Cubase 12 MIDI remote issues with Akai MPK controllers

Seams I’m not alone here. Just upgraded from Cubase 11 to 12 pro, and the MIDI remote configuration is simply not working with either my Akai MPK249 or MPK225 controllers.

The main issue appears to be that although the channel MIDI input lets me choose the Akai’s Port A and play VST instruments without issue, the MIDI remote setup does not see port A.
So I can’t manually configure the set up without changing the port output on the controller.

But even if I do that, while the MIDI remote setup will see the controllers moving, individual effects and instruments do not see them with the learn function.

Most troublesome for me is that the transport controls cannot be mapped to anything because the MIDI remote setup won’t ‘see’ them.

On Cubase 11 I successfully had the transport controls working by setting them up in the Generic remote section of studio setup.
But that’s now missing in 12.

It seams to be a mess.

So it appears as though I’ve got my MPK49 working… sort of.

If I connect it into the USB in of my Apogee Quartet audio interface, instead of directly into the computer, Cubase recognises it as ‘Quartet’ instead of MPK49 and then it works…well, everything except the transport buttons, but everything else is working normally.

I don’t know why it works now, or why it doesn’t when connected directly, but maybe if your audio interface has a MIDI input you might be able to replicate my success.