Bc2000 (for the BCF2000 & BCR2000)

--- In bc2000@yahoogroups.com, "Marc Goodner" <mrgoodner@...> wrote:
> I gather the BCR 2000 does work with Vista looking at the manual for BC 
> Manager. I'd like to make sure other people are succefully using it 
> with Vista before buying one though.

Well, inasfar as BC Manager's manual talks about Vista, it's only
about a Vista running as a so-called "guest" operating system under
VirtualBox (itself running under Windows XP). I had used this setup to
verify that BC Manager as such does run under Vista, but I hadn't
tried getting this virtual Vista (let alone a "real" Vista) to
recognize my actual BCF and BCR.

> I realize there are no manufacturer drivers for Vista. Does it work as 
> a generic midi device in Vista? If so are there any real trade offs to 
> using this as a generic midi device vs. using the device drivers in XP?

By default, Windows XP installs a driver called "USB Audio Device" if
you connect a BCF or BCR via USB.
However, the problem of XP's "USB Audio Device" is that it gives you
very confusing MIDI I/O port names. E.g. the first MIDI input port is
called "USB Audio Device", the second one "USB Audio Device[2]", and
so on. So you don't immediately know to which ports on the BCF and/or
BCR these names refer.
Things are problematic even when you connect only one BCF or BCR: in
the BCF/BCR's USB mode U-3 the "MIDI Output B" socket is referenced by
"USB Audio Device[2]", but in U-4 the same socket is called "USB Audio
Device[3]".
And of course having two B-Controls simultaneously is a total disaster
in this respect.

Therefore under XP it is advisable to manually replace "USB Audio
Device" by one of the Behringer-supplied special BCF/BCR20000 USB
drivers: the USB-based MIDI I/O port names are then a lot more
informative, since they distinguish between the BCF and the BCR.
To be precise: the latest USB-driver, vs. 1.2.1.3, is to be preferred,
because it corrects the naming inconsistency concerning "MIDI Output
B" mentioned above, which (mutatis mutandis) still occurs in the
earlier Behringer USB-drivers (vs. 1.1.1.0 and 1.1.1.1).

Then to Vista:

In the first place, the installer of the Behringer USB-driver for XP
(at least vs. 1.2.1.3) indeed refuses to run under Vista, saying "This
OS is not supported" (or something).

Secondly, for what it's worth: I've now established that my virtual
Vista (running under VirtualBox) does recognize my actual BCF and BCR,
and that BC Manager running under this virtual Vista can communicate
with my BCF and BCR normally.
Since the situation is a bit different from a "real" Vista, I cannot
draw firm conclusions, but from what I've seen, I gather that Vista
autodetects the BCF/BCR using its own "USBAUDIO" driver. Probably this
is basically an upgraded version of XP's "USB Audio Device" driver,
but I haven't been able to establish exactly to what extent Vista's
version has the same limitations. Can someone running a "real" Vista
please say how it names the BCF/BCR's MIDI input and output device
names (under the various U-modes)?

Mark.