Witch Kit Build USB Connection Not Recognized by Windows 10

OWL Firmware
#1

Hi,

I just finished building my Witch kit this morning, and am loving the sounds I have been able to get out of it so far! Everything seems to be working well when using the synth for creating sounds, and I am able to utilize all of the pre-loaded patches. However, I am having trouble getting it to connect to my computer via USB to load new patches. I am able to power it through USB without any issues, but my OS is having difficulty recognizing the Witch.

When I plug the Witch into my computer, running Windows 10, it shows up as “Unknown USB Device (Device Descriptor Request Failed)”, and does not show up in Chrome as a MIDI device. I get the following error message- - “Windows has stopped this device because it has reported problems. (Code 43) A request for the USB device descriptor failed.”

It is certainly possible that this is related to a build error on my end - this is the most complex kit I’ve put together. I haven’t noticed any other issues performance-wise outside of this inability to connect. Has anyone else had this problem? Any ideas for fixes?

#2

Congratulation for taking the “first Witch user on forum award”!

It’s very likely to be software a issue with Windows drivers rather than hardware. The problem that usually occurs seems to be related to windows not using the correct driver for composite USB Audio + MIDI device.

You could check if switching Witch to bootloader mode (MIDI only device) makes any difference - this is done by keeping the mode button pressed while Witch boots. You may have to reboot your PC after that if Windows wouldn’t detect or handle device type change correctly. If you end up with USB device named “OWL-BOOT”, then there should be no hardware problems and you’ll be able to update firmware if necessary.

Actually dealing with this issue might require just making Windows use the right driver (generic USB audio), @mars will probably provide better instructions for that.

#3

@brooney see if you can open the device in Device Manager and Uninstall Device. This will remove the association with whatever driver that Windows has decided it should use. Then reconnect the Witch, and with any luck the correct driver (usbaudio.sys) will be used.

If this doesn’t work you could try to locate the correct one in the list of available drivers (click Update Driver in the device’s Properties window). The list of drivers and their names seems to vary a lot between Windows installations, but look for something like Generic Audio.

#4

owl_drivers.png1166×650 226 KB

This is what works on my system ( win10 pro, version 21H1build 19043.1110)

Hope this helps,
Robin.