Program change from Band Helper to SPD-SX

[Milosdjuric]

Here is an update, just to add to the confusion  :?:
The screenshots are from different devices, both Android, one from tablet that works normally with Midronome but doesn't 'see' all the ports (and consequently doesn't manage to get the program change to work), and other from phone that 'sees' more ports but the BandHelper app freezes after starting MIDI.

[Milosdjuric]

Here is an update, just to add to the confusion  :?:
The screenshots are from different devices, both Android, one from tablet that works normally with Midronome but doesn't 'see' all the ports (and consequently doesn't manage to get the program change to work), and other from phone that 'sees' more ports but the BandHelper app freezes after starting MIDI.

Other two screenshots are from Pocket MIDI app. One with Bandhelper app connected to the Midronome and other with Windows computer sending the program changes successfully.

[arlo]

Here are a few things to check:

1. The "MS 1-4" ports on one of your Android devices are virtual ports from a different app. If that's the device that isn't working for you and you don't need those, you can turn off virtual MIDI in that other app or delete the app.

2. It looks like you're sending bank MSB and LSB messages from the Android tablet but not from Pocket MIDI.

3. You're sending program 25 from the Android tablet (19 in hex) and program 24 from the PC (18 in hex).

4. Do you have Settings > Audio & MIDI > MIDI Thru turned on on your Android tablet? If that's on and you're receiving MIDI beat clock from the Midronome and the "MS" app, that could overwhelm your device and prevent it from handling other MIDI messages

[Milosdjuric]

Thanks for pointing out those details. I realized that those inputs are from some other app (probably Behringer Mixing Station), but that made no difference. The device that was having freezing issues indeed had the MIDI thru turned on and turning it off solved the issue.

Other points about program change have no impact. Sending litteraly any MSB LSB from Pocket MIDI to SPD-SX made no difference to program changes (as did sending no MSB LSB) and program number also makes no difference, anything from 1-100 works, but nothing works when sent from Bandhelper.

I feel that this is a MIDI port issue, Bandhelper only 'sees' one port (probably the one that is used only for sending commands to the Midronome) while other two ports should forward messages to other devices, but they don't show up in the list.

[arlo]

I feel that this is a MIDI port issue, Bandhelper only 'sees' one port (probably the one that is used only for sending commands to the Midronome) while other two ports should forward messages to other devices, but they don't show up in the list.

Are you saying the Midronome is supposed to expose more than one port to BandHelper? Is that what their support person meant by "there are more than 1 pair of MIDI-USB interfaces"?

What Android version do you have? You can see that in the Help > About page of BandHelper.

[Milosdjuric]

Are you saying the Midronome is supposed to expose more than one port to BandHelper? Is that what their support person meant by "there are more than 1 pair of MIDI-USB interfaces"?

Yes, exactly. There should be three ports exposed when Midronome is connected via USB. First one is for sending commands to Midronome, other two are for forwarding to devices connected to two MIDI din outputs.

Edit: Android versions are 13 on both devices

[arlo]

Okay, Android 13 has a bug where it only connects to one port of a MIDI device. Google says it was fixed and the fix will be available "in a future build" but they usually don't follow up to say when the fix is released or what version you need to install to get it:

https://issuetracker.google.com/issues/257712619

I recommend updating to a later Android 13 version if available or to Android 14 if possible. Or you could ask Midronome if they have an option to forward messages received on the one port that Android recognizes. Usually this is implemented as a "MIDI Thru" function. One more option would be to connect a simple one-port USB MIDI interface to your tablet, then connect a MIDI splitter to the USB MIDI interface, then connect your Midronome and your keyboard to the splitter.

[Milosdjuric]

I'm glad to inform that the issue is solved. It was down to Android after all, I have updated to ver 14 and the MIDI ports finally all got recognized! Thank you for the support!

[arlo]

Great ... I'm glad your device allowed upgrading the Android version.