Bitwig + Win11 w/new MIDI stack

[vitocorleone123]

I can't recall if it was before or after the MIDI update for Win11, but, at this point, I have to start and close and restart Bitwig usually 0 to 4 times before it doesn't give me an error about not being able to find a MIDI port. Not one specific MIDI port - it changes every time, seemingly randomly. This tells me it's a Bitwig issue (or Bitwig on Windows w/new MIDI stack).

There does not seem to be a fix for this. Am I the only one experiencing it?

Also, there remains a number of VST3s that Bitwig simply won't work with. They point the finger at JUCE and developers. Developers point the finger at Bitwig.

All in all, while I enjoy the DAW, it's kind of annoying to use.

[CandelaAudio]

I wouldn’t assume it’s the new Win11 MIDI stack by itself, since apps don’t automatically switch to Windows MIDI Services just because it’s there.

Could also just be Windows re-enumerating devices weirdly — especially if the MIDI gear isn’t always on the exact same USB port/hub.

And on the VST3 side, “Bitwig issue” vs “JUCE/dev issue” is usually a mix, not one or the other. Exact plugin names would probably tell the story faster.

[Milkman]

Im also seeing this. On win11, in both cubase 15 and BWS 6. In C15, no matter how I start up (from a fresh system reboot, or not), about 90% of the time I start the program at least 2 MIDI devices are missing. In BWS they will often be present but silent. Restarting the DAW usually solves it, occasionally twice. I didnt see any of this on win10 a month or so back, and I didnt see it on win11 until a few weeks ago. Sometimes it just... loses my main audio interface MIDI in/out. Loses elektron boxes, or my favorite, the Korg devices (which sometimes dont come back at all and have to be reinstalled)

Microslop did some press release about "ok we are going to fix windows 11" recently, so they seem aware win11 has some issues that need addressing.

Korg also has a press release from april that talks about removing the korg USB MIDI driver and just using "default windows midi support" to drive them, and that using the korg USB driver can cause them to... vanish from the system. Only for specific korg devices though.

[Milkman]

Jurgen has covered this just today. You probably already saw it, but if you didnt:

[pc999]

Seems like Windows and Microslop breaking stuff again?

I would really give Linux a try if you can.
(It is incredible how Microslop can be the very late to the midi 2 party and still break stuff)

[Milkman]

This was..... a huge nightmare, and Im just moistly finishing up right now.
8+ hours of work. This is fresh win11 with the MIDI update-

I began last night at 8pm, wiped win11 to bare metal, reinstalled from a fresh image. Things went haywire from the start, with the win11 installer bizarrely losing access to my NIC, then finding it again, then losing it again, causing the initial download and windows updates to fail over and over. It finally completed after I told it to reconnect to the network 3 times.

Then IMMEDIATELY I had USB MIDI issues. First, my main audio interface (2 stacked focusrite 18i20s) wouldnt sync with windows. All in/out channels were blank and the device wouldnt process audio. Driver kept saying it couldnt "sync midi with windows". This is using the newest focusrite control application, which is the recommended install from focusrite for win11 systems. Eventually, after turning the device off/on and rebooting windows, it magically started working.

Elektron boxes would only show up 1 at a time. Somehow the windows11 update manager, even after 3 hours of updates, installed the wrong serial I/O and USB controller versions, which had to be manually updated by me from my motherboard vendor. One root hub was not working correctly, so one front USB port wasnt working right. Windows 10 and EARLIER windows 11 builds did NOT have this trouble after rebuilds, and Im on the same hardware.

My main "tape machine" buffer software(Rewind), which records all system audio to a rolling 90 minute buffer, suddenly cannot hear random instruments and hardware devices when they are in standalone mode, using focusrite ASIO. I have to run any DAW and run my buffer inside of it, then it hears all channels no problem. Standalone wont work. This all worked on earlier win11, win10.

Ive rebooted windows 11 over 18 times and counting. It rebooted 13 times during its primary install, experiencing "download failures" during the first run scripts, then forcing me to reboot to try the download again.

TPM, which I had disabled because of personal philosophy and experience, is now required. I couldnt build win11 on this new build without turning it on, but I did manage to keep it from bonding to me by flubbing the email address it wanted until it gave up, resetting the TPM itself, then disabling it.

BWS now sees like 5 duplicates for almost every controller, and did not see my main audio interface USB MIDI until I manually defined it. Im having to manually remove dupes, test to see if anything is broken, then continue.

(This isnt Bitwig or win11, but its something we all know and love)
Our fun friends over at *ilok* failed me once again. The "zero downtime" company happened.... to have some sort of service interruption or brief downtime just around 12am last night -- EXACTLY when I tried to reactivate 180 licenses. They were all locked, couldnt activate. "These are on a machine that you no longer have access to, so you have to email reset requests to all vendors", they said, and I raaaaaaaaaaaged. Then about 20 minutes later, they magically released(its the same machine!!), they activated, and it was like nothing had ever happened.

And Im too tired to keep going right now. Ill have some dinner, rejuvenate my patience, and then come back for more. Things are... starting to work better now, but its been a fun one. AMA.

[stuartpryer]

This is how I fixed my Windows 11 problems with Microsoft's Midi mess. It seems the midi service in the latest updates is designed to start manually. So when you load a program needing the midi service it starts it. But! The device list is available before the service starts so your software cannot access the service as it has not yet started. This fix below starts the service to start at Win 11 load.

Hold Winkey + R then type services.msc and return
Find ‘windows midi service’ in the list
Right click, select properties and change ‘startup’ from manual to ‘automatic’
Click apply and restart your pc.

Might be worth a try. You can always revert.
Cheers

Stuart

https://stuartpryer.co.uk

[Milkman]

This is how I fixed my Windows 11 problems with Microsoft's Midi mess. It seems the midi service in the latest updates is designed to start manually. So when you load a program needing the midi service it starts it. But! The device list is available before the service starts so your software cannot access the service as it has not yet started. This fix below starts the service to start at Win 11 load.

Hold Winkey + R then type services.msc and return
Find ‘windows midi service’ in the list
Right click, select properties and change ‘startup’ from manual to ‘automatic’
Click apply and restart your pc.

Might be worth a try. You can always revert.
Cheers

Stuart

https://stuartpryer.co.uk

This is helpful info. Ill probably configure that, as well, to see if it makes anything smoother.

As of now (2 days later lol), I *think* I have this stabilized and working well. Another late night last night, but Ive installed, configured, tested a lot of stuff, and Ive ONLY had one bluescreen haha that killed BWS. Kontakt was scanning libraries, generated an error about an invalid file, and then BWS locked hard. I killed BWS, bluescreen.

I built all new templates and a fresh track in BWS last night tho, and things are going well. Just loaded everything up today for the first time and not one MIDI device failed to start or attach to the system, including 2 korg devices, an akai, a novation. (all brands associated with driver issues on win11)

Ill save your info about manual/auto starting the MIDI services in case anything else pops up. It probably will knowing microsoft haha they say they are "continuing to patch" for this, and more people will get this midi 2.0 update in the next 30 days.

[stuartpryer]

I think korg are recommending to use windows class compliant midi drivers, not their own now.

[Milkman]

I think korg are recommending to use windows class compliant midi drivers, not their own now.

True, and that's what Im now using. Works fine. My Kaoss pad, microkog XL, NTS-1 mk2 korg stuff is all happy and more more 'Korg USB Drv" to mess things up. The only driver/manager that I installed was for the Focusrite 18i20 interface, which needed the 'focusrite control' to run. (I think that installs their driver).

There is a problem with Korg's communications about this:
https://www.korg.com/us/news/2026/0312/

This says only 6 devices are affected by this, lol, but actually its like 80+ devices that use the Korg USB MIDI driver.

https://www.korg.com/us/support/downloa ... /285/3541/
Download page shows many devices, including mine.

[Milkman]

Ive been seeing bluescreens in Bitwig and Cubase, at least 2 in each so far. Random things. Indexing files. Authorizing plugins. Loading instruments. Screen locks, "bugcheck", system reboots. No hardware issues, clean and rebuilt 3 days ago.
Windows 11 Pro 25H2 26200.8328

It seems like once indexing, authorizing, loading plugins... is done, this is less likely to bluescreen. After those bluescreens I didnt see another one, and its been 7-8 hours. Windows11 doesnt seem reliable at all right now, but Im wrangling it...

[stuartpryer]

Hi. After some experimenting on Win 11 versions it seems that any build before 25hx works. eg. 24Hx and earlier. 25H1 and 25H2 do not work well (Jan to March 2026). 26H1 (30th April 2026) has a lot of improvements and I think Midi is improved. Windows 11 and its Midi implementation at the moment are a mess and unstable.

This does not say a lot for Microsoft to be honest. If you are not using class compliant drivers beware. One good thing is that Windows introduced midi loop back, like IAC Driver buses on the Mac. These replace loop midi and loopbe1 for instance. But RPT Midi is still broken. Microsoft released updates which they have not properly tested yet again. They can't blame lack of resources! Just poor project management.

My Mac M4 pro continues to work flawlessly with Bitwig and my hardware.

[stuartpryer]

How to get Windows 11 Midi services working again. This is how I did it.

1. update windows to build 25H2v26200.8328 using windows update, This build is important as it contains KB 5083631 with the updated midi 1/2 services etc.

2. Although kb5083631 will be installed, it won't be activated by Microsoft immediately. But it will be activated by the end of May 2026. This will be a rolling deployment globally.

3. In the mean time until its activated, midi loop back devices won't work properly. eg. Loopbe1, loop midi. In fact you won't need these anymore as windows now has midi 1.0 loop back ports built in. You can add your own by downloading 'Windows midi and music settings' preview app from GitHub. You need to set your pc into developer mode in settings to run this. But it will create as many loopback ports for you as you want.

4. All korg drivers need to be removed. See korgs guidance how to do this. If you leave them they will stop windows midi services running properly.

5. If you still want to use loop midi and loopbe1 etc. set them to start at boot and then start midi services using the Windows midi and music services' app.

6. Microsoft have set up a Discord group covering all these problems. Thank you Pete Brown of Microsoft.

Hope this helps.

Stuart

[stuartpryer]

Hi. Here is the latest info from Microsoft.

1. windows build 25H2v26200.8328 is important as it contains KB 5083631 with the updated midi 1/2 services etc. It will be functional for all users who update windows by the end of May 26.

2. Microsoft are working on having 3 modes for midi by the end of July 26. Midi 1 only. Midi 2 only and both. This will enable any users to get devices working if they dont play well with the new midi 2 implimentation.

3. Removing Korg drivers is critical to getting midi working again. The new microsoft drivers make most korg devices class compliant in windows. See korg website on how to remove their drivers properly.

4. Im now finding the new midi 2 implimentation is working fine for me.

cheers

stuart

[Milkman]

The problem with removing Korg USB midi driver is that both microsoft and Korg admit that you will need to rebuild windows to properly remove the keys left by the korg uninstaller. They dont remove correctly and can continue to cause issues if you simply remove them. Perhaps korg or M$ will create a korg USB midi driver removal tool? lol