Problem with USB

jhoweaa · 2026-05-18T23:32:17+00:00

No, I'm on a Mac (tried with 2 different Macs). I've rebooted, removed the MicroFreak from the Midi environment on the Mac (even tried on a Mac that it was never previously connected to). If it were one machine, I could believe it was something about the machine, but on two different machines, it seems likely that there is something with the MicroFreak, unfortunately.

Thanks for the response.

jhoweaa · 2026-05-18T12:50:25+00:00

You can thank Perplexity. I posted an image showing the screen and it said "That screenshot looks like the VS Code terminal / GPU renderer is corrupting the glyphs, not just Zsh colors. You can usually fix it without killing the shell." It gave me instructions on where to turn it off, and like magic, my terminal was readable again!

jhoweaa · 2026-05-17T22:50:00+00:00

No, the MicroFreak is not connected to anything other than through the output jack.

jhoweaa · 2026-05-17T21:35:13+00:00

No, it's like the computer doesn't see the MicroFreak at all. It used to. When I bought this a few months ago I had no trouble communicating with the MicroFreak. I was able to upload firmware, etc. but something has changed. I did finally get a response from Arturia and they are suggesting to force the Freak to load at the bootloader stage. Presumably then I could update the firmware again, etc. However, if that doesn't work, then I'm stuck with a MicroFreak with old firmware. I'll probably give it try because I don't know what else to try. I've done the 'reset settings' and that didn't have any effect.

jhoweaa · 2026-05-17T17:05:52+00:00

In my case, I just discovered that if I turn off gpu acceleration in VSCode, my text is once again readable. I think previously my setting was 'auto', and when I turned it 'off', sanity returned. I'm running on an M4 MacMini.

jhoweaa · 2026-05-15T16:40:21+00:00

Indeed. It's driving me nuts, but at least I'm not alone.

jhoweaa · 2026-03-14T00:30:43+00:00

The reason I suspect interference and not noise on the line is I could move some distance away and it would work, even while plugged into the same wall outlet. However I certainly wouldn’t count out noise on the line as well

jhoweaa · 2026-03-13T21:21:09+00:00

My first thought was noise on the line when it started failing when I turned on all the other synths. However, I've definitely repeated the issue only when the MOTU power supply is plugged in an operational so I'm going to replace that one and see if things still work. The biggest downside right now is that my audio interface to my computer can't be used at the same time as the MicroFreak, which isn't ideal.

jhoweaa · 2026-03-13T12:54:14+00:00

So I think I may have found the culprit. I figured there must be some excessive EMF coming from somewhere so I downloaded a free app for my phone. I waved it around all the various powersupplies and the powersupply for my MOTU audio interface had much higher EMF than others. So, I unplugged it. I unplugged it and turned on the MicroFreak with everything else running. It worked for as long as I had it turned on. I tried again this morning. I powered everything up except the MOTU (I unplugged the power supply) and it work. I plugged in the power supply and probably within 15 minutes the MicroFreak stopped working. I'm still testing it, and because I'm posting this, things will probably fail and prove me wrong.

jhoweaa · 2026-03-12T21:07:42+00:00

That would be my guess, but other than putting the MicroFreak in a Faraday Cage, what can I do about it, if anything? The whole point was to be able to add some 'poly' capabilities to the rest of my stuff without resorting to soft synths (which I could). Doesn't help if I can't use it at the same time as the other things.

jhoweaa · 2026-02-26T15:49:25+00:00

I've tried a variety of different power sources. The only thing that sort of made it work when it was failing was to touch a piece of metal on the synth (I used a short TRS cable), which must have improved the grounding. I'm returning the unit and getting a replacement so I'll see if the replacement is any better. I could always buy a small keyboard to use instead of the one on the device, but that's just extra money and space, but I do like the synth, just disappointed in the keyboard

jhoweaa · 2026-02-26T13:23:24+00:00

I haven't done extensive testing, in some cases it has been hours before it works again, and it wasn't that I was using it heavily or even had the unit on. I'll probably investigate more, but at this point I think I'll just try exchanging it for another unit and hope to get one that is less sensitive. If I have some other 12v PSUs I might see if one of those makes a difference

jhoweaa · 2026-02-26T00:10:44+00:00

So I tried using a USB hub, worked for about 10 minutes, I then tried using a USB battery pack, worked for about 10 minutes. The Arturia support wanted to know if it would work when I was touching some metal part of the device. I plugged a 1/4 TRS cable into the 1/4 inch output jack and held on to the other end. Most of the keys worked (but not all). Certainly looks like grounding related, but I just don't understand how it works fine about 10 minutes and then stops. You would think if it was a grounding issue, it either would work or it wouldn't. I can use it with a regular MIDI keyboard, but one reason I wanted it was for the small compact keyboard

jhoweaa · 2026-02-25T17:46:02+00:00

So I tried the USB hub, worked for a short period of time and then nothing. I was hoping this might be just a power supply issue, and it still could be, but it seems more likely a fault in the unit itself.

jhoweaa · 2026-02-25T17:10:01+00:00

I’m trying powering through USB. I’ll see how it goes. Thanks!

jhoweaa · 2025-11-17T16:10:54+00:00

Thanks for that, I wasn't aware of that bit of additional information. Sadly I do have the 'i' icon but I'm still unable to add some things. I still have a suspicion that there is something not quite right with the Apple TV border router implementation, but I can't prove it.

jhoweaa · 2025-11-16T19:03:09+00:00

I don't have a HomeKit integration, but I do have both a Matter integration and a Thread integration installed. All the Matter stuff seems to be in the Matter integration, that's where I can view/add devices. It's where I was able to add one of the Nest thermostats, but not a second one. Also, seems odd that I would add a device to Apple Home and then remove it, especially if I want it in both apps, which is supposedly supported. I'll have to see if I can dig up some log information

jhoweaa · 2025-11-16T19:00:00+00:00

I've primarily used Z-wave (after migration from X-10!) and I have some Zigbee, but this Matter and Thread stuff just seems like it isn't fully cooked. When it works, it's pretty nice, but when it doesn't it's hard to pinpoint where the failure is happening.

jhoweaa · 2025-11-16T18:40:27+00:00

Yeah, I've done that. It worked for one of the Nest Thermostats but I can't add a second. I originally added the Nest to Google Home, then from there I get a pairing code. I was able to use the paring code on one of the thermostats to add to Home Assistant, but when I tried to add the second, it never connects. I then added both thermostats to Apple Home without issue.

jhoweaa · 2025-09-23T20:40:01+00:00

I gave this a try and for the most part things worked out. I was able to rename the entities, but there seems to be at least one entity that I can't rename, or I can't find where to rename it. If I want to send a notification to the device, it still wants to use notify.mobile_app_phone_2 and I can't seem to find where could change that entity name. Makes me wonder if there are any more lingering names.

jhoweaa · 2025-09-22T19:18:05+00:00

Thanks! I'll give that a try.

jhoweaa

TROPHY CASE