MUST READ FOR ANY CONTROL SURFACE USERS : Mackie Control Universal and Logic 8

[harry_seldon]

Is anyone else having trouble with their Mackie Control Universal and Logic 8?

[ptbarnum]

i'm having a really rough time getting logic to see my control surfaces (mcu pro, tranzport),
some have suggested that the apogee drivers are f'in up the controllers, nothing conclusive yet.. what's your setup?

[ALL*MYTEE]

Hi Harry (and PT),

If you are running an Apogee interface, try starting up Logic 8 with the Apogee interface turned off. This worked for me (I have an Ensemble) and I was then able to turn on the interface and get it recognized without any problem. (So that they both work).

[ptbarnum]

AMT (acceptable abbreviation?)
i think you're definitely on the right track, unfortunately, i don't think i can turn off the symphony without pulling it out. i'm hopeful that they'll do a pro app support update, or apogee will get on it soon.

[headz]

I found a problem that control surface list gets only shown when the OS language is set to english, so anybody who wants to use his/her ControlSurface like Faderport, Alphatrack etc. in L8 needs to set OS language to english for this

very nice how apple / the rellingen guys test these days dfegad

[Macaroni]

Where do you set the OS to English?

[headz]

Originally Posted by Macaroni

Where do you set the OS to English?

haha you're in LA so I guess you have this by default, otherwise go to system prefs > international > language. the top choosen language is the OS language

[Macaroni]

DOH!!!

Thanks!

[harry_seldon]

Yes, I have an Apogee Ensemble. I can't install any Control Surfaces. I did a clean install, and reinstalled everything, but to no avail. The control surface install is completely empty of all supported control surface models. Weird, and very annoying. I am going to call Apple for support, and post the results if I can't resolve the issue.

Edit:

I just rebooted with the Ensemble off, and started Logic 8. The control surfaces magically appeared. What is up with that?

[ptbarnum]

it's got to be an apogee thing.
i think, that there's a relatively small amount of apogee users out there, and that we should contact them regarding this issue, as many folks are using control surfaces successfully with other brand soundcards in Logic 8

[lumpo]

Originally Posted by headz

haha you're in LA so I guess you have this by default, otherwise go to system prefs > international > language. the top choosen language is the OS language

why do you think they speak *English* in the US?

Sorry...

[ptbarnum]

still no joy, thanks for stickying the thread, incidentally

[FFTT]

Don't forget that any time you install anything on your system, that you need to
go to your Applications/Utilities folder and use Disk Utility to Repair Permissions

This may or may not help the situation with your control surface recognition, but
still should be done after every application is installed.

[Geert van den Berg]

Originally Posted by headz

so anybody who wants to use his/her ControlSurface like Faderport, Alphatrack etc. in L8 needs to set OS language to english for this

On the Frontier Designs forum I've read that the Alphatrack is not supported yet. (though should work in HUI mode just as with Logic 7).

[vixapphire]

my control surfaces all appeared in the set up on first bootup, but they were incorrectly set up, and now that i've set them up properly in 2 groups, i have this problem: although all are present on the set up page, two of the xt's don't affect the program when manipulated.

this is a really unnecessary pain in the arse. why not just extract this sort of setup info from the prefs from 7 (already and still installed on the same computer)?


p.s. I'm using MOTU PCI-424 audio interfaces thru core audio, and not any Apogee gear, fwiw.

[ALL*MYTEE]

Hi Guys,

I called Apogee and described the problem, they hadn't had any other calls about it.

They said they'd contact Apple but if they get more calls or emails it might help make things a priority. It seems like they have folks already in communication so let's hope things get resolved promptly.

Eben

[Macaroni]

I booted up today, including turning on the Ensemble first, and then I opened Logic 8 and my Mackie Logic Control, and it works fine now!!

[Pr.tiouz]

Hi,

Anyone had chance with the US-2400 ?

would like to know if it works

[ALL*MYTEE]

Originally Posted by Pr.tiouz

Hi,

Anyone had chance with the US-2400 ?

would like to know if it works

That's what I have and it works fine. It's one of the supported control surfaces so you can run it in native mode. As mentioned above, it does have some problems when used with an Apogee interface, but other than that should work fine.

[harry_seldon]

I contacted Apogee regarding the described issue of Logic 8, Ensemble, and MCU. Here is their reply:

Yes, we are aware people are having these issues. I have done some
testing with the Frontier Tranzport and it is working fine for me. We
will do some further investigation to determine if this is our issue
or not.

Best Regards,

Brett Patrick
Tech Support Specialist
Apogee Electronics

[harry_seldon]

I was having a another issue with my MCU and extender. I was getting some sort of MIDI feedback look causing value changes to register in multiples; such as pan would move +3, the play button would return multiple presses per touch, stop would return to beginning on song, ghosting faders on the extender.

The issue seems to revolve around a potential driver issue for multiple M-audio MIDISPORT interfaces. I have a MIDISPORT 2x2, and a MIDISPORT 4X4. The 4x4 is dedicated to the MCU and extender. When both are plugged in, something was causing midi commands to the control surfaces to be looped, even when nothing was plugged into the 2x2. I unplugged the 2x2, and the issue resolved itself.

This was not an issue with Logic 7.

[juniperian]

Also having issues...

L8 won't see my MCU, Extender or C4. I've done all the debugging I know how to do, and I'm pretty good at that since part of my job is keeping 5 studios running all the time.

I have no controllers list from which to add manually. I've trashed prefs/receipts, reinstalled a couple times, tried turning things off and on in different combinations, etc. No joy.

Any suggestions?

Mac Pro 8-core, OSX 10.4.10, 6GB RAM, Apogee Symphony, Rosetta 800

[Macaroni]

Did you see the units in Audio MIDI Setup? Try re-scanning there. I think it's probably hit or miss at this point until the culprit is found. Mine just started working the next day doing everything the same as usual.

[jordanh]

you guys aren't experiencing any issues with midi controllers are you?

[harry_seldon]

Originally Posted by jordanh

you guys aren't experiencing any issues with midi controllers are you?

Some minor issues with stray notes playing while playing piano. Either that or i have just reached a whole new level of suckitude.

[jordanh]

hmm...hopefully I dont find any issues when I do my upgrade (eventually). I use a lot of different midi controllers (Korg MicroKontrol, PadKontrol, various other things...)

[ALL*MYTEE]

Originally Posted by juniperian

Also having issues...

L8 won't see my MCU, Extender or C4. I've done all the debugging I know how to do, and I'm pretty good at that since part of my job is keeping 5 studios running all the time.

I have no controllers list from which to add manually. I've trashed prefs/receipts, reinstalled a couple times, tried turning things off and on in different combinations, etc. No joy.

Any suggestions?

Mac Pro 8-core, OSX 10.4.10, 6GB RAM, Apogee Symphony, Rosetta 800

With a Symphony, as you can't turn it off, you might be stuck. It seems to be the Apogee interface connection that prevents L8 from seeing the control surfaces (and from being able to load them manually). I'd just let Apogee know and maybe send them links to threads like this (there's another one over at the Apple support Logic 8 page) so they know it's a significant problem.


Audio Midi Setup wasn't an issue for me--nothing was affected there. The control surface showed up as normal and creating new profiles didn't affect the problem. There really wasn't a fix besides disabling the Apogee unit while booting up and then turning it on after Logic has recognized the control surface.

As far as other midi controllers, I haven't noticed anything but also haven't used mine extensively. The midi does seem to be more stable overall in Logic 8--7 was very buggy for me when editing midi in the the piano roll editor.

[ptbarnum]

the links to other related forums for emails to apogee:

Logic Pro Help :: View topic - Anyone else having problems with control surfaces in L8?

Apple - Support - Discussions - control surfaces ...

[ptbarnum]

Just got off the phone with Apogee tech. Not very promising...
only a few users have reported the issue, and they haven't figured out if it's an apogee, apple, or other issue.

If you're experiencing this bug, make sure and let them know. hopefully they'll fix it sooner

[Djreversal]

just curious because im buying my logic studio setup this weekend along with the mackie control units... are you guys connected all MIDI or the main piece with USB and the xt units midi to each other?? I too am looking at the symphony or ensemble setup.



Mark