I am loving my new XF7.  So many capabilities. So much to learn.  So much fun. 

I’ve only scratched the surface of what appears to be a substantial learning curve, but I’ve progressed far enough so far to create patterns and songs and record WAV files out to USB storage devices.

What I want to do next is to connect the XF to my home network’s router via the Ethernet connection so the WAV files can be stored in a shared folder on my PC instead of on a USB drive.

As much as I’ve tried, I can’t get this to work.  Yes, it’s Windows 7 (64bit) ... I know, I know.  I’ve been in touch with Yamaha Tech Support who admit that it should work, but it doesn’t for them either. 

If anyone has gotten this to work, I would appreciate the details on how to set it up on my system.  I have a modern HP desktop PC running Windows 7 connected to a Cisco Linksys E3000 router.

Any help would be appreciated.

Thanks in advance.

elwinh - 22 January 2011 06:59 PM

[...]
What I want to do next is to connect the XF to my home network’s router via the Ethernet connection so the WAV files can be stored in a shared folder on my PC instead of on a USB drive.

As much as I’ve tried, I can’t get this to work. [...]

You haven’t given enough detail to determine exactly where the problem might be, so…

First, make sure that the Ethernet cable you’re using is a “straight-through” one, not a “crossover” type. Do a Google search if you’re not familiar with those terms.

The XF Reference Manual details how to establish the connection from the XF to the network, and verify it’s working correctly—see page 42. If you have a problem, be specific as to what’s not functioning correctly, and perhaps we can figure out what the solution is.

OK, some more detail:

One straight-through cable is used to connect the XF to the router and one straight-through cable connects the router to the PC.
(these are the same type of cables I use to connect the router to Xbox 360 and LG Blu-ray player, which operate perfectly on the network, BTW).

The XF reference manual instructions on page 41 and 42 have been followed to the letter many times – the last few times while on the phone with Yamaha Tech Support. 

Press UTILITY > SF3 (Network)
DHCP Client = ON
File Server = OFF
Security = workgroup
Domain = WORKGROUP
Wins = 0. 0. 0. 0.
Mount User Name = HPE140 (this is the computer name of the PC on the network) not sure if this is what is required for this parameter.

Actions:
Press ENTER ... Response:  “Executing” then “Completed”
Press FILE > MOUNT(F2) ... Displays:  Host = blank, Sharing Point = blank
Press ENTER ... Response:  “Can’t access to the host”

According to the Yamaha Rep I’ve been dealing with, these instructions may not have been tested with Windows 7.  I find that hard to believe, but in any case, they tried to make it work with a similar configuration to mine with no luck.

I’m not a networking expert by any means, so I’m sure I’m doing something wrong, but I would still like to know if anyone out there, including Yamaha, has been able to do this with the XF, especially with Windows 7 and a router.

elwinh - 22 January 2011 11:45 PM

[...]Press FILE > MOUNT(F2) ... Displays:  Host = blank, Sharing Point = blank
[...]

Since the Host name comes up blank, did you manually enter it as indicated in step 5 on page 42? Also, see the second note at the end of step 5, which may or may not apply to Windows 7.

Is your router set up as a DHCP server? I believe that’s the default setting for your router, unless it’s been disabled, but you might want to check. You could also try setting DHCP Client on the XF to “OFF”, and manually enter the rest of the settings as on page 221 of the Reference Manual.

I’m not personally running Windows 7, nor do I own a Linksys E3000, so if those ideas don’t help, I’m out of suggestions.

Thanks very much for the helpful suggestions. Unfortunately, still no success. I’ll keep trying and hope Yamaha comes through with a solution. 

What I need to hear, from anybody, is that they actually have a Motif XF successfully networked using the Ethernet port.  Anyone?  That would be a good start.  Then we can talk about Windows 7.

solution: (works in xp/vista/7)

turn-off your firewall

turn-on the internet connection sharing for your lan or use the network wizard

turn-on DHCP server on motif

turn-on “messenger” service

enter the host name to connect (it is your computer name)

enter user/password (it is your windows admin login/pass or try enter -blank- no user/pass)

mount the drives: the shared folders in your pc (do it from the motif)

add new network place: the motif usb pen drive (do it from the computer)

now you can acces both devices (from motif to pc and pc to motif)

If the post preceding this doesn’t help (especially verifying that things aren’t being blocked by a firewall)…

Hopefully someone will respond to your request for confirmation of a successful XF Ethernet connection. However, if help isn’t forthcoming, you might want to look at the following threads. While they don’t address your specific situation, there’s some good info. As far as I know, the XF and XS get set up the same way for networking.

http://www.motifator.com/index.php/forum/index.php/viewthread/441662/
http://www.motifator.com/index.php/forum/index.php/viewthread/443135/
http://www.motifator.com/index.php/forum/index.php/viewthread/444776/
http://www.motifator.com/index.php/forum/index.php/viewthread/447783/
http://www.motifator.com/index.php/forum/index.php/viewthread/452631/
http://www.motifator.com/index.php/forum/index.php/viewthread/443335/

Apparently having problems with XS/XF Ethernet setup on Windows 7 isn’t uncommon. See http://www.motifator.com/index.php/forum/index.php/viewthread/453027/

i can’t believe yamaha still didn’t fix this, what is their excuse now?
XF got released with windows 7 being out for long time now and vista which also isn’t working for mounting shares with motfis is years old.

I have successfully connected my XF to a Windows XP, Winodws Vista, and Macintosh (OS 10.5.x) computer. These all appear simultaneously in my Motif XF screen.

I have successfully been able to communicate in both directions with both the Windows XP, Vista and Mac 10.5 computer. That is, reading files to and from both computers, and moving files from those computers directly onto a USB drive connected to the XF’s TO DEVICE port. 

So far with Snow Leopard: I have successfully been able to get the Mac to mount a USB drive which is connected to the Motif XF - which means I can move files stored on the MacBookPro directly to and from a USB drive that is connected to the XF), but I have not yet successfully been able to read or write from the XF to a Snow Leopard Mac. (Previously I was successful in both directions with a Mac running 10.5).

The Windows 7 computer kicks back with some cryptic message about not all items on the network are Windows 7 computers (as if that were important to me)… I’m not a computer network geek, but Windows 7 hears the XF knocking, I just have to figure out how to get the security measures of the OS to let me in. I’m sure it is some security issue that Windows does not recognize the device and because it does not has some extra layer of setup that is necessary.

I am not (as some of you) ready to conclude that is does not work. I simply do not have full time access to all these different computers - so I cannot do much trial and error troubleshooting. And I’m not going to dismantle my home network to reconfigure it based on each computer type (I simply cannot do that, sorry). I’d like to say that we have a team of folks working on it, but that simply is not possible at this time. I will try and find out as much as a I can to help you with this.

if you got XF working on vista then yamaha did in fact update network browser code on XF and win7 should be quite easy to get going just matter of changing some policies.
fingers crossed this change also made to XS update we all still waiting for

Mad Mister,

I’ve had zero issues connecting the Motif XF to Snow Leopard 10.6.6 via Ethernet.  Make sure you have SMB checked under file sharing in system preferences on the Mac.  Log in with your main user / pass of the Mac on your Motif and you should see your entire directory structure.  Following that you can of course mount a drive for file sharing.

Just FYI

elwinh - 22 January 2011 11:45 PM

OK, some more detail:

One straight-through cable is used to connect the XF to the router and one straight-through cable connects the router to the PC.

I may be wrong but I thought only the cable from the XF to the Computer should be a crossover cable and the computer should be using a standard ethernet wire.. there is an online video, have you checked it out.. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Jlyp9c9Qp4

You HAVE TO use a crossover cable IF you are directly connecting the PC and the Motif together (with no router / switch).

If you are connecting the Motif and the computer into a switch /router you need a standard cable for both.

Yep, thats’s right..  I misunderstood him..

It seems that an updated OS for the XS will be released that addresses the Ethernet/Win7 problem. I assume that the OS for the XF will be similarly updated.

See http://www.motifator.com/index.php/forum/index.php/viewthread/453068/