Lunchkey MKII issues

HI,
New here, and thanks for the work you guys are doing.
I have some issues with my setup, I tried finding answers in the forums, but I wasn't able to locate a "search" function in the forum, am I missing something?
I tried the easiest samplerbox solution (just R-Pi, Midi controller and thumbdrive for samples), and something doesn't work. The launchkey plays, but only with the default sound (Saw), it doesn't seem to be able to change samples.
I'm wondering if anybody else has had this issue and if you have a solution

I was also reading somewhere that Launchkey actually behaves like 2 MIDI devices, I wonder if that's the cause of the issue.

This doesn't sound like a Launchkey issue if it does in fact play the default Saw. Are you trying to play sample sets from a USB stick? Try a different stick if you have one.

If Saw isn't on the USB stick, it shouldn't load up at all - so that will be an indication of whether your USB stick is loading correctly

Saw is also present in the main samplerbox folder, technically works even without USB stick, that's why it plays. I thought about USB stick issues too, but I have tried 4 different ones... it seems to me that the launchkey isn't sending the channel change signal.

ok, I discovered what the issue is (just in case someone else has a launchkey MKII).
The issue is the "program change" MIDI command.
Apparently, despite the several encoders, faders and pads (and let's not forget a display) on the Launchkey MKII, none of them is mapped to "program change".
I have no idea if there's a way to fix this (not really a coder...)
if somebody has a solution for this that doesn't involve attaching a screen and buttons to the RPi I'd appreciate it

You can configure Alex's version of the samplerbox software to recognize a MIDI note or CC message to trigger a preset change.

The MIDI messages sent by the various controls on the Launchkey MKII are documented at the end of this guide:

https://d2xhy469pqj8rc.cloudfront.net/sites/default/files/novation/downloads/10535/launchkey-mk2-programmers-reference-guide.pdf

You edit the Samplerbox config.ini file to have a MIDI message (recommend a CC message sent by a button) on the LaunchKey act like you pressed a Left or Right button on the standard Samplerbox hardware. Here's the doc on configuration:

http://samplerbox.readthedocs.io/en/latest/config.html#config-ini

Here's the entries in cinfig.ini that you need to change:

BUTTON_LEFT_MIDI = 176, 103, <MIDI CONTROLLER NAME>
BUTTON_RIGHT_MIDI = 176, 102, <MIDI CONTROLLER NAME>

For example, using the Track Left and Track Right buttons on the LaunchKey:
Track Left Button CC 67h (103) 00h / 7Fh (0 / 127)
Track Right Button CC 66h (102) 00h / 7Fh (0 / 127)

176 is the number for a CC message on MIDI channel 1
103 is the number of the controller for the Track Left button
<MIDI CONTROLLER NAME> needs to be replaced by something like <LaunchKey MKII> whatever the correct name for the MIDI device is.

You can see all the MIDI messages being received by the Samplerbox by setting this

PRINT_MIDI_MESSAGES = True

in the config.ini, and running '''python samplerbox.py''' from a console. This is how you can see the actual <MIDI CONTROLLER NAME> and values being sent when you push buttons on the LaunchKey.

Thanks a lot Glenn.
I'll try this as soon as I'm near it again (my son took it for now).
Does this work with the "easy" solution too? meaning the prepackaged samplerbox image?
Thanks again.
d

Glenn, I think I have done what you said above, ut still can't seem to be able to switch samples.

Just to make sure I did right: I was just supposed to change those two lines to this:

BUTTON_LEFT_MIDI = 176, 103, <Launchkey>
BUTTON_RIGHT_MIDI = 176, 102, <Launchkey>

Right?

then just save config.ini and reboot?
I must be missing something...

i think you will need to download the alternative image from here http://samplerbox.readthedocs.io/en/latest/installation.html