Topic: Workspaces and Multiple Interfaces

When I save a Workspace in TotalMix with two interfaces plugged in (Babyface Pro FS (BFP) and UCX II), what is saved?

I would like to be able to keep my workspaces independent by interface i.e. have my workspaces only apply / affect one of the interfaces I have plugged in ...

However, it seems at first glance that, even if I unplug my BFP before saving the workspace, the saved workspace does contain config info for the BFP and affects both my UCX II setup and my BFP setup when I load that workspace.

Maybe a brief explanation of how to manage workspaces when using TotalMix to control multiple RME interfaces? (can't seem to locate this info anywhere ...

Clint Goss - 2xBF Pro FS, UCX II, UFX II; 3xWin10Pro22H2
WindSynth:Sylphyo Cantabile Ableton Push3S

2 (edited by waedi 2024-06-15 18:14:18)

Re: Workspaces and Multiple Interfaces

The workspace is that of the current (or the last one connected) active interface.
You can't share a workspace between different interfaces.
Those interfaces both use Totalmix, but it's their own Totalmix, not the same.

M1-Sonoma, Madiface Pro, Digiface USB, Babyface silver and blue

3 (edited by ramses 2024-06-15 18:41:58)

Re: Workspaces and Multiple Interfaces

Still on Windows? Maybe put smth into your forum signature so that this information is there if you forget to mention it.
Save some work to search in your old postings.

Have a look at your Windows user profile .. C:\Users\xxx\AppData\Local\TotalMixFX

There you find files containing the last TM FX setting for each of the interfaces that were connected to your PC.
They start with "last."
At the end they have a number, as you can connect multiple of the same type.

last.FirefaceUFX+1.xml
last.FirefaceUFXIII1.xml
last.HDSPRayDAT1.xml

In the preferences you can set, that the last configuration is being loaded automatically.
The file is being written in case you quit TM FX or if you shutdown the computer.

You can use one TM FX window and switch in it between multiple interfaces (see pull-down menu at the upper right)
or you can open a second window and select there the 2nd interface.

Storing the workspace will store the TM FX as they are.

You could also work with Quick Workspace select and change between different workspace as you like with ALT-1 - ALT-8.

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

4 (edited by Clint Goss 2024-06-15 21:40:34)

Re: Workspaces and Multiple Interfaces

ramses wrote:

Maybe put smth into your forum signature ...

Done! (sorry 'bout that ...)

And Thanks for the info on /User files ... (of which I was not aware) ...

So I work a lot with .TMWS workspace files that I explicitly save. If I have two interfaces plugged in (e.g. BFP and UCXII), then the .TMWS file will contain config data for both those interfaces and does seem to correctly restore TotalMix for both those interfaces when I re-load that .TMWS file. (I check this by switching on the upper right selector).

If I save info for only one of the interfaces (the UCXII by unplugging the BFP), then the .TMWS file contains config data for only the one, plugged-in interface (the UCXII). All is good.

However, if I reload that single-interface UCXII .TMWS file, it affects the TotalMix setup for the interface that it has config data for (the UCXII) , and also affects the setup for other interface that is plugged in (the BFP). A simple test is to set one interface - the UCXII - to 3-row display in TotalMix and the second interface (BFP) to [Two-row]. If I re-load the UCXII-only .TMWS file, both the UCXII and the BFP display as 3-row.

That's just a simple experiment ... I have yet to dig further into this issue (i.e. check routing and levels) ... but it is disconcerting ...

Clint Goss - 2xBF Pro FS, UCX II, UFX II; 3xWin10Pro22H2
WindSynth:Sylphyo Cantabile Ableton Push3S

Re: Workspaces and Multiple Interfaces

Workspace is everything .. simply make / store the workspaces so that they fit to your demand.

As I mentioned already I would set in preferences
[x] Always init DSP devices with TM FX settings
This ensures that the questionaire at boot/login vanishes .. the device will always get the latest settings from the last.* file
no matter what you did with it in between.

For backup purposes I would save workspace files.
But for quick switching between setups I would use Quick Workspace Select files as you can restore easily with ALT-1 .. ALT-8

It doesn't matter that the workspace saves / restores both interfaces at once .. simply save the workspaces as you want them to be ... (for both devices).

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

Re: Workspaces and Multiple Interfaces

Thanks for the assistance @ramses!

I've stayed with .tmws files rather than Quick Workspace Select because I need to smoothly switch between my 3 hosts (home Desktop, performance Laptop, and backup performance Laptop). The .tmws files nicely work with cloud (Dropbox) storage.

Since TotalMix does not seem to have a way to relocate the C:\Users\xxx\AppData\Local\TotalMixFX data store, I would need to create an NTFS junction on all my hosts into Dropbox - a complexity hassle.

Clint Goss - 2xBF Pro FS, UCX II, UFX II; 3xWin10Pro22H2
WindSynth:Sylphyo Cantabile Ableton Push3S

Re: Workspaces and Multiple Interfaces

Now I better understand your setup, at the beginning it was not clear to me what you intend to do.
Well I think the point is what waedi told already.
The TM FX mixer settings "last.*" have different names per model, because they have a different number and types of ports.

Using the cloud could lead to issues, if the cloud is not available.
Using an USB stick might have other disadvantages, it could be damaged, you would need backup sticks where you could assume that the cloud storage has a proper backup in the background.
Another problem is, you could forget such an USB stick, things like this can happen easily and you would have the work to synchronize the files between main and backup stick.

The way you set it up now with the cloud and the cloud storage cached on your local filesystem might be the best solution.

But still you should perform regular backups of your workspace using TM FX "Save workspace as".
It can also be useful to use Quick Workspace select because it can quickly save and restore the workspace for multiple recording interfaces at once. Not only windows placement but also the TM FX settings (routing etc). Kind of "Plan B".

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

8 (edited by maggie33 2024-06-20 06:23:36)

Re: Workspaces and Multiple Interfaces

Had a similar usecase longer time ago (But i had to do this between several macs and win PCs).

Made a batch script, which has to be executed on every Win Client.

Important!:
1) Make a backups of your TotalMixFX config Directory before doing anything
2) Modify your Destination dir in the script, where the new folder should be created
   - where your dropbox network drive is located (i am not familar how dropbox handles this)
2) Save the code as .bat file (f.ex move_totalmix.bat)
3) IMPORTANT!!! Run the script as Administrator. This is necessary to create symbolic links. Right-click on the file and select "Run as administrator".
4) Run it on every windows pc, and it should make all your clients use the same TM config dir in their respective cluoud/network drive.
5) Notes:
- Should work fine, if only one Host at the same time uses TM
- Make sure the Network Drive is synced as an "offline drive" on every host - even if your host is offline, the newest files shall be synced to the drive...
- The script has to be modified if the checkbox "Store Settings for All Users " is set, because it looks in the current users AppData folder...

For Windows - Vista and higher - this batch should work:

@echo off
setlocal


:: New directory path where the directory will be moved
:: ----------- Modify your path to the destination folder here! -------------
:: ------------------------------------------------------------------------------
set "newDir=D:\TotalMixConfig"
:: ------------------------------------------------------------------------------
:: ----------- Rest should not be modified ! ---------------------------------

:: Original directory path
set "originalDir=%LOCALAPPDATA%\TotalMixFX"

:: Check if the original directory exists
if not exist "%originalDir%" (
    echo The directory %originalDir% does not exist.
    exit /b 1
)

:: Move the directory to the new path
echo Moving %originalDir% to %newDir%...
move "%originalDir%" "%newDir%"

:: Check if the move was successful
if not exist "%newDir%" (
    echo Error: Moving the directory failed.
    exit /b 1
)

:: Create the symbolic link
echo Creating symbolic link...
mklink /D "%originalDir%" "%newDir%"

:: Check if the link was successfully created
if %errorlevel% neq 0 (
    echo Error: Failed to create the symbolic link.
    exit /b 1
)

echo The symbolic link was successfully created.
endlocal

Let me know, if you have any questions/problems.

BTW:

However, if I reload that single-interface UCXII .TMWS file, it affects the TotalMix setup for the interface that it has config data for (the UCXII) , and also affects the setup for other interface that is plugged in (the BFP). A simple test is to set one interface - the UCXII - to 3-row display in TotalMix and the second interface (BFP) to [Two-row]. If I re-load the UCXII-only .TMWS file, both the UCXII and the BFP display as 3-row.

If you reload the tmws, for UCXII only, (if i understand it right) if no BBF plugged in - ok. But if you plug it in afterwards, TM recognizes it either as a new unit or if it has been plugged in before, it loads the last.BabyfaceXYZ.xml. I do not understand your Workflow completly, but you should consider either using tmss files (for the mixer settings for each unit) plus 3 different workspaces:
1. for UCXII only
2. for BFP only
3. for both Units

(My personal scenario is so weird, that depending on my need i have to use combinations of tmws, tmss and the xml files in a synced folder) ;-)

“Do It For Her”
My Gear: Bontempi Magic light Keyboard

9 (edited by maggie33 2024-06-21 06:02:02)

Re: Workspaces and Multiple Interfaces

PS: For Mac Users:

Always make Backups, before trying anything!

  • Open a terminal session

  • open a editor like Nano or Vim to write the script.

  • Copy and paste the provided code into the editor.

  • Save the file on your Mac, for example with the name move_totalmix.sh.

  • Make the script executable with the command "chmod +x move_totalmix.sh".

  • Run the script using ./move_totalmix.sh from your terminal.

Edit: Code modified, to make a backup before doing anything and added an example if you want to use iCloud Drive as destination


#!/bin/bash

# Define the backup directory
backupDir="$HOME/Documents/TotalMixConfigs"

# Define the new directory path - Modify it as you need. 
# Here an example, if you want to move it to your iCloud directory 
# Make sure Terminal has Access to your iCloud Drive (check in Security Settings -> Files & Folders -> Terminal) 
newDir="$HOME/Library/Mobile Documents/com~apple~CloudDocs/RMETotalMixFX"

# Should not be modified. Just in case, you need it and know what you do!
originalDir="$HOME/Library/Application Support/RME TotalMix FX"


# Check if the backup directory exists, if not create it
if [ ! -d "$backupDir" ]; then
    echo "Backup directory does not exist. Creating $backupDir..."
    mkdir -p "$backupDir"
    if [ $? -ne 0 ]; then
        echo "Failed to create backup directory. Exiting."
        exit 1
    fi
fi

# Check if the original directory exists, if not exit
if [ ! -d "$originalDir" ]; then
    echo "Error: The original directory $originalDir does not exist. Exiting."
    exit 1
fi

# Check if the original directory is a symbolic link
if [ -L "$originalDir" ]; then
    echo "$originalDir is a symbolic link."
    echo "Please choose how to proceed:"
    echo "1) Backup the contents of the linked directory"
    echo "2) Backup the symbolic link itself"
    read -p "Enter your choice (1 or 2): " userChoice

    case $userChoice in
        1)
            # Backup the contents of the linked directory
            echo "Backing up the contents of the linked directory..."
            realPath=$(readlink "$originalDir")
            zip -r "$backupDir/TotalMixConfig-linked-backup-$(date +%Y%m%d-%H%M%S).zip" "$realPath"
            ;;
        2)
            # Backup the symbolic link itself
            echo "Backing up the symbolic link..."
            ln -s $(readlink "$originalDir") "$backupDir/TotalMixConfig-symlink-$(date +%Y%m%d-%H%M%S)"
            ;;
        *)
            echo "Invalid option. Exiting."
            exit 1
            ;;
    esac
else
    # Create a ZIP file for the backup and inform the user
    echo "Creating a ZIP backup of $originalDir in $backupDir..."
    zip -r "$backupDir/TotalMixConfig-backup-$(date +%Y%m%d-%H%M%S).zip" "$originalDir"
fi

# Check if the new directory exists, if not create it
if [ ! -d "$newDir" ]; then
    echo "New directory does not exist. Creating $newDir..."
    mkdir -p "$newDir"
    if [ $? -ne 0 ]; then
        echo "Failed to create new directory. Exiting."
        exit 1
    fi
fi

# Move the contents of the original directory to the new directory
echo "Moving contents of $originalDir to $newDir..."
if ! mv -f "$originalDir/"* "$newDir"; then
    echo "Warning: Identical files could not be moved. Check manually!"
    # exit 1
fi

# Verify if the original directory is empty
if [ "$(ls -A "$originalDir")" ]; then
    echo "Warning: Not all contents were moved."
else
    echo "All contents moved successfully."
fi

# Remove the original directory after moving its contents
rm -r "$originalDir"

# Create the symbolic link
echo "Creating symbolic link from $newDir to $originalDir..."
if ! ln -s "$newDir" "$originalDir"; then
    echo "Error: Failed to create the symbolic link."
    exit 1
fi

echo "Operation completed successfully. The symbolic link was successfully created."
“Do It For Her”
My Gear: Bontempi Magic light Keyboard

Re: Workspaces and Multiple Interfaces

I run this one line Terminal command to backup my TotalMix config to my Documents folder on my Mac.

zip -r "$HOME/Documents/TotalMix-backup-$(date +%Y%m%d-%H%M%S).zip" "$HOME/Library/Application Support/RME TotalMix FX"
Apple Mac Studio M1 Max, Sonoma, RME UFX III, 12Mic, Pulse 16 MX, Softube Console 1, Studio One 6

Re: Workspaces and Multiple Interfaces

Good idea, I added it into the shell script and expanded it a little.

“Do It For Her”
My Gear: Bontempi Magic light Keyboard