Pro Tools 11.0.0 with the Eleven Rack - Part 1 & 2

In testing the Eleven Rack with Pro Tools 11, pretty much everything was working fine.
(watch the videos below to see this in action)

I was having a problem on my system that was not allowing me to embed rig settings in the track. After several responses, including from Avid Customer Service, it was confirmed that embedded rigs are supposed to work.

After much research I noticed that in my MIDI input devices, I had 2 Eleven Rack entries listed.

I found that un-checking the "Eleven Rack" and just leaving "2-Eleven Rack [Emulated]" checked, I was able to get embedded rigs!

Not only that, but no longer did I get the "Eleven Rack #2 Cannot Connect" error. (see video 1 to see this error)

After relaying this information, Avid Customer Service was nice enough to check PT11 and the 11R with a fresh install of Windows 8 Pro. They said that they were not getting the "2-Eleven Rack [Emulated]" entry, they only had "Eleven Rack". (see video 2 to see solution in action)

They suggested that I check in Device Manager to see if I had any drivers that could be causing emulated MIDI ports.

On Windows 8, there are several ways to get to Device Manager. An easy way is to RIGHT CLICK the Start button or press Start + X on the keyboard. Choose DEVICE MANAGER from the list.

Once you open Device Manager, go to VIEW>Show Hidden Devices, that way you can see if any driver entries that are no longer installed are still being listed.

On my system I had 4 entries for Avid Eleven Rack, 3 were grayed out and 1 was active. I RIGHT CLICKED each grayed out entry and UNINSTALLED, then I went to Programs and Features and made sure to uninstall the 1.1.6 Driver.

After I uninstalled the 1.1.6 driver, I went back to Device Manager to make sure there was nothing left that said Avid Eleven Rack. Then I powered OFF the Eleven Rack - Restart PC. (I ran Ccleaner too, just to make sure there were no left over registry entries, but it's not a required step in most cases as far as I know)

The Eleven Rack is still OFF, after the PC boots, I installed the 1.1.6 driver again. Reboot. After boot I turned ON the Eleven Rack, then checked Device Manager again.

Now only "Avid Eleven Rack" is showing, as it should be. After this I re-booted again, leaving the Eleven Rack powered ON.

Launch Pro Tools 11, go to Setup>MIDI>Input Devices. Now I only have 1 Eleven Rack option. Check this (if it's not already). Then I  shut down Pro Tools 11 and re-launched.

Upon launch, just as before, we are NOT getting the "Eleven Rack #2 Could Not Connect" error, embedded rigs are still working, and the mini window is still functional as well.

So if you were getting the errors I was getting, there is a potential solution for you to try.

*DISCLAIMER, I am NOT responsible for any harm you may cause to your computer by following these directions, this is what worked for me, there is no guarantee it will work for you. Know what you are doing before you do it, always have a working backup ready to go. 

Be sure to watch the two videos below to see how this works.

Learn more about Pro Tools 11:
http://www.avid.com/products/Pro-Tools-Software

Learn more about the Eleven Rack:
http://www.avid.com/elevenrack

Visit the Avid Audio Forums (Eleven Rack section)
http://duc.avid.com/forumdisplay.php?f=33

Download Drivers for your Eleven Rack:
www.avid.com/drivers