New Axe FX II + MFC-101 - Problems

zenkick

zenkick

Inspired
New Axe FX II + MFC-101 - Problems (Solved!)

I am going to to forward this information to FAS support as well, but wanted to at least see if the community has encountered this issue, or has any thoughts. I apologize for the long-windedness, but I want to avoid any wasted traffic suggesting the obvious.

I received my Axe FX II and MFC-101 today, and much to my surprise (brand new from FAS, mind you) - I'm encountering issues immediately with the two-way communication between the Axe FX II and MFC-101.

Before hooking anything up, I read the MFC quick start guide. I powered up the MFC (only power - nothing connected to the Axe yet), went into Edit menu, changed the midi port to EXPANSION, went into Mode menu, changed to AXE FX II. I then exited/saved and removed power from the MFC to shut it down.

I then ran a CAT5E cable (straight NOT x-over) from the expansion port on the MFC-101 to the same port on the Axe FX II.

I then powered up the Axe. The Axe booted along with the MFC (since it was getting power from the Axe -- that's good.)

After about 30 seconds of watching the "midi in" led flash on the Axe, and glancing at the MFC's display of X000, the MFC replied with the dreaded "AXE-FX NAME TIMEOUT".

Of course the first thing I did was Google the forum here to see what others were saying. Most everything was user error -- forgot to set the mode or midi on the MFC; used a cross-over cable instead of straight; had an old firmware on their Axe;

I unplugged the ethernet and grabbed two more: one CAT5, one CAT6 (yes, both straight.)

I then checked the Axe FX II firmware. It was shipped to me with 5.04. That seemed recent enough. I then reset the system settings via utility. That seemed easy enough.

I powered down the Axe, connected a different cable - same behavior. I repeated with the third cable - same behavior.

I then tried to choose a preset from the MFC. That worked - the preset changed, the midi light flashed on the Axe. However, the preset on the Axe took about *1 second* to change (I hope that is not normal.)

Next I decided to upgrade the firmware of the Axe to 5.07. I disconnected the MFC, I power cycled the Axe, and did the firmware upgrade. It worked fine. I confirmed 5.07 was installed. I then reset defaults again, for good measure.

I switched back to the first cable (CAT5E). Same behavior - "AXE-FX NAME TIMEOUT". I confirmed the mode and midi was correct on the MFC (again.)

I then checked on the MFC firmware. It was 1.04 (I believe - I'm upstairs typing now, sounds about right.)

I then reset the MFC (powered with #11 held down, confirmed.)

I then powered down the Axe FX, removed the ethernet, and powered it back up. I jammed with a couple presets for a while. That was at least fun.

In some of the search results here, users were reverting back to midi - either single cable 7pin with phantom, or even two generic 5pin with power on the MFC. I gave the latter a shot (I don't have a 7 pin handy.)

I powered the Axe down. I then connected two all-purpose 5pin midi cables (they work - they are the same ones I used on my Vetta in a previous life) - in to out, out to in. I ran power to the MFC. I changed the midi setup to MIDI. I power-cycled it - confirmed the midi setup was MIDI. I then powered up the Axe - same behavior.

Next I remembered reading about the midi thru/out being off by default on the Axe FX II. I reset system defaults again, confirmed it was off, turned it on, and power cycled everything again - same behavior.

Not related to this particular issue, but in troubleshooting this, I noticed that sometimes if I choose a screen from the front panel of the FX, the new screen will pop up, but then it will immediately go back to the previous screen. I'm going to look into that one more - but it seems like it only happened when the MFC was connected.

My conclusion is that something is defective with my very expensive investment, which is unsettling.

Thoughts? Have I missed something?

Thanks in advance.

-Dave
 
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volt said:
Could you check on the Axe-Fx II if I/O>MIDI>SEND REALTIME SYSEX is set to "all"?
Click to expand...

A great suggestion, indeed. However, SEND REALTIME SYSEX is set to "all".

(I believe that is part of the reset settings default configuration.)
 
zenkick said:
I switched back to the first cable (CAT5E). Same behavior - "AXE-FX NAME TIMEOUT". I confirmed the mode and midi was correct on the MFC (again.)
Click to expand...

I encountered this once a while back: check and see if the color wiring sequences match on both male ends on the cat5. You've probably already verified this but though I'd mention in case you can rule this out (especially if you have other people around who like to alter and experiment with cables that are not taped to the deck--lol).
 
GreenTea said:
I encountered this once a while back: check and see if the color wiring sequences match on both male ends on the cat5. You've probably already verified this but though I'd mention in case you can rule this out (especially if you have other people around who like to alter and experiment with cables that are not taped to the deck--lol).
Click to expand...

Thanks for reading and the thought. Yes, my cables are fine. They are straight through standard ethernet (I have hundreds of them [network guy, too]). In fact, I tried about 6 more different ones last night as I was obsessing over it.

I'm hopeful that support will email or call today in response to my note to them so I can get this resolved quickly. I'm between projects with a finite timeline to get my conversion done from my pedalboard+POD HD Pro setup -- patches built, MFC configured, etc.
 
If you're comfortable, and even a bit morbidly curious, you might consider simply unscrewing the top cover to the Axe-FX and ensure all cables are no-kidding properly seated. But, if your midi & CAT cables are behaving similarly, then that may not be the fix.

Another effort might be to change the MFC-101 "extension" setting to the "midi" setting... save.... power the MFC-101 off... power it back on... change the MFC-101 "midi" setting to have it read "extension" setting... save... try the CAT6 now.

Safe journey. gt
 
GreenTea said:
If you're comfortable, and even a bit morbidly curious, you might consider simply unscrewing the top cover to the Axe-FX and ensure all cables are no-kidding properly seated. But, if your midi & CAT cables are behaving similarly, then that may not be the fix.
Click to expand...

I thought about this but wanted to wait for a response from FAS. In fact, I *think* I recall reading a thread a while ago (from some unrelated search) where some Axe units went out with defective ethernet jacks. I believe FAS sent the OP (and perhaps others) new jacks to replace the defective ones, since they are socket mounted (or so I thought.)

GreenTea said:
Another effort might be to change the MFC-101 "extension" setting to the "midi" setting... save.... power the MFC-101 off... power it back on... change the MFC-101 "midi" setting to have it read "extension" setting... save... try the CAT6 now.
Click to expand...

I can't say I've gone through this exact procedure in this order, but will try. I have gone through many resets, saves, etc. all to no avail unfortunately.

Thanks for reading and the suggestion.

In the meantime, I'm enjoying working on some base presets - so all is not lost on this issue. :)
 
As an update, FAS support got back to me this afternoon and asked if I had any other MIDI controller I could test with. Unfortunately, that was all I received, but no suggestions - so I proposed the following back to support, and carried out with it on my own (and provided much more detailed results):

- 1X1 MIDI Port plugged into my computer
- MFC in MIDI Mode
- 5pin MIDI Out from MFC to MIDI in on Axe
- 9v supplied to MFC
- MIDI Thru on in Axe Settings
- 5pin MIDI Out from Axe to MIDI in on computer
- MIDI Monitor watching MIDI in on computer

This single 5pin + powered MFC actually worked very well. I had tap, no timeout, preset names, etc. This tells me the single 7pin with phantom will work too (that's my next test - I'll have a 7pin tomorrow.)

The messages I saw in MIDI Monitor seemed accurate. They were echo'ed from the IN to the OUT/THRU very fast. No noticeable lag between preset changes or effect changes.

After a couple other tests to see what the Monitor saw via USB, I then unplugged the MIDI from the MFC to the Axe, leaving the Axe MIDI Out still plugged into the computer for monitoring, and reset the Axe system defaults, and turned MIDI Thru back on.

Then I set the MFC MIDI mode to EXPANSION, unplugged the power from the MFC, and plugged in my ethernet cable. The MFC turned on as expected. And then as reported, AXE-FX NAME TIMEOUT.

Now with each program change message from the MFC, or generic message for effect on/off from the MFC, the MIDI Monitor showed the proper messages - but now there was up to 2 seconds of lag between messaging (the single 5pin had on a few milliseconds of lag, for comparison.)

My conclusions is that the MFC is faulty in processing MIDI in messages - both via MIDI IN and the ethernet/expansion port, but not via the single 5/7 pin midi cable method (this part doesn't make too much sense to me, but then I'm not an expert in bi-directional midi.)

Anyway, I'm now waiting on FAS support to respond, but wanted to document my troubleshooting for those who may encounter the same issue, or who may be following the plight of a delighted new Axe user.

And LOL - JUST as I'm going through this with my day old unit, my name came up on the waiting list - I'm hoping sales will cut me some slack as they have with others in the community who jumped the gun to buy JUST BEFORE coming up on the magical list. :)

Back to preset creation...

-Dave
 
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zenkick said:
And LOL - JUST as I'm going through this with my day old unit, my name came up on the waiting list - I'm hoping sales will cut me some slack as they have with others in the community who jumped the gun to buy JUST BEFORE coming up on the magical list. :)
Click to expand...

FAS rocks - to close the loop on the discount post-purchase -- they took care of me here! That's the way to do business!
 
GreenTea said:
Good ending to the story :) -- glad it worked out for you.
Click to expand...

Well, the part where they credited me the coupon discount difference from my original purchase - yes!

The potentially defective expansion port on the MFC or Axe is yet to be determined. I have an return authorization for the MFC first, which will be going back next week to FAS to be checked out.
 
I had ALL the same problems described here connecting new MFC with new Axe-II.
Solved them by changing CAT5 cable. The working cable says (among many other data) "patch cord"
 
Holland said:
I had ALL the same problems described here connecting new MFC with new Axe-II.
Solved them by changing CAT5 cable. The working cable says (among many other data) "patch cord"
Click to expand...

Thanks for the information. My MFC is currently in for repair/replacement/eval - it arrived at FAS yesterday afternoon. I'm hoping they will have 5 minutes to unpack it and plug it into a known working Axe FX II so I know if I need to send my Axe back, and deal with that before the weekend. I haven't heard back from them yet after my followup yesterday.

Anyway, I tried numerous cables - all proper ethernet (none were x-over.) Also before I finally shipped the MFC back to FAS, I tried a recommended cable from Best-Tronics, with the same results:

Best-Tronics Mfg., Inc.: Fractal_Audio

Something is amiss.

-Dave
 
As an update (for those paying attention/who care...) The MFC checked out "OK". Which stinks only because now I have to be Axe-less for a while.

The Axe is en route and will arrive Thursday. According to Matt, it is probably a quick fix.

Fingers crossed.
 
FAS support got back to me the next morning after receiving the Axe. It turned out that there was a bad solder joint on the Axe's MFC port.

They turned it around the same day so I should have it back tomorrow some time.

I'm looking forward to getting it back and wiring up my board finally. I have a few mission pedals standing by, as well as some ethercons -- all looking for a new home. :)
 
@Bird - Just wanted to be thorough to avoid the "did you read the MFC quick-start"-and-friends responses. :)

Anyway, Axe and MFC received today -- both seem to function in concert, as expected now.

Thanks to FAS support for the quick turnaround on the Axe.
 
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