I write this blog entry for myself for future reference and possibly others that experience these problems.
Problem #1 - Lexicon Alpha USB Interface stopped working
I got a Lexicon Alpha USB interface in December that came with Cubase LE 4. The other night it stopped working. I think the USB cable had become un-plugged or something. Cubase wouldn't recognize the Lexicon as an input and was playing the output through my pc speakers instead of the Alpha. I fiddled with the "Sounds and Audio Devices" in the Control Panel to no avail. I did a bunch of other time-wasting, non-productive things that I will spare you of here.
Anyway, here's how I fixed it (with the help of the Alpha Install Guide):
Go to Devices, Device Setup, make sure everything is set as follows:
Problem #2 - Annoying Quick Time message every time I opened iTunes, Cubase This message in particular:
Some of your QuickTime software is out of date. You can fix this problem by updating to the latest version.I would then dutifully click "Do It Now" and get the following:
Information received from the QuickTime server is invalid. Please try again later.Thanks to jonclarkX on this Apple Support Forum Thread:
...just went through my whole computer searching for all quicktime and iTunes files that were left behind. Be sure to check your C: > Windows > System32 folder for ANY and ALL QuickTime files. The files we found that caused the error were hidden in a filed titled "quicktime" in the System32 folder. Make sure you delete it, uninstall all iTunes and QuickTime programs (including Apple Software Update and Apple Mobile Device Support) from the Control Panel, and reinstall the latest files for iTunes and QuickTime and the error should go away.