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PadMap troubleshooting: no controller, no port, no MIDI
Short answer
First confirm your OS recognises the controller, then that PadMap's MIDI port exists (on Windows that means loopMIDI is running with a PadMap port), then that your DAW has the PadMap input enabled for notes and for remote control. Start PadMap before your DAW, and close Steam or other controller remappers if PadMap gets no input.
Check each layer in order
- 1
Does your computer see the controller?
PadMap reads whatever your operating system reports as a game controller. On Windows, press Win + R, type joy.cpl and check the controller is listed and reacts in its Properties. On macOS, check it shows as connected in System Settings → Bluetooth (or that the cable is in). If the OS doesn't see it, PadMap can't either — try a different cable (some only charge, they don't carry data) or re-pair over Bluetooth. - 2
Is something else holding the controller?
Steam, DS4Windows and other controller remappers can take a pad over and hand the system something different. Games do too. If the controller works in joy.cpl but PadMap gets nothing, quit those apps and reconnect the controller. - 3
Does PadMap's MIDI port exist?
On macOS, PadMap creates its port itself — nothing to install. On Windows, the port comes from loopMIDI: it has to be running, with a port added, and that port selected in PadMap's MIDI dropdown. The loopMIDI setup guide walks through it. Turn on loopMIDI's autostart (right-click its tray icon) so the port is there every time you log in. - 4
Did the DAW start before the port existed?
Most DAWs build their list of MIDI devices when they launch. If PadMap (or loopMIDI) came up after the DAW, the port simply isn't in the list. Quit the DAW, start PadMap, then reopen the DAW. - 5
Is the DAW listening to the port?
Seeing the port isn't the same as using it. Notes need the input enabled for tracks and a record-armed (or monitoring) track whose input is PadMap or All Inputs. Mapping knobs needs the input enabled for remote or control messages. The exact switches differ per DAW — see the guides for Ableton Live, FL Studio, Logic Pro, Bitwig Studio, REAPER and Cubase.
Still nothing? Watch the MIDI directly
A MIDI monitor shows whether PadMap is sending anything at all, which tells you which side the problem is on. On macOS, MIDI Monitor is free. On Windows, MIDI-OX does the same job — open it, pick the PadMap port as input and press a button.
- Messages appear in the monitor → PadMap is fine; the DAW settings need a look.
- Nothing appears → go back to the controller and port checks above.
Values jump, jitter or won't sit still
Sticks spring back to centre, so a parameter mapped to one jumps to the middle of its range the moment you touch it. That's physics, not a bug: narrow the mapping's range in your DAW, or use the DAW's pickup/takeover setting so a control only grabs the parameter once it passes the current value.
A worn stick can also drift — it never quite settles, so it keeps sending tiny changes. Put drifting sticks on parameters where a small wobble doesn't matter, or use the triggers instead: they rest at zero.
Double notes or a frozen port on Windows
If your DAW sends MIDI back out to the same loopMIDI port PadMap sends into, you've built a loop. The fix is to leave the PadMap port switched off as a MIDI output in your DAW — it only needs to be an input.
Activation and license keys
PadMap needs an internet connection once, to activate; after that it runs offline. Your license key is in the email you got at purchase and in your account portal — sign in with the address you bought with, no password needed. Still stuck after all of this? Mail hello@sinuslabs.io with your OS, controller and DAW, and we'll sort it out.
Written by Oskar Schachtschneider, who builds PadMap at Sinuslabs.