C2D and Bus Powered Firewire Audio Interfaces Problem...

I have been doing some research and I have came accross this:
http://www.bigbluelounge.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=33365
Anyone have any explanation on this? Is is true?
Why is this so?
What has changed on the C2D that would cause this?

Can Anyone Confirm this?
Would this be fixed with firmware?

Similar Messages

Ext HD speed and Bus-Powered Firewire 800

After having gone through various External HD over the years, Firewire 800 (WD Studio with power adapter) is by far proving to be best in terms of connecting speed when handling my 350gb+ library.
However, lately, I was exploring the option of having a portable External HD drive with "bus-powered" port so that I don't have to rely on the power plug whenever I want to listen to iTunes library.
So, here are some questions...
1) Bus-powered Firewire 800 1TB - no experience with this before. all my firewire external drives had required power adapter, but during this search I just found out that such exists.
Can MBP Firewire 800 port provide enough power to spin 1TB external drive w/out a hiccup??
http://eshop.macsales.com/shop/firewire/on-the-go
2) Obviously for a smaller size drive with bus-powered option, I must go with 2.5" drive, which meant, I have either 1TB @ 5400rpm OR 750gb @ 7200rpm for MAX Storage option. I do want 1TB... BUT would 5400rpm / 7200rpm matter when it comes to iTunes library??
I ened up getting my current Firewire 800 external drive after experiencing lagging iTunes speed via USB 2.0 and Firewire 400. But later I found out that slow connecting (constant beach ball when selecting music) is typically resulted from having many playlists/id tags/etc.
So, I want to be sure before I get a new drive, I choose the right speed drive.
Btw, here is my current set up: MBP 13" (mid-2009), iTunes (10.1.2), 500gb 7200rpm internal drive, 8gb memory
Anyone experience with above set-up that I am thinking about??

Welcome to Apple Discussions!
I wonder if there might be a problem with the firewire bridge in the WD? The most reliable Firewire chipset that I know of is the Oxford 924+, but not everybody uses these. You might be able to find out what is actually used on the WD web site.
Since the USB connection works, the WD drive itself is probably fine.
Does your FireWire 800 work properly with other devices? If not, or if you don't know, you could try a SMC reset, which may help if the problem is with the FireWire port on the MBP:
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1411?viewlocale=en_US
Otherwise, you could try the drive in a different enclosure, like the Mercury on the Go from OWC, which has the Oxford 934 chipset. I have WD drives in 3 of these enclosures, and have never had a problem with any of them.
Good luck!

Firewire Audio interface problems in Windows XP

I am a happy user of boot camp with Windows XP and have up til now not had any problems. I have two firewire devices, one hard drive, one audio interface. The hard drive has both firewire 400 and 800 connectivity and works perfectly using both. But I have just recently purchased a Mackie Onyx Satellite audio interface which must use firewire 400.
I follow the driver instructions and everything appears to install correctly. The device is found and shows in the device manager. But, the firewire indicator fails to light up on the device itself, and I have not be able to get any audio through the device.
Please can someone help me! I am assuming it cant be the firewire connection itself because my hard drive works and the audio interface is at least found by windows.
I have got the newest driver version from Mackies website too. I have made sure I have the msot up to date version of boot camp also.
Any suggestions?
Thank you very much in advance
Edd

Hi there-
I initially bought the Alesis IO26 for my macbook but had so many problems with the interface that I returned it and bought a MOTU Traveler, which solved my problems. Too bad, as the Alesis unit was very nice and half the cost of the Traveler. Please note that many people have had problems with audio running Windows on a Macbook (see the threads on cracks and pops). The jury is still out on who the culprit is (Boot Camp, Drivers, Wireless, etc.) so hang in there. Hopefully, someone at Apple cares about this.

Multiple bus powered firewire devices - how on MBP

Looking for answer to the following- if anyone can help:
Ideally would like to power a bus-powered firewire drive and a bus powered FW audio interface to acheive complete "AC Free" battery powered portable operation. Is this possible - and if so how ?
I have heard of problems when chaining multiple bus powered devices on MBP
True ? - if so under what circumstances ? Are there workarounds ?
Also - are there two independent BUSSES on the MBP - or are both ports actually only on a single shared bus (as in the iMac, for example)
Finally, will an ExpressCard/34 card provide for bus powering as I desire here.
Any help appreciated - thx

Hi,
see here for ablock diagram of the MBP internals: http://developer.apple.com/documentation/HardwareDrivers/Conceptual/15inMacBookP ro_0706/index.html
Also follow the links that are provided with it.
IMHO, a FW drive and a FW audio interface will be too much for the bus power provided, but I might be wrong.
The MBPs do have 'only' one FW bus that supplies both FW400 an FW800.
Also IMHO Express Card slots don't provide any kind of bus power, but I might be wrong on that too.
Regards
Stefan

IMac20" with firewire audio-interface konnekt24D by tcelectronic

Hi folks,
I've got some cryptic problems with my iMac and the connected firewire audio-interface (konnekt24D by tcelectronic). I'm running MacOSX 10.4.10. The problem is that after four days working with no occuring problems I got no sound output. When I restarted the Mac the blue firewire light of the audio-interface disappeared and the tcnear control panel says 'no device'. I decided to update the firmware and then everything runs properly for one day. The next day I got the same 'no output' problem. I decided to update the firmware again but now the blue firewire light disappears and I got 'no device' message from the tcnear control panel. I started the Mac again but the interface was still gone. Now I switched off the Mac and turned it on again. The interface was there and I had output. Next day I got the same problems.
The tcelectronic support said that I should disconnect any other network cables, enable every network setting on the network control panel and connect the power supply of the audio interface. I did everything but got no improvements. The people from tcelectronic concluded that my audio-interface could be defective. So I went to my mönger and he gave me a new one.
From now on everything worked fine for three days. During this time I changed nothing on my setup. No new software was installed, the only thing I did was to start LogicExpress 7.2.1 and begin with my work. After three days I got the same 'no output' problem again. Now I think that there must be something wrong with the iMac. It is the 'old' version (bought in May this year) and I don't know exactly what to do now.
What I don't understand is that both devices worked a few days and then the problems occured. As I said before I didn't changed anything, installed no new software, etc. Maybe the harddisk of the iMac is defective? I've plugged the audio-interface into the other firewire port of the Mac but got no improvement.
I don't know exactly what I should do know because I worked ten years with a PowerMac/Audiomedia III/SCSI system and never had such strange problems.
Greetings to all of you,
Dorsch.

Check out this thread here:
http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?threadID=1656583
It appears that sp3 has issues with firewire. I'm seeking a solution too, short of reinstalling as this person suggests. See also his link re: the famous little patch. I tried that already to no avail. I'm using SP3 too. My firewire behaves like USB... which would/could cause issues like you're describing.
Mike

Problem with FireWire audio interface (Edirol FA-66)

I am experiencing the following problem with my FireWire Audio interface via Edirol FA-66. At unpredictible moments the 'Digital In' LED starts blinking, and after that the audio signal stops working. I do not know if Logic is the culprit, since it also happens now and then with iTunes
Note: there are digital in/outs connected.
Only shutting down the Edirol and restarting the iMac G5 resolves the problem, be it only temporary: after a while the phenomenon shows up again.
Extremely ennoying.
What could be the culprit?
Bonkie
Belgium
Earth

Hi Patrick, I don't know that specific interface but could it possibly be that the flashing LED also act as an alert for when the firewire connection has gone down?
Reason I suggest this is I have the same thing from with my iMac & focusrite saffire Le, where i lose audio now & then, & when it happens if i check in the interfaces software control panel it always has a 'firewire connection error' - I then just have to unplug & replug-in the interface to re-establish the firewire conection. Just a thought but maybe it's worth consulting the edirol manual/tech support to see if this is the case ref the LED function?
Adam

FireWire Audio Heat Problem (Macbook Pro, Late 2008) VIDEO proof

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JYHnX3CGUoo
After a lot of hours of trying to figure out WHY my macbook pro heats up (a lot) when i connect my newly bought Apogee Duet firewire audio interface, i found out that actually what was happening is that there are CPU spikes of extremely short period (so short that Activity Monitor and iStat could not catch) constantly spiking the CPU frequency from 1596Mhz (Idle) to 2572Mhz (Maximum). Apart from the frequency spike there is also a VOLTAGE spike from 1.0v to 1.15.
I know that this is normal due to speedstep technologies and such BUT the rapid spiking and alterations of frequency and voltage ALWAYS happening when i have my Firewire audio plugged is not normal to me. There is nothing else running, everything's idle and i only plug the firewire interface.
Also this is not happening when i restrict OSX from loading AppleFWAudio.kext (either by deleting, moving, renaming it). I connect the firewire audio interface, the leds are illuminating but no heat problem (thats to show you that is not because the interface is self-powered)
Whats going on seems to be similar with the problems occurred after Mac Pro Audio Update to users that was using FW audio devices. They were hearing a sine noise coming from their macpro and propably that was because the same thing was happening. Constant spikes of voltage to the CPU. I dont have a macpro thought so i cant apply the update Apple released for that issue.
Also, my macbook is using Lucent / Agere (LSI) firewire chipset (the particular and known revision 6) but i dont think that this is the cause since Apogee didnt have any problems with the chipset
Info: The app im using to monitor the Frequency and Voltage is CoolBook, can be found here: http://www.coolbook.se/CoolBook.html

Firewire Audio disconnected / or AppleFWAudio.kext unloaded = Idle temp arround 50 celcius (iStat)
Firewire Audio Connected with AppleFWAudio.kext loaded = Idle temp arround 60 celcius (iStat)
If theres a possibility that this is due to bus powered firewire device (cause i have an external FW hard drive that is self-powered and temps are not rising when i connect it) then AppleFWAudio.kext maybe manages something with bus powered firewire.
Maybe when i have the interface connected but the kext not loaded the mA sucked by the interface are too little for causing a temp rise but by the time the kext is loaded and the interface is converting audio the mA required tops up so the temp rise comes from the mA load on the firewire bus and not the cpu itself.
*Even if that's the case, the rapid spikes of throttling on the cpu by the time the Firewire Audio interface is connected bothers me. This isn't something that should normaly happen on an idling machine.*

Playing DVDs in 5.1 With Firewire Audio Interface Connected for Logic Pro

This is exactly the same q as asked by plantwebguy in July 06, link
http://discussions.apple.com/message.jspa?messageID=2696970#2696970...
I'm struggling to get an answer on this anywhere... I have Logic Pro running 5.1 Surround Mixes on a g5, using a Metric Halo Mobile IO Firewire audio interface - its 6 analog outs are connected to a M Audio LX4 powered surround system. It all works great - until... the problem is when I need to listen to DVDs with 5.1 soundtracks (for reference), or even HD trailers (with 5.1 soundtracks). With the Mobile IO selected as audio interface, DVDs only play in stereo. I think this is because the 5.1 soundtrack is only output thru the optical out - but connecting the optical out to the Mobile IO and selecting 'Digital out' on the g5 brings silence.. Im told this is because the MIO's optical in wont decode 5.1. I'm interested to hear from anyone with a Pro Audio interface - like a MOTU etc - who needs to switch between mixing their own music in 5.1 and then listening to DVDs in 5.1.. I cant be the first, surely?
Plantwebguy said he solved his issue with VLC. Do we know if VLC willl decode 5.1 and then output it to the Interface via Firewire? I've searched the net for a Pro Audio interface with (1) 6 analog outs & mic inputs etc (2) firewire connection and (3) optical in that reads AC3/5.1 etc (rather than just ADAT).... nada. Sorry to be long-winded but I cant get a solution anywhere..
Thanks in advance
g5 dual 2.5 Mac OS X (10.3.9) Logic Pro/Mobile IO 2882 FW Interface/M Audio LX4

This is exactly the same q as asked by plantwebguy in July 06, link
http://discussions.apple.com/message.jspa?messageID=2696970#2696970...
I'm struggling to get an answer on this anywhere... I have Logic Pro running 5.1 Surround Mixes on a g5, using a Metric Halo Mobile IO Firewire audio interface - its 6 analog outs are connected to a M Audio LX4 powered surround system. It all works great - until... the problem is when I need to listen to DVDs with 5.1 soundtracks (for reference), or even HD trailers (with 5.1 soundtracks). With the Mobile IO selected as audio interface, DVDs only play in stereo. I think this is because the 5.1 soundtrack is only output thru the optical out - but connecting the optical out to the Mobile IO and selecting 'Digital out' on the g5 brings silence.. Im told this is because the MIO's optical in wont decode 5.1. I'm interested to hear from anyone with a Pro Audio interface - like a MOTU etc - who needs to switch between mixing their own music in 5.1 and then listening to DVDs in 5.1.. I cant be the first, surely?
Plantwebguy said he solved his issue with VLC. Do we know if VLC willl decode 5.1 and then output it to the Interface via Firewire? I've searched the net for a Pro Audio interface with (1) 6 analog outs & mic inputs etc (2) firewire connection and (3) optical in that reads AC3/5.1 etc (rather than just ADAT).... nada. Sorry to be long-winded but I cant get a solution anywhere..
Thanks in advance
g5 dual 2.5 Mac OS X (10.3.9) Logic Pro/Mobile IO 2882 FW Interface/M Audio LX4

IChat AV doesn't work with M-Audio Firewire audio interface

I saw similar topics to this but none dealing with a Firewire audio interface and none with exactly the same problem.
Every other piece of software I use works with the M-Audio Firewire Solo, except for iChat AV. When it is the selected output device and I start a video chat with someone, I get just horrible, loud static when the person on the other end speaks.
Running 10.4.10 on a Macbook Pro (2.16 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo).
Does anyone know of incompatibility issues with iChat and Firewire interfaces?

In Audio MIDI Setup (In applications/Utilities) the setting for my Mic is 44100khz 1Ch 16bit.
The Internal Audio connection also shows up at 44100Khz 2Ch 16bit
Are you looking in the same place or in the device itself ?
I would set it in the Audio MIDI Setup and then make sure it responds in System Preferences > Sound > Input tab.
Once the Blue bar moves to at least halfway there I would then check iChat > Preferences > Video Section to see if the green bar under the Vido pics is moving.
4:25 PM Friday; September 7, 2007

Lowest latency Firewire audio interface for Logic... which should I choose?

Hi Guys,
I'm about to replace my trusty Yamaha n12 with a dedicated firewire audio interface.
My main requirement is super-low latency for running BFD and other virtual instruments, along with monitoring through Logic directly sometimes (to add effects to vocals in real-time, etc).
I've narrowed down my choice (I think!!) to:
- RME Fireface 800
- Apogee Ensemble
- MOTU 896 Mk3
I have been told that the RME drivers are incredible, and hence it has the lowest latency.
I'd love to hear from other Logic users who own any of the above! What kind of latency do you get (round trip in ms)? What is the lowest buffer setting you can use?
Any downfalls or problems you've had with any of these interfaces?
Thanks heaps guys, can't wait to hear some opinions!
Cheers and thanks,
Mike

Thomjinx wrote:
If yeloop is using BFD, then direct monitoring isn't going to help him. That is for audio in.
Exactly.
FWIW, on MOTU Ultralites, I get a little (less than 1 ms) less latency with the Mk 1 rather than the Mk 3.
Perhaps the built-in DSP slows the Mk 3 down?
Interesting--thanks for the info (one more reason not to upgrade MOTU, frankly...)!
It is still 4.3 ms at 32 samples with the Mk 3. For MIDI controlled VIs, it would be less than that.
I think I measured 3.9ms with my Traveler mk2 at 44.1k with a 32 sample buffer. So, it's a bit faster than the mk3. At 96k I can use a 32 sample buffer to get 2.5ms latency, but I can't run BFD2 with a 32 sample buffer. Best I can do with BFD2 is a 64 sample buffer at 96k... 3.16ms.
But, you're exactly right, Thomjinx: with a VI, you won't hear that full amount of latency. Assuming the MIDI latency is negligible, the VI response time will be roughly 1/2 the full analog audio latency. (Logic reports both of the these figures--output latency and full roundtrip latency--if you click on the latency info in the Audio preferences. Be aware, though, that some devices report this information correctly, while others do not. For instance, with the Apogee and Metric Halo products I've used, the numbers reported by Logic are exactly correct, while with MOTU, the numbers shown in Logic are lower than reality: with a 64 buffer at 44.1k the Traveler mk2 indicates 4.3ms roundtrip latency with Logic, but I measured it as 5.6ms... so you may be misled if you try to use the latency values reported by Logic to compare products... in that regard, MOTU seems to cheat, while Apogee and Metric Halo follow the rules
-James

Nothing but line in/out trying to use firewire audio interface

Hi all, hoping someone can help me out here. I just got and am trying to use a Behringer FAC202 firewire audio interface. It's documentation says all I have to do is plug it in and OS X is supposed to recognize it. Well it doesn't. I have no core audio control panel, and in the sound control panel all I have is the default line in/out for internal audio (I do have system sound through the built in sound card)
Anyone have an idea why the firewire device isn't showing up? I did check the firewire bus and I see:
Unknown Device:
Manufacturer: Unknown
Model: Unknown Device
Maximum Speed: Up to 400 Mb/sec
Connection Speed: Up to 400 Mb/sec
The FAC202 is the only firewire device on the system.
Any help would be most appreciated.
Thanks.

Thanks for your reply Jean,
I did try that and saw no luck there either, but it actually turns out that the unit may well be defective. I tried it on several macs of various makes, as well as a couple of PCs and no joy all around, so I'm sending it back for replacement.
Thanks again for your reply.
Jeff

Disabling lower frequencies/bitrates of Firewire audio interface possible?

I have a Phonic Firefly 302 Firewire audio interface. With Audio/Midi setup I set all channels to 24kbit/96khz or 192khz. Problem: after every replugging of the Firewire cable, the unit defaults to 16bit/44khz again.
Is there a way to lock this setting?
Is there a way to fool OSX that other bitrates are not available? Like deleting the 44khz, 48khz, 88khz and 16 bit options from some .kext or plist?

For my Firewire interface, I just opened up Audio/MIDI Setup like you, set my interface as the default in System Settings, then set the Input and Output format for my chosen settings, 44.1/24.
Every time I fire up the interface it remembers my settings. Strange that yours doesn't.

Focusrite Saffire Pro 10 or Motu Ultralite firewire audio interface

Hello one and all.
Newbie here so please bear with me as I realise this topic has been covered in lots of various ways before.
I work in a theatre and spend my time creating sound effects, soundscapes, editing pre recorded music and A/V work. I'm currently upgrading our pre, live & post production equipment.
You can see I've gone for the iMac 2.8GHz & i'm about to receive Logic Studio 8. I'm looking for a firewire audio interface as I want to link up a midi controller to it (Edirol pcr 300) and also connect to our Allen & Heath GL3300 mixing desk. I'd like to try to, "future proof" our options (i.e differing i/o options) as we never know what recording/playback needs are around the corner. I've tried to research audio I/O's as much as I can and I've ended up with a choice of 2, Focusrite Saffire Pro 10 or Motu Ultralite.
Any views, reviews or ideas greatfully received.
Thanks
P*

I've done installation work for theatres/theatre groups. Reliability is a nr. 1 priority. I suggest you take a hard look at the Metric Halo 2882.
I like my MOTU 828 mk2(it always works), but my experiences with the MOTU Traveler (will often go berserk if you inadvertently pull the FW plug) and the MOTU 896 HD haven't been very favorable. The 896HD will give you a full blast burst of noise whenever you switch it on. Not good in a theatre where the amps are normally left at full throttle. Also, I had a lot of failures/technical problems.
The 2882 is a bit more expensive, but worth every cent. And the technical support is second to none.

IMac FireWire Audio Interface keeps disconnecting

I'm having an intermitten issue with my iMac, which worked (and still works) fine with my IBM based notebook. My firewire audio interface keeps disconnecting, it works fine for a while (could be anywhere between 5 mins to 2 hours) before completing not giving any output, it doesn't switch back to Core Audio during this time. However, if I turn in off and on again, it's fine again.
Any ideas?
More Info:
Audio Interface: Profire 2626
iMac 2011
OSX 10.6.8

PreSonus FIREBOX 24-bit/96kHz FireWire

Multi channel firewire audio interface

Hello, Is anyone using a multi channel firewire audio interface with a mac mini? eg alesis miltimix?

No issues. You'll probably want to invest in an external 7,200 RPM Firewire drive though since the Mini only has a 5,400 RPM SATA internal drive.
I used it with both TIger and Leopard as well as Logic Express 7.2 and Logic Express 8.
OS X supports it right out of the box so I didn't even need to install additional drivers.

C2D and Bus Powered Firewire Audio Interfaces Problem...

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