So frustrated I want to throw the AX8 in the Trash

There is a known issue with Chrome seizing MIDI ports (both physical and virtual MIDI-over-USB ports) as part of some misguided MIDI over the internet idea. Since the AX-8 is USB 1.1 it only allows one connection so if Chrome grabs it then AX-8 Edit won't be able to use it. Unfortunately Google seems uninterested in fixing it.
 
@Barry Johns if you are on a PC, try going to

Device Manager -> Universal Serial Bus controllers

Right click on all the USB devices -> Properties

If you see a Power Management tab, un-check "Allow the computer to turn off this device to save power"
 
I expected this. Before buying the Fractal, the one common denominator on various other forums, was that this forum is like cult. Critize their beloved units, and be prepared to be attacked!

Ah didn't anybody tell you that from now on you'll have to survey your car 24/24 - 7/7 ? :D
No sweat man, of course you can criticize; we all do from time to time and the problem you highlight is embarrassing. Hey ! nobody has a solution here ?
 
Workaround is to first start AX8
Then connect usb cable
Then open AX8Edit

I had the same problems (connection lost) and with this, never.

That's funny. I have to start AX8 Edit first, then power up the AX8. Otherwise I get a failure to connect on my iMac.

What was interesting is that the last update before v4.01 resolved this issue and it did not matter which order I used. v4.01 reintroduced the problem.
 
There is a known issue with Chrome seizing MIDI ports (both physical and virtual MIDI-over-USB ports) as part of some misguided MIDI over the internet idea. Since the AX-8 is USB 1.1 it only allows one connection so if Chrome grabs it then AX-8 Edit won't be able to use it. Unfortunately Google seems uninterested in fixing it.
I looked around a bit and found this thread:
https://productforums.google.com/forum/#!msg/chrome/hvIIowHSQow/Er77B3L4EQAJ
With these instructions for Chrome:
1. Click menu icon in top-right corner and go to Settings.
2. Click "Show advanced settings".
3. In "Privacy" section, click "Content settings".
4. In "MIDI devices and full control" section, check "Do not allow any sites to use system exclusive messages to access MIDI devices".
5. Click "Done".​
I'm curious to hear if this resolves the problem.

On a sidenote, I don't know if it was a cost issue or what but USB 1.1? In this day and age?
 
I looked around a bit and found this thread:
https://productforums.google.com/forum/#!msg/chrome/hvIIowHSQow/Er77B3L4EQAJ
With these instructions for Chrome:
1. Click menu icon in top-right corner and go to Settings.
2. Click "Show advanced settings".
3. In "Privacy" section, click "Content settings".
4. In "MIDI devices and full control" section, check "Do not allow any sites to use system exclusive messages to access MIDI devices".
5. Click "Done".​
I'm curious to hear if this resolves the problem.

On a sidenote, I don't know if it was a cost issue or what but USB 1.1? In this day and age?

This doesn't work. Chrome still grabs the MIDI ports. It just doesn't allow websites to use those ports.
 
Hey Barry,
I too have a Mac Pro 2013 running macOS Sierra (and all OSX versions since 2013). It's a great computer!

This post caught my eye:
GibsonLesPaul:
"Workaround is to first start AX8
Then connect usb cable
Then open AX8Edit"

And I can even simplify that by experience:
If I start AX8Edit before powering on the AX8, AX8Edit sometimes fails to connect.
So I always
1) Power up AX8 (my usb cable is always connected to my Mac)
2) Start AX8 Edit

I do that because if I start AX8Edit before starting the AX8 AX8Edit may or may not connect.
It could be that most if not all of your usb cables are fine (you could check that quite easily with a printer, external drive, or any other device that requires USB). I completely agree that the odds of 10 bad USB cables are very very long.

It always works when I power up the AX8 first and then start AX8Edit. Most likely you've already tried this, it could be a problem with your hardware, but as an IT guy, experience suggests it's quite rare that problems like this are hardware related. Hardware troubleshooting is usually the last option in a chain of discovery.
 
Last edited:
Hardware troubleshooting is usually the last option in a chain of discovery.

I must be living in opposite world. In addition to having to start AX8 Edit first, then powering up the AX8, I also learned many years ago that Layer 1 of the OSI model (physical hardware connections) was where 90% of problems would be found when trouble shooting computer/server/Cisco equipment, etc.
 
I looked around a bit and found this thread:
https://productforums.google.com/forum/#!msg/chrome/hvIIowHSQow/Er77B3L4EQAJ
With these instructions for Chrome:
1. Click menu icon in top-right corner and go to Settings.
2. Click "Show advanced settings".
3. In "Privacy" section, click "Content settings".
4. In "MIDI devices and full control" section, check "Do not allow any sites to use system exclusive messages to access MIDI devices".
5. Click "Done".​
I'm curious to hear if this resolves the problem.

On a sidenote, I don't know if it was a cost issue or what but USB 1.1? In this day and age?


Thanks, nice find!
 
This doesn't work. Chrome still grabs the MIDI ports. It just doesn't allow websites to use those ports.
Ugh. Even as I'm writing in Chrome, it just continues to reinforce that Google's software development is incompetent and half-assed, org-wide. I'm constantly baffled that such a major company is so much worse than their competitors at basic software design and implementation, and that people don't call them out more for it. MS was never this bad.
If it only transfers MIDI messages, why does it need more?
Really? We're literally in the middle of having that conversation:
Since the AX-8 is USB 1.1 it only allows one connection so if Chrome grabs it then AX-8 Edit won't be able to use it.
Don't misunderstand, I'm not blaming Fractal for the unfortunate series of events that's led here. Who would expect software to just randomly start grabbing every MIDI port on a machine? It's an absurd problem. But it sounds like a 2.0 implementation would have avoided the problem.
 
Had an occasional 'Unable yo communicate' however since going to V4 on i have had multiple ones! Use a Mac, nothing else running, and don't always do the same thing to get it back communicating :eek:{
Plenty of other threads on this issue and hopefully it can be sorted out soon in future updates.
Frustrating all the same!
 
The common denominator may be the Apple OS. Running Windows 10 with Chrome and have had Ax Edit running with Chrome and reaper open and never had any issues.

No. It's problem with Chrome on all OSes. See:

It's funny, I have both the AX8 and a GR55 hooked up USB to a laptop, using both AX Edit and a GR55 editor and I've not had one anomaly....even with Chrome open! Not that it couldn't happen, it's just been flawless for me.
It depends, apparently, on how many MIDI devices you have available for Chrome to consider. Chrome prefers my Focusrite and never tries to interact with my AX8. But I did nothing to steer it to the Focusrite or away from the AX8. They offer no control over this feature, not even within chrome://flags/ ...
 
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