SL 61 MKII - Novation are making me lose the will to live!

[Acid303]

Just got a mkII 61 with automap pro 3 and it was all going alright until I tried to get it to control Ableton - not it's fcked! This is the most complicated thing I have ever used contrary to their plug and play BS!

The Novation template editor is freezing and crashing my Macbook Pro with latest
OS version of Leopard.

The following buttons have stopped lighting up - automap, learn, view, user, fx,
inst, mixer.

I followed the instructions on the novation site to try and use upload ableton
templates from your site. I'm not sure how to save the 2 systex templates next
to each other (i think template 2 may have overwritten template 1)

I can't come out of advanced mode anymore and it keeps on saying template 33 fruitloops, which i can't change. Automap (for my 3rd party plugins) is no
longer working since I can't get out of advanced mode.

I can't assign my drum pads in ableton or battery.

I want to be able to just switch between live template and automap plugins
This is so complicated - even when i unlock the memory and use the template editor to restore factor setting nothing changes, i'm just stuck on the fruitloops template in non-automap (advanced mode)

I can't even contact novation support, it won't send my details.

Really need some help, or this is going back.

[swiffy]

Contact ableton support at [email protected].

[Acid303]

The problem with novation not ableton so I doubt they could help unravel novation's mess.

[vicz]

Well I sympathise because I find the Novation documentation dreadfully confusing, not helped by the fact that there are loads of little readme files that all can seem to contradict each other; and it is not always clear what applies to pre-automap, automap universal, or automap pro. There are some decent videos on Novation and Youtube but they probably assume more basic knowledge than the average new buyer would have.

That being said I have a Remote 61 Mk 1, so I guess some things will have changed in the Mk 2 too.

I would recommend you try to walk before running; get familiar with the basic workings before rushing off downloading extra templates or trying to set up complicated mappings of your own. Remember a lot of the downloads around don't necessarily apply to the version of automap/no automap that you have.

Firstly to get back to factory defaults you are probably best to rerun the latest software update and reupload the software from your computer to the SL. AFAIK there is no way to do this just from the SL.

There will be an 'Ableton Live' template (on mine its template 40) that should automap to Live as soon as you start it, if you have your Live settings correct. It will map the transport, buttons to navigate the grid, and the rotaries to the macro buttons of any selected Live instrument racks or effects. You need to use this for Live because at the moment automap universal doesn't support control of the Live mixer.

Most of the other templates are for other DAWS or direct access to stand-alone plugins, and if you are using automap universal or pro you will probably not use any of them (I think this corresponds to your 'advanced mode'). These are what the template editor lets you create or update and save. This system has largely been superseded by automap universal. If you are using automap universal you will use just the single SL template (on mine it is template 38, this corresponds to your 'automap mode') to control all 'wrapped' VST and AU plugins. When on template 38 when you click on a wrapped plugin you can map and save multiple pages of control mappings for each plugin if you want to, and automap will automatically select those mappings for each plugin when you click on it. Automap U comes with a load of default control maps for different plugins, or of course you can modify these or brew your own. I haven't seen anyone offering additional ready made control maps, but I suspect this is what you are looking for, rather than templates.

The good news is it is not as confusing to do as it sounds reading it!

Hope this has helped, I will try to answer any more questions, and there are many more experienced users than me visit this forum.

[Acid303]

Thanks for the reply. I'm stuck in advanced mode and the most of my buttons don't light up. If i could get it back to factory settings that would be great but reloading the automap software has not effect, and using the template editor to reload factory setting doesn't get me out of advanced mode or my buttons working.

Novation documentation is just inadequate. Their support email system won't even work for me. I don't know how they manage to make a product that should be so simple, so complex.

I wish we could just use live in the 'mixer' button rather than going into advanced mode where it's a pain to edit anything and it means the control values are not longer displayed.

[vicz]

I found this in the Novation answerbase, don't know if you've tried it already:

How do I reset the ReMOTE SL to its factory settings?

There is no hardware factory reset function on the unit itself since the factory OS, templates and global settings are not stored on a memory chip inside the unit. To reset the ReMOTE SL follow these steps:

1. Download and install the ReMOTE SL Template Editor, available from the ReMOTE SL downloads page.

2. Press the 'global' button on the ReMOTE SL to enter the global menu and scroll up to the second page. Set 'MemProt' to OFF then press 'write' to save the setting and 'play' to return to play mode.

3. Ensure the ReMOTE SL is connected to your computer and open the Editor. If the welcome dialog appears then select 'Send bulk dumps to and from your ReMOTE SL'. After this you may be prompted to select a MIDI input and output device. Select 'ReMOTE SL Port 1' and then click 'OK'. If the welcome dialog does not appear then select 'Select MIDI input/output device...' from the 'Device' menu, choose 'ReMOTE SL Port 1' in both menus and then click 'OK'. Next select 'Bulk Dumps...' from the 'Device' menu.

4. In the Bulk Dumps window click 'Upload Factory Settings' to re-load the factory templates onto the ReMOTE SL. Once this has completed click 'OK' and quit the Editor.

5. Download and run the latest ReMOTE SL installer from the ReMOTE SL downloads page. When given the option to update the unit make sure you select to update the operating system and Automap templates (these will be selected by default). This will reload the OS and reset the global settings on the unit, as well as making sure it has the latest Automap templates installed.

Ironic that Novation bundles Live LE with the Remote SL yet it is the only DAW it doesn't properly support with automap.

[Acid303]

lol, i'm not using LE but that is retarded

Yeah thanks but i've tried that several times already so i'm really screwed. It says it's updating and doing things on my SL but it still turns out the same evert time

[vicz]

Are you sure the mem protect is off? (Edit button / Options / Memprot ? Cant think of any other reason the software wouldn't update, otherwise I guess it is bust.

[Acid303]

Are you sure the mem protect is off? (Edit button / Options / Memprot ? Cant think of any other reason the software wouldn't update, otherwise I guess it is bust.

Yeah, mem protect is definitely off. Is installing automap supposed to update the hardware as my SL unit doesn't show any signs of this?

[vicz]

Yes it should prompt you, I found this in the answer base though:

I just updated to Automap 3 and the HUD displays the message "No Devices Connected" after connecting my SL controller...

The Automap 3 server requires all ReMOTE SL controllers to be on firmware version 4.1.12. (ReMOTE SL Compact remains on 4.1.10)

After installing Automap 3 and launch the server with your SL connected, the software should automatically prompt the hardware to update and provide you with an on screen, step by step guide in doing so.

If this is not happening, it is possible that the "ID Ports" setting in the "Global" menu on your SL is on the wrong setting, resulting in the Automap 3 server not prompting the unit to update.

If your hardware is not on version 4.1.12 and this is not happening, please check that your "ID ports" in your "global" menu are set to "U2" or "Ub". Then press "write" a few times to save these settings.

This should help the Automap 3 server to "see" the unit and prompt the update.

If you continue to experience problems, please contact technical support for further advice.

[Acid303]

thanks for the tip. I've now tried it several times and the SL just won't receive the data