Vintage Synth Explorer Forums

Hi,

I have a new-to-me Roland U-110. Using an m-audio 49e, I get intermittent dropouts accompanied by "ACT SENSING ERROR" on the lcd.

Diags offer the following:

Battery Error 4.3v
DAC Offset Adjust (Adjust VR2)
DAC MSB Check (Adjust VR1)
ROM slot errors

All other diags pass, including midi-in-out. The manual suggests the sensing error could be caused by a bad cable. I've tried two cheapies, and not convinced I've ruled out the cables.

The 49e is also suspect as the pitch bend is broken and the USB connector was replaced. Despite this, I never have dropouts when using with a computer--but who knows what's going on in the software, eh?

Can anyone recommend any troubleshooting tips?

Thanks a million!
Dave

The error says that the Roland hasn't received a MIDI active sensing message in the time it expects. It's just a way for monitoring for MIDI line failures, and a not very good one a that. Possibly the M-Audio doesn't send active sensing messages with consistent enough timing to suit the U-110. The easiest way to solve the problem, if the MIDI seems to be working okay otherwise, would be to go into the U-110's system menu and see if you can find a setting to disable active sensing. BTW, I've never seen a software sequencer that sends active sensing. That's why you don't get the errors when driving the U-110 with the computer -- it isn't using it.

Thanks for the reply. It has led me down an educational road, to be sure.

After using Midi Monitor on OS X 10.5, it seems the m-audio 49e does not send Active Sense messages, but the m-audio Fast Track Pro (FTP) does. I've been unable to turn off Active Sense on the U-110. So, what I'm wondering now is if I can do the following:
(I'm guessing this doesn't work because of no midi thru, and even so, would the midi thru insert Active Sense?)

or
Does anyone know if these configs are possible?

Do I need a midi splitter box with active sense between the devices like below? If so, would the splitter insert the Active Sense into the data stream heading to the U-110?
If it just passes the data from the 49e, it would seem the bets are off, unless someone can tell me how to hack the U-110 to turn off active sense.

Even still, it seems weird the Active Sense monitor would kick in only after the notes are played, unless of course that's how it's supposed to work, and why would it expect messages before the keys on the controller are released?

Should I be looking for a time-decay setting on the controller?

Any insight you can provide will be most helpful!

Thanks,
Dave

i also tried using a 49e and a d-110. never got an error message, but WHAT A MESS! stuck notes, ghost notes, long delays, patch changes, lock=ups, etc. called m-audio and found out about the running-status needs of the d-110. was told no fix. bought an Alesis QSR. works great with the 49e.

Huh? The U-110 can't deal with running status? That would definitely explain a few things. However, I'm surprised to hear that a Roland product of that vintage would have problems with running status. Heck, my Juno-106 was one of Roland's first products with MIDI, and it doesn't have any problem with running status.

Getting back to the original question: The FastTrack Pro seems like a fairly new product, so I would think that it ought to have a setting to filter out active sensing -- it's a commonly needed function. Check the manual.

The FTP is actually not too smart. It's basically just an audio hub. That may be beside the point.

I'm a little confused about the cause of the problem. If I understand the tech, the U-110 is resetting because it thinks the controller is offline. But the controller doesn't appear to be sending the Active Sense anyway, in which case, by a certain logic, it's always going to seem offline. If that's true, there is nothing to filter, and yet still a problem.

My guess is that the U-110 doesn't care about Active Sense until it gets data. Then it expects it, but it will never come from the 49e. What doesn't fit into this model is that when the 49e is behind the FTP which sends AS, the problem remains. What is also strange is the intermittent nature of the error.

Hmm. Does it do that if you bypass the MIDI interface and plug the 49e directly into the U-110?

Interesting. I have no problems with my U-110 using an M-audio Axiom, though it is going through Cubase and a MOTU Midi Express 128. I had no problems using a crumby old Goldstar controller keyboard either, or using an M-audio (actually Midiman) 2x2.