Mac SysEx Editor import dialog doesn't enable file selection

jerekapyaho · February 12, 2021, 11:03pm

Hello, searched the forum but couldn’t find this covered, so here:

I’m trying to use the MIDI SysEx Editor in Cubase Pro 10.5.20 on macOS Big Sur 11.1. I managed to create a SysEx event in the List Editor and open the SysEx Editor by clicking the Comment field, but there are two problems that are making it difficult to work there:

If I insert bytes into the message, they show in black text. I can’t seem to set the SysEx editor background to anything more bright than nearly black, so I can’t really see what I’m doing too well. The Editor Area Background color setting in Preferences does not seem to affect the SysEx Editor background. Is there some other color setting I should use?
I can’t import SysEx files. The file picker does not let me select files with the .syx extension.

Can anyone verify these? Are they user errors, or should I file issues with support?

EDIT: Sorry, I just read some more forum material, and it seems that a post with the ‘issue’ tag is kind of a bug report. I should have done my homework.

Dr.Strangelove · January 25, 2021, 9:45pm

hi jerekapyaho

the ‘issue’ tag is fine and thanks for checking - some of the categories are not so strictly defined - and we are often not sure what is a bug and what is a ‘feature’ (@steve will probably correct me here ) - FWIW you should be able to edit the tags afterwards if you decide it’s not an issue ?

Hopefully somebody will confirm either way soon (I’m not in front of cubase at the mo !).

You are welcome to log the issue with support - and will do no harm - But let’s see if you get feedback here first as it may save the effort ?

jerekapyaho · January 25, 2021, 9:57pm

Hello, thanks for your reply. Yes, I’ll stick by and see if someone can take the time to verify this on their Cubase.

jerekapyaho · January 27, 2021, 9:16am

Looks like not that many forum users are too interested in MIDI SysEx editing, but for my workflow it’s important. I work a lot with “vintage” digital synths and rack modules that live and breathe SysEx messages.

On my old PC laptop with Windows 8.1, the MIDI SysEx Editor in Cubase AI 8.0.40 works just as expected. With all settings at default, the contrast is fine. Also, importing SysEx files (with the .syx extension) works.

I’m starting to think this is a regression in Cubase Pro 10.5, related to the new color schemes implementation. As for the inability to import SysEx files, I don’t have a theory.

I haven’t upgraded to Cubase Pro 11 yet, but if someone is able to verify that these have been fixed, that might nudge me to upgrade sooner than later.

I did go to the Steinberg Download Assistant to see if I could have a look at the Cubase 11 release notes, but there weren’t any.

Dr.Strangelove · January 27, 2021, 9:36am

did you log the issue with Steinberg support ? I’d be interested in what they say (if anything!)

jerekapyaho · January 27, 2021, 2:24pm

Just filed a support request with Steinberg. The contrast issue seems to have magically corrected itself, maybe because of a restart of Cubase. But the inability to import SysEx files still remains. You can’t even import back a SysEx file that you have just exported from the MIDI SysEx Editor. I’m attaching here the same screenshot as in the support request.

Dr.Strangelove · January 27, 2021, 4:07pm

can you post a sysex here (zip it up) ? maybe somebody can take a look - not sure I have any sysex files here.

jerekapyaho · January 27, 2021, 4:30pm

Sure, here is a ZIP file with the same three files you see in the screenshot.

SysExTest.zip (3.4 KB)

One of them is just a single voice from a Yamaha TG77 (not SY, but I must have been tired), the other is a DX7-compatible sound bank from Dexed, an the third one is just a quick test of the export (it is also the only one that is invalid, in the sense that it doesn’t have a proper header or data, but that shouldn’t make any difference since you should still be able to import).

jerekapyaho · January 27, 2021, 7:59pm

More testing: Cubase Elements 9.5.50 / OS X El Capitan (10.11.6) - SysEx files import just fine, except that the MIDI SysEx Editor shows an extra F7 (SysEx message terminator byte) in the message.

For a moment I thought that this could be a macOS Big Sur file access limitation. The macOS privacy settings show that Cubase has access to Documents, Desktop, and Network Volumes. So I moved a SysEx file to the Desktop, and tried again, but that didn’t make any difference, not even after restarting Cubase.

jerekapyaho · February 11, 2021, 9:26pm

Filed a support request 15 days ago, but no response yet (status is “open” at MySteinberg).

Would still appreciate if some forum reader had the time to verify if they are getting the same behaviour in version 10.5. Or to verify that they are not getting this in other versions. I’m interested to find out how this is in version 11.0.

steve · February 11, 2021, 9:34pm

I’ll test the issue if you can please post the steps to reproduce like in How to report a bug in Cubase

jerekapyaho · February 12, 2021, 6:19am

Here are the steps to reproduce this issue:

Unzip the attached archive SysExTest.zip to your macOS desktop.
Start Cubase.
Create a new empty project.
Create a new MIDI track in the project.
Create a new empty MIDI part in the track.
Select the MIDI part and open the List Editor (MIDI > Open List Editor).
Add a SysEx event to the part.
Click the Comment field of the SysEx event to open the MIDI SysEx Editor.
Click the “Import…” button. to open the file open dialog.
Navigate to your macOS Desktop folder.
Try to select any of the SysEx files from step 1.

What was expected to happen:
You would be able to select a SysEx file from the file open dialog for editing in the MIDI SysEx Editor.

What actually happened:
The selection of SysEx files is disabled in the file open dialog. (See attached screenshot.)

System information:

iMac (Retina 5K, 27-inch, 2019) + macOS Big Sur 11.2.1
Cubase Pro 10.5.20

steve · February 12, 2021, 8:16pm

All works fine on Windows. But it seems there is one issue only, that the file picker doesn’t allow sysex type files to be selected. Correct? POst an image of the pertinent dialog and menu please.

jerekapyaho · February 12, 2021, 9:24pm

Thank you for your response.

This issue is about Cubase Pro 10.5 on macOS. I’m not able to test on Windows at this time.

I posted the screenshot I referred to earlier in this thread, it is up there at Jan 27. Please scroll up to find it.

steve · February 12, 2021, 11:04pm

But that’s the issue, yes? And not

jerekapyaho · February 12, 2021, 11:46pm

Yes, that’s the issue.

Sorry that I originally conflated two issues. As I wrote above:

The contrast issue seems to have magically corrected itself, maybe because of a restart of Cubase. But the inability to import SysEx files still remains. You can’t even import back a SysEx file that you have just exported from the MIDI SysEx Editor.

Does that make it more clear to you?

EDIT: Thanks for updating the post title. I was looking for a way to do that earlier, but didn’t immediately find it. Maybe I will eventually.