Bug reports & end-user support for Akai's MPC Software 'controllers' including the new MPC Studio 2, the MPC Touch, MPC Renaissance & original MPC Studio and MPC StudioB lack.
User avatar
By 3mon Wed Jul 24, 2019 8:37 pm
Hello!

I hope someone in here is savvy with this and can help me, because i am at a loss. Having big trouble with Displaylink and the MPC Touch :(

I got an MPC Touch the other day. Everything installs ok, but when it comes to the 'Configure the screen' step of the installation, Displaylink seems to be unable to detect the unit. When i power the unit on, i can see it works, it shows the AKAI logo perfectly, then turns off. When i start the 'Configure the screen' wizard, i can hear the USB sound and the screen flashes blank for a second, then nothing for the 120 seconds. If i look at the Displaylink icon in the tray, it says no compatible devices are connected.

Everything else seems to be working perfectly. The audio driver works, the inputs and outputs too, and if i lie to the wizard and tell it that everything is OK, i can control MPC Software 2 with the unit, but the screen remains off.

I'm running Windows 8.1, i74770 and im way above all requirements. Also, i have an M-Audio Mobile Pre installed, but i have also tried uninstalling it and repeating the whole process to see if that was the cause somehow. I have also tried a clean installation of the old version of the software package available in Akaipro, MPC 1.9.6.1, which comes with an older Displaylink, but that also didn't work. Also, i'm using the Displaylink scrubber between installations, and CCleaner to fix registry issues. But i can't make this work :(

From what i've seen on the internet, this seems to be a very common problem with the Displaylink drivers, and i haven't been able to find any fix that works for me.

So, can anybody please help me? The unit seems ok, it is a drivers problem with my system, but there seems to be no fix for it :( Please help, i'm thinking of returning it but it is such a let down, i wasn't expecting this from Akai :(

Thanks in advance for any help!
Cheers!
User avatar
By 3mon Fri Jul 26, 2019 7:57 am
Update:

I've been making different tests these days.
When i try to turn on the MPC screen, as i said Windows makes its USB plug in noise, and if it is a fresh install it will install the screen device. Sometimes it will also prompt for a restart. Then when i try to turn on the screen it flashes blank for a second and then turns off, as always- BUT- i can see the device is listed under Windows Devices as a Displaylink USB device. Interestingly enough, i also see that the Displaylink icon in the Windows tray says that there are no devices connected. The audio device is always there and works fine. If i open the details of the DIsplailink USB Device, it shows 2 items: the USB controller, which uses the Displaylink driver, and MPC Touch, which seems to be missing its driver according to Windows. If i try to tell Windows to look for the driver in its folder, it says it doesn't find it. So maybe the problem is not Displaylink at all?? I just don't know anymore...

Also, I've been testing with different machines these days, and my results are... random.
Tested on a friend's Win10 machine, with the same results. Both the old version and the new do the same when configuring the screen: it flashes blank for a second, then turns off.
Testted on my Win7 laptop with the old version of MPC and this time Displaylink says it recognizes the device, and there seem to be no driver conflicts whatsoever. When the screen turns on it flashes blank and this time STAYS blank and responds to touch input, but no graphics. I'm going to try stick the new version of MPC on that laptop and see what happens.

I'm coming to the conclusion that this machine has become self aware and just doesn't want to work ;(
Any inputs would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks
User avatar
By Monotremata Fri Jul 26, 2019 5:51 pm
Id probably start trying to contact or call Akai at this point. Theres only so much people here can do and most of it is just gonna be advice like 'Umm did you try and reinstall the drivers?' heh.
User avatar
By 3mon Fri Jul 26, 2019 8:41 pm
Hey, thanks for the answer. But from what i've discovered it will just not do, i think i'm gonna return this piece of hunk. If they send me another one, i'm going to have the same problem. I am now sure that it is a Displaylink driver compatibility issue of some sort

I installed MPC 2.6 and all related drivers, including Displaylink, in the Win7 laptop i spoke about, which supposedly isn't compatible lol. Well guess what, the unit works flawlessly. The screen is good, the cables are good, it interfaces perfectly with the software and everything's good. And the drivers it installed are exactly the same that in my Win 8.1, i checked to see if i could solve the issue like that.

In my Win 8.1 machine, if i complete the installation process the screen doesn't work. BUT, if i run the Displaylink scrubber and reboot, Windows installs by itself Displaylink 7.7 and the unit's screen works PERFECTLY as a desktop extension. BUT i can't make it work with the MPC software, because it is expecting Displaylink 9.2, and apparently doesn't need it only for the screen but to control the whole unit, because nothing else works.

All in all, my heart is broken. I hadn't bought a new Akai machine in more than a decade, but imho it's simply unacceptable for this thing to carry the MPC shield. Yes, i knew it was basically a glorified controller, but the dependence on those shitty third party Displaylink drivers... omg. You'd think something that comes with its own software would have its own interface lol... I mean just do a quick search on the internet and see the sheer amount of people with these same problems. Compatibility is just freaking random. I guess that's why they discontinued it.

Yeah, im pissed lol
User avatar
By 3mon Sat Jul 27, 2019 6:57 am
FREAKING
MADE
IT
WORK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The problem was the MPC installer (the one with the checklist) didnt have admin permissions for some reason. When it launches the drivers installation, it asks for admin permissions for each of them, and everything goes OK. But since you omit the linking step when installing Displaylink, it is the MPC installer itself that does the linking with the 'Configure Screen' utility. I have just ran the MPC installer as administrator and it has inked to the drivers, and is now working perfectly both as desktop extender and controller.

Mantears in my eyes lol!!!!!
User avatar
By 3mon Sun Jul 28, 2019 8:25 am
Confirmed, it's working flawlessly. I have all the rig reconfigured for this and I'm starting to learn it. And i have to say i'm liking it a lot! Moral of the story, make sure you run the installer in admin mode when it is time to run the 'Configure the screen' step, kids :d

Anyway, i have to stand by my point that this thing is unacceptably plagued by all kinds of compatibility issues, since i had the opportunity to test it in quite a few machines, and the results are pretty much random with Displaylink. Even if your unit is perfectly good, like in my case, it may take you weeks and a lot of patience to isolate the problem to properly make it work. Chances are high that you run to get your money back well before that, so i can still see why this thing was discontinued in favor of the Live. Build your own god damn interface drivers, Akai!
By leodigital Mon Jul 29, 2019 4:04 am
For windows of mac?
3mon wrote:FREAKING
MADE
IT
WORK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The problem was the MPC installer (the one with the checklist) didnt have admin permissions for some reason. When it launches the drivers installation, it asks for admin permissions for each of them, and everything goes OK. But since you omit the linking step when installing Displaylink, it is the MPC installer itself that does the linking with the 'Configure Screen' utility. I have just ran the MPC installer as administrator and it has inked to the drivers, and is now working perfectly both as desktop extender and controller.

Mantears in my eyes lol!!!!!
User avatar
By 3mon Mon Jul 29, 2019 6:19 am
On Windows 8.1. I tested in 8.1, 10 and 7, and except for the Win 7 machine which had UAC disabled, the same happened in both 8.1 and 10.
I didn't test in on any mac because that's an alien world for me lol, but from what i read online during my adventures it seems driver privileges can also cause these problems on mac.
By leodigital Mon Jul 29, 2019 2:52 pm
Hahah! Oke!
I still got the problem.
I try everything, thinking abou downgrading to Sierra.

3mon wrote:On Windows 8.1. I tested in 8.1, 10 and 7, and except for the Win 7 machine which had UAC disabled, the same happened in both 8.1 and 10.
I didn't test in on any mac because that's an alien world for me lol, but from what i read online during my adventures it seems driver privileges can also cause these problems on mac.
By leodigital Fri Aug 02, 2019 2:38 pm
I Downgraded to High Sierra but no luck.
Got a message Display Link is to old, and i upgraded the Display link, same message.
The i upgraded back to Mojave.
The pads working and everything but no screen.


TT_Lab wrote:Hi Leo, I am still in Sierra for this same reason.
By HattyCurll Fri Aug 16, 2019 1:19 pm
Hi...Do you have any other monitors connected to the computer? Any other devices connected?
This has only come up a handful of times, but in a few cases simply trying a different USB cable or port has resolved the issue. You will also want to test with a different computer to make sure the touch functionality is working at all.
By leodigital Sat Aug 17, 2019 6:47 pm
Yes me too!
Nobody can't help you! Even i emailed AKAI they reply me once and then never again.
Waisted money! 1month and i tried everything. :vomit:

leodigital wrote:I have the same problem with MAC OS MOJAVE.
I have been trying 1 week now, and nothing works!!
And nobody can't help. This MPC Touch is TRASH!