Pro Tools 9 / TD12 / Superior Drummer broken after Lion upgrade

ZV Yoda · 08-09-2011 09:55PM #1

Hi folks,

I'm on Pro Tools 9.0.5 on a 2011 i5 Macbook Pro. I use a Roland TD12 to trigger Superior Drummer 2.2.3. Everything was working swimmingly until tonight. I suspect it's because I recently installed Lion (although I'm not 100% certain).

Basically, SD no longer seems to see the midi from the TD12. It's not a hardware issue from what I can make out. The TD12 is fine when I use it's own brain/sounds. I checked the midi cables (they're fine). My interface (Digi 003 rack) sees the midi signal from the TD12 (the green 003 "midi in" light is illuminated). I can trigger SD using my Axiom keyboard.

Any ideas? I'm stumped. Maybe it's something obvious, but I've been working with this setup for 18 months & it's always been rock solid. The only recent change I can think of is the Lion upgrade - but maybe that's just coincidence? Is is possible Lion has messed up the internal midi files or something?

Any help greatly appreciated!

studiorat · 08-09-2011 10:05PM

Can you start up the coreaudio manager on it's own?

What happens when you swap the Axiom and TD12 midi out cables around?

Can you record MIDI from the TD12 straight into PT? What does it look like?

trackmixstudio · 08-09-2011 10:59PM

Open "Audio Midi Setup" in Applications>utilities.
If the midi window isn't there select window>show midi.
If the TD12 is connected via USB it should be here.
Click rescan midi to see if it can be found.
If it can't be found you probably need updated midi drivers for the td12.

If it is connected to an audio/midi interface with standard midi cables your interface should be there. If your interface is there you need to create a new device. Click add device then double click on the newly created device. Name it TD12 and select roland from there manufacturer list. There are little in/out arrows on all objects in the midi window. Click the output of your newly created TD12 and drag a cable to the relevant input of your audio/midi interface. Do the same for midi in.

ZV Yoda · 09-09-2011 08:29AM

studiorat wrote: »

Can you start up the coreaudio manager on it's own?
Yes, but it only sees the 003 - not the TD

What happens when you swap the Axiom and TD12 midi out cables around?
The Axiom is USB (not midi). No USB output on the TD.
Can you record MIDI from the TD12 straight into PT? What does it look like?
No - PT can't see it

trackmixstudio wrote: »

Open "Audio Midi Setup" in Applications>utilities.
If the midi window isn't there select window>show midi.
If the TD12 is connected via USB it should be here.
Click rescan midi to see if it can be found.
If it can't be found you probably need updated midi drivers for the td12.

If it is connected to an audio/midi interface with standard midi cables your interface should be there. If your interface is there you need to create a new device. Click add device then double click on the newly created device. Name it TD12 and select roland from there manufacturer list. There are little in/out arrows on all objects in the midi window. Click the output of your newly created TD12 and drag a cable to the relevant input of your audio/midi interface. Do the same for midi in.

The Core audio & Audio Midi set up utilities look completely different on Lion than on Snow Leopard. There's a device in there now called Pro Tools aggregate i/o (which seems to be a change from PT8 to PT9). Most of the options you mention above are no longer valid. I'll have a look for updated TD midi drivers & see if they make a difference. Thx for the help so far!

trackmixstudio · 09-09-2011 09:05AM

the aggregate audio device would be in the audio window.
Open the midi window to show the stuff I was on about.

ZV Yoda · 09-09-2011 09:26AM

The TD is connected via standard midi cables (not usb)

Ah, OK... now I have the midi window open. In the "midi studio" window I can see icons for:

IAC driver (which is greyed out)
Network
USB Axiom 61
Command8 (my control surface)
Digi 003 (greyed out with a red question mark on it)
Digide

sign device (also greyed out but no red question mark)

I can't see the TD listed anywhere.

I hit "test setup" & "rescan midi" but it hasn't changed anything.

trackmixstudio · 09-09-2011 09:39AM

Now create a new object and cable it up as I detailed above.

studiorat · 09-09-2011 09:46AM

Ah! The TD is USB, did you update the TD12 driver to Lion compatible drivers?

ZV Yoda · 09-09-2011 09:50AM

studiorat wrote: »

Ah! The TD is USB, did you update the TD12 driver to Lion compatible drivers?

The TD is midi - not usb. It looks like there is a firmware update available for the TD. I haven't updated firmware on it before, so I need to figure how to do it (need to use some 3rd party software called smfupdater to transmit 64 midi files to the TD brain).

Not sure that will be the solution to my problems - although it does look like worthwhile update for the TD either way

ZV Yoda · 09-09-2011 09:54AM

trackmixstudio wrote: »

Now create a new object and cable it up as I detailed above.

OK, I did that... Roland are listed as a manufacturer, but the only vKit listed is the TD-10 (there's no TD12)? Maybe this gets back to the TD driver issue again. I'll need to spend some more time on this tonight. I'll post an update once I've managed to update the TD firmware... maybe then Lion will recognise it

ZV Yoda · 10-09-2011 11:23AM

Finally figured it out... there were a couple of issues:
The 9.0.5 updater (I used this to update from 9.0.3) apparently removes midi drivers and device (003r) drivers that were present on the previously installed version of PT. Both of these drivers need to be updated separately. I ended up uninstalling PT & then used the "full install" version of 9.0.5 instead. I also updated the device & midi drivers separately.

Now everything is working again... TD, Superior etc. The only remaining glitch is that I can no longer open "midi studio"... when ever I try, it just freezes & then I get an error message that says "if you have recently installed new midi drivers, try removing then re-installing them". I did that, but it made no difference. So now, I have a working system, but if I need to change my midi settings I'm stuck. I also tried updating the TD firmware using updsmf, but that also freezes (I'm assuming because of some midi driver conflict somewhere).

Ah well, at least I can start playing drums & recording music again

i57dwun4yb1pt8 · 11-09-2011 11:31PM

sorry i couldnt help , no good with macs or pt
glad you got back up and running , i hate those ah bollix upgrade moments.

ZV Yoda · 12-09-2011 09:29AM

DaDumTish wrote: »

sorry i couldnt help , no good with macs or pt
glad you got back up and running , i hate those ah bollix upgrade moments.

No worries... those upgrades a real pain in the hole alright.

Still, on the positive side, for some unknown reason the TD/SD hihat triggering has become much smoother. It really is just like playing real hihats now. My next job will be to figure out how to upgrade the firmware on the TD brain.

i57dwun4yb1pt8 · 12-09-2011 02:44PM

upgrade the brain ??

you mad b@stard

ZV Yoda · 12-09-2011 03:11PM

DaDumTish wrote: »

upgrade the brain ??

you mad b@stard

I haven't actually managed to figure how how I'm going to do it yet (given my previous midi probs).

But... I'm only talking firmware - I'm not changing any hardware or anything. I'm running ver 1.0 which seems to be pretty old according to the Roland site. The latest firmware for the TD12 is 1.1. It does seem to contain some decent fixes/updates, so when I'm in the mood to start stressing myself out & hurling abuse at my gear, I'll give it a bash.

Pro Tools 9 / TD12 / Superior Drummer broken after Lion upgrade

Comments