First time setting up WIDI and not going well. Tried many combinations and nothing seems to work.
HARDWARE CONFIG
macOS Catalina on an iMac
WIDI Bud Pro → iMac via USB port
WIDI Uhost → MC6Pro via USB Host port
With the above…the iMac recognizes the Bud pro and Editor sees it also but never connects…merely shows Loading… (iMac BT is disabled). The BT connection between the CME seems legit…the Bud shows solid light green and the uHost shows solid blue.
Another configuration. Remove Bud Pro completely and enable iMac BT. Connect to uHost directly via iMac BT. MIDI Studio sees the UHost. This setup was described in a review @James posted a couple years ago. Editor see the uHost but never connects…Loading.
I installed MIDI View but so far see no traffic moving.
The CME instructions are terrible seems I can plug the MC6 USB “host” port cable into either of the Uhost “USB/Host Device” or the “USB Power” ports and I get a BT connection to the other CME device. That makes no sense according to their limited information.
Why WIDI? Noise. When my amp and pedalboard are on…and my iMac is physically (USB-C) connected to the MC8…there is noise. Unplug it and noise goes away. I have everything powered from the same AC circuit to avoid ground loops. So I purchased a voltage isolater dongle which plugs into the Mac USB-A and then the USB-C cable runs from the dongle to the MC8. Presto! No noise! However, with the MC6 on my board the noise is back and the dongle does not help. @James.
This noise issue only matters when I am programming my setup. I don’t use a computer while playing in church.
@James. I shot a brief video at the request of CME and thought I would share with you. I am using Desktop Editor 1.3.0 and I have tried the Beta you pointed me to with similar failures. To me, it seems the CME devices are connected to one another yet the Editor is not connecting to the Bud Pro on my iMac.
I was able to connect my MC6 PRO via the uHost connected to the USB Host port on the MC6P (Please note that it does not work on the USB Device port because the uHost can only accept a pure MIDI USB device whereas the USB device port on the MC6P implements keyboard USB and 4 virtual USB ports).
Instead of using the Bud Pro (which we do not have one to test with), have you tried connecting the uHost directly to your iMac via the MIDI studio?
If you click on “Manually select MIDI Input/Output”, do you see the Bud Pro in both selections? The Editor and MC simply communicates via SysEx (max size 2048) so it seems possible that the Bud Pro isn’t passing those through. Hard to say tho, we need to get our hands on one to test first.
Just tried connecting the uHost to my Windows10 machine but no success yet. Seems like there’s a lot of hoops to jump through to get it to work - tried the troubleshooting steps in the CME website (WIDI Uhost: Start Guide - CME - The MIDI Experts) but no success. Not sure if it is an issue related to the Korg BLE MIDI driver that is required.
I connected directly from MacOS to the Uhost at the MC6Pro. The Editor gave the same connection error. I tried with my iMac Catalina and my MacBook M1 Pro Ventura. I am so sick of this CME product. I am going to work on this a few more days and then I am sending the CME device back where they came from. This should not be this complicated.
I had problems with another CME device, the CME U6MIDI Pro.
I now use a Widi Jack plugged directly the MC6-Pro. If you have good midi thru on other devices in your midi chain, you can attach to the end of you midi chain.
The USB cable connecting the uHost “UBB HOST/Device” port to the MC6 PRO “HOST” port is a data cable and does not just transmit power? In the video you shared, it looks like the cable has a current sensor display, so I’m not 100% sure if it transmit data as well. Maybe you can double check by connecting the MC6 PRO directly to your Mac using this cable and see if it works.
uHost is connected to your Mac via the MIDI Studio (not using the Bluetooth settings in the Mac system settings). In your video, you already showed the MIDI Studio using the Bud Pro, but just want to confirm the same when you connect the uHost directly to the Mac.
The screenshot below is the Bluetooth connection from the MIDI Studio
Use the manual connection option in the editor, just to validate that the MIDI Input and Output ports are correctly selected:
I connected directly to the Uhost / MC-6Pro via BT and when I attempt to connect with the Beta Editor I get a red box stating “Connection failed. No response from Device”.
As a totally off topic mention related to Widi and BLE Midi on Macs, the Conji app on MacOs is much simpler to use than Midi Studio (Audio Midi Setup App).
If you have the macOS MIDI studio connected directly to the uHost, you will see it in the editor as well and should be able to connect to the uHost in the editor:
Can you just try programming a PC or CC message to be sent from the MC6 Pro? When you send that message, the blue LED in the uHost should blink, indicating that the MIDI message is being transmitted. If it does not blink then nothing is being transmitted, which means either a cable problem or host port problem. We execute all the test functions during assembly using the host port so an issue with the host port is unlikely.
My Bud connects to the uHost. Bud has turquoise light and uHost is blue.
Bud - Plugged into iMac.
Uhost - Plugged into MC-6Pro
I see the Bud in MIDI Studio. The Editor sees the Bud. Yet the connection still fails.
Just to verify your config against mine. Are you CME devices plugged in the same way as mine? Also, please confirm which port on the uHost are you using?
Also, what at the MDID Thru setting on the MC6?
If I cannot resolve this in the next couple days then I am sending the CME products back.
When you click on connect in the editor, does the WIDI uHost LED blink? If the Bud Pro is successfully transmitting messages to the uHost (or if the uHost is receiving MIDI wirelessly), the blue LED will blink. This information will help with troubleshooting.
Ok, I set everything up to match your config. The lights are on for both WIDI devices. When I attempt a connection (to Bud) lights on both devices flash two times. Then it fails.
On a side note, your MIDI Thru selection confuses me. Apparently I don’t understand. Assuming we get WIDI working…I have MIDI devices connected via Din5 and Omniport. How would I config MIDI Thru?
I really appreciate your assistance in solving this WIDI issue.
@james
Since our last communications. I upgraded my iMac to a 2020 model running Ventura 13.4.1. I am still have no luck connecting to the MC6_Pro via CME Widi. In the Editor when I select Connect the light on the uHost (plugged into the MC6) flashes two times then I get the Failed error.
