USB2 USB3 problems

I have a Lenovo Idea Pad 320S running Cantabile 3 Performer. The laptop has one USB2 and one USB3 socket. I use one to generate audio using my ESI U22XT and the other to get controller information from my Arturia Keylab keyboard.
I have to change the audio driver depending on which port I use, out of one its the ASIO, using the other I have to change to the WASAPI and adjust the sample rate. The trouble is it’s not consistent. I set everything up at rehearsal and spend five minutes swapping things round until everything works, then I have to do it all again when I get home even though everything is just as it was when I broke it down.
The other port also sends program change commands to my Yamaha MOXF8 and sometimes the laptop doesn’t ‘see’ it until I’ve swapped everything round.
It doesn’t make sense and I’m nervous as it is relying on software (up to now I’ve always used dedicated hardware) When it doesn’t work I don’t know why. It’s less like problem solving than clicking on plugging until something happens.
Any ideas?

This kind of thing is why I quit using USB for my controllers. I only use MIDI now, via my Focusrite interface. Everything goes through the same USB port and WIndows can’t f**k it up.

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I do not know about your specific configuration, but I had similar issues with my old laptop and a Focusrite Saffire Diamond USB Audio/MIDI interface. A big issue was that the Focusrite HAD to be in a USB2 port (the laptop only had one). If you put it in a USB3 port you had all sorts of problems including when I ran Cantabile C2, and then quit, for some reason the audio driver was never released.

I have a similar problem on my main music computer with a MOTU MID Express 128. If you put it in a USB 3 port, you get hanging notes. Put it back in a USB2 port and all is fine.

To get around the problem similar to yours, I ended up labelling the USB Ports on the computer to ensure that I always put the USB Focusrite interface in the right port, same for the the other USB interfaces. The lesson learnt was that I plugged it in the wrong port before one gig, didn;t notice, had problems and managed to screw up a Cantablile C2 config and had forgotten my backup hard drive - C2 was less forgiving on changed environments compared to C3. I had to reprogram it on the fly and only just got it back before the gig. That was stressful! It taught me the lesson to have a few different ways of recovering your config always with you. :slight_smile:

So long as you get the environment that works for you, and document it and stick to it, it should be fine.

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I use a MOTU MIDI Express XT, and it also requires a USB2 port. Problem was, my computer has Blue and Black ports, but in reality they are ALL USB3 at the Host Controller end! There is no separate USB2 Host Controller! As a result, any port produced MIDI log-jams - stuck notes that would suddenly dump all the stuck notes out at once.

I bought a powered USB2 hub (which I really needed anyway so as not to draw so much power from the PC) and never had a problem again. So, that might be your answer also. I got this item from Pluggable: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00L2LK164

Terry

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I have two expansion cards in my DAW computer; one USB2 and one USB, so all I had to do was plug the MOTU into a port on the USB2 card and it is as rock solid as it has always been. :slight_smile:

It reminds me, and it is worth mentioning in case people have the same problem, that when I moved from that Focusrite Diamond to a Scarlett interface for the gig computer that I had a problem with the device constantly connecting then disconnecting, then connecting and disconnecting… Turns out that he Scarlett draws more power for the phantom power (even if not being used) and it was exceeding the current draw for the laptop port. A powered hub cured that problem.

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Thanks guys, but the problem is that it doesn’t matter which configuration works, it may (stress, may_emphasized text_) not work next time. I take care to reproduce the last working config but … nada

Maddening. Truly maddening. Keep feeding us data points - somebody may stumble onto a solution or recognize what is going on from their own experience.

Terry