Ableton Forum

I recently bought an Acer Aspire 5670 laptop (XP, 1.67Ghz Core Duo, 2Gb RAM etc...), but i can't get my Photon X25 to function properly with it. The laptop seems to detect it. It says "Photon X25" under the device manager. However, no audio program will detect it. I've tried Live, Reason and all the demo software that shipped with the controller, and it doesn't work with any of them.

I can use it without any problems on my PC, so i have no clue what's up. Anyone have any ideas?

AugmaticDisport wrote:I recently bought an Acer Aspire 5670 laptop (XP, 1.67Ghz Core Duo, 2Gb RAM etc...), but i can't get my Photon X25 to function properly with it. The laptop seems to detect it. It says "Photon X25" under the device manager. However, no audio program will detect it. I've tried Live, Reason and all the demo software that shipped with the controller, and it doesn't work with any of them.

I can use it without any problems on my PC, so i have no clue what's up. Anyone have any ideas?

Take a look in Device Manager about the power consumption of your controller,
In the USB port that you have connected Photon 25. USB allow 500mA per HUB so if you insert a Mouse in to the same HUB you are using power so there is less than 500mA available. Try other ports, or try with an external AC DC adapter, this should always work because some USB in notebooks gave you less juice so external devices do not work.
In the Energy section of the USB internal hub you can switch off or Energy Saving for that port. Switch it to off.

Hope it helps, let me know

Thanks for your reply.

I don't have any other devices plugged in and i have turned energy saving off, but it still won't work.

I don't have a DC adapter to try. They're pretty cheap so i guess i could buy one. Would it be worth a try?

AugmaticDisport wrote:Thanks for your reply.

I don't have any other devices plugged in and i have turned energy saving off, but it still won't work.

I don't have a DC adapter to try. They're pretty cheap so i guess i could buy one. Would it be worth a try?

In my opinion yes. To spare some bucks you could go to the music store with your hardware (PC & Keyboard) and make a try. The original Power Supplies sometimes have custom plugs to force us customers to buy them, otherwise, once you have verified the tech specs (be aware of polarity and DC Current requirements) you can go for a cheap universal Power Supply.
An other thing you could try if you have a desktop around, is to plug your controller in and see what's happen. I took for granted that your Acer was running on Power and not on Battery when you were doing the tests.
What happens to you seems strange, it might be a crappy driver or some conflict with other drivers. The USB bus might be overpopulated these days so take a look in Device manager which IRQ the USB HUB is sharing.
You can go here http://www.musicxp.net/hardware_tips.php and have a read.

Can you tell me from your controller manual which requirements you have for DC? If it's less than 500ms it might be an USB port or HUB damaged, try attaching devices with the same current drain like Mouse, BlueTooth Card Readers and the like just to test if everything works as it should. Getting rid of this issues needs patience and time. Things must be checked one at a time, it's annoying.

Let me know about the findings.
Happy to help

- Best
- Pasha

Ok well today i bought the power supply that they specify in the user manual (6VDC, 1000mA, Negative tip...) but it hasn't fixed the problem. The supply works fine as i've tested it with my PC and it powers the unit with no problems. But it still doesn't show up in Live on the laptop. Argh.

This is a real pain... i'm leaving for Uni in a couple of weeks and i'm only taking my laptop, meaning i won't be able to use my controller. Which sucks. A lot.

What else can i try?

AugmaticDisport wrote:Ok well today i bought the power supply that they specify in the user manual (6VDC, 1000mA, Negative tip...) but it hasn't fixed the problem. The supply works fine as i've tested it with my PC and it powers the unit with no problems. But it still doesn't show up in Live on the laptop. Argh.

This is a real pain... i'm leaving for Uni in a couple of weeks and i'm only taking my laptop, meaning i won't be able to use my controller. Which sucks. A lot.

What else can i try?

Sorry you spent your money for the Power Supply, but It was not a waste.
There might be times when it will come handy.
At this point you should consider three things :

1) Most controllers use a USB 1.1 connection because the need for MIDI data is very low. In this case not all PCs have USB legacy support. I mean that USB works in HiSpeed Mode (60 MB/sec max) or Fast Mode (12 MB/Sec) not all USB 2.0 interfaces and BIOS are capable of downgrade to fast speed an USB Port. My desktop has a 'Enable USB Legacy Support' and a USB Speed (Fast vs High) toggle, try looking at yours

2) Defective Hardware. Is your controller working with other PCs? It might be a port failure. I see that you use the word 'Laptop' and 'PC' are you referring to the Acer Laptop or you also have a PC (so two hardware boxes)? If your controller does not show up in both your machine it might be an Hardware failure. You could test your controller (powered with the Power Supply) by connecting it with an expansion module (external gear like Triton Module or the like) if it works then we have narrowed the problem to the USB connection - BTW at this point you could decide to buy yourself a USB MIDI interface but it might be risky because we do not know if your USB ports works fine.

3) Software failure. The USB driver could be crappy. In this case you should surf the supplier site in search of new drivers or write to their support.

Have you tried to connect USB powered devices to your laptop usb ports?
Did they worked?

- Best
- Pasha

I can't find a setting for 'Enable USB Legacy Support' in my BIOS.

Yes, my controller is working as it should with my desktop PC.

My other USB devices such as my digital camera, mouse etc. work with my laptop, using the same ports.

Thanks again for trying to help me on this.

AugmaticDisport wrote:I can't find a setting for 'Enable USB Legacy Support' in my BIOS.

Yes, my controller is working as it should with my desktop PC.

My other USB devices such as my digital camera, mouse etc. work with my laptop, using the same ports.

Thanks again for trying to help me on this.

Hi,

No problem, I work for support

Summary

- Controller works on your Desktop not on your Laptop
- USB on your Laptop works with other devices
- Power Supply does not change the outcome so it's not a mA/Voltage issue
- We did not test a different controller/brand

At this point it's difficult to say it's something specific. In order to complete the tests matrix, I'd test with a different controller (M-AUDIO, EDIROL) maybe at the Music store where you got yours. If it will work (be careful to deinstall drivers before attempt) then your controller's drivers are not compatibile with something in your Laptop.
What I'd do at this point is go to Intel site and download latest Intel Drivers for your chipset. It might be that your pre-installed WinXP OEM copy is not fullfilled with the latest drivers. This might do the trick. I suggest backup prior to apply drivers.

- Hope it helps
- Let me know, regards
- Pasha

Ive tried updating all my drivers, but the issue remains.

I tried scouring the net for answers (again), but this time i actually found a few other people with the exact same problem.

http://help.lockergnome.com/windows/XP- ... 12526.html

Doesn't look too hopeful does it?

AugmaticDisport wrote:Ive tried updating all my drivers, but the issue remains.

I tried scouring the net for answers (again), but this time i actually found a few other people with the exact same problem.

http://help.lockergnome.com/windows/XP- ... 12526.html

Doesn't look too hopeful does it?

No it does not.
At this point the only way out is to have a USB MIDI interface between your controller and your PC. Ugly but should work. There are good and cheap MIDI interface from M-AUDIO, EDIROL or the like. Check their sites, let me know.
To avoid spending money test before buy at the Music Store.

- Best
- Pasha

Hi

a friend of mine has the same PC laptop as you have.
He also has Kore installed and Kore MIDI interface works fine.
Hope this can help,
maybe it's a controller issuue. Kore comes with its own drivers.

-Best
- Pasha

Hi

i use a Toshiba laptop , Alesis photone X25 midi controller and NI Audio Kontrol interface with Ableton live .

when i connect both twoo devices , the computer doesn't recognize the Alesis photone x25 but when i just connect the Alesis ( disconnect the Audo Kontrol ) it works normally .

any help pls , my system sit there for over a month , thi is a real pain !