Hey,
I have an M-Audio keyboard controller connected to a new iMac and when I fire up Garageband it sees the MIDI device and when I play the keyboard, it works for 2-4 notes and then silence. Nothing I do brings it back.
If I fire up the OS X utility Audio MIDI Setup and do a MIDI scan, the keyboard again will work for a few notes then silence.
I've used this keyboard on another Mac a year ago with Garageband and it worked perfectly.
Any ideas? Thanks!
The iMac came with a wireless keyboard. Turning off the wireless keyboard allowed Garageband to see the MIDI device. Weird. I really need the keyboard, though.
Now I'm upgrading to Mavericks hoping that makes things better, versus worse.
I remember when Macs just worked.
Yep. Me too. I didn't think a shorter USB cable would fix it, but it did.
I finally figured out that it's the USB cable. I have a very long USB cable and it works on the Mac Pro because the Mac Pro probably has more power on the bus than the iMac. I used a short cable and it worked fine.
So if you are having the same problem, check your USB cable.
Turning off the wireless keyboard allowed Garageband to see the MIDI device. Weird.
One problem with wireless keyboards or mice is, that turning on the keyboard while the mac is booting can accidentally cause the mac to boot into safe mode. (Mac OS X: What is Safe Boot, Safe Mode?) In that mode all third-party extensions will be disabled, also your Midi devices.
To prevent this, turn on all wireless devices before you start-up your mac.
If that was the problem, restarting your Mac should help, to get out of safe Mode.
I have a 2008 Mac Pro in the house and the same M-Audio controller works fine with it. I just plug the USB cable in the front of the Mac Pro, fire up Garageband, and it plays.
The new iMac, though, doesn't play. Actually, things are worse now because I updated the OS to 10.8.5 and now Garageband doesn't even see the keyboard as a MIDI device. It says 0 devices in the preferences.
Went to M-Audio's web site for a driver. They say no driver necessary.
Upgraded to Mavericks and Garageband still doesn't work with the M-Audio keyboard.
I'm out of ideas here. I can't install a driver because M-Audio says there is no driver needed. I have the latest updates on everything. The USB cable between the keyboard and the Mac works fine on my old Mac Pro, so it's not that. The keyboard itself works fine on my Mac Pro (2008), so it's not that.
So the latest iMac won't work with an M-Audio MIDI keyboard with Apple's Garageband?
So the Midi keyboard does not work or just the transport controls (HyperControl) doesn't work? Are you using the older GB or the new GB ver.10? If you are using the new GB have you tried copying the old driver from your old GB midi plug-ins folder? What M-Audio keyboard is it? BTW most of M-Audio has been sold to a division of Akai. M-Audio is not updating legacy drivers at this time that I am aware of.
I use the M-Audio Axiom 61 2nd Gen and I copied the driver as stated above and it works. Keep in mind you will have to do that every time they release an update. Example is I had to copy and paste the old driver after GB version 10.0.1 was released.
Thanks for the reply.
I'm using the older version of Garageband on two Macs - a 2008 Mac Pro and a 2013 iMac.
It works perfectly on the Mac Pro with the same Garabgeband. It has worked on that Mac Pro for over a year. On the new iMac, it doesn't work.
There is no driver for this device. There never has been. It's USB and you just plug it in and Garageband sees it and it "just works", except on the iMac.
It's the M-Audio Keystation 61es.
Thanks!
Oh yeah, I upgraded to Mavericks on the iMac and it still won't work.
I guess I'll upgrade to the latest Garageband and see if it works.
Weird that it works perfectly on my old Mac Pro. I know Final Cut Pro X has had issues with the new iMacs so maybe those are just lemmons Apple put out. Who knows. Thanks again.
I experienced the same problem with a M-Audio Keystation PRO 88 and a late 2012 Mac Mini.
You are right; the problem was the very long USB cable we are using. Changed to a short one as you say and *problem solved*.
Thanks a lot!
I have the same (insanely irritating) problem, when I turn the M-audio keyboard on it gives me a few notes or half a chord and than just silence in GarageBand. How long was the USB-cable mentioned? Mine is about 160 cm (a little over 5 ft) long.
(MacBook Air (13-inch, Mid 2012), Yosemite, GarageBand 10.0.3, M-Audio Keystation 49es)
Sindre
I think my cable was longer than 5 feet, but the Mac Pro handled it fine because it has more power. So that's an issue, your MacBook Air probably has little power on its USB bus.
If this was a huge issue you might want to try a powered USB hub. Plug that into the MacBook Air. The hub has a power adapter that goes to a wall outlet. You then should have enough power to use the 5 foot long cable. Just a guess, though.
Installing Mavericks... it takes a really long time.
Great suggestion on using a powered USB hub. I didn't bother trying a shorter cable so that may have worked but I plugged the keyboard into a powered hub and it worked right away. THANK YOU!!!
M-Audio USB keyboard won't work
