I'm new to this too but I'm interested in the topic. The OM says that this error means "An error occurred during read/write to the USB flash drive.". My general experience with other Yamaha synths is that recent USB sticks are better than old ones. 

FWIW, have a look at the document "List of USB devices confirmed to work with MODX M 6/7/8" found here: removed link

EDIT: It appears that this forum removes links. This document can easily be found in the list of downloadables on the Yamaha product page.

Another thing, Soundmondo doesn't support cross-device imports because it's tied to the specific MIDI implementations (with complex Sysex messages and the like). So AFAIK, you need to take the backup/restore route. Too bad that there's no easier patch-by-patch export-import mechanism (that I know of).

Good point about the USB devices - these were new USB sticks but not the ones "approved" by Yamaha so I will try that and see what happens, although my hopes are low.  Has anyone had any luck with using John Melas software in these types of issues?

USB should work to transfer the old Modx 7 files to the new Modx M7.

but no matter what I do when I try and load it into the Modx M I get a "USB device read/write error".

That most often indicates an incompatible USB stick. 

would a workaround be . . .

Any 'workaround' isn't going to fix your underlying USB problem. But, yes, you could use Melas or Soundmondo to get the data loaded. Of course you will still want to fix the USB issue at some point.

Our advice would be:

1. get a USB device that is on the compatibility list.

2. format it on the Modx M

3. test it on the M by creating a library file on the M and then trying to reload that same library file on the M

4. if that test fails then either your M or the USB stick has a problem that needs to be fixed.

Make sure you use a USB 2.0 stick and format it on the M - it needs FAT32 formatting.

Thanks Toby.  I have already ordered a USB device on the compatibility list and will format it on the Modx M and make sure my new M works well in saving and loading a file, but I highly suspect the issue is with the old Modx, not the new one.  If all of the above works but my old Modx cannot be loaded into the new one, does anyone have any advice on how to use the John Melas software easily to just transfer all of my files to the new Modx M?  Is there just a "back up disk" like save that can be loaded?

List of USB devices confirmed to work with Montage M (8X,7,6):

https://usa.yamaha.com/files/download/other_assets/5/2164705/DE_en_MONTAGE_M_6_7_8x.pdf

Posted by: matthewnathanharris@yahoo.com

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Has anyone had any luck with using John Melas software in these types of issues?

I don't think that the John Melas tools support this today but I could be wrong. I viewed a few YT videos myself when trying to decide if they're worth buying with their current feature set for the MODX M and decided to wait (for when the Performance Editor is made available).

Note that the new MODX M OS v3 increases the number of libraries from 16 to 24. If I were you, I'd get a USB stick formatted on the MODX M and make sure you import .X8L files (renaming .X8U to .X8L if needed) so that your User Perf space is kept clean. I did that successfully yesterday myself from another user's "MOTXAllUser.X8U" file from the PresetPatch site.

I think along with the USB compatibility list, Yamaha should be gathering information about USB sticks that don't work and then document what would need to be done to make them work and explain what properties of certain sticks make them incompatible out of the box.

For instance, many sticks have extra partitions they use to install backup utilities and documentation.  Extra partitions are not handled well by these keyboards so the fix is to wipe the USB stick including extra partitions.  Format doesn't do this.  There are tools out there that completely wipe USB sticks including partitions.

And there may be other reasons for the incompatibilities. So it would be good to have some docs on these and then it would be easier overall to identify if your stick works or not and maybe instructions to get some sticks to work.

I wouldn't use JM tools to solve this problem.  I'd invest time in finding a stick that makes all keyboards happy then I'd get several of those.

Thank you all for your suggetions.  Unfortunately when I got a "certified" USB stick and formatted it correctly with the ModX M7 and then downloaded a backup file onto it from my ModX, the same error message came up when immediately when I tried to load it into my Modx M ("USB device read/write error").  I strongly suspect I have a defective ModX as it had acted strange with some other stuff, but the question is what do I do?  If I try and get the software corrected somewhere, I am afraid I might lose all my User files as maybe they aren't really saving correctly on a USB. Can I try and connect it directly to a computer and save things that way?  I really don't want to try and recreate about 60 performances at this point on the ModX M7.  Thanks!

If you don't have custom samples then you can do SysEx dumps one by one to save off Performance data.   

Probably easiest though would be to use ESP to duplicate your MODX M within ESP.  There should be a way to do this without creating a backup file on a USB stick but may still need doing this one by one.

What I would do would be to write a python script to recall each User Performance one-by-one and automatically capture the SysEx dump.  This is not user friendly so it may not be a reasonable option.

By the way, formatting on the keyboard doesn't wipe the stick.  So the gotcha is if the stick has multiple partitions then you would need to use a tool to wipe these partitions and then formatting using the keyboard works out.

Still could be some other problem, but if there's not another problem then further preparation of the USB stick may be needed.

Did you test the new stick on the Modx M to verify that the M can actually read/write the stick? The reason I ask is because you said this:

Unfortunately when I got a "certified" USB stick and formatted it correctly with the ModX M7 and then downloaded a backup file onto it from my ModX, the same error message came up when immediately when I tried to load it into my Modx M ("USB device read/write error").

But in an earlier post the goal was to validate the stick on the M BEFORE trying to use it with the Modx.

I have already ordered a USB device on the compatibility list and will format it on the Modx M and make sure my new M works well in saving and loading a file, 

It is important to make sure that the M can actually read/write that stick in order to rule the stick out as part of the problem.

1. test the stick on the M by creating a user file.

2. rename the user file and give it the extension of a library file

3. test loading the saved file, with the library extension, as a library.

Were there any errors? If so there is an issue with the stick or the M

If not then delete the user and library files you created and put the file from the Modx into the same physical place and try to load it.

  I strongly suspect I have a defective ModX as it had acted strange with some other stuff, but the question is what do I do?

One option is to get it fixed.

Another option is to create a library file on the Modx and try loading that on the M. 

Make sure that ANY file on the usb drive you want to load is in the ROOT of the drive and not in a sub-folder.

You could also do an 'Initialize All Settings' on the advanced utility page before creating the library file

  If I try and get the software corrected somewhere, I am afraid I might lose all my User files as maybe they aren't really saving correctly on a USB.

By 'User files' are you actually referring to the user area on the Modx? Or do you actually mean the files you created on the stick?

If the files on the stick are corrupt there is nothing you can do except recreate them. And you can't lose the user area on the Modx unless you delete things from it manually or do an 'Initialize User Data' or 'Initialize All Data'.

Can I try and connect it directly to a computer and save things that way?

You could try using the Connect app to transfer your user objects to the computer.

  I really don't want to try and recreate about 60 performances at this point on the ModX M7.

Can't blame you there. But there is something to be said for keeping a notebook that has the details of each performance you create. The notes should be complete enough that a 3rd party could recreate a performance using nothing but the notes.

As another poster mentioned using 'format' only affects one partition. You can use Disk Management on the PC to examine the partition structure and delete any extra partitions and then reformat the usb drive on the Modx M.