Bc2000 (for the BCF2000 & BCR2000)

--- In bc2000@yahoogroups.com, "donqjuz" <donqjuz@...> wrote:
> When i start up the BCF2000 and start Cubase 4 (with no project
> loaded) everything works fine (transport controls etc.) but when i
> open a project, cubase loads it and set's the faders on the bcf2000
> to the current position of the first 8 channels in the mixer. Then
> the bcf2000 "hangs up"...it doesn't respond anymore...you can hit
> every button without a reaction and the faders stay where they were. 
> You can even move the faders up/down and they will jump back to their
> initial position (from the project's loading).

You say that the BCF "doesn't respond anymore".
However, the BCF as such still functions in the sense that (as you say) it pushes its faders back whenever you move them. (And does the display still show "MC C"?)
So I think it's unlikely that there is anything wrong with the BCF's CPU, EEPROM or RAM, since the BCF's operating system runs in part from the EEPROM and in part from RAM.

So if there's anything wrong with the BCF itself, it is likely to be the USB controller (integrated in the CPU), as Phil suggested: several people in this forum have reported random losses of the USB connection due to this.
So trying a standard MIDI connection instead of a USB connection is indeed probably the first thing you should try.

However, re-flashing the firmware (as Phil suggested) won't help at all to fix the USB controller: whenever the BCF starts up, it checks its firmware via a checksum, so if you see "1.10" in the display during startup, the firmware is fine and re-flashing is totally pointless.

> This is quite disturbing and not even the wackiest part of my
> story....

The fact that the BCF seems to be unresponsive in MCU mode in itself is not disturbing at all: in this mode the BCF heavily leans on the computer program (Cubase or whatever) and the faders ALWAYS jump back if a connection to a program is missing.

So what you're experiencing just means that somehow the connection with Cubase (or Live) is lost.
The question is what causes this:

1. A hardware problem: probably a faulty USB controller in the BCF (as mentioned above).

2. A software problem related to the USB driver used under Windows.
Switching between applications can be tricky (concerning access to MIDI devices), but I somehow don't think that this is the cause, for one thing because the Behringer USB drivers for Windows XP are multi-client. (Are you using Behringer's vs. 1.2.1.3 USB driver?)

3. A software problem specifically related to the program(s) you're using.
However, since you're having problems with both Cubase and Live, this doesn't seem very likely. (Do you ever have problems in Live when you haven't used Cubase before?)
Does it ever happen that you "terminally" can't access the BCF any more (e.g. after a "lock-up" in Cubase)? When that happens, you might try starting up BC Manager and having it make contact with the BCF.
BC Manager is intended for the BCF in non-emulation mode, but even if the BCF IS in an emulation mode, BC Manager should be able to make "basic" contact and (e.g.) tell you WHICH emulation mode the BCF is in. If BC Manager CANNOT connect to the BCF after you've run into problems in Cubase, my guess is indeed that your BCF's USB controller is faulty.

Hope this helps,
Mark.