FYI: MOOG acknowledges "MIDI IN-Power On" Bug.

[serotonic]

I just wanted to share this with you, because it really tripped me up for a long time. Rosser at MOOG music has 100% reproduced a problem I diagnosed that affects the boot sequence of the Phatty.

Details:

If you power up the unit while ANY MIDI data is being transmitted to the MIDI IN port, the Phatty will often fail to function correctly.

Specifically, receiving MIDI Clock causes the unit to ALWAYS boot up in a state where it won't respond to MIDI IN. Further, receiving MIDI notes while turning the machine on will sometimes cause the unit to boot up in a bad state where it will make strange noises and be otherwise unpredictable. The amount of MIDI traffic seems to be proportional to the chance of failure. They did not know, at this point whether this is a software or a hardware problem. As far as they could tell it affects all versions of the Phatty, over both USB and the regular MIDI DIN plugs. I was using a Stage II with the most recent version of the firmware (2.10s on the splash screen).

In all cases, powering the unit off, stopping all MIDI IN traffic, then powering the unit on again causes the unit to function correctly again.

Since I got my Phatty I have been plagued with problems trying to get it to Power up properly. Sometimes it would work, but not receive MIDI, sometimes it would just make crazy sounds. But, if it did boot up correctly, it would always work fine until I turned it off again. It was really baffling me--I was almost ready to send it in for repair but I thought I'd do some tests first to see if I could figure out the details of the failure so they would have an easier time fixing my board. In my workflow I almost always have MIDI clock sent to the Phatty during power up (for the Arpegiator and LFO synch). Then it struck me: what if the MIDI IN is causing the MIDI subsystem on the Phatty to fail to boot? sure enough it was...

Anyway, I hope this helps somebody who has had similar problems.

Stop your DAW, unplug MIDI IN, stop hardware sequencers or what have you, BEFORE you power the unit up.

Peace,
-Tim

[serotonic]

Oh, on a positive note:

I forgot to mention that I was unbelievably impressed by the support I got from MOOG. They responded to my emails instantly. And, initially, before we figured out the cause or reproducibility, they offered to fix the problem for free even though the warrantee was long expired.

Rosser had my problem reproduced within minutes of me emailing them with the repro streps. Very impressive.

Unlike AKAI, where I've been waiting 2 years for their "guaranteed 24 hour response" to 3 different support requests.

Anyway because of this I sold my AKAI crap to help purchase a Voyager RME, CP-251, and 3 Moogerfoogers ...

[soundxplorer]

I noticed some strangeness like this when I first got it. It would happen if I plugged MIDI in immediately after turning the LP on (so it was still booting up as I plugged it in). So I just started waiting until the LP had fully booted before I plugged the MIDI cable in.

[fishman77]

Well this explains the random strange behavior I have had too. I'm with you in that my computer is almost always on when I turn the LP on and off. The MIDI not working has happened to me several times too. Thanks for the info! I'm sure it'll get fixed.
-Adam
http://www.thesolutionmusic.com