Could someone tell me what chipset this card is...

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studiomaster

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I'm looking for a Texas Instruments chipset Firewire card for my MOTU 828mkII. I bought an Adaptec DuoConnect FW card that uses the T.I chipset for firewire and a NEC chipset for USB 2.0. However, I'm experiencing more crackles and pops than ever! I'm considering returning this card and getting the Adaptec AFW-4300C. Now, there is a 4300 and a 4300C. The store I visited carries the 4300C model only. On the chip, "Sigero" or something like that is written. Is "Sigero" the chipset that this card uses?? OTOH, the 4300 version(not in the store) uses the T.I chipset.

So, could someone please verify if the 4300C card uses the T.I chipset or not? (The photo of the chip of 4300C has the T.I symbol so that's another giveway for identifying that it indeed uses the T.I chipset)
 
Before worrying about chipsets... have you tried the card in a different PCI slot? If you are having an addressing conflict, none of the chipsets will probably solve your problem.
 
You could try the existing card in another PCI slot.
MOTU firewire gear apparently can be sensitive to combo cards (USB 2.0+FW). Return it.
Look around and find the Adaptec 4300 card with the T.I. chipset, and it'll probably work just fine. I use surplus-sourced Belkin firewire 400 PCI cards with 3 ports, T.I. chipset, a $10 card that works every time.
 
Yes, i tried in every single PCI slot. My card is the combo USB 2.0/Firewire. I could return it but the only thing in the store they have is the Adaptec 4300C.

Final question: Does the 4300C use the T.I chipset or not? It says 'sigero' or something similar on top of the chip and i was wondering if that's the chipset...
 
I remember reading on the Mackie website that they strongly discourage the use of Firewire/USB combo cards.
 
sync said:
I remember reading on the Mackie website that they strongly discourage the use of Firewire/USB combo cards.
Click to expand...

i've heard that several places...
 
Ok, but could someone please answer my question regarding the Adaptec 4300C?
 
Since no one seems to actually be answering it, have you tried the adaptec website?
 
A Siig firewire card will definately work with your MOTU, Im a daily 828mkII user myself. It will also be the best card for any other firewire audio interface.
 
Do you guys know if the Sonnet Allegro FW400 use T.I?

On the MOTU site, it says that Sonnet is one of those companies that uses the T.I chipset...but I don't know specifically if this card uses it.
 
The pops and crackles are most likely PCI Latency Timer issues between your AGP video card and the firewire/usb card.

There is software called PowerStrip that allows you to adjust the PCI Latency Timer of your video card, and possibly your firewire card. With a little bit of futzing, you can probably make your card work just fine.

I HAVE in fact seen how different firewire cards have different PCI Latency Timers, and certainly, many video cards come stock with different timers too! Some video card software allows you to adjust this, but not all.

PowerStrip works! You should try it before spending more money.
 
I just downloaded PowerStrip. I don't know how to change the PCI latency clock of my AGP card or my FW card. :(
 
studiomaster said:
I just downloaded PowerStrip. I don't know how to change the PCI latency clock of my AGP card or my FW card. :(
Click to expand...

R.T.F.M!!!
 
Ok, i go under the Diagnostics. But i cannot change the latency. under the drop down menu for latency, the only option is "none". Am i in the right place?
 
Options>Adapter Information

A box will pop up. At the top, there will be some BIG letters, probably the name of your video card in a box within the box. Over on the right of the box is some arrows. You can scroll through all PCI devices with those arrows.

In the middle of the big box, you will see a small box labeled "Latency", THAT is the PCI Latency Timer adjustment. Your video card will for sure have an adjustment. You can tell IF a device allows you to adjust it's timer because there will be a number in that box. Stuff like your USB on the motherboard probably will not allow any adjustment, but if you have a USB PCI card, most likely it will allow adjustment.

Your firewire card SHOULD have an adjustment. It has for me on three different firewire PCI cards.

The trick first is to write down all settings before you go messing with anything.

My MSI GeForce FX 5200 video card has a stock Latency time of 248. That is a very high value. I might go ahead and lower this anyway, and I don't video heavy games on this computer, thus, the card does NOT need that much time on the PCI buss!

Just lowering the timer on your video card might do the trick, and at first, JUST do that. Lower it by 1/4 of it's value. If you notice improvement, but still some crackles, try a bit more. Do it JUST until you stop getting crackles.

You might need to give your firewire card more time on the buss, thus, increase it's value. If lowering the video cards time doesn't do anything, put it back to the stock setting and try adjusting the firewire card.

If just lowering/raising one of the two doesn't do anything, next try combinations of raising the firewire and lowering the video card.

This worked great on a system I used at a studio that had firewire, usb, Radeon video card (yuk....that card sucked ass!) and a UAD-1 card! A combination of lower the video card, raising the firewire, and raising the uad-1 was the ticket. It took a couple of hours of messing around with things to make it all click, but it worked.

Be advised, you MUST run Powerstrip for these adjustments to work! They adjust this stuff at the OS level, but don't change the defaults EXCEPT when the software is running.

If this works for you, you might consider purchasing the software. Each time you reboot, the "nag screen" adds one second of time that it stays displayed before you can close it. It starts sucking when the nag screen is up for a minute! LOL

Good luck.
 
I'm very lost here. Which version of powerstrip are you using?

I don't see Adapter Information under Options.
 
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