Terribly disappointed in S88 MK3

Just how many cables should the op be expected to try before finding 1 that actually works? He mentioned that he tried another cables other than the 1 supplied with the keyboard including the recommended cable referred to in manual and that didn't work either.

I am not responsible for any of this and can only do my best to advice. Also I don't think that I questioned how many cables that the OP had tried. What I wrote were : "

This is not very specific with respect to what cables that you actually tried and if you tried an USB-C hub as recommended by N.I. (Ref. : Kontrol S-Series MK3: Troubleshooting Firmware Update Issues )."

I wrote that because it didn't give any information about what cables were tried and also it didn't appear as if the OP had actually tried using an USB-C hub though writing "I tried different cables. Even ordered new ones based on recommendations in the manual, in the FAQ's, and here on the forums. No go. "

I hadn't heard about this issue with chips controlling usb-c before but if that is indeed what's going on here then surely that's an in-house issue that should be rectified by NI by means of a repair/replacement of that chip and not the responsibility on the end user to purchase further equipment to get it working. Not to mention the hours of frustration that causes.

It appear as you have both missed most of what has been going on here with respect to the MK3 keyboards for a long time and as if you have completely misunderstood the issue here (ref. : surely that's an in-house issue that should be rectified by NI by means of a repair/replacement of that chip) , since how can it be the responsibility of N.I. to replace something built into the users computer ? But since that you have missed so much then here is a scoop of references stretching a whole year back now. The forum posting software screws up the text formatting when pasting here so despite that I have used ten minutes to try to fix the errors then I might have missed some so please excuse any text errors :

Matthew_NI, November 2023 :

"USB-C can be fickle, on certain machines. This can affect all peripherals, but particularly ones sending lots of data back and forth, such as a display or our keyboard(s). I've seen this affect about 100 USB-C monitors across an entire business, and am bound by NDA but it appears specific to certain models of computer.

A high majority of the support issues we've responded to(including things like failure to update, connections to software not occurring, inconsistent performance) have been solved with brute force workarounds of the in-built USB-C connection. Meaning: the use of a USB-C hub to bypass the problematic connection on the direct-in ports, and or other method that are effectively the same (adapter)."

Matthew_NI, December 2023 :

The hardware does work. For many thousands of users. In some cases, things can go wrong (for example, the USB-C issue mentioned above is beyond our control, and all we can do is advise workarounds).

To resolve your issue - I would first ask that you start a dedicated thread so that we can ask more specific questions, and avoid polluting this one. Tag me in once you have, if that's ok.Please note too that threats of social media are unhelpful, and not a faster path to resolution. We are very literally here to help.

Additionally, before even doing the above, could you ensure that you've:

• Registered the serial number in Native Access 2
• Installed the NI Hardware Connection Service from NA2
• Installed Komplete Kontrol 3.1from NA2
• Installed the latest version of Kontakt 7 (if you have it) from NA2
• Downloaded and installed the latest version of the keyboard firmware when prompted to do so

Matthew_NI,Product Team, 3:05 PM , 2024-02-19 ,

To be very clear, and to avoid any one opinion becoming misinformation, I'll re-state what has been said in various places:

   As frustrating as this is to you, it is also to us.

   This issue is specific to the USB-C implementation on certain computer models.

   This issue is not specific to the peripherals themselves.

   This issue causes the communication in the protocol to essentially break, thus data is dropped.

   This manifests as various symptoms, depending on the peripheral. For Kontrol S MK3, the dropped data can interrupt a firmware update, or controller -> DAW and/or controller ->Plug-in sync.

   The issue can appear at random, frequently or infrequently.

   Using a USB-C hub interrupts and bypasses the problematic communication specific to the chips used in the USB-C implementation of affected machines.

We can highlight and advise on workarounds, should a customer be affected.

We can, and have, reported this directly to the manufacturers of affected models. So have many other manufacturers of peripherals.

They can, and have, fixed it in newer models, but of course there exist affected models in the market that will forever be subject to the workaround.

We cannot do any more than this. I'm sorry that some of you choose to blame us. I recognize that it's deeply frustrating, but I cannot change the facts of the matter that I've outlined above.

MK3 has two ports:

1) For simultaneously data and power

2) For auxiliary power if the first port is not able to provide adequate power (e.g. a USB-A port)

These are not two separate issues.

Matthew_NI,Product Team, 3:11PM , 2024-02-19 ,

This narrative simply isn't factual. I know how frustrating this is - but please recognize that the shortcoming here is specific to the USB-C implementation in certain hardware, and not the peripherals that are affected by the shortcoming.

As I've stated - it is to do with communication protocols in the chip breaking down, which can affect the transfer of whatever's coming down the pipe (USB-C cable).

Also, we are not talking about a lot of cases. We are talking about a small number of cases handled either here in the forum, orvia our customer support channels, or both. The number of unaffected customers is exponentially larger.