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I have a Yamaha P-120 model with a USB to MIDI interface that looks like this.

USB to MIDI interface

I've decided to use LMMS because it seems like the easiest MIDI sequencer available. I'm having a lot of difficulties getting this to work.

  • What I am trying to do: Record input from my keyboard onto LMMS
  • What is working: I can get my output to work, so I can control my keyboard via my computer.
  • What is not working: My computer isn't reading the input from the keyboard. I can't record any songs.
  • What have I tried: A lot.

Ports/Any other Information

Port     Client name                       Port name
14:0     Midi Through                      Midi Through Port-0
24:0     USB Midi                          USB Midi MIDI 1
128:1     LMMS                              Default preset
128:2     LMMS                              Default preset
128:4     LMMS                              Default preset
129:0     Client-129                        qjackctl

Let me know if you need anything else to help. I am really trying hard to fix this problem as I would love to use my MIDI keyboard.

Pablo Bianchi
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andor kesselman
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    Does `aseqdump -p "USB Midi"` work? – CL. Mar 18 '14 at 08:35
  • yes. my output reads: `24:0 Clock 24:0 Clock 24:0 Clock 24:0 Clock 24:0 Active Sensing 24:0 Clock 24:0 Clock 24:0 Clock 24:0 Clock 24:0 Stop 24:0 Clock 24:0 Clock 24:0 Clock 24:0 Active Sensing 24:0 Clock 24:0 Clock 24:0 Clock 24:0 Clock 24:0 Stop` – andor kesselman Mar 18 '14 at 11:22
  • Found out some things more with my interface: `aconnect -i client 0: 'System' [type=kernel] 0 'Timer ' 1 'Announce ' client 14: 'Midi Through' [type=kernel] 0 'Midi Through Port-0' client 28: 'USB Midi' [type=kernel] 0 'USB Midi MIDI 1 ' ' ` and `aconnect -o client 14: 'Midi Through' [type=kernel] 0 'Midi Through Port-0' client 28: 'USB Midi' [type=kernel] 0 'USB Midi MIDI 1 ' client 128: 'FLUID Synth (3237)' [type=user] 0 'Synth input port (3237:0)' ` – andor kesselman Mar 18 '14 at 12:25
  • Also, I am following this tutorial now and so far I am still having problems with the MIDI http://tedfelix.com/linux/linux-midi.html – andor kesselman Mar 18 '14 at 12:27

2 Answers2

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I had the same problem with an Yamaha PSR-2000, the same MIDI to USB cable and Debian 12, and found this page. Here I learn about the aseqdump command. With it I could troubleshoot and find a solution to me: Just turn on both MAIN and LAYER on the right side of the LCD screen. Once I did that all the notes were sent to the host.

Luiz Fellipe
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  • As this is a Ubuntu only site do you know for sure this works with Ubuntu? – David Apr 08 '23 at 08:23
  • As far as troubleshoot isn't a distro specific problem, the culprit was the interaction between the instrument and the generic cable. Also have in mind I can't even be sure if this works with other models of keyboards or cables. I decided to share here because even not using Ubuntu, I'm using Debian and both share a lot of the same software, and the chances are more im favor of working than not. I wish you hood luck – Luiz Fellipe Apr 10 '23 at 18:04
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The MIDI command bytes for Clock, Stop, and Active Sensing are F8, FC, and FE. In binary, this would be 11111000, 11111100, and 11111110.

The MIDI protocol has no synchronization or error correction; this looks like noise on the MIDI data line, i.e., there is no actual MIDI signal.

Reasons for this could be:

  • the MIDI input cable is broken;
  • the keyboard's MIDI output is broken; or
  • the "HOST SELECT" switch is not set to "MIDI".
CL.
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  • It is possible the MIDI cable is broken, except that I was getting output to the keyboard through my computer (So I think that it would mean that MIDI IN would have to be the only cord broken). Host select switch is set to MIDI. I hope its not a hardware failure. The only way I can think of making sure it isn't a hardware failure is to make sure there isn't some weird driver/problem with Yamaha keyboards and MIDI connections. (I've found stuff online saying Yamaha is special). – andor kesselman Mar 18 '14 at 12:42
  • I might just purchase another cable and see if that works. I'll be able to tell you if it was hardware failure after I see how a new cable reacts to the connection (unless the hardware failure is on the keyboard itself like you suggested). – andor kesselman Mar 18 '14 at 12:48