adapter, it is not a power issue for sure. Seeing as you said there is no indication it is disconnecting from your PC, I guess it is not a USB cable issue, but if you have another one handy, may be worth giving that a go.

Failing that, check for updated drivers on Samson's site as they are updated often to fix bugs and ensure compatibility with the latest OS versions. You should regularly check for updated drivers for any hardware you own. Not sure what Samson's support is like, but if none of this works, that is your only real option.

[littlepig]

I am having similar problems (on windows 7) and they are not restricted to live. Occaisionlly USB devices like my audio interface and a keyboard will just stop working. For example, I open up FM8 in stand alone mod and playing on the keyboard doesn't work but it I play on the soft keyboard it is fine. If I unplug/re plug the keyboard it then works. Also, the audio interface will just stop working again unplugging/re-plugging fixes it. So I concluded it is a windows problem but I didnt find a solution yet

[camilomusic71]

I'll try powering with the AC and see if it's any different, but I'll also check in Samson's site if there are any updates available. It sounds like it could be it, as the problem seems to present itself at very random times, so it's very possible it'd be a bug.

Thanks for the feedback! I'll keep you posted so if anyone gets to have the same problem will know how to solve it.

[Donnie]

You may want to check your windows power settings, its possible that power/connection to USB is being killed after short periods of keyboard/mouse inactivity.

[snugsound]

I had this happen in the middle of a live set. Had to end it prematurely In my case I think it's because I was overloading the USB bus, though, as I had a couple "high-bandwidth" devices connected to the same bus.

Are you powering your controller through USB, or are you using the adapter? If it only happens when you're powering via USB then it's either your OS' power settings, or you have too many USB-powered devices connected.

Try to power the controller with the adapter whenever possible and/or get a powered hub if you need to connect a lot of USB-powered devices to the same bus.

[tintala]

unplugging and plugging doesn't work for me in Live. also Maschine dies all the time in Live. Usually have to restart..

[panten]

I hope that I have understood your problem correctly and that someone hasn't already answered. I don't have time to read through the whole thread at the moment.

If you're on Windows you could try this.

• Install MIDI Yoke on your machine. http://www.midiox.com/

• Install Bome's MIDI Translator. http://www.bome.com/products/miditranslator

• Setup Bome to pass any controller you want to use in Ableton Live through to MIDI Yoke. You have about 8 slots I think.

• Now in the Ableton Live Preferences > MIDI Sync page you can select your control surface inputs to 'In From MIDI Yoke'. Obviously then need to match up with the controllers you set in Bome.

I know it sounds like a long winded process but you only need to set it up once and as long as you remember to fire up Bome's MIDI Translator BEFORE you load Live you can plug in/unplug any of your midi controllers as many times as you want during a Live session.

p.s. Another advantage to using Bome is that it catches midi notes from your controller which you can then assign keyboard shortcuts which will allow you to access menu items etc in Live from your Hardware.

[jestermgee]

I hope that I have understood your problem correctly and that someone hasn't already answered. I don't have time to read through the whole thread at the moment.

If you're on Windows you could try this.

• Install MIDI Yoke on your machine. http://www.midiox.com/

• Install Bome's MIDI Translator. http://www.bome.com/products/miditranslator

• Setup Bome to pass any controller you want to use in Ableton Live through to MIDI Yoke. You have about 8 slots I think.

• Now in the Ableton Live Preferences > MIDI Sync page you can select your control surface inputs to 'In From MIDI Yoke'. Obviously then need to match up with the controllers you set in Bome.

I know it sounds like a long winded process but you only need to set it up once and as long as you remember to fire up Bome's MIDI Translator BEFORE you load Live you can plug in/unplug any of your midi controllers as many times as you want during a Live session.

If you pay for the pro version you get virtual ports inbuilt (up to 4) so you don't need MIDI Yoke. I also use MIDI Yoke in addition because I also use iPad apps for Ableton and need more than 4 VMIDI ports. Also great for troubleshooting as you can see input ande output indicators for MIDI data.

p.s. Another advantage to using Bome is that it catches midi notes from your controller which you can then assign keyboard shortcuts which will allow you to access menu items etc in Live from your Hardware.

This ^^^

Honestly. I use Bome for everything and it is probably one of the top tools I have. I paid for the Pro version (which $100 may seem like a lot but I have the controllers to benefit from).

My MPD32 has a weird issue when occasionally it doesn't work when I switch on my studio. It will light up and seem as though it is working (Pads show in LCD display) but nothing is received into Ableton. I just unplug and replug. The trick here is that I have it mapped into Bome and then out on a virtual port so I can remap controls to windows and Ableton functions. Bome handles the connection so I can disconnect and reconnect on the fly without restarting Ableton. If I was to play live this would be something I would use and Bome has been 100% rock solid with not 1 issue in 2 years and 8 controllers running through it.

[Donnie]

Just a heads up...

You don't actually have to restart Live if a MIDI controller loses connection, you just need to unclick and reclick the selections in the Track/Sync/Remote area of the preferences and it will come back. However the controller has to be connected while starting Live 9, at the very least, or else it will not be found to begin with.

For those who dont know, thankfully this is no longer a issue in the upcoming Live 9. It allows USB hot swapping while the program is running.

[snugsound]

You don't actually have to restart Live if a MIDI controller loses connection, you just need to unclick and reclick the selections in the Track/Sync/Remote area of the preferences and it will come back. However the controller has to be connected while starting Live 9, at the very least, or else it will not be found to begin with.

For those who dont know, thankfully this is no longer a issue in the upcoming Live 9. It allows USB hot swapping while the program is running.

Damn. Wish I had known that when my controller died in the middle of my set

Definitely gonna check out the USB hot swapping in the Live 9 beta as soon as I get home today

[drchoc]

You can also turn midi mapping on then off again, that sometimes fixes problems for me.
CTRL- M

[beatz01]

In Windows, go to the Device Manager -> USB Controller -> (right click) Properties-> Power Management

Uncheck the box that allows PM to turn off a USB port in order to save power.

You also could check System -> Power Management -> extended

I bet that should be the solution.