well, i need some help setting up my new M-Audio 61es keyboard with VDL2.5.1 and Finale 2008.
Everything seems to be in working order but Finale isn't recognizing the controller as a MIDI in device.

So far my specs are as followed
Windows XP
Pentium D 2.8Ghz
4GB Ram
VDL2.5.1
Finale 2008
M-Audio 61es Midi Controller

Any ideas?

And if I'm missing any other specs that you need, let me know

The M-Audio keyboards are typically supposed to be class compliant, meaning, either Windows or Mac should recognize them without the need to install additional drivers. However, you should probably download the latest driver for this controller anyway (if there's one available). You can do this for free on the M-Audio website at http://www.m-audio.com.

actually i made sure i had all the newest drivers before i tested it on Finale. thats when i found out that Finale wasn't seeing the controller as an input device.

You've probably already done this then, but just in case...be sure to close/restart Finale, or better yet, restart your machine after having installed the new driver. If the problem persists, I would suggest doing some searching around on the Finale forums, or check with their technical support folks.

Thanks Jim,

I've checked the Finale forums and there isn't a lot on the topic it seems. I may try reinstalling Finale and see if that may help. I guess we'll see, but if anyone else has any insights i'd really appreciate it.

You can try deleting the ";Finale.ini"; and ";finmidi.ini"; fiels in the C:\Program Files\Finale 2008 directory.  These are the two only CONFIGURATION SETTINGS files here.  This may help reset so that the program can see the new Midi information.  If this doesn't work, then you may need to reinstall the drivers.  M-Audio drivers can be touchy at times.  There is a program called EXP Lab that can help you determine if your computer is even recognizing anything connected to it.

[url=http://ftp://ftp.sac.sk/pub/sac/sound/explab10.zip]ftp://ftp.sac.sk/pub/sac/sound/explab10.zip[/url]

When you install this (run it) the bottom keyboard (Input Keyboard) should start turning red if the computer/ExpLab is recognizing the deice as connected.