Hello, I’m having issues connecting my FLX4 to dJay through my iphone 14pro with the latest software.
If I connect direct lighting to USB C it works great, however, when I connect through any dongle (i’ve tried 5 including OEM) I just get a flashing midi light on the controller. At this point, if I connect to the FLX through bluetooth it will work, but will only output through the iphones speakers with latency. I need to have a dongle in-line so I can access my music. Is anyone else having this issue? I also have the same issue with rekordbox…
When you say “dongle” I assume you mean a USB hub. As mentioned elsewhere on this forum, many of these hubs only provide the USB-C port for charging, so it will not work for data.
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yes, the lighting to usb dongle… there is no usb C port just A. the dongle is working fine as I am able to recognize my external drive with it, but it will not recognize the flx4 through the sam usb A port
Not a hub then. Let me take another guess - an Apple camera adapter?
I see the FLX4 has a USB-C port, so how are you connecting it to USB A?
You mentioned needing the “dongle” so you can access your music. Where is your music?
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Yes, that is correct, it’s the iOS camera adapter, which has a USB A port on it. I connect from the adapter USB A To the FLX4 USB C port.
My music is currently on an external SSD, however, I do not currently have that connected for testing as I want to simplify the troubleshooting process.
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If the FLX4 works when connecting directly with a lightning to USB-C then why involve the camera adapter (and presumably another cable from USB-C to A)?
You say the camera adapter has “just A”, so it’s the one pictured?
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Ive tried that one, the one with an A port and lighting (so it can charge), and another one that has 2x USB A. I’ve also tried a few others, but these are the ones i’m focusing on. My ultimate goal is to be able to plug in the controller and a usb drive to access my music.
Hi @dsoreal, I recommend that transfer the music from the external SSD to your iPhone. This will simplify things a lot and give you a much better DJing experience overall. Apple does not make a genuine camera adapter with dual USB-A sockets and the 3rd party ones often have connectivity issues.
thanks for the replay, but this doesnt really help me with my agenda.
I have seen online where the OEM dongle will work, so trying to troubleshoot the issue with my specific setup. The odd thing is that i’ve tried multiple devices and still having the same issue…
I am hoping to build a system that other DJ’s can use while camping; since everyone will have their own music, I need to have the ability to use a USB. My backup plan is to bring my laptop, but would prefer to use an ios device to save my battery.
Fair enough.
Please note that the FLX4 needs a power supply that can run a laptop. Look for chargers & cables that support:
- at least 3 amps
- 30-100 watts of power delivery (PD)
- make sure the cable matches or exceeds specs of the charger
- Typical phone/tablet chargers & cables won’t work with the FLX4, because they are designed to only supply 0.5-2.4 amps.
Once you have confirmed all of that…
- I would disconnect all cables and adapter, close djay and all other apps.
- Then perform a Forced Restart of your iPhone (Force restart iPhone - Apple Support (CA)).
- After restarting, launch only djay.
- Connect the Genuine Apple Camera Adapter.
- Connect your original iPhone cable and charger to the charging port on the camera adapter.
- Confirm that your phone is charging normally.
- Connect power to the FLX4 per the above recommendations.
- Connect a high quality USB cable, ideally with dual ferrites on either end, between your phone and the FLX4.
- Test with djay.
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Thank you for the detailed information! This was a great reference while troubleshooting this issue.
Throughout my testing I was not able to get the controller to work through any dongle. (I tried 5 different ones including two OEM)
My hunch is that it has to do with the USB A to C cable that goes from the dongle to the controller. Apple does not sell an OEM A to C cable none of the aftermarket ones I used worked (including the one that apple sells " Belkin BOOST↑Charge Pro Flex USB-A to USB-C")
conclusion : flx4 does not work with a dongle connected to apple lightning port. While it seems that there was a time when this worked, I’m guessing that Apple has made some changes to the way it’s hardware works. This issue is with Apple and DDJ FLX 4 since it will not work with Rekordbox either.
Thanks again for helping me with this and hopefully my troubleshooting can save someone some time 
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Okay. Sorry you weren’t able to get it working. Thanks for the update.
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I have the same problem, I need to connect through the camera adapter to be able to connect my HUB and my USB drive with my music, and also my Launchpad. I have the DDj-SB (works properly) also with the DDJ-200 (works correctly) Only with the FLX4, it doesn’t work. In short, a garbage controller to work with Ipad.
@dsoreal,
I apologise in advance if I am asking a stupid question.
I perfectly understand how your iPhone is connected to the FLX4, but are you also powering your FLX4 directly with an external source ?
Unfortunately, I do not have the same set-up, I have a Reloop Buddy, but to my knowledge, the Apple Camera adapter never failed me. It might just be your FLX4 needing direct current on top (so you would use both usb-C ports on your FLX4).
Obviously, if this is what you are already doing, my comment is useless.
Now, something else, as I have been nerding out with USB hub issues : If between your Camera Adapter and your FLX4 you are using a USB Hub, the lead connector of the USB Hub must be connected to the USB A port of your Apple Camera Adapter. It won’t work if the USB A of the camera adapter is just plugged in some random USB slot of the hub. Indeed, a USB-Hub does not work like a Network Switch (the usb slots are not exchanging data between them, they are all solely exchanging data with the master device connected to the main cable of the SUB hub). In your case, the data port is the USB A port of your Camera Adapter. So, your iPhone lighting slot of the Camera adapter must receive direct current from a charger (or from one of the random usb slots of your Hub if you have a well-powered USB hub), and the USB A slot of the Camera adapter must receive the main cable of the Hub. If this cable on your USB Hub is USB C, it won’t work (I tried with inserting a small USB C to USB A adapter, but it didn’t work). I had to buy a small older USB A Hub (from Ugreen, less than $20 btw) where the leading cable had a USB A port, natively.
I hope this may help… I have been messing with cables, adaptors, and several Amazon deliveries to make this work). In my case it was not because I wanted to insert an external disc, but I needed to insert a DAC (Digital Analogic Converter), plus my Reloop Buddy controller.
Feel free to ask more, I am a hub expert now :-)…
PS : Obviously, I don’t guarantee it will work with your FLX4, as I don’t have this controller.
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