Komplete S88 driver issues - at witt's end

I now have my S88 for 2 weeks and still haven't been able to make it work with Komplete Kontrol. I have tried a multitude of possible solutions but nothing has worked until now. I am hopeful that somebody here will be able to come up with some ideas.

My DAW - Windows 7 (with updated) on a SSD, Asus P877V-M motherboard, Intel i7 3770, 16 Gbyte DRAM, Sonar Platinum. Connected to USB is keyboard, mouse and NI Komplete audio 6

I have tried:
- Installing the software/drivers with Native Access
- with Komplete Control 1.2.1 Setup PC
- with Komplete Control 1.6.2 Setup PC
- updating just the drivers with the Komplete Control driver 4.2.0
- updating the software with Service center
- tried uninstalling Komplete Audio 6 to see if that made a difference - it didn't
- tried it on different USB ports on the PC
- I have installed, tested, uninstalled, cleaned Windows registry, every time restarting the computer before switching on the S88 - and done it all again more times than I care to remember. It didn't work.

Convinced it must be S88 hardware related I tried a MacBook Air (i7, SSD, 4G DRAM, 13.3") for verification - and it worked!
So no hardware issue

I then
- tried a different, older, computer (Windows 10 Pro on a hard disk, Asus motherboard, Core2 processor, 6 Gb DRAM)
- all the permutations mentioned above (Komplete control versions, driver versions, hail Mary's, curses)
- and I actually got it to work! But of course a Core2 processor and older motherboard ain't gonna cut it as DAW, so on the quest for the holy grail went



In a last ditch attempt I bought myself a new SSD for the DAW - start with a clean slate. I installed windows 10 home and upgraded it to the latest build and only installed Komplete Select and Complete control, no other software. Komplete Kontrol

- it actually worked - for a whole 2 minutes, then the driver died again.
- Uninstalled Komplete Kontrol and drivers, reinstalled them several times. Every so often the S88 would spring to life, for a minute or two before dying

After much more in-depth investigation:

- When switching on the S88 the drivers are installed. This takes a little while after which I get a device driver error (exclamation mark in Device Manager)
- one time I switched on the S88 and saw that the light guide woud show the colours I had defined in Controller Editor, but again only for a couple of minutes
- Sometimes after a new install of Komplete control and drivers and if I have Komplete Kontrol running when I switch on the S88 it would work, but only for a couple of minutes. You'd be playing and then all of a sudden it wouldn't work anymore and S88 would go back to only having it's normal lights on, not the top part lights

I believe the problem is in the driver (oh, you think?), specifically with the USBHID part of it.
- When the keyboard is working the driver indicates it's all good. When it goes wrong there is an exclamation mark at the USBHIB driver
- If I try to change the driver software it indicates it already has the best driver found
- Because it would sometimes temporarily work, I have even changed the setting of the USB hubs on the motherboard to never switch off (Windows normally does this after a while) - but it didn't help

So, this is where I am. Still not working and out of ideas. Do you guys have any? Somebody from NI maybe?

 

One more thing. I wanted to raise a ticket with NI on this issue, but I can't find an email address to send the info to. Do you guess how to do this?

 

Bump? Anybody with ideas? Anybody that can tell me how to contact NI tp launch a complaint?

 

Unistall the Controller Editor unplug ALL Native USB devices (Kore / Maschine / Komplete Kontrol ) .
Reinstall Controller Editor and reboot without plugged USB Devices.
Now plugin USB devices like Komplete Kontrol etc.... this helped me.

 

Thanks Backbeat2 for the reply.
My Original post was quite long, so you might have missed it, but I went one step further - I bought an SSD, only installed Win10, installed Komplete Select and Komplete Control and nothing else. Only USB devices were keyboard, mouse en S88. Komplete Audio was not hooked up, i used the mainboard audio chip instead.
Unfortunately even this didn't help, the driver still gave an error (the USBHID part of the driver) and Komplete Kontrol did not see the S88. So I deinstalled all of Komplete, cleaned the registry and reinstalled Komplete again several times. Occasionally, if at the time I switched on the S88 I had Komplete Kontrol running it would be recognised en I could work with it for a minute, maybe two. But then Windows would chime the sound that indicates a USB device was disconnected caused by the USB driver.

I have installed and reinstalled the drivers, Komplete Select and Komplete Kontrol so many times that I do not think that is the (permanent) answer. Also having it installed and working on a slower, older PC I guess that it's combination PC and S88 driver related. If NI could tell me what motherboard and processor it for sure works with I would even consider buying that, but nothing.

In any case, the hoops I have to jump through to get this working is very frustrating as you can well imagine.

 

There was a problem for my driver that it hasn´t been replaced by the newer one.
Only uninstalling controller editor did the trick.

I have also disabled the usb energy saving options in WIn 10.
It is under the extended energy options.

Do you have updated the firmware for the S88?
It is not in Native Access or Service Center...
https://www.native-instruments.com/de/support/downloads/drivers-other-files/

 

Thanks much for the info Backbeat. This is what I did and the results.

I changed the Energy management setting of Win10 as you said.

I removed Komplete Kontrol and Controller Editor Komplete drivers and Driver for the Komplete audio 6 interface. I went into the Windows registry and deleted all items to do with these programs, went into System32 dir to delete the dll files that I could determine were from NI and restarted the computer.

I than only installed Komplete Kontrol Driver 4.2.0 again and restarted the computer.

Hooked up the S88 to the computer and switched it on. The driver was installed and I immediately got a driver error (see attached). If I try to update the driver by pointing it to the NI directory it says “the best driver is already installed for your device”. Device status is “This device cannot start (code 10)”.

So without Komplete Audio driver and Komplete Control installed I already get an error message.

I than unplugged the S88 again, restarted the computer and ran the installer for Win1.12 firmware update. Interestingly enough the firmware updater indicates that version 69 is the latest version, but my S88 has version 72 (?). I will assume that this is fine… although it’s one more inconsistency in NI’s installation files.

Next I disconnected the S88 and restarted the PC. I used Native Access to install Komplete Kontrol 1.7.1 again. Restarted the PC and started up Komplete Kontrol. Then I switched on the S88. I get the same driver error, but I can select the MIDI ins (Komplete Kontrol-1, EXT-1 and DAW-1) in the Preference setting. Controller Editor doesn’t “see” the keyboard at all.

Tomorrow I will try the same on a different USB port.

 

Very strange!

I have firmware 69 on my S61.

 

Strange? Yes and no. I think you will have had your S61 for a while now (?) so that could mean you have another firmware version. It could also be that the S88 was released with a newer firmware version.
But yes, strange that they have an installer that installs v69 when there is newer firmware out there.
I am sorry to say that I have had to lower my expectations of the top tier company NI. Nevertheless I haven't given up yet to make the S88 work correctly. Not yet....

 

Maybe it is a usb driver releated problem.
Eventually USB 3 Drivers?

Have you updated them?

 

Good one.
I have updated the drivers with the latest version I could find from the motherboard manufacturer. However, I haven't looked for drivers from the chip set manufacurer yet.
I have USB3 on my motherboard. Tried it on that and on the USB 2.0 port. No difference, unfortunately doesn't work. The USB 2 and USB 3 port use difference chipset manufacturers. The USB 3 ports support UASP (USB Attached SCSI-Protocol) to increase throughput, and the driver for this is installed. I can try to remove it. Still, because it doesn't work on USB2 and USB3 ports it's unlikely that this is the problem.
But I've got things to check out. Thanks.

 

Eventually look in BIOS or UEFI and disable legacy USB devices.
There must be a solution....

 

I think the USB hardware driver might be a possibility for the error. I'll look into it and let you know the results.

 

Progress!
Changed a lot of settings in the BIOS, used a different USB plug on the motherboard (but still the same HUB), tried to install a new Asmedia USB cntroller driver - not sure this actualy worked, the installer didn't show anything after the initial "Do you want to install" message.

Uninstalled Komplete Controler, Editor, Kontrol drivers and Komplete Audio 6 driver. Installed drivers for S88, restarted, plugged it in and now the driver doesn't show an error anymore. Reinstalled Komplete kontrol and that works as well - I can select instruments.
Installed komplete Audio 6, restarted, switched on S88 and I could select instruments. But MIDI didn't work (not received by Kontrol) and after a minute the driver went back to giving an error. Restated the computer, switched on the S88 and the driver was fine again (no error). Again after a while however it would go to an error state. Tried this a couple of times, At one time I got Controller complaining that it thought there were 2 S88's conntect at the same time (after I switched USB ports). Weird.

So progress, but no high fives yet. It's all still too funky to be useable.

Question - when you your computer is on and you switch on your S61, does it show the colors on your light guide of your Controller mappings, or the default blue lights? Mine now shows the colors I defined, even if the Controller app is not running.

 

By the way, I also killed USB legacy support in BIOS. Again, not sure if this was a contributing factor.

 

Another rund of installing and deinstalling drivers and programs.

Buttom line is that it now, again, only gives me a driver error, all the time. Didn't feel like doing anything after that.
There does not seem to be any rhyme or reason to it, just an instable and broken driver.

 

Windows 7 has a number of technical limitations when using USB3 ports. If you are using Windows 7, we recommend using a USB2 port for Komplete Kontrol - this should resolve your issues.

 

Hi Tim,

I realise my first post was quite extensive, due to the fact that I posted test methods and test data accumulated over a 2 week period, so you might have missed some essential parts there. For all of our benefit here's a summary of all tests and results until now

DAW PC, Win 7, Intel i7, Asus P8Z77-v MB, 8 Gbyte DRAM, Complete Audio 6 - Not working
DAW PC, Win 7, Intel i7, Asus P8Z77-v MB, 8 Gbyte DRAM, no audio card/ on board audio disabled - Not working
DAW PC, Win 10 home (new install, no other apps except for Komplete), Intel i7, Asus P8Z77-v MB, 8 Gbyte DRAM, no audio card/ on board audio disabled - Not working
DAW PC, Win 10 home (new install, no other apps except for Komplete), Intel i7, Asus P8Z77-v MB, 8 Gbyte DRAM, Complete Audio 6 - Not working
Apple MacBook Air, Intel i7, 8 Gbyte DRAM - Works!
Crappy PC, Win 10 home (new install, no other apps except for Komplete), Intel Core duo, 2 Gbyte DRAM, on board audio - Works!
Crappy PC, Win 10 home (new install, no other apps except for Komplete), Intel Core duo, 2 Gbyte DRAM, Komplete Audio 6 - Works!

Yes, I have tried USB 3.0 ports (Asmedia HUB) and USB2.0 ports (Intel Z77 chipset) - both not working.

Conclusion, the driver does not want to play nice with my DAW PC. For some reason the USBHID can not be started. Checked driver, Windows says it's the correct driver.

Other things I have tried on the DAW PC BIOS - change memory timing (over-, underclocked), change memory setting to Auto/manual, with/without processor turbo mode, enable/disable Asmedia USB3.0 hub, enable/disable on board audio processor, different USB connectors on the motherboard (all USB2.0 from Intel W77 chipset).

So sorry, but no, using USB2.0 ports did not solve the issue.

 

For clarity sake just an additional comment - DAW PC - not working, MacBook Working, crappy PC - working
So I know the S88 can work, but doesn't with my DAW PC, which is what I bought it for

 

Hello!

I recently bought a Maschine Studio and Komplete Control S88, and I have the same issue with the keys not being able to be registered when played. Interestingly, the knobs on the S88 are able to control the sound, and I can see the keys lighting up (registering) when I use my Maschine Studio in Keyboard mode. So I know that they're both communicating with the computer.

I saw a previous thread from a couple years ago that I thought would help, but, I'm not able to find the MIDI Input for 'Komplete Kontrol DAW - 1" when I look for it in my preferences. The "Komplete Kontrol DAW - 1" just won't show up. Any help?

I've also tried to open this up in the Komplete Kontrol app. And it will register everything EXCEPT the keys. I can select instruments with 'Browse' and tweak everything with the knobs. It's just that none of the key's register... Probably a similar fix needed with the "Komplete Kontrol DAW - 1" needing to be setup in the MIDI section of Preferences, but it just won't show up..

I running it on the Maschine 2.0 software, on Windows 10. Using Komplete Select.

And all my software and USB 3.0 drivers etc. are up to date.

Please let me know!

-piyesiwak