Operating System Compatibility
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Musical DNA® is currently supported on the following platforms:
- Windows 7
- Mac OSX 10.7 Lion
- Mac OSX 10.6 Snow Leopard
If you're on an older or different platform, we can't guarantee a successful experience.
Browser Compatibility
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We've had the best success with recent versions of the following browsers:
- Chrome and FireFox (Windows)
- Chrome, FireFox, and Safari (Mac)
If your favorite browser isn't listed here, or isn't working quite right, try one of the ones that is and see if it helps. Or if you've got a browser from the list above, confirm it's a recent version and update it if needed.
Piano Keyboard
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Piano keyboard isn't playing/no sound at all
- First, check your computer volume and make sure you're not on Mute. The video lessons and your piano keyboard should all be audible.
- Make sure you've got your keyboard plugged in before you start the game. To troubleshoot this as a possible cause of your problem:
- Unplug the piano keyboard.
- Log out of Musical DNA® and close the browser.
- Wait a couple of minutes.
- Plug the keyboard back into your USB port.
- Re-open your browser and log back into Musical DNA®
- Start the game
Piano keyboard is playing sound from itself, not from my computer/Musical DNA®
Some piano keyboards can't connect to computers at all, and therefore can't be used with Musical DNA®.
Some keyboards only play music when connected to a computer. (Technically, these are called "controllers".) These should work with Musical DNA® pretty automatically.
Some piano keyboards can play music both as a stand-alone piano or through a connected computer. If you have one of those, and you're not getting sound through Musical DNA®, it might be a Local Control issue.
Local Control is a setting in the keyboard's own software that tells the piano keyboard whether to generate its own sound or direct a signal to a computer so it will make the sound there. Some piano keyboards will try to automatically make this decision for you, while others require you to specifically instruct it where to play sound (itself or at the computer). Check your owner's manual to see how it handles Local Control, and how it decides (or how you tell it) to direct its signal to a computer.
After you've got it configured and re-attached, log back into Musical DNA® and try again.
Piano keyboard is playing sounds, but the game isn't responding
If you can hear the notes you're playing on the keyboard coming through your computer, but Musical DNA's lessons and games aren't responding to the input (the master circle doesn't reflect the notes you're playing), there may be a connectivity problem within the game itself.
A typical symptom of this problem is to see the words "socket policy" in the top-left of the game space. If that message appears when you start the game and doesn't go away, then Musical DNA® has been unable to make a critical connection to connect the keyboard to the game.
If this is happening, make sure your computer's firewall isn't blocking signals from Musical DNA®. Often, your computer itself will prompt you about allowing connection from Musical DNA® when the game loads (they will refer to Musical DNA® or sometimes to "midicaster"). Always allow these connections. If you're not sure if you accepted them or not, log out of Musical DNA®, close the browser, and then try again looking for these prompts to accept connections.
If you're never seeing these prompts, you may have already declined them, or your system or anti-virus software may have pre-emptively disallowed this connectivity. Add Midicaster.exe (Windows) or Midicaster (Mac) to your firewall or antivirus software's list of allowed exceptions. You can find the midicaster in the following locations:
- Windows: C:\Users\(your user name)\Application Support\MusicalDNA\midicaster.exe
- Mac: /Users/(your user name)/Library/Application Support/MusicalDNA/midicaster
Check your computer or anti-virus system's instructions for creating firewall exceptions. Allow the midicaster the widest permission possible.
Fresh Start
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If you've checked the troubleshooting tips above and you still can't get Musical DNA® to work, you can have Musical DNA® try a fresh re-install of it's critical components. This is accomplished by removing some of the pieces currently in place.
Windows
- Log out of Musical DNA® and close your browser (including other open tabs and windows for that browser).
- In Windows Explorer, go to "C:\Users\(your user name)\Application Support\"
- Delete the MusicalDNA folder and all of its contents.
- Go to Start > Control Panel > Programs and Features and uninstall "Unity Web Player"
- Re-open your browser.
- Log back into Musical DNA®, carefully accepting install prompts and connectivity prompts for Musical DNA®, midicaster, and Unity as you go along.
Mac
- Log out of Musical DNA® and close your browser (including other open browser windows).
- In Finder, go to "/Users/(your user name)/Library/Application Support"
- Delete the MusicalDNA folder and all of its contents.
- In Finder, go to your Mac's "(hard drive)/Library/Internet Plug-Ins" folder and delete "Unity Web Player." NOTE: this is the Library folder for the whole computer, not the Library folder under our user name.
- Re-open your browser.
- Log back into Musical DNA®, carefully accepting install prompts and connectivity prompts for Musical DNA®, midicaster, and Unity as you go along.
Contact Musical DNA®
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If the troubleshooting steps above haven't helped you, contact us using the Support and Troubleshooting feature accessible from the bottom-right of all Musical DNA® screens, or via email at support@musicaldna.com. Please include the following information:
- Symptoms of the problem you're having
- Troubleshooting steps you've already tried
- Your OS and version (e.g. Windows 7)
- Your browser and version (e.g. Chrome 16)
- Your keyboard, including manufacturer and model