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Hi guys,

I realize there's a lot of info about this scattered around the forum—but it was quite segmented and device-specific, and mostly in old threads, so I hope you don't mind if I start this new one about it.

I've been trying to connect my FP-30 to my Windows 10 laptop so I can use it as a MIDI controller with Sibelius 6.

I spent hours and hours trying to connect to the FP-30 via Bluetooth. I even got the FP-30 to appear as a "paired" BT device in Windows's settings—but there was no way to connect to it.

I even tried installing Roland's "Piano Partner" app—which has only iOS and Android versions, not Windows (because...?)—so I had to install an Android app emulator to make that possible. It didn't detect the FP-30 either.

I then discovered this fine print in the FP-30's manual:

> Bluetooth MIDI is only compatible with iOS.

Ah. It would've been great if they'd mentioned that in their promotional materials, or perhaps a bit earlier in the manual, so we wouldn't knock ourselves out trying to follow irrelevant procedures.

So, since then, I've been trying to connect via the FP-30's "Computer USB" port. I've connected it to my laptop with the proper printer-style USB cable. But no new devices appear in Windows, and Sibelius doesn't detect the FP-30 as an input device.

Since the FP-30 was made only last year, and my Windows 10 is up-to-date, I thought this would be straightforward. Have any idea what I could be doing wrong? Thanks – Andy

Bluetooth MIDI on the FP30 works fine with both my iPad and Mac. And it's enabled globally (meaning I don't have to turn it on inside an app).

Notes:
- The FP30 didn't immediately show up as a BT device on any of my devices.
- To enable the BT MIDI connection I had to use Korg's "Bluetooth MIDI Connect" apps for iOS and MacOS. There is also a version for Windows.
- All versions are free to download

KORG Bluetooth MIDI Connect (aka BLE-MIDI driver)
iOS - https://apps.apple.com/us/app/bluetooth-midi-connect/id1108321791
MacOS - https://apps.apple.com/us/app/bluetooth-midi-connect/id1074606480
Windows - https://www.korg.com/us/support/download/driver/0/551/2886/

Despite that sentence being in the manual, I don't think that's correct regarding bluetooth midi. I connect my FP-10 to Piano Partner app on Android, which uses bluetooth midi. And you can see Roland webpage here that describes how to connect FP-30's bluetooth midi to an android device. ( https://rolandus.zendesk.com/hc/en-...MIDI-CONNECTION-WITH-PIANO-PARTNER-2-APP ) I'm guessing that original version of Piano Partner was ios-only (as with Yamaha's analogous app) and that it was upgraded to use Android only after the FP-30 manual was printed.

I assume it's possible to connect bluetooth midi on Windows or Mac but don't know how to do it. Bluetooth midi can be confusing because of bluetooth audio connections, which are different.

Have you connected other usb midi keyboards to your PC? I'm guessing there's some configuration needed on the PC end. There's nothing unusual about the FP-10 (or, I assume, FP-30) usb connection; mine was plug and play. (But my Windows PC also works with other usb midi devices.)

Some Roland devices require a driver for usb-midi. I don't see an article for the FP-30, but the FP-90 doesn't so hopefully it's the same for the FP-30:
https://rolandus.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/360004180532-FP-90-Connecting-to-a-Computer

usb can be a bit flaky on Windows. Sometimes I've found it starts working after plugging the device into a different port, so try them all.

Hi again guys,

Sorry I haven't been back till now. I tried everything I could think of and never did get my FP-30 to "talk" to my (relatively new) Dell XPS laptop, so I gave up for a while. I thought I'd give it another shot tonight.

The FP-30 never appears as a Bluetooth device in Windows 10, even though Bluetooth's on in Windows, and I follow the FP-30 manual's directions for turning Bluetooth on.

I've tried a cable, using the FP-30's "Computer" USB port. (I had to get a special cable with standard USB on one end, and the printer-style USB connector on the other.) But the FP-30 never appears in Device Manager.

It does appear as an "Unspecified" device in the Devices and Printers window, but I can't do anything more with it from there. When I open its Properties, the only details it shows are these:

> Manufacturer: Unavailable
> Model: Bluetooth LE Device ecf1c8ae7550


Tried it; no effect.


Yes, I've used other USB MIDI devices with my PC and they worked right away. (I don't know what other "configuration on the PC end" you'd be referring to.)


Unfortunately, that page just says to connect the cable. It doesn't offer any advice on what to do if it doesn't work.

Similarly, the manual (tantalizingly) says:


...Which implies it should just be "plug 'n' play" too. So I have no idea what the problem is.


Yup, tried that too.

If you have any more ideas, I'm all ears.

Here's some new info, though I don't know if it helps.

I'd stopped trying to connect to the FP-30 via Bluetooth, because (as I've mentioned) the manual says Bluetooth functionality works only with iOS. But you pointed me to that newer page suggesting it works with Windows too, so I've resumed trying that.

It turns out that when I turn on Windows's Bluetooth, the FP-30 does appear in Device Manager—not under "Sound, Video and Game Controllers" (where MIDI devices usually appear), but under "Bluetooth":



...And its icon in the Devices and Printers window is no longer grayed out:



...And the FP-30 appears in the Bluetooth section of Windows's Settings, saying it's "paired":



But it doesn't appear in the Action Center's list of Bluetooth (wireless) devices I can actually connect to:



...And none of my MIDI-capable programs recognize the FP-30 as an input device.

(Sorry about the sizes of these images, BTW... It seems like the forum automatically enlarges them to fit the message-window width, and we have no control over their sizes.)

Well, never mind! Apparently the USB cable I tried was defective. I tried the one I use with my printer, and "Roland Digital Piano" now appears in Device Manager, and my Windows programs get MIDI signals from it. Thanks for your help though!

I am reviving this thread instead of starting another because I am having a problem with my computer seeing the FP-30X when connected using a USB cable. I had no problem using my Roland FP-4 connected with USB for MIDI. I am running Windows 10 Home and even when I try using MIDI OX it says no MIDI device detected. I tried plugging the FP-30x into a laptop computer I have running Windows 11 and it is recognized. So there is something going on with not being recognized by my desktop system but I can't figure-out what. I've tried re-booting and it's the same. This is my main DAW workstation. Any help will be appreciated.

Just an update - it looks like some type of problem with my system as when I plug it into the USB port the Windows device manager says: Unknown USB Device (Configuration Descriptor Request failed)

FIXED!- sort of. I've found that if I plug the FP-30X into a powered USB hub and then plug the hub into a USB port of my computer - it works. So I'm using that work-around for now.

That's the reverse of a fairly common situation -- something that works when plugged into a "native" USB port, but that doesn't work when plugged into a USB hub.

File under "Weird" . . .

Agreed!!