Lost MIDI play function

A

Antares 531

My computer stopped playing MIDI .mid files a couple of days ago and I
can not figure out what is causing this problem. I can play .wav files
and they sound okay. All the computer's sounds play as they should.
When I open a MIDI file the player screen opens and looks normal. The
progress slider moves along as it should, but there is no sound out of
my speakers.

I've not changed any hardware, nor have I installed any new software.

Computer; Gigabyte GA-P35-DS3L motherboard with an Intel Core 2 Duo
processor, two 1GB memory sticks, a 500 GB Western Digital SATA hard
drive with about 400 GB free.

I'm running Windows XP Pro, SP2 with automatic updates. I also run MS
Office 2007, Adobe Photo Shop, and some other rather ordinary software
clients. I use Pizzicato's Arpege music software to compose and play
music, but it won't play, now. Everything else seems to be working
well.

The Systray Vol. control seems to be working as it should. All the
volume sliders are at the top, maximum volume setting. None of the
Mute checkboxes are checked.

Any suggestions? Thanks, Gordon
 
D

Don Phillipson

Antares 531 said:
My computer stopped playing MIDI .mid files a couple of days ago and I
can not figure out what is causing this problem. I can play .wav files
and they sound okay. All the computer's sounds play as they should
. . .
I'm running Windows XP Pro, SP2 with automatic updates. I also run MS
Office 2007, Adobe Photo Shop, and some other rather ordinary software
clients. I use Pizzicato's Arpege music software to compose and play
music, but it won't play, now. Everything else seems to be working

Standard cure is to uninstal then reinstal the app you
used to play MIDI files (presumably) Arpege. It may
also be worthwhile checking the maker's web site for updates.
 
R

Rainy

Another thing you can do is check the volume control in Assessories,
entertainment from the start menu. This happened to me just recently and my
volume had been reset by something.. It played wavs just fine.. just not
midis.. it's ok now as I adjusted the volume...I was using Media Player!
Rainy
My computer stopped playing MIDI .mid files a couple of days ago and I
can not figure out what is causing this problem. I can play .wav files
and they sound okay. All the computer's sounds play as they should.
When I open a MIDI file the player screen opens and looks normal. The
progress slider moves along as it should, but there is no sound out of
my speakers.

I've not changed any hardware, nor have I installed any new software.

Computer; Gigabyte GA-P35-DS3L motherboard with an Intel Core 2 Duo
processor, two 1GB memory sticks, a 500 GB Western Digital SATA hard
drive with about 400 GB free.

I'm running Windows XP Pro, SP2 with automatic updates. I also run MS
Office 2007, Adobe Photo Shop, and some other rather ordinary software
clients. I use Pizzicato's Arpege music software to compose and play
music, but it won't play, now. Everything else seems to be working
well.

The Systray Vol. control seems to be working as it should. All the
volume sliders are at the top, maximum volume setting. None of the
Mute checkboxes are checked.

Any suggestions? Thanks, Gordon
 
A

Antares 531

Standard cure is to uninstal then reinstal the app you
used to play MIDI files (presumably) Arpege. It may
also be worthwhile checking the maker's web site for updates.
This problem is not limited to one specific application. I can't even
play a MIDI file from my hard drive by double clicking on it and
letting it load. The loading process goes as expected and the play
progress slider moves along as it should, but there is no sound.

It seems to me that there is something going on in the registry, or
some other form of conflict between my MIDI player and the MIDI file.

But, I can play .wav files okay. This seems to indicate that my sound
card and speakers are working as they should. Gordon
 
A

Antares 531

This may be getting close to the problem. I just clicked
Start->Programs->Accessories->entertainment and the next button was a
grayed out Empty. So, apparently there is something missing here, but
what??

But, in Control Panel, Sound and Audio Devices, the Volume Controls
are all set to max, and none of the Mute checkboxes has a check mark
in it. Gordon
 
A

Antares 531

Byte, I'm not sure I follow you here. I opened Windows Media Player
but there was no Tools>Options>File series of buttons.

Anyway, I checked Windows Media Player out by putting a Roger
Whittaker CD in the drive and letting it play. It played just as it
should...no problems at all.

I still can't double click a .mid file in its Windows Explorer folder
and get it to play. Windows Media Player will open, and the progress
slider moves across the bottom of the screen, but there is no sound.
I've checked the Volume settings and all the Volume control sliders
are at their maximum setting. None of the Mute checkboxes has a check
mark in it.

My Pizzicato Arpege Music Software plays .mid files just fine, now.
For a while it was doing the same thing described above. The Options
drop-down on it shows;
SB Live MIDI UART -------GS.Microsoft GS Wavetable SW Synth

I checked Computer Management - Device Manager - Sound, Video and game
controllers. Every entry checks out fine. There are no ? or ! marks by
any of them and when I double click any of these I get a message,
"This devise is working properly."

The following devices are listed
Audio Codecs
Creative Game Port
Creative SB Live! Value (WDM)
Legacy Audio Drivers
Legacy Video Capture Devices
Media Control Devices
Realtek High Definition Audio
Video Codecs

As Alice would say, "This just keeps getting curioser and curioser!"
 
B

Byte

Do you not have a Menu Bar on the top of your Media Player,
listing File, View, Play, Tools, Help? If not, your copy may be
corrupt in needs to be reinstalled.
 
A

Antares 531

Do you not have a Menu Bar on the top of your Media Player,
listing File, View, Play, Tools, Help? If not, your copy may be
corrupt in needs to be reinstalled.
Yes, I do...after keying Ctrl M. This menu bar switches off any time I
change the media player view, and I didn't know it even existed.

I do have the Windows Media Player working well, and also my Pizzicato
Arpege music software plays MIDI files as it should, but I still can
not click on a .mid file in Windows Explorer and get it to play.

The Windows Media Player starts as it should and the text indicates
that the .mid file is playing. The sound slider moves along the
bottom. All the Volume controls that I can locate are at set at
maximum, but the speakers make no sound.

The speakers and sound system in general works very well for all other
applications, so it must not be a hardware problem. There must be some
obscure setting that I've overlooked....hidden deeply in the confusion
layers, I suppose.
 
X

xfailure

Don't know if it helps but I found that my midi's will not play if motorola
phone tools is open, they play just like if they were working, slider bar and
all, but no sound. Good luck.
 

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