Are you able to load the MIDI and play it with the recorder? I understand the conversion to an ARP is giving you the error, but not clear if Montage can play the file at all. The reason why I ask is because I'm trying to sort if it's saved as something like a 0-length file on Montage or represents some valid MIDI data.

If there is a way to save the song (MIDI) back to the USB stick with a different name - or different USB stick - it would also be interesting to see what is saved and how that may differ from the original file.

USB sticks use memory technology with a limited amount of write cycles so I wonder if over time the stick has degraded causing errors ("worn out").

Also, the source of USB sticks can be an issue. Counterfeiting was once very common with USB flash drives - mostly of larger sizes - but any size can be a target of this. An ebay sale way below retail is one such example. Alibaba has also, in the past, been a marketplace with a higher percentage of counterfeit than other sources. Also, private sale through Amazon (not fulfilled by Amazon) for online purchases may provide less than authentic media.

I believe there are test programs out there to validate the memory controller and underlying memory technology (or at least size) which often proves the authenticity of the drives. Search engine.

Just a few theories of why there has been a change, over time, of success/failure trying to use MIDI from a USB stick and convert to ARPs.

As far as editing within Montage - I agree that there would be value-add to be able to edit basic parameters of an ARP. Not the individual notes and note lengths, etc (sequencer type stuff) - but maybe global header type information. This may be mute soon depending on the release schedule and rollout plans of the offline ARP utility(ies).

I get a "no data error" on the montage. all the time now, even thow it used to work a few times in the past.
as usal, the midi file that I open from the usb stick is immediately stored as a "song" in the monatge whether I want that or not. but no matter if I open that "song" and try to save it as a user arp or the midi file from the usb stick: it says no data error when I want to save it as an arp. so it can´t be because the montage does not like my usb stick since it already has the file that´s supposed to become an arp stored as a song. so the data is there already inside the montage.

what to do now?

A "no data" error message means the function you are attempting to use (User Arp) received no useful information for the task. If you received this error message what you should do is review your USER ARP dialog box.

By the way, just curious, where should the Montage place your .mid file when you open it (in your thinking)?

Please post how you setup the Put Track to Arp dialog box.
Or post the .mid file if you think you filled it out properly.

yes, the montage could play back the file fine.

in my thinking, the montage should place the midi files in the volatile memory, or how do you call it, but treat them the same way as it treats performances, which are only only saved when actually saved and otherwise vanish. I don´t think the montage should permanently save anything without being told to do so. it does really create chaos, at least for me.

I saved the midi files in cubase, did of course not understand the options in the export window (see attached, but it´s in german). It was clicked to "0" by default, whatever that means.

It took me 5 minutes to rerecord the arps, they were pretty simple. I thought it would be easier to just correct the pitch in cubase and send them back but, well...not really 😉

yes, the montage could play back the file fine.

in my thinking, the montage should place the midi files in the volatile memory, or how do you call it, but treat them the same way as it treats performances, which are only only saved when actually saved and otherwise vanish. I don´t think the montage should permanently save anything without being told to do so. it does really create chaos, at least for me.

I saved the midi files in cubase, did of course not understand the options in the export window (see attached, but it´s in german). It was clicked to "0" by default, whatever that means.

the put to arp was set to 1 track with orig notes and changed to C2, that´s all.

It took me 5 minutes to rerecord the arps, they were pretty simple. I thought it would be easier to just correct the pitch in cubase and send them back but, well...not really 😉

in my thinking, the montage should place the midi files in the volatile memory, or how do you call it, but treat them the same way as it treats performances, which are only only saved when actually saved and otherwise vanish. I don´t think the montage should permanently save anything without being told to do so. it does really create chaos, at least for me.

Montage does not have any volatile memory. It does treat them the same way as it treats Performances that you load, they remain in memory until you delete them or overwrite them. Performances do not vanish. Songs do not vanish. You can overwrite them or delete them. Think on it some more.

Maybe I was not clear, what I asked was: Please post how you setup the Put Track to Arp dialog box... (in the Montage). I'm fairly sure Cubase exported the MIDI data, the "no data" error message I assumed you were saying appeared in the Montage screen.

How did you setup the dialog box for creating the Arp?

I searched yamaha.com and yamahasynth.com for "MIDI type 0" but didn't find anything as a general summary, so I offer information from a different source:

Source: https://forum.noteworthycomposer.com/?topic=4157.0

I found this description on Kurzweil's (they make keyboards) site, in response to the same question:

"Type 1 files contain separate information for each track. For a Type 0 file, however, all the tracks are merged into a single track, although MIDI channel information is still retained. When a Type 0 file is loaded into a sequencer, it will take each channel's information and put it on a separate track. So for a typical sequence with one track per MIDI channel, it will normally not matter if the sequence is saved as Type 0 or Type 1. But if your source sequence has several tracks assigned to the same MIDI channel (for example several drum tracks playing the same program on the same channel, but with an individual drum sound on each track), then it is best to export it as a Type 1 file. If exported as Type 0, all tracks assigned to the same channel will be merged into a single track when the .MID file is loaded."

If you want a different spin on the above - in addition to what Type 2 MIDI files are, see: http://midi-tutor.proboards.com/thread/44/10-midi-file-formats

The file transfers to an Arp just fine, so it must be in how you setup the Arp dialog box in the Montage.
Two things are immediately apparent: did you mean to record all that Aftertouch data in your Arp phrase? And you realize you recorded to Track 2 - each MIDI channel appears on a separate track. Your file is recorded on MIDI channel 2, and therefore plays back from Track 2. Make sure you setup the Arp dialog box to reference Track 2.

As it correctly reported, there is "no data" on Track 1.

yes, that must be it then! I had of course no idea that file was on midi channel 2. but yes, it was indeed played with part number 2 of a performance. oh dear...so complicated... as far as aftertouch, mhh, was that in there? lol, I dunno. I am never really going to understand midi. I would need special midi school...

about performances, well, if I create a new performance and don´t save it then it vanishes, doesn´t it?

about performances, well, if I create a new performance and don´t save it then it vanishes, doesn´t it?

Yes, that it does. Your editing of existing Performance data takes place in an Edit Buffer. Song data is written (from scratch) and stored in memory immediately; flash back to 2001, when Song data was in volatile memory, what a pain it was. Trust me, you don't want to go back to that situation. There is no Edit Buffer for Song data - you are not starting with existing data, you start with a blank slate. Besides you LOADED the data in, where should it go? If you LOADED a Performance it would not necessarily disappear.