Topic: Hot swapping fireface UC units changes driver name in DAW

The short version: is there a way to hot swap fireface UC units so that my software thinks they're the same unit and doesn't name the new one something different?

The long version: We're running Sonar 8.5 for our live rig. We have a couple of different hardware setups depending on how far we travel. We have two RME Fireface UC units, one for each rig. They're both updated to the same firmware. The problem arises when we switch rigs. When opening a file in Cakewalk, a message pops up that it can't find the same MIDI device that was saved in the file. The problem is that Cakewalk is calling the 1st fireface unit "UC midi port 1" and when we're not using the 1st unit but we have the 2nd fireface unit plugged in, cakewalk is calling the 2nd unit "2 - UC midi port 1".

So it seems as though the solution is to copy all of my cakewalk projects to another folder, and go through every project and change the midi outs in each file to the 2nd unit, and use those project files when using the 2nd fireface rig.  Surely there's a better way? I was thinking if I could find the .ini file that cakewalk uses to keep track of the units I could amend or delete it so cakewalk starts fresh when changing from one fireface to another, but I can't find where that info is stored. Any thoughts are appreciated! I'd hate to have to go through all of those files to create a whole new set for using different audio interfaces...



BTW, the audio channels don't change names between units and seem fine.

2

Re: Hot swapping fireface UC units changes driver name in DAW

It's not Cakewalk, it's Windows doing that. It identifies the unit via its serial number.

A crude workaround might be to delete the MIDI entry within the registry (I did not try that), so the replugged unit shows up as (1). As described here:

https://archiv.rme-audio.de/old/english … entrye.htm

Regards
Matthias Carstens
RME

Re: Hot swapping fireface UC units changes driver name in DAW

I have registry entries for 'midi', and 'midi1' through 'midi7' (there is no midi8, midi9, or midi10). All data for them is "wdmaud.drv". I also have registry entries for 'wave', and 'wave1' through to 'wave6 (there is no 'midi7' through 'midi10).

Every entry I have (midi and wave) have 'wdmaud.drv' as the data entry. There is nothing with 'RME' on it on the page.

However, I reinstalled the RME drivers and plugged in the 2nd sound card and could not get Cakewalk to recognize it as the original sound card. (Again, I was able to do this as a workaround previously.) If I understand correctly, according to the page you linked I should have a maximum of 10 entries for each until I run into a problem.

Should I delete all entries for midi and wave and reinstall drivers? Can you try that on your end and see if that works?

Re: Hot swapping fireface UC units changes driver name in DAW

Another update: I deleted all instances of the named midi and wave instances in the registry. Nothing has changed. Somewhere either in Windows or Cakewalk, there is info that is calling the 2nd Fireface #2 and so every cakewalk file I open throws up an error message looking for that unit. Again, reinstalling the drivers does nothing anymore.

5

Re: Hot swapping fireface UC units changes driver name in DAW

Then it looks like this is caused by the initial P&P entry within the registry that is not deletable by the user. No workaround for that which I know of.

Regards
Matthias Carstens
RME

Re: Hot swapping fireface UC units changes driver name in DAW

I certainly couldn't find one. I ended up having to reinstall windows.

Just curious, what do most groups do to facilitate a backup unit? Is there a way to have each unit serviced to show the same serial # so that windows sees them as the same unit?

In fact, what is the benefit of having an embedded serial #?

7

Re: Hot swapping fireface UC units changes driver name in DAW

markellis wrote:

Is there a way to have each unit serviced to show the same serial # so that windows sees them as the same unit?

That is indeed possible, but obviously then prevents usage of more than one unit at the same time. Please contact support if you want to go that route.

Regards
Matthias Carstens
RME