This may be more of a Windows issue than Cantabile. The problem is that if I don’t plug my USB keyboard into exactly the same USB slot, a new/different midi input source is created and I have to go into the midi input/edit section for that keyboard, find the new source and make sure it’s checked. Otherwise Cantabile doesn’t recognize keyboard. Any solution for this other than always plugging into the same laptop USB port?
Nope - and it IS a windows issue. Has been since day dot haha! There is still a midi device limit of ten, even in W10 
Are you sure this isn’t a driver issue? I’ve never had that problem on my setup with the various MIDI-compatible stuff I have, on Windows 10.
Yep 100% - There are several devices that will auto-reinstall the device driver to another port if you insert the device into a different USB port. If it is a MIDI device Windows OS then automatically assigns a new midi port from the allotted 10.
The ten device limit has LONG been a bugbear in the Windows OS and many hoped it would be addressed in W10, but it has not.
Thanks. I figured it was Windows bug, but wanted to be sure I wasn’t missing something
Yep it’s a Windows/Driver issue outside the control of Cantabile.
One work around is to map your Cantabile MIDI port to all the variations of MIDI port that the driver creates - that way which ever one it happens to pick Cantabile will still map it.
(Hrm, not sure I explained that well - let me know if you need clarification).
1 Like
So basically, plug the usb cable into every usb port. Each time a new midi port is created. So if I go back into Options/Midi devices for that keyboard, I will see the list of all possible port connections. Is that right? Even so, will I still have to put a check box beside the desired midi port, or should I check them all ahead of time so they are all potentionally"activated", depending on which port I plug into (I’m not at my keyboard now so I can’t test this)
Sadly, no. What windows will do is go the the LATEST driver and port allocation, now if that happens to be outside the 10 allowed you are out of luck. There are a couple of fixes, one that I use is relatively painless, although it looks complicated it isn’t really and I will attach (if I can) instructions… Nope cannot do that - it is just text so I’ll paste it in here (sorry Brad) …This will allow you to delete the entries, which also removes (should) the MIDI devices in Windows Registry.
-
Click on the Start menu, then select Run.
-
Type in regedit and click OK.
-
Click on the File menu, and select Export.
-
Set the directory where you are saving the registry file to your Desktop.
-
Type in any name for the file, and make sure All is selected.
-
Click SAVE, and verify that it has created a backup file on your desktop. Note this (steps 1-6) only needs to be done if you want to create a Registry backup prior to the below…I never have bothered with it and as long as you are careful with instructions below you won’y have any probs - but yada yada - done at your own risk etc hahaha!
-
Navigate to the System Key called:
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Session Manager\Environment]. -
If there is an entry called DEVMGR_SHOW_NONPRESENT_DEVICES already there, make sure its
value is set to 1. If the value is missing from within the Key, Right-Click over the listing and select NEW->String Value from the pop-up menu. -
Rename the new REG_SZ (String Value) to DEVMGR_SHOW_NONPRESENT_DEVICES and set its value to 1. (1 = show all hidden devices, incidentally).
-
Exit regedit and restart your computer.
-
On restart, open your control panel, select the system icon, select the Hardware tab in the
System Properties dialog and then press the ‘Device Manager’ button. Now for the magic part:
Open Device Manager’s View menu and check the ‘Show hidden devices’ option. -
With the new registry key in place, Device Manager will actually do something for a change when this option has been checked. You can now click on the ‘Sound, video and game controllers’ icon and you’ll see all the ghost MIDI and Audio interfaces that windows has installed.
-
Delete any ghosted out ‘USB Audio Device’ icons you see. If you see any MIDI interface drivers for hardware you no longer own, feel free to delete these too. If you delete a ghosted driver for hardware you still own, this will not cause any harm except to require you to reinstall the drivers the next time you connect that MIDI device.
-
For good measure, click on the ‘Universal Serial Bus controllers’ icon and delete any ghosted USB Composite devices you see (especially if there are lots of them): This will require that Windows reinstall drivers the next time you reconnect some of your less used peripherals, but this should not be a problem.
-
Make sure that any Logitech web-cam drivers are not hanging around in ghost form! Delete them if you find them.
1 Like
I’ve had this issue as well and solved it by always using the same USB port for my usb hub that I then label the specific ports for my two keyboards and two midi foot controllers. It’s a pita but this has seemed to alleviate me having to reconfigure my ports before every gig.