• Registered: 2019-08-25
  • Posts: 4

Topic: TOtalmix issue

Hello RME Support,
I had the same issue with TotalMix - pretending it is opened in System Tray (Windows), appearing as a background process in Windows but doing nothing. Not visible on ALT+Tab, unreachable in any possible way.
Lots of comments here put me on a wrong path so I ended uninstalling everything related to RME products in order to have a clean install - because same version of TotalMix worked for me in the past, using the same UFX+ firmware. After uninstalling I had a look in the registry and I found hundreds of 'Fireface' keys. This is not right! Your uninstaller needs serious improvements! I manually deleted for more than one hour but then I gave up. Furthermore - under "c:\Users\%currentuser%\AppData\Local\TotalMixFX\" some xml config files will always remain unless manually deleted. I deleted those too.
I have re-installed latest driver for Fireface UFX+ and... nothing. TotalMix still not opening.
You might be already tired of my long comment but stay with me because I found an workaround. Not a solution. You will find a solution I hope soon...
At some point, a MAC user said try different USB ports - well this did the trick.
Here's what you need to pass to your developers - it turned out that the initial setup of the driver made a so-called registry tattooing - which will remain there after uninstall (remember I said I quit manually deleting after one hour). That secret key will link the physical USB port to the RME interface.
I was sure I found the solution because other tool (FUT) was also not working for me. The moment I changed the USB port to the one I used in the begining FUT opened, the driver of my Fireface was visible in Device Manager and TotalMix started to work...
This took me 2 days to figure out. When you pay 2400EUR for an interface this is at least annoying...
This comment is more for my son - just in case he will experience the same issue as me. But you should surprise us with better drivers and a more reliable TotalMix.
Otherway - Fireface UFX+ was far above my wildest expectations...
George / Brussels / 2019.08.25

2 Reply by ramses (edited by ramses 2019-08-26 12:17:29)

  • ramses
  • DAW Mastermind
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  • From: UTC+1
  • Registered: 2012-10-14
  • Posts: 12,882

Re: TOtalmix issue

Sorry but bad luck.

If you would have read the UFX+ manual in regards to what USB3 chips are supported and would have identified the proper USB3 ports on your system by reading the manual of your system or mainboard (or by trial & error) then you wouldn't have had any issue.

USB3 ports from Intel and AMD are always supported, but not all 3rd party USB3 chipsets on mainboards follow the USB standards properly for the USB3 transfer mode required by the RME ASIO driver and thus do not work.

AFAIR you do not need to take care about registry entries. Simply follow the instructions of the manual and install the latest driver, there is nothing more to do.

I installed former UFX, now UFX+ and ADI-2 Pro on Windows 7 and 10 without any issue. The only difference, I consulted the RME  manual in terms of chipset compatibility upfront.

Once the driver is installed you can upgrade the firmware (usually only/always via USB, if your interface should have a 2nd connection type to the PC).

What's more important now, enjoy your ufx+.

In terms of TMFX I propose you read my primer and very good RME tutorial videos. You only need to know very few operating principles but those are very important.
Also the UFX+ manual contains this information and even more.

http://www.tonstudio-forum.de/blog/inde … rnal-equi/

http://www.tonstudio-forum.de/blog/inde … al-Videos/

Also this could be interesting for you

http://www.tonstudio-forum.de/blog/inde … ndruck-DE/

BR Ramses - UFX III, 12Mic, XTC, ADI-2 Pro FS R BE, RayDAT, X10SRi-F, E5-1680v4, Win10Pro22H2, Cub13
  • Registered: 2019-08-25
  • Posts: 4

Re: TOtalmix issue

Dear Ramses,

Thanks for your answer and thank you for the links - I am a big TotalMix FX fan!

- Of course I have read the manual - I started with 'System requirements' - page 8 - USB 2.0 is supported. My laptop doesn't have USB 3 so most of the troubleshooting steps you are referring to are not applicable.
- About chipset - I have an Intel chipset - which I understand it is fully compatible with the UFX+
- The USB ports that didn't work for me are also embeded on the mainboard/motherboard - no USB hubs/cables were involved.

It might be that your tests didn't cover all possible scenarios.

Nevertheless - your comment made me understand that embedded USB slots can share the same controller, using the same BUS which could lead to ASIO stream interruptions in some situations. Since I have this problem - I will try to allocate a dedicated controller for the USB port used by RME interface and/or to increase the buffer size.

In the meantime, I bought a Fireface 802 which only has USB 2 capabilities, leaving the UFX+ to my son (his laptop has USB 3) and I can tell that 802 works great for all my needs. I did not test changing the USB port though.

Thanks again for your quick feedback.

George

4 Reply by MC

  • MC
  • MC
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  • From: Germany/Thailand
  • Registered: 2007-04-06
  • Posts: 25,443

Re: TOtalmix issue

The Fireface 802 uses a different USB audio transmission format than the newer UFX+. This clearly points to bad USB chips/support in your computer, as the UFX+ uses the defacto industry standard (isochronous streaming).

The only other possible help is that (as you only use USB2) it might help to set the audio interface mode from Auto to the dedicated USB 2, to avoid possible confusion on startup (when the unit searches for the right connection). This is done via the display, under Setup.

Regards
Matthias Carstens
RME

MC's Website

5 Reply by ramses (edited by ramses 2019-08-28 12:34:03)

  • ramses
  • DAW Mastermind
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  • From: UTC+1
  • Registered: 2012-10-14
  • Posts: 12,882

Re: TOtalmix issue

I think it makes sense to test whether the UFX+ works if set to USB2 as MC wrote. It's the new flagship interface with nice features.

Try each USB2 and USB3 port even if only using USB2.

Should it work you can send the 802 back and get either UFX II or UFX+.

UFX II is the same as UFX+ except MADI (thus it requires only USB2).

On the other hand it could be useful to have a 2nd UFX+ to have an identical backup device.
Maybe your next pc has then a useable USB3/TB interface.

The list of advantages of the UFX II/+ over the old flahship intetface UFX you can find in my blog article: http://www.tonstudio-forum.de/blog/inde … 8-RME-UFX/

BR Ramses - UFX III, 12Mic, XTC, ADI-2 Pro FS R BE, RayDAT, X10SRi-F, E5-1680v4, Win10Pro22H2, Cub13