How can I get Midi Designer to work with the Alesis iO Dock's midi ports?

Question

I don't have trouble with a wireless connection but I can't seem to get MD to send MIDI messages thru the iO Dock's hardware ports, either USB or standard MIDI.  My computer sees these hardware ports fine, and in MD's config I can see and select the iO Dock, but no data seems to be going out that way.

Comments

Hi @bazza and thanks for your question. First answer is that I don't know, and it's obvious from your question that you're testing correctly. That said, two things: 1) simplify your tests to make sure 2) see if there's any upgrade to the firmware on the IO Dock and 3) try it with other CoreMIDI software (e.g., MIDI Monitor, which is free). Also 4) check the Log in MIDI Designer to triple check. Unfortunately, I don't have an IO Dock with me to test right now. PLEASE come back and tell me how it goes.

Thanks!
Dan

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Thank you Dan for your fast reply.  It turns out that MIDI IS working, just not sysex.  I just found out from searching the web that Alesis will not be supporting sysex in the iO Dock at all.  I feel that this is unforgivable, but c'est la vie.  Controllers, notes and program change commands all do work just fine.

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Sorry to hear that. I know for a fact that the Line6, the iRig and the iConnect all work with sysex (for what it's worth, which in your case might be very little). Good luck and let me know if you have any other questions or feedback. Also, if you're using the app and loving it, please review it in the app store.

Best!
Dan

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Well, it's my fault.  I got the Dock on eBay without researching.  One just assumes when it says MIDI...

There IS one other thing that I'm struggling with Dan.  If you have a moment to take a look at the Q&A thread "Model ID Byte Length" I've waxed eloquent there about trying to control a Roland VG-99 with sysex, but it has a 3-byte model ID.  I can manually type checksums in for static values but of course that means no on/off buttons or variable sliders etc. I'm wondering if I've missed something or if it's still an update away?

Thanks so much for your attention.  I really love the app and plan on saying so in the App Store review.

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I saw the thread and it's a big priority and will happen soon. It did not get into 1.4.4, which is still coming out. It's actually trivial, but even trivial features need full testing and love. Hope you can wait for now. I'm hearing about and fixing loose ends all the time.

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Thanks so much for your attention to my request Dan. It says an awful lot about your commitment to your users. I have some basic functionality that will get me by until an update comes out. Meanwhile I'll just use two switches instead of one when I need to toggle values. I understand that the update process must proceed in an orderly fashion.

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Thanks for your patience and the dialog. If you feel inspired, please review Pro and/or Lite in the App Store. Let me know if you have further questions/feedback. Best!
Dan

Answer 1

As we discussed in the comments on the question, the Alesis does not do sysex. Read more on this forum post at Alesis.

Thanks for the dialogue and for finding this limitation.

Answer 2

As we discussed in the comments on the question, the Alesis does not do sysex. Read more on this forum post at Alesis.

Thanks for the dialogue and for finding this limitation.