Bug? FM3 to Roland GR-55 MIDI connectivity issue

[zakmichaels]

I was previously using a TC Electronics G-System with a Roland GR-55 Guitar Synth. I set up the G-System to send MIDI program changes to the GR-55 upon selecting a G-System preset so that the desired corresponding preset on the GR-55 would also be selected. It worked flawlessly. I've since replaced my G-System with the FM3 and have attempted to set up the same configuration. The FM3 MIDI Thru/Out is connected to the GR-55 MIDI In via a 5-pin MIDI cable. The problem I'm seeing is that the GR-55 will not "hear" a MIDI program change message from the FM3 until I first manually switch a preset on the GR-55. After switching a preset on the GR-55, if I then select a MIDI configured preset on the FM3 (i.e, the preset contains a Scene MIDI Block configured with a Program Change), the GR-55 will then receive the MIDI program change and switch to the desired preset. But then the GR-55 goes "deaf" again until I manually switch to a different preset on the GR-55 - after which the same behavior repeats. So the FM3/GR-55 seem to not establish MIDI connectivity until a GR-55 preset change (initiating a "handshake" I suspect) and then also loses MIDI connectivity, once established, after one MIDI event. Again, I never had this problem with my G-System - it always worked each time, every time. Has anyone else encountered this or similar issues or have any suggestions that may fix this?

FM3: Ver 5.03
GR-55: Ver 1.50

 

[zakmichaels]

I did more investigation and it appears that the MIDI connection is lost because the FM3 preset is changed and is not related to the sending of the MIDI Program Change message itself. I discovered this because I found I can select a MIDI enabled FM3 preset, then manually switch a GR-55 preset (this enables the MIDI connection), then go into the FM3 preset's Scene MIDI block and hit the Program Change (PC) "Test" button and the GR-55 will then receive the PC message and switch to the appropriate preset. I can then change the configured "Value" associated with the FM3 PC, hit "Test" again and the GR-55 then receives another PC message and switches to the newly designated preset. I can do this over and over and the PC goes through every time. However, the moment a different FM3 preset is selected, the MIDI connection breaks again.

Can anyone think of a setting associated with preset changes that might cause this behavior?