Lost ability to create aliases and open ports. No pop-up window.

When starting MT I normally saw a pop-up window allowing me to create aliases for devices that may have changed. Now that window doesn't show up and I can't open ports for devices or create aliases. If I click on Midi/Open Used Ports, again, I get no pop-up. Have I somehow forgotten how this works...and maybe the pop-up doesn't really exist?
Please help... I have a three day week-end and hoped to get some real programming done.
Thanks,
Gabriel

By the way, I've uninstalled MT 1.8 and reinstalled, but this doesn't help.
Gabriel

The popup still exists, but it will only pop up if there are unassigned aliases which you actually use in the project. So, if the pop up does not come, it means that all your used MIDI ports are working just fine.

"Used" means a port is checked in Project Default ports or in Preset Default Ports, or in a MIDI action, or used in a MIDI Route.

You can check the MIDI port and alias status by clicking the MIDI icon at upper right in the toolbar. It'll open up the project properties, with the Default Project MIDI Ports.

If you think it's not working as expected, can you post a screen shot of the MIDI port lists, and possibly the project file?

Thanks!
Florian

Florian,
Indeed... the ports seem to be open and I'm up and running
I do still have an issue which I've not been able to characterize fully. It has to do with the two Livid Brain2's that are the heart of my midi controller. They seem to rename themselves sometimes when I start up MT. Sometimes they show up as Brain2 and Brain2(2) and sometimes they show up as Brain2A and Brain2A(2). When the names change, the aliases don't work, as they are expecting to be related to whichever device name the Brains took on the last time I started MT. It's something I'll investigate more fully, but right now, thanks to your help, I can proceed with my programming and take on the renaming problem later.
Thanks very much for your help.
Gabriel

fwiw, Windows does have the bad habit of arbitrarily adding an index to same-named devices in the order of initialization. I believe on Windows 7 and further, it does a better job of assigning the same index to the same device, but it does not always work. There is little we can do in MT then -- it bases the alias definitions on device names. Though I'll write down a feature request to primarily base alias definitions and device definitions by hardware ID.

Thanks,
Florian

After some months, something seems to have changed, and again, I can't easily force MT to recognize the two Livid Brain v2's in my system.

When I launch MT I get the following messages:
Error(015): MIDI input "Brain2A (2)" does not exist. It is set to 'pending' so that it is used automatically when you plug it in.
Error(015): MIDI input "Brain2A" does not exist. It is set to 'pending' so that it is used automatically when you plug it in.
Error(015): MIDI output "Brain2A" does not exist. It is set to 'pending' so that it is used automatically when you plug it in.
Error(015): MIDI output "Brain2A (2)" does not exist. It is set to 'pending' so that it is used automatically when you plug it in.

In the past, I could choose the correct ports with the "Open Used Ports" option. There, I always saw 2 pairs of ports:
Brain 2
and
Brain 2(2)

and also
Brain 2A
and
Brain 2A(2)
Sometimes it worked if I selected the first pair. Sometimes it worked if I selected the second.

Now, the Open Used Ports pop-up no longer pops up. You pointed out previously, that this meant that the correct ports were all open, but somehow this is no longer the case. The only way I can correct the situation is to repeatedly unplug and replug the hub which receives the two Brain midi connections and then connects to my computer. Eventually, and it seems, randomly, the correct ports are chosen. This becomes quite tedious.

Can you advise me?
Thanks,
Gabriel

Hi Gabriels,
sorry for the late reply. I am not sure what is happening... the MIDI device detection and persistence is a feature in MIDI Translator which is crucial for most users, and it is very important that it works reliably.

If the ports are now named "Brain2A" and "Brain2A (2)", and MT says they don't exist, then chances are that Windows cannot access them (for whatever reason), and they appear as being unplugged.

If the ports have a different name, then you should adjust your aliases.

I may find something if you could post a screenshot of the list of MIDI IN devices (e.g. in the project properties) at start-up, and after un+replugging the USB hub.

Have you tried with a different USB hub?

Thanks,
Florian

No worries about reply time... As you can see, there's a workaround, though I'd like to be able to do what I used to do... just do an "Open Used Ports"
Here are screenshots at first opening of MT and then after unplugging and replugging the hub several times. I'll try a different hub as you suggested. Also, maybe starting MT before plugging in the hub (though that's not what I used to do).
Let me know if anything comes to mind. It's most likely related to the fact that there are two identical Brains plugged in, even though Livid did make available firmware to differentiate between the two. Originally, both Brains showed up as Brain2, and it was difficult to figure out how to configure software.
Thanks,
Gabriel

Oops... forgot this!
Before and after unplugging and replugging hub:

Hi,
it seems that when first starting MT, the ports are named "Brain2" and "Brain2 (2)". They're opened by MT, but depending on your project/preset/translator setup, they may not be used.

Where do you define the ports in your project? The recommended place is in the preset properties. There, just check all 4 Brain2 entries. Then they should be used already before replugging the hub.

You can also attach the project file and I'll have a look.
Florian