MIDI Device Manager Loses All MIDI connections

More than once, I launch a project and Cubase complains about the MIDI part not being assigned (sometimes multiple.

I get into Cubase and look at the MIDI Device Manager to find it empty.

Consider the following:
I have 5 MIDI devices plugged into an 8 port MIDI * interface

  • They’re all hardware devices (nothing virtual).
  • I have scripts configuring them all, with all patch banks.
  • They work for months, then suddenly, POOF they’re gone.
  • The night before, they worked fine
  • I check the hardware / drivers, there’s nothing wrong with it.
  • I reconfigure them all and they ALL WORK FINE

If Cubase has an issue where it cannot work properly with a MIDI device during a session/instance, I understand it should complain and of course not work for that part, perhaps uninstall ROUTING for the project tracks using those parts.

But to COMPLETELY UNCONFIGURE all MIDI devices from the program, irretrievably, FOR A TEMPORARY ISSUE, requiring a completely manual reinstallation of all devices is, in short, a very bad user experience.

You should a) handle fault better without just tossing the application confutations out of the window and b) better inform the user what problem you’re having with a particular configuration / installation.

Can anybody say what likely causes this scenario so I can better avoid it happening in the future?

Thanks, Chris

Are the devices powered up at Cubase launch? Cubase won’t see them if they aren’t.

You don’t say what version you are using, but recently it changed so that if you add/power-up a MIDI device after launching Cubase it will then be detected. Prior to that you needed to use the Reset Button (I think that’s its name, not at Cubase) in MIDI Setup to see the new devices. And prior to that you had to reboot.

I think you’re right although I can’t remember when this changed in Cubase for the better. I’m using Cubase 12 on Windows 10. If I connect a USB MIDI device after I launch Cubase it will be detected.
That said, I think OP might be talking about MIDI Devices you set up via the MIDI Device Manager:

Since they apparently have an 8 port MIDI interface, I don’t think powering the devices pre or post Cubase launch is the culprit.

Sorry, this is Cubase Pro 14.

I have occasionally fired up Cubase without some equipment powered on, but it usually pops up a dialog telling me of a missing driver (audio) or MIDI mapping, allowing me to power on that device (while slapping my forehead) and all is well.

But even if I hit okay without powering up the units, I would expect
those tracks requiring the missing hardware to not work / be deactivated, but to NOT have Cubase simply toss out the entire permanent configuration.

Cubase should never say "I don’t see the hardware the user has pre-configured, so completely remove it from the studio setup, irrecoverably.

That’s just dumb.

It’s been this way for more than one major revision. It happens with the AUDIO INTERFACE configuration from time to time as well.

And of course, Cubase complains if any of this equipment is turned off during a session, which is totally understandable. In that case, the same ‘missing or unmapped resource’ dialog come up and gives one a chance to turn it back on. Which is nice.

But if you CLOSE Cubase in that state (dismissing the resource-missing dialog without resolving the issue), then you may at this point lose your complete configuration.

I can describe this in a word: FRAGILE.

Steinberg: Cubase should never dump a user config like this. Throw errors, stop the engine, disable tracks, whatever … but do not just dump the config.

Search the forums. There have been reports of MIDI and or AUDIO configs being lost back to Cubase 7.

Chris

If you are on a PC, the next time this occurs can you take a screenshot of the “Sound, video and game controllers” section of Device Manager.