Ableton Live + Trigger Finger = not working! Help!!!!

Gabriel Tanaka · Post by **Gabriel Tanaka** » Tue Apr 03, 2007 3:20 am

So here's the situation. I am using the Live 6 demo & Live Lite 6 (on an intel iMac) until next month when I plan to upgrade to the full version. The Trigger Finger is set to factory defaults, and I can midi-map it to various controls in Live just fine.

HERE IS THE PROBLEM:

After successfully using the Trigger Finger to control Live for a brief period of time it just stops working. The lights on the Trigger Finger stay on and show values, so it appears to be receiving power. But it stops controlling Live. If I unplug it and plug it back in, it works again temporarily. But it keeps on ceasing to work after a brief moment of use.

Any suggestions or advice would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!!!

Lo-Fi Massahkah · Post by **Lo-Fi Massahkah** » Tue Apr 03, 2007 10:47 am

I think it's due to weak power on the USB port. Even a short glitch will loose connection with Live. Get a powered hub to solve your problems. Or a wallwart for the TF (does it have an input?).

-M

Gabriel Tanaka · Post by **Gabriel Tanaka** » Tue Apr 03, 2007 5:27 pm

I would think that since I'm using USB 2.0 ports on an iMac that the power provided through USB would be enough; however, I am using a USB cable that wasn't supplied with the unit. I have tried another cable I had laying around, but that didn't help either. Would a specific kind or brand of USB cable help???

Gabriel Tanaka · Post by **Gabriel Tanaka** » Tue Apr 10, 2007 2:11 am

Does anyone else have any suggestions?

Icarus · Post by **Icarus** » Tue Apr 10, 2007 2:31 am

My trigger finger had the same issues on a macbook. Two things made a difference: a different cable, I found a few that were more likely to cause this lack of communication. Most important change for me though was switching to a different USB port. On the macbook the one closest to the front has less power than the rear one and it was this port that was problematic (with the trigger finger, ironically it was fine with two other bus powered devices both of which were MIDI and audio. Go figure.) DC powering the trigger finger BTW was not the solution.

On my Macbook pro I can use both USB ports without problems.

Cheers,
Steve da sleeve

sparklepuff · Post by **sparklepuff** » Tue Apr 10, 2007 3:14 am

This seems to be pretty common, it happened to my best friend's TF, he ended up just throwing it away! It also happened to me one day, over and over again it would work for about 10 seconds, if that, then nothing. But I was unable to troubleshoot the problem because it simply started working again. There is obviously some sort of manufacturing weakness of the Trigger Finger. Made by M-Audio, go figure!

Gabriel Tanaka · Post by **Gabriel Tanaka** » Wed Apr 11, 2007 5:40 pm

This is my first M-Audio product. I'm already skeptical about buying anything else from them. I'm glad I went with the Edirol FA-101 instead of the M-Audio Firewire 4-10 hehe

sparklepuff · Post by **sparklepuff** » Wed Apr 11, 2007 6:35 pm

I ditched the rest of the M-audio stuff I had. I don't have any problem with the TF, but the rest of the stuff is cheap junk. You think you're getting a deal, but when you have to replace defective $250 stuff, why not just spend $500 in the first place?

Gabriel Tanaka · Post by **Gabriel Tanaka** » Thu Apr 12, 2007 2:45 am

I guess I will experiment with it a bit more on different usb ports on my computer, and I might buy a new USB cable, also. I'll post the results soon.

Machinate · Post by **Machinate** » Thu Apr 12, 2007 6:18 am

sparklepuff wrote:This seems to be pretty common, it happened to my best friend's TF, he ended up just throwing it away! It also happened to me one day, over and over again it would work for about 10 seconds, if that, then nothing. But I was unable to troubleshoot the problem because it simply started working again. There is obviously some sort of manufacturing weakness of the Trigger Finger. Made by M-Audio, go figure!

It's not a manufacturing weakness of the Trigger Finger at all!!!

Please people, wake up and realize that it is the MAC not supplying enough power to run the Trigger Finger over the usb ports!!!

It has been widely reported that esp. the new range of macs don't supply the standard amount of power over the usb ports. That's why people have found "that they just started working again on a different port" A powered usb port will fix this - it doesn't even need to be 2.0, it can be a cheap 10-dollar one, as long as it has a power supply.

I've also heard of similar problems for firewire power, actually.

Gabriel, getting a usb hub is a VERY good investment. I'd rather get one sooner than later.

Lo-Fi Massahkah · Post by **Lo-Fi Massahkah** » Thu Apr 12, 2007 7:28 am

Told you so...?

-M

Gabriel Tanaka · Post by **Gabriel Tanaka** » Thu Apr 12, 2007 5:29 pm

Alright, alright... I'll buy a powered hub.. hehe Thanks for the suggestions. Hopefully, that will do the trick.

sparklepuff · Post by **sparklepuff** » Thu Apr 12, 2007 5:36 pm

Machinate wrote:
sparklepuff wrote:This seems to be pretty common, it happened to my best friend's TF, he ended up just throwing it away! It also happened to me one day, over and over again it would work for about 10 seconds, if that, then nothing. But I was unable to troubleshoot the problem because it simply started working again. There is obviously some sort of manufacturing weakness of the Trigger Finger. Made by M-Audio, go figure!
It's not a manufacturing weakness of the Trigger Finger at all!!!

Please people, wake up and realize that it is the MAC not supplying enough power to run the Trigger Finger over the usb ports!!!

This was happening on a desktop PC and my Power Mac G5. Not my MacBook Pro.

It has been widely reported that esp. the new range of macs don't supply the standard amount of power over the usb ports. That's why people have found "that they just started working again on a different port" A powered usb port will fix this - it doesn't even need to be 2.0, it can be a cheap 10-dollar one, as long as it has a power supply.

I've also heard of similar problems for firewire power, actually.

Gabriel, getting a usb hub is a VERY good investment. I'd rather get one sooner than later.

Gabriel Tanaka · Post by **Gabriel Tanaka** » Tue Apr 17, 2007 5:59 am

Okay, I got a powered hub, and so far everything is working fine. I'll give it a few more days and then I'll post again confirming that this did indeed fix the problem.