Selecting tracks with mouse/keyboard vs control surface for Live Loops

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Hi all - I am trying to set up Logic Pro to work as a 'Live Looper', the concept being to record into a loop cell on track 1, then while that continues to play, select track 2 and record into a loop cell on that track and so on. However there appears to be a difference between what happens when you select tracks with the keyboard/mouse and when you use a control surface. I am using a control surface (a footpedal) to change tracks so I can play audio in on a guitar and not leave the guitar to change tracks by the way.

When you select a new track by either clicking with the mouse or pressing the arrow keys on the keyboard the first loop cell on the new track has a white box around it and can therefore be recorded into without 'arming' anything by using Option-R (I have this assigned to a MIDI switch on my footpedal/control surface). However when you select the new track using a MIDI control (set up in Controller Assignments) the first loop cell in the new track does not have a white box around it and therefore can't be recorded into unless there is some kind of intervention from the computer keyboard such as clicking Record enable or even just clicking with the mouse on the already selected track. This makes no sense to me as in both cases I am just selecting a track but the outcome is different.

By the way this doesn't affect regular recording onto regular audio tracks - it's just what happens with Live Loops

Is there a solution to this? It would be great to understand the meaning of the white box around a Live Loop cell and why it doesn't appear when selecting a track using a MIDI command from a control surface!

Thanks in advance