# Akai APC40 Mk2

**URL:** <https://discourse.zynthian.org/t/akai-apc40-mk2/12790>\
**Category:** Hardware\
**Created:** [February 7, 2026, 9:09am UTC](https://discourse.zynthian.org/t/akai-apc40-mk2/12790 "2026-02-07T09:09:58Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 20\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![core.east](https://discourse.zynthian.org/user_avatar/discourse.zynthian.org/core.east/32/13283_2.png) [@core.east](https://discourse.zynthian.org/u/core.east)\
**Post date:** [February 7, 2026, 9:09am UTC](https://discourse.zynthian.org/t/akai-apc40-mk2/12790/1 "2026-02-07T09:09:58Z")

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I do not know how many of you who have this piece of hardware, but i’ve gotten one now. Hopefully it deserves it’s own thread, if so - here it is.

From @Riban in [this thread](https://discourse.zynthian.org/t/zynbleton-vangelis-read-me/12619/30)  
”APC40 is currently the most feature rich / complete implementation of mixer, launcher and GUI control and feedback”

I’ve been looking at the driver (which is my baby step towards learning about the driver stuff) and i think i understand that this driver has only one mode?

If so, my next thought is to look into @oscaracena’s driver for Akai APC Key25 MK2 (which has several modes) and try to find out if i’m able to copy-paste-adapt my way to a device mode for APC40, so that i do not need my Romoral key-encoder set-up for my main Zynthian Machine.

Alternatively - there actually is a “Device Mode” for the APC40 already, and i just need to know how to activate it?

There is also the possibility (i gather it is quite high:) that “someone” is already developing something for the APC40. If so, i can choose my usual (and with Zynthian often quite successful) approach to problem solving, which is: sit on the fence. Or maybe i could even dream of contributing to the development of the driver. In that case i feel that i would need some more self study beforehand, just to feel “not too much of dilettante” before entering the ring with some one in a weight class high above mine….

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**Author:** ![niels](https://discourse.zynthian.org/user_avatar/discourse.zynthian.org/niels/32/5005_2.png) [@niels](https://discourse.zynthian.org/u/niels)\
**Post date:** [February 7, 2026, 10:28am UTC](https://discourse.zynthian.org/t/akai-apc40-mk2/12790/2 "2026-02-07T10:28:27Z")

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Hi @core.east ,

The apckey25 driver(s) aren’t ready yet for zynbleton. That said, the only mode of the base driver which did not need any porting so far is device mode. In fact one the first things I did was make device mode the default, cause the padmatrix and stepseq modes need much changes (still not all done).

There will probably be some changes in device mode regarding feedback having to do with new Alt capabilities just introduced.

I do not know whether @riban or @jofemodo already has plans for including this in apc40. Only about putting the step sequencer in a separate class. To let that be used by other drivers too.

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**Author:** ![core.east](https://discourse.zynthian.org/user_avatar/discourse.zynthian.org/core.east/32/13283_2.png) [@core.east](https://discourse.zynthian.org/u/core.east)\
**Post date:** [February 7, 2026, 11:39am UTC](https://discourse.zynthian.org/t/akai-apc40-mk2/12790/3 "2026-02-07T11:39:59Z")

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Hi Niels

Thx. I forgot that Apckey25 was still not ready for zynbleton. But if the device mode is good to go - then i guess my next step would be to se if i could get 2 modes working on the apc40, and then try to get the device mode from key25 adapted to apc40.

Or maybe something else depending on whatever Riban&Jofemodo are coming up with!

And of course as you mention - if/when the step sequencer mode is abstracted or made it’s own class or something (i’m not familiar with termonology) then that would be great for APC40. I also remember that @Riban has allready mentioned this, probably in the zynbleton thread.

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**Author:** ![riban](https://discourse.zynthian.org/user_avatar/discourse.zynthian.org/riban/32/2331_2.png) [@riban](https://discourse.zynthian.org/u/riban)\
**Post date:** [February 7, 2026, 3:18pm UTC](https://discourse.zynthian.org/t/akai-apc40-mk2/12790/4 "2026-02-07T15:18:07Z")

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I want to see step sequencer abstracted to it’s own class that can be implemented in any other (suitable) device.

I’m not sure what, “device mode” is. APC40 has 8 dedicated encoders that may be MIDI learned and it has 8 channel strip encoders that may be switched between pan, device and send with the device mode acting on the favourite controllers of each chain. (You can select which of the first 8 favourite controllers these control, similar to being able to select which of the first 8 sends are controlled.)

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**Author:** ![core.east](https://discourse.zynthian.org/user_avatar/discourse.zynthian.org/core.east/32/13283_2.png) [@core.east](https://discourse.zynthian.org/u/core.east)\
**Post date:** [February 7, 2026, 4:10pm UTC](https://discourse.zynthian.org/t/akai-apc40-mk2/12790/5 "2026-02-07T16:10:17Z")

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[the Device Mode](https://wiki.zynthian.org/index.php/Supported_plug_%2526_play_MIDI_controllers#The_Device_mode)

the second mode of the driver for Apckey25. It sorts of mimics the physical HID of the V5.

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**Author:** ![riban](https://discourse.zynthian.org/user_avatar/discourse.zynthian.org/riban/32/2331_2.png) [@riban](https://discourse.zynthian.org/u/riban)\
**Post date:** [February 7, 2026, 9:12pm UTC](https://discourse.zynthian.org/t/akai-apc40-mk2/12790/6 "2026-02-07T21:12:06Z")

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Left, right, up & down are always available via the APC40’s arrow buttons. Select and back are mapped to buttons above. There are dedicated buttons for tempo and record. I’m not sure how beneficial it is to mimic all the V5 buttons.

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**Author:** ![core.east](https://discourse.zynthian.org/user_avatar/discourse.zynthian.org/core.east/32/13283_2.png) [@core.east](https://discourse.zynthian.org/u/core.east)\
**Post date:** [February 8, 2026, 2:59pm UTC](https://discourse.zynthian.org/t/akai-apc40-mk2/12790/7 "2026-02-08T14:59:42Z")

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I can see you might be right, and it could be that i’m just to familiar with the button/encoder layout from the V5. Often i come to understand that i can solve my challenges by changing me, rather than by changing the world around me 😉 I will know better when i’ve used the APC40 more i guess.

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**Author:** ![LFO](https://discourse.zynthian.org/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/l/3ab097/32.png) [@LFO](https://discourse.zynthian.org/u/LFO)\
**Post date:** [February 9, 2026, 5:06am UTC](https://discourse.zynthian.org/t/akai-apc40-mk2/12790/8 "2026-02-09T05:06:31Z")

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Hey @core.east there’s an ongoing driver chat thread here. You should post in there so others who have been working on (or interested in) driver development will see the discussion.

> [@NEW: Control-device manager + controller device "drivers"](https://discourse.zynthian.org/t/new-control-device-manager-controller-device-drivers/8593):
>
> Hi @zynthianers! I’m proud of announcing the new control-device manager and driver subsystem is merged on testing branch. This is nice step forward in our road towards world domination grin The concept behind this is simple to explain with some examples: You plug your “Novation Launchpad Mini MK3” to zynthian, and it 's recognized and configured to manage the zynpad. The pads are colored like the zynpad ones. You can play/stop sequences, change scene, etc. LED feedback works great and you …

I’ve also been working on the apc 25 driver trying to adapt it to the launchpad pro (mk2) for Oram. I got 70% of the way but the sequencer ‘notepad’ input functions never worked. The Launchpad doesn’t have any keys, only buttons (similar to apc40) so there’s something in there that needs to change to allow it to work.

But as discussed, an abstracted sequencer class avoids having to reinvent the wheel for every device.

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**Author:** ![core.east](https://discourse.zynthian.org/user_avatar/discourse.zynthian.org/core.east/32/13283_2.png) [@core.east](https://discourse.zynthian.org/u/core.east)\
**Post date:** [February 9, 2026, 9:34am UTC](https://discourse.zynthian.org/t/akai-apc40-mk2/12790/9 "2026-02-09T09:34:40Z")

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Hi LFO

I know that thread but in a moment i thought it better to make a new one. It is surely hard to decide on what kind of tree-level one should be. And i must admit that i did not search for any guidance on that. I’m very fond of branched communication, but often it gets muddied by stray thoughts or off topic stuff. On the other hand if “there can be only one” topic, everything fits in there. “the Ultimate Topic of Life, the Universe, and Everything”.

And now it has happened again 😉

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**Author:** ![core.east](https://discourse.zynthian.org/user_avatar/discourse.zynthian.org/core.east/32/13283_2.png) [@core.east](https://discourse.zynthian.org/u/core.east)\
**Post date:** [February 20, 2026, 11:39am UTC](https://discourse.zynthian.org/t/akai-apc40-mk2/12790/10 "2026-02-20T11:39:14Z")

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EDIT2; IGNORE POST - for now it seems like my unit is faulty ☹

EDIT3; And now it’s working, i opened it up and yelled at it, put it back together. Seems like some kind of magic.

My scene launch buttons on the APC40 do not launch the scenes on my Zynthian

- i must admit i do not recall if they did earlier (it is on and off with my focus on music these days, and my memory is faulty)  
Is this a bug?  
Or some button that needs to be pressed in order to activate the functionality?

EDIT: I see now there is no m lighting up on the Zynthian when i press the scene launchers (and the “stop all clips” and the master button) - evrything else seems to send MIDI signal

Attached snapshot

[014-scene launch.zss](https://discourse.zynthian.org/uploads/short-url/aJlQjKOAw2DyGPDISdbyrbyB3d5.zss) (79.3 KB)

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**Author:** ![jofemodo](https://discourse.zynthian.org/user_avatar/discourse.zynthian.org/jofemodo/32/2_2.png) [@jofemodo](https://discourse.zynthian.org/u/jofemodo)\
**Post date:** [February 20, 2026, 4:18pm UTC](https://discourse.zynthian.org/t/akai-apc40-mk2/12790/12 "2026-02-20T16:18:07Z")

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I just tested in my unit and everything seems to work OK.  
I can’t reproduce the scene launchers issue, sorry.

Regards,

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**Author:** ![core.east](https://discourse.zynthian.org/user_avatar/discourse.zynthian.org/core.east/32/13283_2.png) [@core.east](https://discourse.zynthian.org/u/core.east)\
**Post date:** [February 20, 2026, 5:25pm UTC](https://discourse.zynthian.org/t/akai-apc40-mk2/12790/13 "2026-02-20T17:25:04Z")

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Sorry for using your time - i did post an Edit to my post that it worked after i took it apart and put it back together !

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**Author:** ![3tree](https://discourse.zynthian.org/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/3/e5b9ba/32.png) [@3tree](https://discourse.zynthian.org/u/3tree)\
**Post date:** [March 10, 2026, 1:37pm UTC](https://discourse.zynthian.org/t/akai-apc40-mk2/12790/14 "2026-03-10T13:37:43Z")

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I’ve just switched to Vangelis and noted the APC40 feature. I have an APC40mkii, plugged it in, and it’s configured as shown, but it’s only displaying default lights on the device and isn’t responding on zynthian. Is there something else to do?

 ![image](https://discourse.zynthian.org/uploads/default/original/2X/c/cd81de45cfcce6109da00a3ce6aeb9ff619a4f0c.jpeg)

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**Author:** ![jofemodo](https://discourse.zynthian.org/user_avatar/discourse.zynthian.org/jofemodo/32/2_2.png) [@jofemodo](https://discourse.zynthian.org/u/jofemodo)\
**Post date:** [March 10, 2026, 2:29pm UTC](https://discourse.zynthian.org/t/akai-apc40-mk2/12790/15 "2026-03-10T14:29:04Z")

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It should work out the box.  
Please, send the UI logs to see what is failing.

Regards,

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**Author:** ![core.east](https://discourse.zynthian.org/user_avatar/discourse.zynthian.org/core.east/32/13283_2.png) [@core.east](https://discourse.zynthian.org/u/core.east)\
**Post date:** [March 10, 2026, 2:45pm UTC](https://discourse.zynthian.org/t/akai-apc40-mk2/12790/16 "2026-03-10T14:45:19Z")

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i think mine behaved like that the very first time i hooked it up. It felt like som kind of usb port logistic problem that i think i solved with unplugging plugging booting and rebooting in some kind of magic order. But you have probably tried that 😉

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**Author:** ![3tree](https://discourse.zynthian.org/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/3/e5b9ba/32.png) [@3tree](https://discourse.zynthian.org/u/3tree)\
**Post date:** [March 10, 2026, 3:55pm UTC](https://discourse.zynthian.org/t/akai-apc40-mk2/12790/18 "2026-03-10T15:55:52Z")

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[UI Log.rtf](https://discourse.zynthian.org/uploads/short-url/e2BBb00zG6FgIHlQslwUnQ6EZwU.rtf) (9.1 KB) Here you go.

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**Author:** ![3tree](https://discourse.zynthian.org/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/3/e5b9ba/32.png) [@3tree](https://discourse.zynthian.org/u/3tree)\
**Post date:** [March 10, 2026, 5:32pm UTC](https://discourse.zynthian.org/t/akai-apc40-mk2/12790/19 "2026-03-10T17:32:21Z")

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Update, about 4 or 5 reboots later, it seems to be working. No idea why!

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**Author:** ![niels](https://discourse.zynthian.org/user_avatar/discourse.zynthian.org/niels/32/5005_2.png) [@niels](https://discourse.zynthian.org/u/niels)\
**Post date:** [March 10, 2026, 5:46pm UTC](https://discourse.zynthian.org/t/akai-apc40-mk2/12790/20 "2026-03-10T17:46:29Z")

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It’s just honouring your perseverance.

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**Author:** ![3tree](https://discourse.zynthian.org/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/3/e5b9ba/32.png) [@3tree](https://discourse.zynthian.org/u/3tree)\
**Post date:** [March 11, 2026, 3:32pm UTC](https://discourse.zynthian.org/t/akai-apc40-mk2/12790/21 "2026-03-11T15:32:33Z")

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Nope, not working again. Trying a few more reboots, but no joy so far.

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**Author:** ![jofemodo](https://discourse.zynthian.org/user_avatar/discourse.zynthian.org/jofemodo/32/2_2.png) [@jofemodo](https://discourse.zynthian.org/u/jofemodo)\
**Post date:** [March 11, 2026, 9:51pm UTC](https://discourse.zynthian.org/t/akai-apc40-mk2/12790/22 "2026-03-11T21:51:10Z")

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I see too many issues in your log. Could you test with a fresh burned Image updated to Vangelis?

Thanks

[Next page](https://discourse.zynthian.org/t/akai-apc40-mk2/12790.md?page=2)