MIDI Networking Broken on Mac OS Sierra?

Question

Since I upgraded to Mac OS Sierra MIDI Networking is broken. None of my iOS MIDI apps work any more, and I have yet to find a solution. Apparently I am not alone:

https://discussions.apple.com/thread/7695767

I'm trying to connect an iPad 2 with a mid 2011 iMac that has always worked well until now.

Thanks in advance for any tips.

Comments

Hey there. While I have NO suggestions for *fixing* the issue on Sierra -- and I'm not running Sierra on my MBP, and won't for a while -- the diagnostic route is pretty clear. Try other stuff! First thing is to attempt with an ad-hoc network. Try recreating the Network connections too, perhaps using different ports. Try connecting backwards (initiating the connect from the computer). If you can borrow or beg an iPhone or a later iPad, test with that too. If you have another router to try, do that. Etc. etc. The changes that Apple made to networking in iOS10 (not your issue) and Sierra are pretty heavy, and understanding all this IPv4 and IPv6 stuff is well beyond my paygrade... but black-box testing leads to surprising and often positive results. Please do report back.

Thanks!
Dan (Author, MD)

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Thanks for the reply! I have tried all of the above scenarios except trying it on another Mac with Sierra, which is my next step. I even tried it on my old Powerbook G4 running Snow Leo and it worked. I was told by a developer that this issue would be fixed in the latest 10.12.2 update, but apparently it is not fixed on all models of Macs, which is even more frustrating. I like Sierra but for this one bug, but I'm getting more and more disappointed in Apple all the time and I know other long time Mac users who feel the same way.

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Not to minimize your pain, but since I moved from Windows to OSX in 2007 (about) I've been hearing about people who are "more and more disappointed in Apple all the time and [who] know other long time Mac users who feel the same way." But I hear you: when it's YOUR stuff that's broken, it does seem rather cataclysmic. I'm running a late 2013 MBP and I'll go up when it's the .3 release... but that won't help diagnose much. Sorry to hear you're having issues. With the iPad 2, you don't have bluetooth as an option. Have you checked out musicIO MIDI? We're a co-author of it and ... it's awesome for lightning cable. Thx

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Hey there, so I did get a fellow dev to test this out, and it seems like it's TOTALLY broken for any machine running Sierra (so far). This is still broken for you, right?

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Thank you for trying this out and getting back. Yes, it's still broken for me, even though I still try to make it work. My frustration is tempting me to give up at this point. I've done quite a bit of web research and am surprised more people have not reported the issue.
Are there any developers on your end that have Apple's ear on this matter?

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So if iOS MIDI apps don't work in Sierra, it's not just my pain, either. Seems to me that a lot of developers have a pretty big stake in this game...

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Just to be clear here, we're not saying that "MIDI apps don't work in Sierra." The only thing we are seeing is that MIDI-over-Wi-Fi ("rtpMIDI") doesn't work in Sierra. That leaves a ton of other, different options including MIDI over bluetooth, musicIO MIDI, and using an iConnect. Right?

And yes, devs like us have huge stake in the game, and I'm sure this bug has been reported on hundreds of times.

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This is a long shot, but perhaps shutting on IPv6 would work? See instructions via google here: https://www.google.com/search?q=shut+off+ipv6+on+mac

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Yes, WiFi MIDI. Bluetooth is not an option for me at the moment. I'll give the IPv6 shot a try.

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@cuttime can you please confirm this is still broken for you? I've decided that my response was pretty weak on this. Time to move everything forward on social media and what not and get this resolved by shouting a lot.

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Yes, I can confirm that this problem continues with MIDI over WiFi. I have not had the opportunity to try Bluetooth, as none of my devices are Bluetooth LE capable. According to a "developer" in the Apple Discussions Forum, Apple is aware of the problem. I would be happy to contribute in whatever constructive fashion to help resolve the problem.

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Hi guys.  Does anyone know if this issue was fixed in High Sierra?  The gig partition on my Mac is running Sierra 10.12.6 and I've been having major issues trying to maintain Network MIDI connectivity with my iPad Pro (iOS 12.3).

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Hey there, the issue we were talking about here was not occasional disconnection. That said, have you tried an ad-hoc Net connection to the Mac? If that's not possible, we definitely recommend trying an Apple router (even though it's extinct hardware that Apple no longer makes).

Thanks!
Dan

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Hi Dan. Ok, so those other issues being reported all concern the complete inability to connect. I’ve been using an Apple Airport Express with my Mac and iPad for a couple of years and this setup has been flawless. However, I recently updated my gig partition to 10.12.6 and the disconnection issues started. Everything would be ok for an hour or so but then the iPad would disconnect with the same error as per the link to Apple Discussions in the OP. I think I’ll try to downgrade to 10.12.5 because there were no issues at all.

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Wi-Fi is a tricky beast and we don't have a lot of visibility in to it. It could be as simple as trying a static IP address, switching to IPv6, or perhaps you changed something else? Good luck. There are always wired solutions at this point if that's interesting. You could could also consider the Yamaha bluetooth MIDI dongle, which would be totally backwards for this use -- you'd plug it in to a MIDI port -- but I think they have another one that could help you solve. Good luck and thanks!
Dan

Answer 1

Users report that with OSX 10.12.3 shutting off IPv6 solves this connection issue.

Answer 2

Users report that with OSX 10.12.3 shutting off IPv6 solves this connection issue.

Answer 3

Update 2017-02-01: Users report that with OSX 10.12.3 shutting off IPv6 solves this connection issue.

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OLD: This is broken on OSX due to changes in IPv6 and IPv4. Right now there is no solution to the Wi-Fi connection on Sierra that we're aware of, and we're waiting for Apple to do their work to unbreak this.

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In the meantime, you've got options:

1. Bluetooth (free, built into iPad Air and above), available since 1.7.3
2. musicIO MIDI (lowest-latency, best professional solution for MIDI-over-USB-lightning cable... also, we are co-authors of the app)
3. iConnect ($60+)
4. midiMittr (free app)

Thanks!
Dan

Comments

I have Apollo MIDI over Bluetooth and I never got it to work this way. Perhaps I'm missing something, as I didn't know this was an option. I'll work with it more and see what I come up with. Thanks for the tip-and the tee!

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I just tried Apollo again and AFAIK Bluetooth LE is the only option.

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@cuttime can you trying shutting off IPv6? http://osxdaily.com/2014/04/18/disable-ipv6-mac-os-x/

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Sorry for the delayed response. I tried disabling IPv6 with 10.12.2 and there was no joy. I had not had the opportunity to try this with 10.12.3 until today, and son-of-a gun it worked! Apparently Apple did make some changes in the last update, so a solution is possible. Thanks so much for the reminder!

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cool I've modified the answers to this, please upvote as necessary. Also if you haven't left an awesome review for MDP2 on the app store recently, please consider doing so. But most importantly, enjoy!

Answer 4

Update 2017-02-01: Users report that with OSX 10.12.3 shutting off IPv6 solves this connection issue.

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OLD: This is broken on OSX due to changes in IPv6 and IPv4. Right now there is no solution to the Wi-Fi connection on Sierra that we're aware of, and we're waiting for Apple to do their work to unbreak this.

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In the meantime, you've got options:

1. Bluetooth (free, built into iPad Air and above), available since 1.7.3
2. musicIO MIDI (lowest-latency, best professional solution for MIDI-over-USB-lightning cable... also, we are co-authors of the app)
3. iConnect ($60+)
4. midiMittr (free app)

Thanks!
Dan