fw-1884 firewire problems..

[suonodautunno]

Hi, I have a problem with my fw-1884:
first of all, my computer is a power mac g4 800mhz and I own also an i-book G4 1,25 Ghz.. when I connect the fw 1884 with my power mac, the firewire led on the top of the audio interface turns on and after a few seconds suddently turns off.. what's the problem?
With the firewire led turned off the machine doesn't work at all..
So.. I thought it was a firewire problem.. but when I tried connecting the fw1884 on my i-book no problem was found..
Here's more: both computers have the same drivers (1.50) and operating sistem(osx 10.4.4 upgraded from 10.3.9 wich had the same problems)..
Is it the cable? new cable old problems..
Is it the firewire port? I've added a pci expansion to PMac today and no progress..

Please can anybody help me?! I'm going crazy..
PS:I've already written to the support but nobody answers at all..

[marvkan]

Sorry about your problem, I know what it's like. I get strange anomolous behaviour, later on that. First of all, what DAW software are you using? What version?

[suonodautunno]

well, I'm using Digital Performer 4.6.1 and the appropriate tascam plug-in for control surface is 1.22..
But the problem does not begin when I start DP, but when I turn fw1884 on..
I'm using the same software on my I-book but never have problems..
So, what can I do?!?
I've already resetted PMU and repaired permissions..
No progress at all..

[marvkan]

being that all is well when hooked up to your iBook, but not your Powermac 800 leads me to believe that your problem is definitely powermac specific. I'm sure you've properly set your audio/midi utility in OSX, double check to make sure. If your firewire cable is fine, then I would question the compatibility of your firewire PCI card and your powermac, Another system related possibility is the compatibility of Tiger and your old powermac. How much RAM is installed as Logic is a RAM hog. Are you sharing other devices on the same firewire port. Are you hooked up to firewire 400 or 800? If all this doesn't solve your frustrating dilemna, I would suggest the possibility of a logic board failure. Even though I haven't specifically solved your problem atleast you can try to isolate the problem via a process of elimination. Hope this helps a bit

[marvkan]

sorry, I know I said Logic is RAM intensive, I meant to say DP4 and if you have the required minimum RAM installed.

[vestast]

I think it;s your firewire card. I had the same issue with my new PC. Tascam recomends that you use a Firewire card with a Texas Instruments chipset. When I built my new PC the Firewire interface was NEC chipset and I had all sorts of issues with it. I purchased an Adaptec FireConnect 4300 (TI chipset and one card that has been recomended in the past on the old tascam support forums) and every issue I had was resolved.

Hope that helps.

[suonodautunno]

well..
- pci firewire is fully compatible..
- I have 1,25Gb Ram
- audio-midi setup is ok..
And I forgot to say that I'm using this PMac and FW1884 from about 2003
and I never had problems like these..
Today I've moved my UAD1 (pci audio dsp) from slot 1 to 2 and now fw is working fine (also if I don't know why, ideas?)..
I hope it's all ok now..
Thanks to everybody

[vestast]

When you say the pci firewire is "fully compatible" does that mean it has the TI chipset?

[suonodautunno]

well I have no idea of this.. I know that it supports osx natively..
how can I understand if it has a TI chipset?

[suonodautunno]

yes TSB82AA2 is a ti chipset.
Today fw1884 is not working yet..

[vestast]

Sorry man that sucks. I still think it's an issue with the firewire card though because as you said it seems to work on your I-book ok.

See if you can get a hold of an Adaptec 4300 or somthing. At the worst you will have spent a few bucks on a good card.

Good luck.

[corso]

This may be a stupid question, but does it behave any differently if the 1884 is powered up before you boot up rather than booting up and then switching it on?

[suonodautunno]

unfortunatly no..
But I've made a back up and now all seem ok..
Thanks to everybody=)

[sekhmet]

Unfortunately having a firewire card with a TI chipset doesnt guarantee 100% compatibility... I've tried a few brands that had the TI chipset and strangely none of them worked *at all* ..that is, windows didn't even recognize the fw1884

I'm still stuck with my no-name PCI card (non-TI chipset) and I have to live with the occasional FW led going off, until I finally find a card that the fw1884 likes