TotalKeyMix: Windows volume control for RME TotalMix

[axibert]

Sadly the issue is not resolved after applying your tipps from the manual. It still suddenly loses connection on my end.

[ikonomov]

Sadly the issue is not resolved after applying your tipps from the manual. It still suddenly loses connection on my end.

Do you remember if it happened after the computer woke up from sleep? Another way to know for sure is to temporarily disable Sleep by going to Windows Settings\System\Power & sleep and change the sleep time to Never. You can then use the computer for a few days and report back here if it still looses connection. By the way, when it looses connection what exactly happens? Do you still get the on-screen volume bar moving up and down but no change to the fader in RME TotalMix?

[axibert]

It has been running now perfectly fine for a long time, so I guess your tips did the trick. Thanks so much for your help!

[ikonomov]

Awesome! You are most welcome.

[michiel]

Signed up to say thank you! Got version 1.1. running along with loopMIDI. Very nice to be able to control the volume with the media keys on my keyboard.
Too bad that TotalMix doesn't support this out of the box. On the other hand, not many programs do support global hotkeys, I suppose.

[BoBo]

@ikonomov - probably interesting for you musician guys, using an app like MATRIC will allow you to create screens (AKA "decks") to trigger your/or whatever AHK-scripts using an Android device. Fellow member @g33kDude has already created a script to change a MATRIC decks' content dynamically (eg. to display status messages on your tablet or swap buttons/keys respectively). Have phun

[axibert]

Just FYI, after long time use I still experience it to sometimes not work. This happens randomly, I notice it mostly after a fresh boot. The onscreen Volume bar still is there, but the connection to TotalMix not.

[ikonomov]

Just FYI, after long time use I still experience it to sometimes not work. This happens randomly, I notice it mostly after a fresh boot. The onscreen Volume bar still is there, but the connection to TotalMix not.

I suspect the cause might be the Autohotkey executable being started before loopMIDI has properly launched. When it happens can you try restarting TotalKeyMix to make sure that this is the case? Simply close TotalKeyMix by right clicking on its icon in Windows Taskbar and selecting Exit and then start it up again manually by launching the .exe file. Test it a few times whenever it happens and report here if it fixes the issues.

[ikonomov]

@ikonomov - probably interesting for you musician guys, using an app like MATRIC will allow you to create screens (AKA "decks") to trigger your/or whatever AHK-scripts using an Android device. Fellow member @g33kDude has already created a script to change a MATRIC decks' content dynamically (eg. to display status messages on your tablet or swap buttons/keys respectively). Have phun

TotalMix accepts OSC messages so it's probably easier to use it that way. For anybody that wants this functionality they can use Android OSC app.

[axibert]

Just FYI, after long time use I still experience it to sometimes not work. This happens randomly, I notice it mostly after a fresh boot. The onscreen Volume bar still is there, but the connection to TotalMix not.

I suspect the cause might be the Autohotkey executable being started before loopMIDI has properly launched. When it happens can you try restarting TotalKeyMix to make sure that this is the case? Simply close TotalKeyMix by right clicking on its icon in Windows Taskbar and selecting Exit and then start it up again manually by launching the .exe file. Test it a few times whenever it happens and report here if it fixes the issues.

Yes this is the regular way I handle this issue, I just restart Totalkeymix and it is working again. Closing is not even necessary. Would be cool if this could be somehow fixed.

[ikonomov]

Yes this is the regular way I handle this issue, I just restart Totalkeymix and it is working again. Closing is not even necessary. Would be cool if this could be somehow fixed.

I've just uploaded a new 1.2 version with updated startup configuration instructions in the readme.pdf file. It takes a few extra clicks, but should provide a much more robust way to launch the program at startup. Depending on your hardware you can set the delay anywhere between 30 seconds to 2 minutes or more to completely avoid the problem you are experiencing. I'm fairly certain that this will fix the issue, but still give an update on how it's working.

[axibert]

Awesome, thanks for the update! I have set everything up and it is working as expected now. Will report back if I experience any issues.

[ikonomov]

Awesome, thanks for the update! I have set everything up and it is working as expected now. Will report back if I experience any issues.

I think the way LoopMIDI gets configured when you enable that Autostart option for it is simply as a registry entry. Initially I wrongly assumed that it was configuring itself as a service in windows. This lead me to believe that it was being loaded on startup before any startup programs. I did experience your issue myself on an older computer that I used last year, but shortly after I upgraded and then on the new system after editing those windows settings I thought that the problem was fixed. Thanks to your computer and your reports here I definitely think that we've arrived at a much better solution.

I remember back in the day that startup folder of Windows was being used quite a lot by all kinds of programs and Task Scheduler was more like an extra little feature that wasn't really used for anything. It seems that in the last few versions of Windows things must have changed, because on my system that startup folder is now completely empty and from the looks of it it seems that Task Scheduler has taken over allowing much more fine tuning of startup processes. The new initial configuration is a little more involved, but having the ability to configure that delay I think is the best way to ensure the virtual MIDI ports and the TotalKeyMix are working together properly. I thought about implementing a check at the start of the autohotkey script to check in a loop and automatically delay running the script until loopMIDI is started, but I think using the Task Scheduler is a better more versatile solution.

[axibert]

As you said "LoopMIDI gets configured when you enable that Autostart option for it is simply as a registry entry". This is an interesting information as I just have solved another issue that occured.

LoopMidi being started by registry can be also problematic, as I have just experienced. I am running a new Midi Interface (the Retrokits RK006) - it creates 12 Midi ports in total. RME Totalmix can only show a few (around 5) Midiports in its input settings. So when the Midi Interface is being loaded BEFORE LoopMidi, the created LoopMidi Port won't show up in RME Total Mix.

I stumbled upon a website where someone made some tests how startup methods are beeing prioritized by windows.

The results are: Task Scheduler loads first, then 5 seconds after that registry, then another 5 seconds later the old autostart method.

So I deactivated LoopMidi autostart and created a task for it similar to Totalkeymix with the Task scheduler, but without any delay.

Luckily now it is loading before the Midi Interface and everything works right from the start.

Maybe this will be helpful to someone with many Midiports.

Thanks again for your effort, your tool is something I would not want to miss in my setup!

[ikonomov]

This is definitely some useful information. If LoopMIDI starts 5 seconds after Task Scheduler, having a registry entry, then this should put TotalKeyMix at a minimum of 25 seconds delay as per my current writeup in the readme. Depending on how many processes are loaded by Task Scheduler immediately at log on and then other registry entries and also how long it takes for them to load I think the current instructions should be fine then. If somebody is experiencing problems they can simply increase the delay.

It's great you've found use for the tool in your system, but it is definitely not "my" tool. My contribution is at the end of a long cooperation chain.

[ikonomov]

I've posted a new 1.2.1 version compiled using the newest AutoHotKey release. It allows the setup menu to be displayed properly with higher DPI Windows scaling. I've also edited the readme.pdf slightly making it easier to follow.

[ikonomov]

I've posted version 1.2.2 that reverts back to using 1.0.48.05 compiler as the .exe in v.1.2.1 was being detected as a virus. Compatibility settings for the .exe in Windows 10 can be used to to disable DPI scaling if needed.

[axibert]

Hi there, I am having some issues lately since I am using a new Midi Interface (RK006) that creates a lot of midi ports. So every now and then the midiport settings in totalkey mix switch from loopmidi port to another port of my interface. There might be a change of the Midi port ID that is causing that. Is there any way to make the selection of the loopmidi port be sticky so it can never change?

[ikonomov]

Hi there, I am having some issues lately since I am using a new Midi Interface (RK006) that creates a lot of midi ports. So every now and then the midiport settings in totalkey mix switch from loopmidi port to another port of my interface. There might be a change of the Midi port ID that is causing that. Is there any way to make the selection of the loopmidi port be sticky so it can never change?

Heya, sorry for the late reply. I am not sure if this is an issue that can be resolved with TotalKeyMix. I would suggest to disconnect RK006, remove any loopmidi ports and make sure you only have RME TotalMix midi ports active. Then add a port with loopmidi and get TotalKeyMix working. Once that is done try to install and connect only then your RK006 and see if you can get the port stable that way. If loopmidi ports IDs still get changed when RK006 is connected, another thing you can try is create couple of ports by loopmidi. Say 13 ports since RK006 has 2 in and 10 out and see if you can get TotalKeyMix connected stable to that 13th midi port.

[carlfriedrich]

Hi everyone. I have made some improvements to TotalKeyMix which I'd like to share with you. After consulting the original author Stephan Römer he allowed me to publish the code on GitHub, so here we go:

https://github.com/carlfriedrich/TotalKeyMix

I also included Petre's 1.2.3 release, on which I built my extensions. The current release is 1.4.0:

https://github.com/carlfriedrich/TotalKeyMix/releases/download/1.4.0/TotalKeyMix_1.4.0.zip

New features since 1.2.3:

• Config option to hide tray icon
• Config option for maximum volume level
• Fix the MIDI ports being displayed in asian characters
• Add config options for OSD (position, size, colors and display time)
• Add possibility to run multiple instances with different config files

You can now start multiple instances of the app using different configuration files, e.g. one for the main volume and one for the headphones volume, using different colors or screen positions. If you are interested in my personal configuration files for this setup, find them here:

https://github.com/carlfriedrich/TotalKeyMix/blob/myconfig/config_main.ini
https://github.com/carlfriedrich/TotalKeyMix/blob/myconfig/config_headphones.ini

The project is open for collaboration, so if anybody is interested in contributing, feel free to open a pull request.