Roland Um-one Mk2 Mac Driver

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Orencio Suhag

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Aug 5, 2024, 10:49:51 AM8/5/24

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Rolandum-one midi interface doesn't mount on MacBook Pro OS El Capitan 10.11. I've installed a driver from Roland but the um-one doesn't show up in the midi studio. I scan for new device, but the um-one doesn't show up anywhere.

If you read my first post you'll see that this is clearly not a problem with the Roland interface. It works on my other MacBook Pro and on both iPads. For some reason the new MacBook Pro is not seeing it, i.e., the problem is most likely with the Apple product or the Apple OS (or my lack of understand of the Apple product).

I have this problem too but only since I updated to el capitain. The latest um-1 driver I can find is for 10.9. This product is getting very old but I don't particularly want to fork out for a new one as it was working fine.

The Roland UM-1 has been discontinued and it is likely the driver is not compatible with OSX 10.11. I would think your only option is to roll back to the last version of OSX that worked with it. You could contact Roland and ask if they will be updating the driver but I wouldn't count on it.

Thanks. That's what I figure although they provided a driver that worked for Yosemite - I'd therefore hoped it might work for El Capitain but given my um-1 has probably been in service now for over 10 years I realise it might be time to retire it soon as I can't forego all future updates forever. As it happens I found a m-audio midi interface in my bits and bobs that is working fine with el capitain. I can use it while I wait to see if Roland sort the problem. I gather there are a range of devices that are having issues with el Capitain so I might just hang onto the um-1 for a bit to see what happens.

I don't own a UM-1 so I'm in the dark. They do say on the driver page it's for 10.11. It may not work on the point releases. You're not running the beta of 10.11.4? The betas have a tendency to break things. Usually the point release resolves it but not always.

No. Thanks. Just running the regular el capitain download that came automatically in my updates. The driver doesn't even give any power to the um-1 through the usb port. It does seem strange but my guess is they designed the latest driver it for the um-1 mark 2 which presumably is very similar in software requirements to the um-1. However on this occasion it doesn't seem to work for the um-1. If anyone does get it working, can you please post here. Thx.

In addition to what @oscwilde wrote, keep in mind that because of the way the UM-ONE MK2's MIDI I/O cables are labeled, sometimes one can make the mistake of connecting the input to an input and the output to an output:

Thanks oscwilde & Jodi for your quick responses. I tried the suggestion of only connecting the UM-ONE MK2 to only the midi in of the SQR+ , in both midi studio and the actual 5 pin din cable, and unfortunately still no obvious data reaching the SQR+. And coming from then old hardware midi world I knew about the "in to out" and "out to" in issue. I also used the test part of midi studio and when I click on the out port of the UM-One MK2 it flashes blue once. Below is a screen shot of what oscwilde suggested I do if I read the suggestion correctly regarding virtual port connections.

Just in case, this step is not even necessary for things to actually work. The only thing you are gaining by patching a virtual cable from the UM-ONE Mk2's device icon to the input of SQR+ device you created in Audio MIDI Setup is for the output port of the UM-ONE Mk2 to be conveniently renamed to SQR+. This is more useful when dealing with multi-port MIDI interfaces that have several devices connected to it. But with a single-output MIDI interface like the UM-ONE Mk2, you already know what's on the other end. Just a FYI in case you were not aware.

To troubleshoot and narrow down where the root of the problem is, I recommend you download and install the free Snoize MIDI Monitor and use its "spy on output to destinations" feature to check the data as it leaves Logic. That way you'll see the MIDI data as it's actually leaving Logic (and to which port):

Something else I tried was hooking up my old Boss Dr-670 to the UM-ONE MK2 to see if I could trigger that device with the Launchkey and still nothing. I downloaded the Snooze Midi Monitor app. I've also tried using the UM-ONE with an old 2012 Mac mini I still have and an older MacBook running 10.7.5, all using the specific driver for each and the same result with all of them. Perhaps my UM-ONE MK2 is a lemon? I'll contact Roland support to see what they have to say and Sweetwater, since that's where I purchased the device. Lastly, here is a screenshot from Midi Monitor. I do see on/off messages to the SQR+ but I'm fairly clueless regarding midi issues.

I ended up connecting my old Boss DR-670 directly to the SQR+ with a couple old standard 5 pin midi jacks, played a pattern on the drum machine and I could hear that yes it was triggering sounds in the SQR+. Hmmm .... more mystery .. Many years ago I used to do this just to hear what kind of melodic patterns would be created from a drum pattern. But I digress...

ocswilde, I think you may be onto something. Yes, the base channel is set to channel 1. I looked at the manual I have to be certain about the reinitialize procedure and yes you are correct. But, when I do that combination of holding down system button and pressing arrow down, there's no message to reinitialize. Instead it starts changing the global tuning. I think it's time to pop it open and at least change the internal battery. That's an easy thing to do as I had a battery holder installed long ago. soldering and desoldering batteries is a pain. Anyways, thanks for that insight that my unit may be misbehaving. On the other hand I couldn't get the UM-ONE MK2 to work with either my old Korg O5R/W or Boss Dr-670. At 67 I'm glad I still have a few hairs left on my head!

Which points to the UM-1 being the problem.

You have the GT-1000 according to your AMS image.

It has a USB MIDI connection and MIDI I/O ports, correct?

If so, connect it via USB to your Mac....

Use a MIDI cable to connect the GT-1000 MIDI OUT to the MIDI IN on the SQR (or 05RW)....

In Logic Pro MIDI prefs, make sure the GT-1000 MIDI device is shown/checkbox is active (there may be multiple ports shown for it - activate them all)....see pic.

In the External Instrument plug-in, choose the GT-1000 MIDI OUT port as the MIDI out.

See if you have a win.

As @Jordi Torres pointed out above, the AMS cable connection isn't required except for the naming aspect/multi-port I/Fs....so no need to do anything there unless you want the QR+ destination name.

Thanks so much for that. Much appreciated. Yes the GT-1000 Core has midi but it's not the old 5 pin jacks but the small mini trs jacks. I did set it up in mini studio just in case that might help. Also played around with some settings in the GT-!000 Core's midi preferences pane. I think for now I've used enough energy for the day and will call it a night. But I greatly appreciate yours and oscwilde's insight and help on what might help. It means a lot to me. Tomorrow, with a rested body and mind ( I hope ! ) I'll contact Roland support and Sweetwater. Just in case I have a bad UM-ONE.

Fwiw, I tried the um-one (on my Sonoma mba), and couldn't install the driver. So, I tried switching it to "iOS mode", and it just worked using the Mac OS drivers. Using it only for a midi foot control so don't know about possible latency...

Here's an update to my dilemma. I contacted Roland twice and they finally got back to me. After leaving a detailed description of my issue and what I had tried all they could offer is "make sure you have the 5 din midi plugs connected correctly" So much for Roland support. I had previously contacted Sweetwater, the store that sold me the device. They called me and after a few questions said it seemed most likely I had a bad UM-ONE MK2 and said they would send me another to try. I got it today and after plugging it in .... golly gee ... it works! Guess I had a lemon. A lot of hair pulling for a lemon. Anyways, thanks again to oscwilde, Jordi Torres and JacobP for your help.

Sib. 7.1: 166ms latency with Roland UM-One/Dell onboard sound

Posted by ITGuy - 04 Oct 03:41PM (edited 04 Oct 03:42PM) Hide picture Hi,

I'm not in the slightest bit musical, I work in the IT Department in a school.

Our Music department has purchased Sibelius 7 and we have installed it on our 13 music PC's (all running Windows 7 x32).

We purchased 13 Roland UM-One USB Midi Interfaces as the form factor of our Dell machines was making it difficult to find a sound card with MIDI in a half-height card. We are using the onboard sound chip. We have MIDI keyboards attached to the computers.

Everything is working except when recording, the notes are all "a semiquaver" out (according to the music teacher!). It seems to be impossible to play a note "on the beat" and have it appear on the score in the correct place. The calibration utility tells us that there is 166ms of latency, should the calibration utility not, um, calibrate something to compensate for this?

I should probably add that our ex-head of music also had a USB MIDI interface (a roland um-1) and never had any latency problems with Sibelius 5 under similar circumstances.

Any advice gratefully received! Back to top Allthreads Re: Sib. 7.1: 166ms latency with Roland UM-One/Dell onboard sound

Posted by Robin Walker - 04 Oct 03:59PM (edited 04 Oct 04:01PM) Hide picture It is difficult at a distance to be certain whether you are experiencing input latency, or output latency. If the users are trying to play the MIDI keyboard in response to a click-track played by Sibelius, then output latency has to be included as a potential issue.

Can you check which output interface is selected in Audio Engine Options? What others are available? Different output interfaces can have very different latencies.

You've told us that you are using the on-board sound chip for audio output, and that means you have no quality audio output cards on these PCs. The cheap on-board chips all seem to have latency problems for demanding audio work such as Sibelius.

As a rough rule of thumb, the best audio output latency is obtained when the audio card is driven by an ASIO interface. Second best is usually WASAPI, then DirectSound (DS), and, worst of all, MME.

You have two choices:

- purchase and install a quality audio card for each PC (it should have a native ASIO interface for audio output); or

- install ASIO4ALL as a driver for the on-board audio chip. ASIO4ALL provides a low-latency ASIO interface for audio cards which do not have a native ASIO interface.