Yamaha SW1000XG Advanced Manualbook page 14

SW1000XG was not multiclient. This means that whilst one application such as XGEDIT is talking to the SW1000XG,
no other application can do so at the same time. (Even Yamaha can't get everything right!). The solution to this was
Hubis loopback. This small driver basically works as a kind of piping system for MIDI devices. You connect one pipe
to another to form a link within your computer, analogous say to plumbing 2 wires together between different rooms
in a house to allow power to flow between 1 room and the next. The principle works like this.
When you install the SW1000XG it's MIDI ports appear (or should) in all MIDI applications as follows
MIDI IN = SW1000 MIDI IN
MIDI OUT 1 = SW1000#1 Synthesizer
MIDI OUT 2 = SW1000#2 Synthesizer
MIDI OUT 3 = SW1000 MIDI OUT
So for example should you wish to communicate using XGEDIT with the SW1000XG's first 16 parts of its internal
synth engine (remember that the SW1000XG supports a total of 48 MIDI channels), then you would select
SW1000#1 Synthesizer, and then select a channel between 1-16. For parts 17-32 your selection would be
SW1000#2 Synthesizer and then a channel between 1-16, and for external connected devices your selection would
be SW1000 MIDI OUT, and channel 1-16 giving a total of 16+16+16 = 48 MIDI channels.
Now if you try to access the same MIDI ports in, for example Cubase VST whilst having XGEDIT still running, you will
find that the following message appears
MIDI ERROR – DEVICE ALREADY ALLOCATED
Or
DEVICE ALREADY IN USE
Which poses a bit of a problem. So what do you do?
Well, with Hubis loopback you get a set of up to 4 new MIDI pipes labelled LB1, 2,3 and 4 which can provide a
communications link between applications such as XGEDIT and Cubase by replacing the MIDI output assignments
inside your controlling app (XGEDIT) with the following
MIDI IN - None
MIDI OUT 1 – LB1
MIDI OUT 2 – LB2
And then in Cubase (for example)
MIDI In 1 – LB1
MIDI IN 2 – LB2
MIDI IN 3 – SW1000XG MIDI IN
(You see that your keyboard (which may be connected to the SW1000XG MIDI IN) port still plays fine due to the fact
that Cubase has one of its ports assigned to SW1000 MIDI IN)
We will cover much more of the finer points of this set-up with regards to each application in later chapters, but
needless to say, that for Windows 95 and 98 users, Hubis loopback (or MIDI Yoke (see later)) is 100% essential
unless you plan to work totally inside XGWorks.
To install Hubis loopback, first get hold of a copy (xgfactory.com), then read the text file that came with it. It explains
how to install the driver (Windows actually thinks that it is a new piece of hardware!)
A word of caution at this point though. It is very easy to create infinite loops with Hubis that can cause your machine
to crash. Read the notes that come with the driver, and also check out the diagrams in each chapter, which explain
how to configure Hubis and the HWDCABLE application that comes with it for error free enjoyment.
A second word of caution applies to Windows 95 owners!
Microsoft (in their infinite wisdom) decreed that 'no-one would ever need more than 10 MIDI devices in their
computer', and so set a limit inside Windows 95 of exactly that, which with hindsight now seems a little strange, but
hey, we all make mistakes!. Thankfully this problem never occurred in Windows 98, so Win98 users can skip this bit.
The Windows 95 device limit problem
Most game compatible cards will install between 3 and 4 MIDI devices. The AWE64 for example (being a popular
card) would install a driver for its hardware synth the software waveguide synth, its external MIDI port, and also the
FM synth. Now if you add an SW1000XG with its 3 MIDI ports, you get 7, and then if you install Hubis 4 ports you
get...11
CRASH!
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