Vista doesn't recognize my USB MIDI keyboard

[Donk]

I have a Yamaha MIDI keyboard that I used to connect to a Win98
machine via USB. I think I also used it with my XP Pro machine.

I got a new HP Pavillion a6200n recently (with Vista Home Premium) but
Vista doesn't recognize anything at all when I connect the USB/MIDI
cable.

I've Googled everything that I can think of without success. I've got
no idea of what to do. Please help.

Thank you,

Don

[Mike Hall - MVP]

Have you tried the Vista drivers on this website?

http://yamahasynth.com/download/midi_driver.html

[Donk]

Yes. I downloaded 'um301vis.zip' last night but Vista doesn't noticie
it when I plug in the USB cable that's connected to the keyboard. The
“Found New Hardware” window DOES NOT appear. It did appear when I
installed a USB printer and joystick but not the MIDI keyboard.

I tried removing all USB devices > reboot >plugin keyboard but . . .
NOTHING. No “Found New Hardware” window.


According to the installation for the driver you suggested:

After confirming that the “Found New Hardware” window appears, click
“Locate and install driversoftware (recommended).”

Why wouldn't Vista recognize when the USB/MIDI cable is plugged-in?

I hope I can find a solution to this.

Thank you,

Don

[Cameron Snyder]

You remembered to turn on your keyboard after plugging in the USB midi
interface, right?

Perhaps it is not plug n play, perhaps it is broken, you did say you were
using this in windows 98, kinda old. Try the "add hardware" applet in
control panel. This is for non PnP devices that Vista won't recognize. Have
the driver package unzipped as you will have to navigate to the Driver
folder in the process.

If that fails, hey you did what you could. Pick up a new usb/midi interface.

[Daddy Tadpole]

The midi standard has been standard since 1983, and I presume your keyboard
has the standard (old...) DIN socket as well as the midi interface.

SB compatible soundcards have midi ports (in and out), but an adapter cable
is needed (about 25 euros). I read somewhere that Vista has rendered that
solution unusable, but I don't know the details. Musical instruments tend to
last much longer than operating systems.

This USB stuff is relatively ephemeral!

However, as proposed by Cameron Snyder, the usual solution at the moment is
to buy a midi-to-USB adapter box. These come with 2 or more MIDI channels.
If you have problems routing the midi data to your music application, MidiOx
(free download) should sort things out.

[fubartunes]

mine has recognised the usb midi cable in vista. it has a built in box that installs the driver automatically. drivers are not normally needed for midi controllers.

however, its only midi in (keyboard to pc) that works and not out (visa verse). in xp family, you set midi audio in sound settings from MS synth wave, to usb midi device. this option is not there in vista.

ive asked around to see where they've moved this option, but no answers yet. anyone here by any chance know? or is there a need to downgrade back to xp pro where there is an option to adjust this? midi files sound horribly pathetic through even decent pc speakers compapared to channeled through a keyboard 1st.

so far, vista has proving to be the worst version of windows since ME. its yet to prove its moneys worth for me - i'm close to reverting back to xp pro - simplicity is best not complexity. (or the waste of over 500mb ram just to run the basic version of vista). what a waste of good money it is.