Need Help With Midi Import

[blues88]

I am a new member to the forum and a proud owner of a brand new Korg Kross. But these MIDI issues have me wanting to tear my hair out.

[/u]First Question:
So I formatted an SD card and placed a MIDI file on it. After loading it up on the Kross, Changing the Bank to GM, initializing the GM, going back to Global/Media, and then back to the Sequencer again the drums were assigned the Piano patch. I found a way to fix this by saving the MIDI file as a "Standard MIDI File" and loading up the Standard MIDI File. This corrected the drum patch but I wonder if this was the right fix. Am I losing anything by saving it as a SMF first?

Second question:
I've learned that I can adjust the panning, and volume of each MIDI track when the song is playing or paused. But as soon as I leave SEQ mode all of my changes are lost. How do I save Mixer settings on a MIDI file such as volume and panning of a track?