When I have my XS rack in USB mode (to allow communication with the editor) all the midi devices in my chain after the XS rack lose communication.  Is there any way to get the XS rack to respond to midi and communicate with the software AND STILL send midi out/thru info to devices that are after it in the midi chain?

Thanks. 

I called Yamaha support, they were supposed to email me, but I’ve not heard back yet… I did use the search as well.  Found ALOT of threads with USB in them in the Motif Rack XS forum....

any help will be appreciated.

I figured it out… using a bit of deductive reasoning.  I found a post were someone had another problem with the XS rack once it was in USB mode. 

Bad Mister gave him directions as to how to set up the motif rack xs to communicate with his controller even when it was in USB mode.  The way mister had him set up the rack made the midi-in on the back of the rack respond to port 3… So port 3 was the port that he was instructed to select in the preference settings.  So I assumed that it would make the midi-out respond on port 3 as well.  I changed the output (in the midi-thru section) to port 3…

AND IT WORKED!!!! 

I’m so smart!!! 

Maybe this will help someone else down the road though…

for some crazy reason… now the xs rack is not responding… but everything else (after it in the midi chain) still is.b (ideas?)

Not responding can mean a lot of things.

When you are routing MIDI data to the Motif-Rack XS the mode button will flash to indicate that MIDI is being received. This will help you trouble shoot problems. If you see the MULTI mode button flashing but do not hear sound then you have one set of problems (that are audio routing related). If you do not see the Multi mode button flashing when you are routing signal from your DAW on “Yamaha Motif-R XS-1” then you have problem with your MIDI routing.

Let us know.

Thanks Mister for the response.  No the light is not flashing on the XS rack (that lets me know it’s receiving data.  Also… the blue lights are showing up on the keys in the editor but no sound (and no flashing light on the rack)

When I hit the keys inside the editor (by clicking the mouse)… I get sound and a flashing light on the xs rack. 

here is a picture of my settings…

thanks again for your help.

Click thumbnail to see full-size image

these are the set up settings…

Click thumbnail to see full-size image

any help Mister????

Thanks Mister for the response.  No the light is not flashing on the XS rack (that lets me know it’s receiving data.  Also… the blue lights are showing up on the keys in the editor but no sound (and no flashing light on the rack)

When I hit the keys inside the editor (by clicking the mouse)… I get sound and a flashing light on the xs rack.

Thanks for the screen shots. But you need to let us know what is going on You have devices marked that are not devices addressed (OUT) by the EDITOR, and we are wondering why and what your reasoning is.

What is connected to the MIDI IN/OUT Ports of the Motif-rack XS (Port 3)?
Why are you sending Motif-Rack XS Editor information to the Fantom G?

Let us know what is what, there may be a more efficient way to connect this - but we simply are not sure what you have. Please describe your complete setup.

Bad_Mister - 27 August 2011 04:41 PM

Thanks Mister for the response.  No the light is not flashing on the XS rack (that lets me know it’s receiving data.  Also… the blue lights are showing up on the keys in the editor but no sound (and no flashing light on the rack)

When I hit the keys inside the editor (by clicking the mouse)… I get sound and a flashing light on the xs rack.

Thanks for the screen shots. But you need to let us know what is going on You have devices marked that are not devices addressed (OUT) by the EDITOR, and we are wondering why and what your reasoning is.

What is connected to the MIDI IN/OUT Ports of the Motif-rack XS (Port 3)?
Why are you sending Motif-Rack XS Editor information to the Fantom G?

Let us know what is what, there may be a more efficient way to connect this - but we simply are not sure what you have. Please describe your complete setup.

ok.  I’ll do my best.  I just thought that since everything I’ve read has always had the left side mirroring the right side that I’d do the same with my gear.... but (if this even helps) I removed the checks from beside everything removed the xs rack from my workspace.  then put it back in my workspace and ONLY put the checks next to motif port 1, 3, & 4… and it still didn’t work. 

my entire setup consist of (at this point):

Triton Extreme 88
Roland Fantom G7
Korg M3m
Motif Rack XS
Roland XV 5080
Roland Fantom XR

They also go in that order (in the midi chain).  The only thing that I should point out is that the Fantom G input/output is also the Triton Extreme.  (the Triton Extreme’s midi out is connected to the Fantom G’s midi in. and the Fantom G is connected to my computer via USB.  So everything that comes out of the Triton Extreme goes into the computer as Fantom G. (make sense)(I need to buy one more long USB cable), that is why that part is connected like that.

but Mister after I made that 2nd post in this thread (when I’d figured it out) EVERYTHING was working correctly (or at least as I needed it to work)… then the next day, it was doing what I initially was trying to do (have the midi devices AFTER the motif rack xs still receive midi data)… I got that to work, and it still works. 

ONLY NOW, THE XS RACK IS NOT RECEIVING MIDI DATA....

HELP!!!!

Ok Mister.  I’m back at square one.  The Motif XS rack is responding to midi function, but I’m also back at the square one problem....

No midi devices AFTER the motif rack xs are responding to midi funtion....

the only way I can get them to respond is if I change the:

output on the midi thru setting to port 3 instead of port 1…

but then of course that makes the xs rack stop responding to midi messages…

I do understand why.

port 1 is the port that the software editor uses to send data to the xs rack and port 3 sends the data to the “traditional” midi ports on the back of the rack.  the thru function is helping with routing since I’m using external keyboards…

so when I change the thru output port to port 1… it routes the data TO the rack XS…

(but that’s where it stops AND THAT’S THE PROBLEM!!!!)

when I change the thru output port to port 3, it routes the output OUT of the XS rack to the other devices in the midi chain…

(but then unfortunately it DOESN’T go into the XS rack...)

I really need help man.  This is stopping me from working.

I would be most appreciative to get this solved.  I have attached a screenshot so you can see my current settings.

Thanks.

Click thumbnail to see full-size image

I’m thinking about just trying to make the XS rack the VERY LAST device in the midi chain…

this may be a cheating way out… but it’s what I’m considering. I’ll have to go back and change some things… so my programming knows to access the xs rack on midi channel 5 instead of 3.

Would this fix my problem, and if it did, is this the ONLY way to do it?

EDIT:… NO it didn’t fix my problem.  The xs rack is now the last device in the midi chain.  So the devices that were not responding are now in from of the xs in the midi chain, but still no response form them.

but now that I think about it… I didn’t really change the midi chain order, I just changed the order of the midi channel that each device was responding to.

so technically the problem is each device that is connected after the xs rack is not responding…

HELP!

talk to you in the morning… I’m giving up for tonight.

My sympathies, and good wishes for getting this resolved. The Rack XS has me scratching my head, often. Great sounds though! Wish I could help, other than to say “I hear you, bro” and BadMister will get you through it, if it can be gotten thru!

I think it’s got something to do with the xs rack having a “true” midi thru when it’s in software mode.

someone correct me if i’m wrong…

midi out and midi thru is not the same thing.  in order to use midi OUT you have to trigger from THAT machine… (for example if I had three instruments connected in this order

Motif

midi out to

Motif ES

midi out to

Motif XS

and I wanted to go midi OUT of the ES into the XS I would have to actually trigger notes by playing the keys on the ES.

If I wanted to play the Motif and trigger notes on the XS, I’d have to use the midi thru instead of the midi out on the ES…

See the XS rack doesn’t have a midi thru, it only has an out. 

Could that be what the midi soft thru option is in the utility menu? (on the rack?)....

I need help this is kinda crazy man....  (yamaha charges for technical support via phone, I found that out the other day.

Mister....

is this possible? Just let me know, so I can stop trying… LOL

Sorry, I lost track of the issue. I’m totally confused about what you are doing. Do you actually have a Motif, and ES and an XS? I don’t thinks so - so am I to take this question seriously or not???

If you are using the Yamaha keyboard so that MIDI IN/OUT = USB or MIDI IN/OUT = mLAN or FW, then the 5-pin MIDI jack’s role changes.

When you connect the Yamaha rack module to your computer and select MIDI IN/OUT = USB, then the 5pin MIDI jacks allow you to connect one external product - on its own discreet MIDI PORT (PORT 3) in the computer.

When you connect the Yamaha device to your computer and select MIDI IN/OUT = mLAN or FW, then the 5pin MIDI jacks allow you to connect one external product - on its own discreet MIDI PORT (PORT 3) in the computer.

In your software the Yamaha driver will see the Motif-Rack XS as having multiple MIDI ports.
Port 1 for communication to the Motif-Rack XS tone engine
Port 3 for the 5 pin MIDI jack on the back panel
Port 4 for the bi-directional/simultaneous communication between the EDITOR and the Rack XS

So if you connect one of your keyboard synthesizer’s MIDI OUT to the Motif-rack XS’s MIDI IN, that keyboard synthesizer will be referred to in your computer as the Yamaha driver’s PORT 3.
If you then connect the MIDI OUT of the Motif-Rack XS to the external synths MIDI IN, anything you route from your computer on the Yamaha driver’s PORT 3 will pass through the Rack XS and trigger only the external synth.

This is a case where the OUT becomes a THRU… hope that is clear.

Summary, if you set the MIDI IN/OUT to something other than MIDI. the MIDI jacks no longer address the Motif Rack XS directly - they simply pass data THROUGH to the computer and then pass data from the computer THROUGH the Rack XS back to the device. Rather than have the MIDI jacks do nothing at all, Yamaha lets you connect one additional device discreetly to and from your computer.

Your computer is the brains - the software that you are using (we assume you are using some software - none is ever mentioned in your post so we cannot really help you much at all, you do not provide enough information, for whatever reason. We really can’t help you with just the information you choose to give. But let’s assume you have some wonderful super secret software you don’t want to tell us about… in that software you should be able to take incoming MIDI data on a specific port and route it to any of your connected devices.

If you do not have any software - then all of this is moot - and i don’t understand what it is you are doing.. Don’t know if we are helping - we are completely in the dark about what you are actually TRYING to do.

? ? ?

ok.  Thanks so much again for your help. 

no I don’t have a motif an es and an xs.  that was just an example.  lol sorry for the confusion.

this is the situation simply put. (not all the details, but all the important stuff)

My Triton Extreme is connected to the midi input of the XS rack and the midi out of the XS Rack is connected to an XV 5080 and the MIDI thru from the XV 5080 goes into the MIDI in on a Roland Fantom XR.

The problem is that when the XS rack MIDI IN/OUT is set to USB I can get midi information to all devices in the midi chain that come BEFORE the XS Rack, but NO DEVICES after… so the two devices (XV 5080 and Fantom XR) don’t get any information while the XS Rack is in USB mode… but if I put the XS rack in MIDI (instead of USB), then EVERYTHING works correctly.

Now through some different random configurations on the midi thru port (in the Studio Manager/XS rack editor (the software I’m using) I am able to make the XV 5080 and the Fantom XR work correctly, but then the XS rack doesn’t respond to midi anymore…

So what I need is to figure out how to get the xs to respond (on the midi out port) the same way it would if it was in MIDI mode instead of USB.

Thanks so much for your help.