Ableton Forum

I am having the toughest time getting my thinkpad t41 to recongize and respond to the UC33e - and the Mac G5 duo does it seamlessly in Live and Reason wihtout a hitch or a driver.

Has anyone found power probs? IRQ's? **ANYTHING** I might try on the pc laptop before i return the unit?

Thanks
Blue Ridge

As long as you are plugging it into a USB 2.0 port you shouldn't be having any problems and shouldn't need an AC adapter.

Have you tried powering the UC 33 separately and see if it helps? Tried all USB ports on your laptop?

Have you updated your laptop to XP service pack 2 and all patches? There might be newer USB 2 drivers there. Or perhaps you can download some drivers from Evolution's homepage.

Thanks for your suggestions. I tend to think it's a computer problem, not a UC33e prob - but I don't know **which** computer problem.

IRQ's? Both the UC33e and the onboard Soundmax card want IRQ 11. Know how I can change that for the UC33e? There are a couple of IRQ's that are not assigned. And the UC33e powers up, changes channels, and otherwise operates fine powered by the Thinkpad's USB, the computer just doesn't register it (and there are weird computer signals: "Driver not properly installed, program might not work"; "Smuggler MME conflict" and "Soundmax" conflict (they seem to "not respond" when all this happens.

Please send any ideas, this discussion is very helpful and clarifying.

Blue ridge

DJSK wrote:As long as you are plugging it into a USB 2.0 port you shouldn't be having any problems and shouldn't need an AC adapter.

Why is this important? The UC33-e doesnt require USB2 as far as I know. Are there power differencies?

I think it might be a power problem. I've had USB stuff that wasn't recognized, or even glitchy, due to lack of power. Don't know if the UC33-e is particularly hungry.

Good luck,
Mikael

the manual says don't use the external 9v power supply if one is already using the USB power -- but if i don't plug in the USB connector, how does the midi signal get to the computer?


arrgghhhh! (Favorite scream of Charlie Brown in US comic strip Peanuts, nicely delineating my own feelings at this point)

Thanks

Blue Ridge

BlueRidge wrote:the manual says don't use the external 9v power supply if one is already using the USB power -- but if i don't plug in the USB connector, how does the midi signal get to the computer?

There are separate midi ports on the UC. Another option is to get a powered USB hub - making sure that there is sufficient current through the USB cable.

/Mikael

The USB is the only way for midi to get into the laptop, so it looks like I'm going to be taking the laptop and the UC33e down to the local compter store to test a pwered usb hub.

Have to troubleshoot every angle, i guess. thanks

By the way BlueRidge - is that Shenandoah, Pennsylvania?

Lo-fi - i am looking out my window at the beautiful Shenandoah River in the "Valley of Virginia" - as it was once called -- and, of course, at the Blue Ridge Mountains about three miles downstream. We live on a farm above (most of the time) the river.

John Denver was kidding -- it's not "West Virginia," except for a brief time just upriver from Harper's Ferry, where the Shenandoah meets the Potomac, and flows from there down thru Washington DC to the Atlantic.

BlueRidge wrote:Lo-fi - i am looking out my window at the beautiful Shenandoah River in the "Valley of Virginia" - as it was once called -- and, of course, at the Blue Ridge Mountains about three miles downstream. We live on a farm above (most of the time) the river.

John Denver was kidding -- it's not "West Virginia," except for a brief time just upriver from Harper's Ferry, where the Shenandoah meets the Potomac, and flows from there down thru Washington DC to the Atlantic.

Is that a no?

I think there can be problems because technically you dont need to install drivers as it will just work with XP, but it works better with the proper dirvers - I remember at one point having to reinstall a couple of times

I use seperate power for mine, I think it is wise because the amount of peripherals you can end up with can add to strain, heat etc

just a bog standard power plug from k-mart will be fine (set to right polarity and voltage etc of course) but I've been running mine that way for a long time

Thanks, Forge in Oz -- but can one have the UC33e plugged into **both** the USB23port of the laptop **and** the power supply -- at the same time -- without frying it?

Thanks

Blue Ridge

mine is and has been for a couple of years