SOLVED: Configuring COM port for Win 7 x64

[Marc Girard]

Good news! Finally working!

[bitSync]

Well, COM3 is working. Looks like LoopMIDI is working. But I still am not getting the MIDI loopback software, the DAW and D8Bridge working together. I've been able to init the console with D8Bridge, but it has never seen the DAW...

Also tried LoopBE30 without success.

[neto117]

Re: I'm Hatin' D8Bridge Right Now...


bitSync wrote:
Greetings,

I took your advice and installed LoopBE30. Easy setting up ports. D8Bridge can see them and Sonar 8.5.3 x64 can see them. But I can't get Sonar and D8Bridge to talk. The console gets initialized by the D8Bridge software but D8Bridge *never* sees the DAW with LoopBE30. In the DAW I'm using 1 MCU and 2 MCXT control surfaces with MIDI ports MCU In-5 Out-6, MCXT1 In-3 Out-4, and MCXT2 In-1 Out-2. No green lights on D8Bridge, ever. I think I've tried every combination of initialization and shutdown possible.

I had some sporadic but incomplete success using LoopMIDI, but I still never got the console to get past "...waiting for DAW". Maybe a green light or two, maybe MCU #3 init received. Nothing more. I'm just extremely frustrated here.

Do you have any suggestions? Thank you.


Dont Know if there is a problem with PM but I could not reply to you, I tried twice and they are still in my inbox so I'm posting my reply here.



Hi bitSync
I had many issues also with the set up but I finally got it to work, First of all even though my system and set up is 64bit I could not get the 64bit version of D8bridge to work so I'm using the 32bit version on my 64bit system. Following are some of the issues I had with my setup.
1) The drivers that came with my USB adapter did not work so I had to use a generic one off the internet.
2) LOOPMIDI was very sporadic so I searched and found LoopBE30 and it seems to work more consistant and it is easy to use.

Here is a screenshot of both the MCU and the DAW setup. [url

Uploaded with ImageShack.us][/url]

Keep in mind that you also have to configure the Mackie control 1 in Sonar by
1) clicking on utilities and selecting Mackie control 1
2) then on the window that opens click on CONFIGURE LAYOUT
3) then go to your D8B and select the ON switch which is located right under the LOW button on your eq section of the mixer
4) then select chnnels 1 thru 8 by turning the channel 1 pan control
5) then press the setup utton which is righ next to the on switch then select chnnels 9 thru 16 by turning the pan button on channel 9
6) then press the memory A button which is right next to the set up button then select channels 17 thru 24 by turning the pan button on channel 17. Now go back to Sonar an press on the CONFIGURE LAYOUT button again and close the window.
I hopefully I'm no leaving something out.

I hope this helps.

Neto

[bitSync]

So, I never got d8bridge_x64.exe to work, ever. After several tens of hours of grueling troubleshooting, cursing, and yes, hating D8Bridge, a lot. Like I said, it never occurred to me to run the 32 bit application on my Win7 x64 machine; the highlights of the 1.1 release notice announced the availability of the 64 bit executable. What could go wrong?

Well, I don't know if d8bridge_x64.exe is working for anyone else. If so, cool, but not for me. But once I tried the 32 bit version of the program (thanks to neto117's suggestion), everything changed. Faders flying, LEDs blinking, the Test d8b LEDs button works, bank selector works. I'm even getting LED level meters on playback (the only thing I've tried so far) which I understood to be not implemented in Sonar's MCU control surface implementation. The meters aren't calibrated to the Sonar DAW, but they're operating (they show hotter than the DAW levels).

The only thing I haven't got working yet, I think, is the transport controls. But I also have the Frontier TranzPort installed as a control surface and so there may be some control surface collision or precedence issue there. Not a big deal at this point. I'll figure that out.

So my resulting functioning configuration is -

Win 7 x64
Sonar Producer 8.5.3 x64
LoopBE30
d8bridge.exe (32 bit, not the 64 bit d8bridge_x64.exe)
USconverters.com XS8801 USB-to-serial adapter cable

My golden recipe. I think I'll take neto117's info, MOSHWITZ's info and my own personal experience and capture it all in a storybook about D8Bridge and Sonar x64 system integration. Once upon a time...

Peace out.

[Marc Girard]

Good to know that it is finally working out for you BitSync. The problem with the x64 version of D8Bridge is a compiler/OS issue. The x64 is compiled from the very same sources and should be working fine but I don't know why, it simply doesn't. I think it might have to do with the Multimedia Layer of Windows 7 x64. WinMM.DLL (the DLL that takes charges of the MIDI functions) is a 32bit library! (EVEN if your Windows is FULLY x64).

D8Bridge is a "middleware", it acts as a translator in between your MIDI and D8B control messages. There is no real advantages to have/run a 64bit version of D8Bridge. I got asked for a x64 version, so I just wanted to offer the option to my customers.

Sorry if it caused some serious hassle to you. I'm thinking of retiring D8Bridge x64! (or at least try to find a fix!)

[bitSync]

Happiness abounds! Looks like it's all working now.

[Marc Girard]

Happiness abounds! Looks like it's all working now.

Yes, I like reading this! Enjoy your new setup!

[BrianJ]

Marc,
So, D8Bridge x64 doesn't work in Windows 7 x64? I need to know this before purchasing!

I use the 64bit versions of reaper and cubase as this allows the use of more ram...I hope I'm reading this thread wrong, cause it sure would be a setback if x64 d8bridge wont' work...

[Axeman098]

Well, I guess that is my question too. EVERYTHING I do is 64bit now. (Here come the hypotheticals lol) If D8Bridge runs fine as a 32bit executable in a 64bit machine, I'm fine with that. I mean, it's a MIDI Translator, does the 32/64bit versions really matter? What, if anything, about the MIDI translating function of the Bridge is lost or affected in 32bit? That said, is there any special config to apply to the 32bit .exe, compatibility mode, etc. that needs to be applied before running it? What are the fundamental pros and cons of the different versions as it applies to how the software does what it designed to? Is there any sort of bandwidth advantage to the MIDI translator by running x64? If the next version of Bridge opens the Analog inputs up, will I be able to sync or chain them with my external MOTU's?? That would really put a smile on my face if I could do that Also, and this is the part that is of concern to me, is....when the Analog I/O gets opened up, how will the 32/64 bit choice affect that functionality, if at all?

Call me devil's advocate, but I'd rather ask the what if's now, BEFORE I purchase, so I know what options I have available to me, to make the most out of my D8B. I empathize with trying to get everything to work, when I got my first Tascam FW1884 console, it took me 6 months, and a surprising after hours phone call from an 1884 Developer himself to get me running. Once it did though....wow....it was whole new world. I fully expect, from what I've seen, for the D8Bridge to be my next whole new world of "Wow", and positively impact how I do what I do. I've been watching this software development for a long time, and I know the countless hours of diligence Marc has put into this. Right now I'm working mostly in Sonar X1d Producer x64 on a dual CPU workstation, and a 4 CPU Proliant Rack Server running Windows 7 Enterprise. I intend to A/B the units from a single interface, using an Argosy fitted (or Similar style) Console for the D8B. I know Argosy used to make one specifically for the D8B, but the D8B is my Centerpiece, and it will all revolve around D8Bridge working as I have seen. I have a Power PC Mac G5 with Logic 8 as well, but I really have little time to dive into the learning Curve of a both a Mac OSX box AND Logic all at the same time. I would love to run the Mackie with that eventually as well, but my priority is on my primary, most used DAW, and thats X1, with X2 already showing up in the near future.

My medical issues in January have totally derailed my entire plan this year financially. When I make the purchase, I will be stretching for it. Squeezing it in somewhere, someway, somehow. I want what it does, I NEED what it does to stand out in a sea of mediocre "producers" and wannabe engineers here and have a bigger, better, more intuitive way of doing what I love to do. For me, it will be like needing to chop down a tree, and going from a Saw on a Swiss Army knife, to a Chainsaw.... I'm going to spend that money with a smile knowing and hoping that my return on investment will be a LOT more than just $ signs