I e-mailed John Melas and he said I should select "1" for the Main ports and "4" for the Secondary ports, but from what I can tell, I do not have that option.

That would be correct if you were using USB, but you are using FW. FW has more bandwidth than USB so you will only need to setup the first Setup (no need to setup the Secondary MIDI setup _ but there is no harm in setting both the primary and secondary MIDI setups to the "MAIN").

Set MIDI IN = Motif XF8 Main
Set MIDI OUT = Motif XF8 Main

That much is certain. So make sure "Motif XF8 Main" is the setting ... No need to waste time and energy with any other setting option, period.

Make sure your Motif XF is set to MIDI IN/OUT = FW
Even though you say you can receive data from the XF, it cannot hurt to verify this setting.

We have to ask about the length of your FW cable and the integrity of the connection. Are you connected directly to your computer?
If you are running Cubase simultaneously, do you have any unusual configuration. The error message is that the MIDI IN to the Motif XF is in use, which is curious. Do you have any other program running.

Just for clarity's sake: the MIDI port of your XF8 via FW are as follows
Motif XF Main _ these are the ports the XF uses
Motif XF MIDI IN _ these are the 5-pin DIN jack on the back panel for an external device using the XF as an interface
Motif XF Remote _ for remote controlling a DAW

I would try rebooting your computer (although I'm sure you have) this can help clear any residual settings. Computers that go to sleep or hibernate can some times have issues re-establishing connections.

Let us know.

Thank you for your reply Phil,

I suspected that John's explanation was for a USB connection, but I was not certain of that. Good to know you have confirmed that!

I came home this evening with my computer and Motif off, as is usual for me. I don't tend to leave my computer on for hours on end without use. So, when I came home today, I turned both the computer and Motif on to get going. I have done the same thing the last few times I have tried to Transmit data from Total Librarian - turning on the computer and turning the Motif on as well from a fresh start.

The MIDI IN/OUT = FW has been my setting in the Motif and that has not changed since I have been using Cubase. But it's obviously very good to have confirmed that.

One thing I have learned so far is, when using Autoconnect, the program selects both the MOTIF XF MAIN for both the Main and Secondary ports. And that is quite curious, because I do get the message "The specified device is already in use. Wait until it is free, and then try again."

When I opened Total Librarian fresh this evening, I again got the message "The specified device is already in use. Wait until it is free, and then try again." So then I tried a manual MIDI Setup as per the settings you indicated would work, with only the Main ports selected, and that "in use" message did not appear once I changed those settings. I thought maybe now I am getting somewhere.

No luck. I tried to TRANSMIT and once again the data had not changed. Next, I saved the file and restarted the computer. I opened the file again and tried to TRANSMIT again, this time getting the message on the Motif that read "illegal data dump". I have not seen that message before. Then it went back to transmitting data and I'm in the same situation, with no data transfer whatsoever. This is getting strange...but we are dealing with a computer here!

My FW cable is 6' long and I trust the integrity of the connections. It's a clean run from the computer, without kinks or binds. The cable was bought new for this purpose. Also, I have never had Cubase running nor any other program running while using Total Librarian, as I had a feeling that might create a conflict.

My computer's power settings are set so that the computer never sleeps and the display is never turned off.

I have started to wonder if Cubase has established some settings in my computer which are conflicting with the settings that Total Librarian wants to use, even though I haven't had Cubase running. But, now that I write this, I'm not sure that even makes sense.

This is very curious...

Thanks,
Brian

Can you give a screen shot that shows the setup screen for transmitting data back to the Motif XF
Also what happens when in the Total Librarian you enter the "USER 1" VOICE folder and double click on the first entry in the list?

It is very curious. The questions above will tell me if you have a transmitting setting that is causing the issue, and if it's a matter of the size of bulk, if one Voice is successful, we'll have a clue that might solve this issue. Hang in there, this is unusual.

Hello again,

I have attached two screenshots as I'm not exactly sure which setup screen you would like to see. Screenshot 1 is the "MIDI Setup" screen which shows only the Main ports are selected. With this setup, I no longer get the "specified device is already in use..." message as I was getting before when both the Main and Secondary ports were selected.

Screenshot 2 shows the Transmit screen settings I have been using. It did occur to me that maybe there was too much data to transmit and it 'dumped' the data before it could finish. But, I have tried to transmit only one USER bank and I was still unsuccessful. It is interesting to note that I could see each file as they were (apparently) being transmitted and that was consistent with the current library saved in Total Librarian. At this point I was feeling optimistic that the proper data was transmitted, but after the transmission is completed, there are still no changes in the Motif.

When I enter the "USER 1" VOICE folder and click on the first voice, I get the message "Sending to Edit Buffer...", then a notification "Done".

I will definitely hang in there!

When I enter the "USER 1" VOICE folder and click on the first voice, I get the message "Sending to Edit Buffer...", then a notification "Done

Does that Voice arrive in your Motif XF? If yes, then it is working. You stop short of verifying that it is indeed transferred to your XF.

What Voices are you trying to transmit to the Motif XF? It occurs to me I don't have that information, so let me impart this ... If it is a Library with Samples, samples cannot and will not be transferred via MIDI. Life is far too short for that to occur. Only Voice Libraries that do not contain audio data can be bulked in this fashion. The Voice names will transfer but don't expect a sample library to load via MIDI. That will not be possible.

When you double click a VOICE, that Voice should appear in your XF's screen. If, for example, you were to double click on Vibraphone 024(B08) in your first screenshot, that Voice should show up in your Motif XF's Edit Buffer, where you should be able to play it.

If you transferred the data in screenshot 1 above, from the Total Librarian to your XF, it would look just like the Factory Set already in your Motif XF. Nothing would appear to change because (in words of Steven Wright) you've replaced everything with an exact duplicate. Do you have some other data to transfer?

Yes Sir! The Voice arrives in the Motif XF, on every voice I double clicked on. I didn't think to look for that - I was going straight to Voice mode after Transmitting and going to the individual USER banks to verify that the internal library on the Motif had changed and I still have yet to see that.

But this seems to be good news so far, as I can definitely send the Voice to the Motif XF and audition it. And that seems to indicate that the connection is working properly.

As far as what I'm trying to Transmit, they are only factory Voices, Performances, and some Patterns I have made. It may be interesting to you that I did delete the demo songs that came with the Motif within the Motif itself and then RECEIVED that data into Total Librarian. That change is reflected in Total Librarian and they are still gone from the Motif (as expected). I haven't yet changed the factory setup for the Master mode. In fact, one of the reasons I wanted to organize my library, is that I have purchased the Chick Corea sample library and I wanted to organize my voices so that I can keep the ones I want. I haven't loaded those samples into the Motif, so no I am not trying to transmit samples. Am I thinking about this in the right fashion?

I have attached another screenshot for reference. It's a shot of what I have in USER 3. I have also deleted all Voices in USER 2 (in Total Librarian) and if I select only that bank and try to Transmit, I do not get the message on the Motif that it is receiving MIDI bulk data. Wouldn't it still transfer the now empty slots in Total Librarian to the Motif? Same story for any other individual USER bank I select, nothing saved to the Motif.

Or maybe I'm missing something fundamental here, which is often the case when you are looking at every possible angle. Thanks...

Yes Sir! The Voice arrives in the Motif XF, on every voice I double clicked on. I didn't think to look for that - I was going straight to Voice mode after Transmitting and going to the individual USER banks to verify that the internal library on the Motif had changed and I still have yet to see that.

Double clicking on the Voice name in the Total Librarian reports it sends it to the Motif XF's Edit Buffer. This puts the Voice information in the XF's active Edit Buffer, the Edit Buffer is like a temporary memory location that will contain all the parameters of the Voice, a small letter "e" appears in the upper right corner signifying the Voice is in temporary memory... There you can play it, look at the parameters, edit further, but if you move away without pressing [STORE] the contents of the Edit Buffer are purged. The Edit Buffer is a temporary location... The Voice data is there but only temporarily, if you do not press [STORE], but press that Program button you will see the Voice that originally occupies this location is still there.

When you click on Transmit, however, the data is transferred from the Editor and is written directly into the User bank locations. For example, if you click on USER 1 and then "transmit" from the Librarian, then the 128 Voices are written into the 128 locations of your XF's User 1 bank. If the slot read "empty" then the Total Librarian will make NO CHANGES to the Voices in those Voice locations.

But this seems to be good news so far, as I can definitely send the Voice to the Motif XF and audition it. And that seems to indicate that the connection is working properly.

Yes, I believe it is.

As far as what I'm trying to Transmit, they are only factory Voices, Performances, and some Patterns I have made. It may be interesting to you that I did delete the demo songs that came with the Motif within the Motif itself and then RECEIVED that data into Total Librarian. That change is reflected in Total Librarian and they are still gone from the Motif (as expected). I haven't yet changed the factory setup for the Master mode. In fact, one of the reasons I wanted to organize my library, is that I have purchased the Chick Corea sample library and I wanted to organize my voices so that I can keep the ones I want. I haven't loaded those samples into the Motif, so no I am not trying to transmit samples. Am I thinking about this in the right fashion?

The Total Librarian does remember the tone generator settings from the XF. It does not, repeat it DOES NOT remember your Pattern data. It will remember the MIXING setup... The Voices you used, the Volume you set, the Pan position, the Effects you applied, the Send amount to the Reverb and Chorus, the EQ setting, etc., etc., etc. every parameter you see when in the XF you press the [MIXING] button. What it does not not remember is the MIDI Events you recorded to the 16 Tracks. The only way to back that data up is in a FILE to a USB drive connected directly to the XF itself... By pressing [FILE] > setting the TYPE = ALL or ALL PATTERN.

Please notice when you are in Pattern mode on the XF two Mode lights are lit.
[PATTERN] pressing this button and then pressing [EDIT] will allow you to see the MIDI events on the Tracks of the Sequencer.
[MIXING] pressing this button and then pressing [EDIT] will allow you to see the Tone Generator settings of the Parts - it is this that Total Librarian deals with.

The only way to backup the Pattern's MIDI Events is by writing the data to a USB drive connected to the XF's USB "To Device" port. This will back up both the Events and the Mixing setup. The Total Librarian backs up the Tone Generator, not the Sequencer.

I have attached another screenshot for reference. It's a shot of what I have in USER 3. I have also deleted all Voices in USER 2 (in Total Librarian) and if I select only that bank and try to Transmit, I do not get the message on the Motif that it is receiving MIDI bulk data. Wouldn't it still transfer the now empty slots in Total Librarian to the Motif? Same story for any other individual USER bank I select, nothing saved to the Motif.

You cannot bulk from the Total Librarian a slot that reads "empty"... There is no such thing as empty to the Motif XF. Transmitting a User 2 bank from the Librarian that is full of the word "empty" is an oxymoron... You cannot transmit "empty". As you notice if you attempt to do this nothing happens.

The XF itself cannot have an empty location. Every Voice location contains data at all times in your XF.
The XF can have a placeholder Voice called "Initialized Voice" in each location, but technically you cannot transmit "empty" from the Librarian to the XF, that's simply not possible. A Bank full of "empty" does not transmit, the Total Librarian simply makes NO CHANGE to your internal XF.

If, for example, you select your current Total Librarian USER 3 bank to TRANSMIT only the first 9 locations in the XF will be written into the XF's memory... Location 010-128 will remain UNCHANGED _ they will continue to contain whatever Voice is already in memory, because, again, "empty" does not transmit anything.

"Empty" is not a concept in the hardware XF. "Empty" is a Total Librarian concept for a location that will go unchanged in the XF.
If you were expecting to see an empty location transferred to the XF, that will not happen.

And remember not until you recall a Voice in the XF is the previous Edit Buffer cleared.

Clearing the Edit Buffer
Press [PROGRAM]
Press the currently lit number button [1]-[16] to refresh the currently STORED location.
The last Voice recalled stays in the Edit Buffer until you manually clear it, or you move away and select a new Voice.

Hope that helps

Thank you so much for your brilliant explanation! I did not know that the Motif had to have every slot filled, and that is a big help to know. Clearly, i did not understand the terminology with regard to empty slots and initialized slots, but now that I do it all makes perfect sense. Pretty clear now why nothing was written to the Motif from the "empty" slots.

It makes sense to me now that you have explained how the Total Librarian treats MIDI events vs. the MIXING setup. It's interesting when similar terminology is used for different purposes; for example, when data is transmitted to the Motif from Total Librarian, the Motif indicates it is receiving MIDI Bulk Data, but I see now that is different from MIDI EVENTS. It's just that the DATA is being transferred via MIDI...right?

In the Mofif, I will look further into the settings when I press EDIT in MIXING and PATTERN mode. I now know that I cannot count on Total Librarian to back up any of the MIDI Events from my Songs or Patterns. I do regularly back the Motif up on USB in an ALL file.

My goal here is to create some of my own Voices / Patterns / Songs and have a place where I can save them. Do I understand correctly that I can save a new Voice that I create to a USER slot, while if it is PATTERN or SONG MIDI data, that would have to be saved to a USB, or in my case to the Flash board I have installed if I wish? I will still always back up to USB to be safe.

OK, enough for tonight. Can't wait to look at this with a fresh approach. thanks again.