[RESOLVED] BOME Virtual MIDI port error 14 / error 15

Hi
On 2 machines now, one running Neyrinck Neyfi and the other TouchOscBridge both are not able to operate because BomeVirtualMIDI port and in particular the file path to the Bome Bus was not found ie error 14.

There seems to be no cure for this! No matter how much uninstalling and re-installing of the 3rd part server apps or Bome itself. I have gone to /windows/system32/drivers and DRIVESTORE and observed there is no Bome files in there. I have also observed that the registry is absolutely littered with Bome entries!! I have uninstalled Bome via the uninstall.exe in programs folder because it doesnt come up in the system uninstall app.

Please provide a way out of this catch 22

I have windows 8 pro 64 bit
latest installs of Ney-Fi and TouchOSC - 3rd party apps that depend on Bome

RANT
Can I ask you to please clean up your driver.
1) it should be available in the windows uninstall app no matter what goes on with dependent third party services
2) Please find another solution to having to use the System area of device manager for the Bome Bus. Other virtual midi ports dont need this. They just have one entry in Sound controllers.
3) Please remove EVERYTHING from the system registry when uninstalling. That kind of dirty registry behaviour went out with winXP. Its apparent that because of all these messed up entries now Bome wont re-install - it finds unassociated reg keys but no paths.
RANT OVER

Thank you

Update April 2018:
You can install the latest standalone BMIDI installer directly from here:
https://www.bome.com/products/bmidi

• scroll down to "Stand-Alone Installer"
• download the installer 2.1.0.44
• run it

Then run your 4rd party installer again.

Update July 2015:
You can install the latest MIDI Translator Pro trial, which will also install BMIDI2. It should fix the problems. Afterwards, uninstalling MT Pro is safe (BMIDI2 remains separate in Control Panel|Software), then install your 3rd party program (MT Player, Neyrinck, TouchOSCBridge, et al) again.

---

Hi bcslam,

I'm very sorry for your problem. In general, let me say that BMIDI is very well tested and in use by thousands of users without any problems.

But there have been a few reports of this error 14 and error 15 over the years. The users eventually managed to fix it somehow but didn't tell me how they did it.

What is Error 14?
Error 14 means that Windows refused to install the BMIDI Bus Driver.

What is Error 15?
Error 15 means that Windows refused to uninstall the BMIDI Bus Driver.

Here are a few things I collected so far:

• For one user, the folder/file permissions were wrong (i.e. "The access control list (ACL) structure is invalid"). He fixed it and the installer went through fine. I don't know which folder was affected with these broken permissions.
• One user had other devices with exclamation mark in the device manager. Once he fixed those problems, the BMIDI installer went through fine.
• Another user reported he read somewhere that you can manually copy the driver files to the correct folders.
• After uninstallation of a different BMIDI product (e.g. Midi Translator Pro), Windows might search for the driver files in that old location when installing BMIDI again. Reinstalling the software in question will fix the problem in that case.
  Note that this is an oddity of Windows that crept up in a recent version of Windows. Future versions of BMIDI will always install to the same folder (and not customizable by 3rd party OEM's) so that this problem cannot occur anymore.

Here are a few things you can try:

• after an unsuccessful install with error 14, check the Windows Event viewer for an error message
• Delete all Bome stuff:
  • control panel|Programs and Features
  • Device Manager|Sound, Video and game controllers
  • Device Manager|System Devices
  • delete C:\Windows\SysWow64\bmidilib.dll (64-bit Windows) or C:\Windows\System32\bmidilib.dll (32-bit Windows).
  • do not delete driver files manually (bomebus.sys and bomeport.sys)!
• then try installing BMIDI again...
• If the Bome ports show dysfunctional in the Device Manager, you can try this approach sent to me from a user:
  Go into each reference to Bomes midi port in Device manager, 'update driver' and point it to the folder created by the installer you linked to, and windows found and installed the driver

Some explanations:

bcslaam wrote:installs of Ney-Fi and TouchOSC - 3rd party apps that depend on Bome

The BMIDI versions that you got are provided to you by third parties. I don't know how they invoke the BMIDI installer that I supplied to them. I assume you have already contacted them about this?

bcslaam wrote:registry is absolutely littered with Bome entries

The BMIDI driver only sets one string entry per port. All the other BMIDI entries you find in the registry are created and maintained by the Windows driver system. I don't have any control over what Windows writes to the registry for every driver, or what it keeps after uninstallation of a driver.

bcslaam wrote:it should be available in the windows uninstall app

The stock installer that I supply to 3rd parties (OEM partners) does create an uninstall entry there. An OEM has the option to deactivate this behavior, in the sense that BMIDI is an integral part of their installer.

bcslaam wrote:System area of device manager

I wonder why you care... anyway, the BMIDI driver has a unique design using a separate bus driver which gives it capabilities that other virtual MIDI ports cannot do. Therefore I must keep the 2 driver concept. It's the same as with all USB drivers, for example.

bcslaam wrote:remove EVERYTHING from the system registry when uninstalling

I do... see above. The remaining registry stuff that Windows keeps are unlikely to cause the error 14 unless you have removed a previous install of the BMIDI driver.

Update:
Here is another solution to this problem.

Whatever you find out, please post here.
I am determined to find all possible causes so that I can fix it in the next version of BMIDI.

Thanks,
Florian

Hi Florian

Thanks for answering and your commitment to solving this problem. Replies inserted.

florian wrote:Hi bcslam,

Here are a few things I collected so far:

• For one user, the folder/file permissions were wrong (i.e. "The access control list (ACL) structure is invalid"). He fixed it and the installer went through fine. I don't know which folder was affected with these broken permissions.
• Another user reported he read somewhere that you can manually copy the driver files to the correct folders.

I'd like to try this but cant find a list of files and locations, please advise.

[*]After uninstallation of a different BMIDI product (e.g. Midi Translator Pro), Windows might search for the driver files in that old location when installing BMIDI again. Reinstalling the software in question will fix the problem in that case.

I have tried to install MT demo and it wont because of the same or similar error. Nothing will re-install, no 3rd party apps and even the Bome midi driver itself via exe extraction.

Note that this is an oddity of Windows that crept up in a recent version of Windows. Future versions of BMIDI will always install to the same folder (and not customizable by 3rd party OEM's) so that this problem cannot occur anymore.[/list]

I welcome this please put it in action ASAP and hold these guys accountable.

Here are a few things you can try:

• after an unsuccessful install with error 14, check the Windows Event viewer for an error message

I've just tried installing TouchOSCBridge and also the BomeDriver alone then gone through every system event class and log and there is no error pertaining to Bome only one that says Bonjour failed because I have a newer version. I've installed the latest bonjour straight from apple, these apps have an old version 2 in theirs. But just to check Ive tried uninstalling latest bonjour and letting the apps install their own old version. Still doesnt stop error 14.

[*]Delete all Bome stuff:

• control panel|Programs and Features

done many times

[*]Device Manager|Sound, Video and game controllers

done many times

[*]Device Manager|System Devices[/list][*]then try installing BMIDI again...

done many times

[*]If the Bome ports show dysfunctional in the Device Manager, you can try this approach sent to me from a user:
Go into each reference to Bomes midi port in Device manager, 'update driver' and point it to the folder created by the installer you linked to, and windows found and installed the driver[/list]

done that

Some explanations:

bcslaam wrote:installs of Ney-Fi and TouchOSC - 3rd party apps that depend on Bome

The BMIDI versions that you got are provided to you by third parties. I don't know how they invoke the BMIDI installer that I supplied to them. I assume you have already contacted them about this?

Yes and they havent answered yet. Its been on the NeyFi forum since last thursday. That same day I filled out a support form.

bcslaam wrote:registry is absolutely littered with Bome entries

The BMIDI driver only sets one string entry per port. All the other BMIDI entries you find in the registry are created and maintained by the Windows driver system. I don't have any control over what Windows writes to the registry for every driver, or what it keeps after uninstallation of a driver.

surely you have some control by design?

bcslaam wrote:it should be available in the windows uninstall app

The stock installer that I supply to 3rd parties (OEM partners) does create an uninstall entry there. An OEM has the option to deactivate this behavior, in the sense that BMIDI is an integral part of their installer.

Yes but the same problem has happened independantly on two different pcs using exclusively two different oems NeyFi on one and TouchOSCBridge on the other. So have they both got flaws in their uninstallers?

bcslaam wrote:System area of device manager

I wonder why you care... anyway, the BMIDI driver has a unique design using a separate bus driver which gives it capabilities that other virtual MIDI ports cannot do. Therefore I must keep the 2 driver concept. It's the same as with all USB drivers, for example.

On one machine since I updated windows 8 to 8.1 it required a re-install of NeyFi which caused error 14...now stuck not being able to un-install or re-install.
On the other which had windows 8.1 running and touchoscbridge was working fine, I tried installing NeyFi on there, it installed but didnt function the way I wanted via midi remote so I uninstalled it...then the problems started. TouchOSCBridge said it needed re-installing and neither would re-install due to error 14...stuck!

bcslaam wrote:remove EVERYTHING from the system registry when uninstalling

I do... see above. The remaining registry stuff that Windows keeps are unlikely to cause the error 14 unless you have removed a previous install of the BMIDI driver.

but NeFi did remove a previous install of BMIDI driver. We have to be able to uninstall and re-install BMIDI without it breaking. I dont understand what you are saying here

Whatever you find out, please post here.
I am determined to find all possible causes so that I can fix it in the next version of BMIDI.

Great thankyou Florian, at a guess it looks like the uninstaller from NeyFi is at fault but compounded by the fact that Bome has alot of registry entries and unusual system bus feature. There are Bome entries in the registry that cant be deleted. Maybe it stuffs up file/folder permissions and puts Bome stuff in alternate areas that the uninstall doesnt catch.

If that user is listening who discovered bad permissions please share your fix. Also I need to try copying the files manually but dont have a list of correct file destinations.

Thanks,
Florian

Thanks Ben

Hi Ben,

thanks for taking the time to continue with this. I have contacted the user with the ACL permissions problem, hopefully he'll reply.

bcslaam wrote:(...registry...)
surely you have some control by design?

Please, do not question my statements repeatedly by wildly guessing. Fact is that ultimately, Windows drivers can only be installed by the Windows driver installer (through INF files), and Windows maintains a lot of stuff in the registry (and the hard drive) for every driver, and it keeps it even after uninstalling the driver. I know that's part of the problem, but, no, there is no control over such driver cache and stuff. I invite you to verify this with any other 3rd party driver.

bcslaam wrote:On one machine since I updated windows 8 to 8.1 it required a re-install of NeyFi which caused error 14...now stuck not being able to un-install or re-install.
On the other which had windows 8.1 running and touchoscbridge was working fine, I tried installing NeyFi on there, it installed but didnt function the way I wanted via midi remote so I uninstalled it...then the problems started. TouchOSCBridge said it needed re-installing and neither would re-install due to error 14...stuck!

Is it possible that you've used different versions of NeyFi? MAYBE, the old version installed the BMIDI ports in a different folder? In that case, you should be able to fix the issue by temporarily installing the old version. The same applies to possible old versions of TouchOSCBridge.

In any case, I guess it's a legitimate conclusion that the root cause is that Windows tries to copy the driver files from the location where it had first copied the driver files from.

For your sake, a quick explanation of how it works:
1) installing a driver works by pointing Windows to an INF file and instructing it to install it
2) the INF file specifies all the driver files that Windows needs to copy, and it also specifies a version number
3a) Previously, Windows would always copy the files, install the driver, and everything was happy
3b) Now, apparently, Windows checks the version number, and if it finds the same driver with same version in its cache (or a newer version in its cache), it will install it from cache. In that case, it uses the cached install location of where the driver was originally installed. Now if that folder does not exist anymore, it'll just report an error.

I've seen this behavior myself on Windows 7, but I'm not sure that it has happened on early versions of Windows 7.

Fortunately, it seems that when you install a new version of the driver, it will ignore the cached stuff.

I'm currently working on a new version, I may ask you by PM to test the new driver, if you don't mind.

Thanks,
Florian

Hi Florian

I've only ever downloaded and installed one (the latest) version of each app.

I bought my ipad 2 weeks ago at which time I downloaded latest NeyFi and there have been no newer versions of the app since then. It is version 1.7.04 installed on a win8.1 pro 64bit pc. The neyfi set file, after it is extracted is shown attached.

TouchOSCBridge Ive had running on another win8.1 64bit pc for about 6 months, but that version hasnt changed either. Always has been version 1.2 (32bit). This wouldnt extract so I couldnt see he contents.

Then as I said previously that 2nd touchosc pc started giving error 14 when I installed then uninstalled NeyFi on it. Now TouchOSCBridge and NeyFi wont install on it due to error 14.

I will gladly test the new version. Also what folder is the driver cache? is it
C:\Windows\System32\DriverStore\FileRepository

and also here
C:\Windows\System32\drivers

because there is nothing Bome related there now or when I tried installing.

Hi Florian

Any progress? My situation is getting dire. I need to get TouchOSC back up and running I have a client on wednesday.

Please provide some sort of batch file that can remove the necessary files or what ever needs to be done so I can re-install Bome.

Regards
Ben

Hi Ben,

The drivers are installed by Ney-fi to "C:\Windows\System32\drivers" as well as "C:Windows\System32\DriverStore\FileRepository" are where they are installed.

Can you check to see if you have Antivirus Software that maybe running and causing the issue. I had one user who had the same issue and this was his responses after going back and forth a bit.

"I've cracked it! Just for your info, it appears that my Antivirus Software (COMODO) wasn't shutting down completely and was somehow blocking the installation. I disabled the whole thing (rather than just closing it) and it installed straight away. I've had a bit of fun getting it to link up but have sorted it out now."

Hi Ben,

maybe Joshua's hints can help.

As for the Windows driver cache, I don't really know where Windows is storing it state. And it does not store the driver when the driver is uninstalled. But it remembers from where it can be reinstalled. So the key is to put the driver files where Windows expects them. Example, if you first install NeyFi, Windows will remember that the driver "originals" are installed under Ney-Fi. Now removing NeyFi will remove them, too, and every subsequent attempt to install a different BMIDI product will fail because Windows is ignoring the new path of the driver originals, but trying to install them from the NeyFi location.

Best regards,
Florian

Hi Joshua and Florian thanks for your replies.

On my main DAW there was no antivirus its on a dedicated fixed lan network. This is also where I deleted the files from system32/drivers and driverstore/filerepository (google search) when it didnt uninstall properly then consequently didnt re-install the first time.

So then I installed it on my internet machine with Avast free antivirus, that also had touchosc bridge in it. Vcontrol accessing my DAW remotely via copperlan didnt quite work as I wanted because the virtual window was showing the local computer not the DAW (remote). Thus I un-installed NeyFi. That then stuffed up the Bome install which stuffed up touchosc which I really needed for control room control, hence my concern. Weirdly though I didnt actually manually remove the Bome files from this machine but they were'nt there after I uninstalled NeyFi. Many attempts at install often with antivirus/user control protection/driver signing all turned off were unsuccessful.

Because I couldnt see a solution from anyone else in time I started doing total re-install of my OSs. Many hours, very tired. Starting with my DAW because other protools problems started when I upgraded from 8 to 8.1 and did a reg clean of Bome. So I installed win8.0 with updates and audio software, made a partition backup with paragon then installed copperlan, touchable then NeyFi. I was hoping the problem of NeyFi receiving data from Protools but not sending it (ie protools wouldnt be controlled by vcontrol) would go away, but it was still there. I set it up for Reaper and it worked both ways. Back to protools...it worked once! but then stopped again the next time I started protools!

This problem with Protools was the reason I un-installed NeyFi in the first place. To see if a re-install would help. So currently NeyFi still doesnt work with my completely fresh DAWs protools 11.1.2hd even though it works with Reaper.

At this point my internet machine was still broke but before I embarked on a total re-install I thought I'd seek out the Bome driver files from my newly installed DAW and copy them into the same location of my internet machine. It worked! I was able to re-install TouchOSC bridge. Though I am getting some problems with the editor not syncing I have a functioning studio controller again.

Florian much respect for writing a new version 2.0beta and I will gladly test it. My recording session is in a few hours so I will do it after that.

Best Regards
Ben

PS Joshua please update NeyFi with the new Bome drivers plus give us 64bit version

I just wanted to say to anyone else who is reading this, Florian has come back to me with a customised solution. Great support. I'll report back after my session tonight.

Cheers

Hi, glad to read that you can pursue your recording session. The custom driver I've sent to Ben is a BETA version and if it works for him and after finalizing a few other things, it will be available for licensees such as Neyrinck for licensing.
Regards,
Florian

Thanks for the update! Glad to hear you were able to get things up and running.

kind regards,
Joshua

Hi Florian

I tried the beta driver on my internet machine that I managed to get working and it was problematic to say the least.
If you remember I managed to copy the old driver files from my fresh install to this machine and got it working for my session. Now I have the time I can test 2.0.0.36

I was unsure what applied to me. Your install instructions assumed I had a non working machine with no drivers present. Where in this case I had a working machine from my previous patch. For this reason I just opened the beta .exe and left "replace drivers" checked.

It gave me an error 15 in uninstalling the bus driver. Told me to to restart. After restart device manager shows Bome bus driver 2.0.0.36 in system devices but nothing in sound controllers. TouchOSC bridge isnt working. Although it is loaded and hasnt come up with any error (previously it came up with an error)

...so now I uninstall everything and start again the way you instructed ...

Windows uninstaller showed both Midiport drivers 1.0.0.11 and 2.0.0.36 present . I uninstalled them both then checked device manager- nothing there. checked system32 folders and there was 2 bus and 2 midiport driver folders in the filerepository but nothing in the /drivers folder... mmm tricky. Since it seemed you made this beta assuming I had nothing in either of these folders i deleted all 4 bome folders in the filerepository.

Then I installed 2.0.0.36 as administrator. Unchecked "update drivers" and got error 14. No driver files present with /system32 folder, nothing in device manager BUT windows uninstaller shows v2.0.0.36 present

Installed again. Left replace drivers checked. Error 14 again. Pushed on and installed Touchosc bridge. That also gave me error 14 Installed 2.0.0.36 with "replace drivers" unchecked....error 14

So this new beta is no different. It cant deal with the fact that there are no Bome files in the system32 folders. It should be able to clean slate copy stuff where it needs to go and get on with it.

Luckily I had stored the driver files from my fresh install of the DAW pc so I copied them into the system32 folders and tried every possible combination of installing beta drivers or old drivers with or without the files present in stystem32 folder, with or without "replace drivers" checked.

The only way it would work is if I uninstall and delete everything from everywhere. Copy the old driver files into system32 locations and then install TouchOSC bridge, leaving out the beta driver altogether. That was the state my machine was in before I began testing and touchosc works.

Hope that helps

Hi Ben,

thank you for the detailed report, and sorry that it doesn't work.

I believe it's quite important that you do not delete files. I have a hunch that error 14 is appearing when deleting driver files. The installer is tested well for situations where only the installer(s), and the Device Manager are used to install or uninstall the driver.

And as I said in my email, I've managed to make TouchOSC and Ney-Fi work with the new driver by doing this:
** NOTE: BETA DRIVER INSTRUCTIONS **

1. install Ney-Fi and/or TouchOSC
2. install beta driver 2.0.0.36. Keep "Update" checked!
   This will remove the Ney-Fi and TouchOSC ports.
3. To get the ports back, run the Ney-Fi and/or TouchOSC installer again.
   Their installers should now work with the updated driver.

Yes, you'll have 1.x and 2.x in the "Installed Applications". That's not a problem. It's just the entry in the list. The next version of the driver may fix this. And you can probably safely uninstall 1.x after having made sure that the TouchOSC and/or Ney-Fi ports exist. Most likely, Windows will still keep the old version of the driver files around. Don't worry about the files. It's just a few KB on your hard drive.

If the new beta driver installer has a checked "Update" option, it means that it has detected an older driver. continuing with that option will install the new driver. If you uncheck "update", the installer will not do anything!

If the installer gives an unchecked "reinstall" option, you can use it to force the installer to first uninstall whatever BMIDI driver is installed, and then install "from scratch" the 2.x driver.

Thanks,
Florian

PS: if you still have problems with error 14, you can try to delete bmidilib.dll (and bmidilib2.dll) from Windows\Sys32 and from Windows\SysWow64 .

Hi Florian

Before I go any further, the state of my test pc is back to what I had before I started testing the new beta.

ie it has driver files present in system32/drivers and /driverstore/filerepository and only bmidilib.dll (not bmidilib2.dll) in syswow64 BUT nothing in /system32 (or did you mean the folders within it mentioned above)
TouchOSC is working in this state. Windows uninstaller shows Bome 1.0.0.11. Device manager shows entries in sound controllers and system devices.

So do you want me to start by uninstalling everything? In the past that has caused error 14 and I cant do anything. Stage 1 in your latest instructions is apparently done. But Im not sure if it is entirely normal. From looking at my description above would you say I can skip stage 1?

Hi Ben,

you're correct, step 1 is already done, so you can skip to step 2 without uninstalling (or deleting) anything ever again

ONLY if you stumble on error 14 again, a new idea is to delete bmidilib.dll. I've updated my first post above, too.

And you're correct, on a 64-bit Windows, BMIDI v1.x does not install bmidilib.dll in Windows\System32 (that's where the 64-bit versions go). BMIDI 2.x also installs the 64-bit version.

Thanks and best regards,
Florian

Thanks florian for your efforts.

Just thought I'd say that I never delete system files by default I try all official avenues in all combinations before I result to that. Indeed that's what happened. In the beginning, after uninstalling Neyfi the usual way with it unloaded it caused error 14. So I tried uninstalling and reinstalling many ways starting with the most logical and usual methods. The next stage for me was to unpack the neyfi exe and try the bome uninstallers and installers. oNly then did I google it and see other people saying delete this and that file. Regardless The problem existed before I manually deleted anything.

Seems to me from a mere users perspective you have addressed what you can so far in this issue. Now I'm hoping neyrinck will have a look at it with the new drivers you'll provide soon.

Regards
Ben

Florian and Ben,

Thank you both for all the information you have provided as it also helps me get a better understanding of what's going on with Windows and the new beta version.

Hi,

i have also the problem with Error 14 on my Laptop!
On my PC no problems, working nice with TouchOSC. I think a user selectable Virtual Midi Port like Tobi Erichsen loopMidi is way better, has never ever a problem with it!
But ok, thats not your problem.

Booth OS are Win7 x64. Iam not a noob but cant find anything else to manage this error.
Only this thread.

About fix ACL i found only the way to add a new User but this is not the right way and it cost too much time (iam a fresh father of a 2 years old son and iam in "Elternzeit", my wife is working) at the moment.

Copy driver files to the correct folders. Ok, but where?

Has extracted the BMIDI_Driver_1.0.0.11.exe from TouchOSC setup and tried to install with admin right. No way, Error 14.

So, can i get the new standalone Bome Midi driver beta from you to test?

Edit: Has tried to install Bome manually over the Device Manager. Doesnt work:
Ein Dienstinstallationsabschnitt dieser INF-Datei ist ungültig.

Pffuhh. Schade!

Hi Chris,

so sorry to hear of this problem. And my apologies for not replying to your post earlier.

I just want to point out that this error 14 is a very rare problem: the driver is in use by 10s of thousands of users, and as far as I know, this thread is the only place where it is discussed.

I'll PM you for the beta driver.

Regards,
Florian

Hi everyone,

Sorry for bringing this thread back but I encountered this error code 14 and I'm not sure what's the next step to solve this.
I've MT player 1.7.1.5 provided by nativeKontrol, waiting for their answer as well.

I used to have it installed and working perfect for years. But after a recent windows 7 reinstall I messed up : having too many virtual midi ports due to some install problem, I followed these steps to do a reset of midi ports : I guess it worked too well and now there is this error 14 when I install MT.

I've tried many things described in this thread, but none worked so far.
I have W7 64 bits.

This includes :

• Delete all Bome stuff and reinstall
• Checked Windows Event viewer after an error 14 install, didn't found anything
• No Bome port shows in the Device Manager, dysfunctional or not
• Other devices has no exclamation mark in the device manager
• Tried solution described in the "Error opening Port: Port Does Not Exist" thread, also I have no bome* folder in the FileRepository folder

Any help would be appreciated.

Hi Renaud,
as previously brought up in this thread, doing any kind of manual removal can interfere with the driver setup, eventually leading to this error. The new BMIDI 2 should be able to fix it. You can install the latest MIDI Translator Pro to also install BMIDI2. Afterwards, you can uninstall MT Pro, the virtual MIDI ports stay. You may need to also install MT Player afterwards, to get those ports back.

Regards,
Florian

It worked perfectly !
Thanks for your quick answer.

Best regards.