I just realized that I didn't post what the problem was with the setup.
One of the magic MIDI numbers is 128, meaning basically that a value of 1-128 is the parameter range for some MIDI information like program changes, and in this case MMC masters.
The problem is that some devices are numbered 1-128, and some are numbered 0-127. So is 1=1? Not always, as in this case 1=0.
And that's about it. Fun with MIDI