Brand New Micro Express Fails in OSX Sierra

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Discussion related to installation, configuration and use of MOTU hardware such as MIDI interfaces, audio interfaces, etc. for Mac OSX
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Howarddgray
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Joined: Thu May 25, 2017 8:09 pm
Primary DAW OS: MacOS

Brand New Micro Express Fails in OSX Sierra

Post by Howarddgray »

I have a problem with a new Micro Express USB that no one seems to be able to solve.

I have a new old stock mid 2014 Mac Book Pro retina 2.8ghz 4 core 16 gigs of ram and an SSD, running OSX 10.12 .4 Sierra This is the model that is recommended by many DAW manufacturer’s as the most reliable of its kind which is why I bought it.

This is a new machine so everything that is on it was installed less than 2 weeks ago.

The only other thing on this machines besides pro tools 12 is the Arturia MIDI setup utility

I installed Motu MIDI installer 1.6.6 restarted and then connected the Micro express to one the laptops USB ports. The Micro was seen by clock works right away. So I made the changes I wanted which it responded to by changing the corresponding light on the front of the devices and then tried to save, only to be confront with a clock works error-

“An unexpected error has occurred”

So I updated the firmware on the Micro Express, no change.

So I opened up pro tools 12 & created a MIDI track , the micro express was listed. All 6 outputs work fine but all 4 inputs say “undefined” and as such are unusable.

So I went to the OS MIDI setup page and there was the micro express icon, if I click on it, the clock works utility pops up, I can not make any changes from inside the OS MIDI utility to the Micro Express.

I have tried different USB ports. I tried a thunderbolt to USB adapter and everything including the save error remains the same.

I have un installed and reinstalled a few times to no avail.

I hooked the Micro express up to another mac book I have that is similar to the mac book in question, this one has pro tools 12 on it as well as the same Arturia MIDI setup utility, this machine is a bit older and running el Capitan. The micro express works on this machine fine. It also works on windows machines.

It just does not seem to like Sierra. Motu tech is telling me this is not possible. That the micro express is fully compatible with Sierra but after running all kinds of tests I am not so sure this is true.

Anyone have any information that could steer me in the right direction I am baffled?
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mikehalloran
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Re: Brand New Micro Express Fails in OSX Sierra

Post by mikehalloran »

I'll assume that you have downloaded the latest MIDI drivers from MOTU and that you've made sure you have the latest firmware, right?

Open AudioMidi Setup.app. Delete the profile for your micro express. See if it immediately creates a new one. This has worked for a few of us in Sierra.
DP 11.31; 828mkII FW, micro lite, M4, MTP/AV USB Firmware 2.0.1
2023 Mac Studio M2 8TB, 192GB RAM, OS Sonoma 14.4, USB4 8TB external, M-Audio AIR 192|14, Mackie ProFxv3 6/10/12; 2012 MBPs Catalina, Mojave
IK-NI-Izotope-PSP-Garritan-Antares, LogicPro X, Finale 27.4, Dorico 5.2, Notion 6, Overture 5, TwistedWave, DSP-Q 5, SmartScore64 Pro, Toast 20 Pro
Howarddgray
Posts: 7
Joined: Thu May 25, 2017 8:09 pm
Primary DAW OS: MacOS

Re: Brand New Micro Express Fails in OSX Sierra

Post by Howarddgray »

mikehalloran wrote:I'll assume that you have downloaded the latest MIDI drivers from MOTU and that you've made sure you have the latest firmware, right?

Open AudioMidi Setup.app. Delete the profile for your micro express. See if it immediately creates a new one. This has worked for a few of us in Sierra.
Thanks for your suggestions.

Yes I am using 1.6.6 and the latest firmware. I can not delete the icon, it won't let me unless I unplug the Micro Express first. I also have to make sure clockworks is closed other wise the icon won't reappear in the midid setup window. I still get the error message if I try to save the config.
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mikehalloran
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Re: Brand New Micro Express Fails in OSX Sierra

Post by mikehalloran »

Is the icon active or greyed out?
DP 11.31; 828mkII FW, micro lite, M4, MTP/AV USB Firmware 2.0.1
2023 Mac Studio M2 8TB, 192GB RAM, OS Sonoma 14.4, USB4 8TB external, M-Audio AIR 192|14, Mackie ProFxv3 6/10/12; 2012 MBPs Catalina, Mojave
IK-NI-Izotope-PSP-Garritan-Antares, LogicPro X, Finale 27.4, Dorico 5.2, Notion 6, Overture 5, TwistedWave, DSP-Q 5, SmartScore64 Pro, Toast 20 Pro
Howarddgray
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Joined: Thu May 25, 2017 8:09 pm
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Re: Brand New Micro Express Fails in OSX Sierra

Post by Howarddgray »

mikehalloran wrote:Is the icon active or greyed out?
Active
Howarddgray
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Re: Brand New Micro Express Fails in OSX Sierra

Post by Howarddgray »

Was finally able to get the configuration settings to save. for whatever reason It will not let me save the cwf file into Documents? So that part is out of the way. Unfortunatly the Motu's inputs are still showing up as "No Channels Activated" next to each Micro Express inputs in pro tools 12 ?

Does not seem to matter how I configure the unit the result is the same?
Howarddgray
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Joined: Thu May 25, 2017 8:09 pm
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Re: Brand New Micro Express Fails in OSX Sierra

Post by Howarddgray »

Problem was resolved by Sweetwater Tech Support.

Being new to the Micro Express on the Mac OS X platform, (I was running Windows and OS9 Tools for years). I did not realize that I had to create 6 phantom virtual devices in OS X MIDI setup, name each of them and then link them one each with the virtual I/O cables to the Micro express Icon I/O ports, to get it to work in protools. And that there was no need to mess with settings in Clock works under normal circumstances.

Works great now
Howarddgray
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Re: Brand New Micro Express Fails in OSX Sierra

Post by Howarddgray »

Opps new problem.

Micro express was working great but all of a sudden Pro tools 12 decided it can only see port two on the Micro express.

Everything is setup the same in audio MIDI setup as was working before, spent a couple of hours goofing around with this-

Going to do a factory reset on the micro express to see if that clears the problem.

:shock:
Howarddgray
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Joined: Thu May 25, 2017 8:09 pm
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Re: Brand New Micro Express Fails in OSX Sierra

Post by Howarddgray »

Howarddgray wrote:Opps new problem.

Micro express was working great but all of a sudden Pro tools 12 decided it can only see port two on the Micro express.

Everything is setup the same in audio MIDI setup as was working before, spent a couple of hours goofing around with this-

Going to do a factory reset on the micro express to see if that clears the problem.

:shock:
Problem solved.

Well the reset resolved part of the problem, Which was when I tried to save in clock works it would just sit there for ever and not finish. The other part was that for some odd reason in Pro Tools under "MIDI input devices" all but input #2 was unchecked, must have been some kind of glitch in my Mac book.
JRC4558D
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Joined: Tue Feb 23, 2016 2:49 am
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Re: Brand New Micro Express Fails in OSX Sierra

Post by JRC4558D »

Howarddgray wrote:
Howarddgray wrote:Opps new problem.

Micro express was working great but all of a sudden Pro tools 12 decided it can only see port two on the Micro express.

Everything is setup the same in audio MIDI setup as was working before, spent a couple of hours goofing around with this-

Going to do a factory reset on the micro express to see if that clears the problem.

:shock:
Problem solved.

Well the reset resolved part of the problem, Which was when I tried to save in clock works it would just sit there for ever and not finish. The other part was that for some odd reason in Pro Tools under "MIDI input devices" all but input #2 was unchecked, must have been some kind of glitch in my Mac book.
Hi there,

Any update? did you find a 100% working solution? I am experiencing some troubles with my micro express as well, not the same you have but seems like Sierra and the micro express are not best buds...
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