FireWire Audio/Mac OS X 10.4.10

  • Thread starter Thread starter dgatwood
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dgatwood

dgatwood

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Just a quick heads up.

If you are using a FireWire interface that is driverless (uses the built-in Mac OS X drivers), you would be well served to not upgrade to 10.4.10 right now unless your device uses a BridgeCo BeBoB chipset.

I was skimming the Apple discussions trying to decide whether to buy a new MacBook Pro, when I stumbled across a thread about FireWire interfaces not working after the 10.4.10 update.

Here's a list I've compiled as best I can from skimming various forums, Google searches, etc.

Not working:

  • Oxford chipset (Behringer FCA202, Miglia HA02)
  • TI Chipset (Mackie Onyx 400F and 1200F mixers, Mackie Satellite interface, Echo AudioFire)
  • Misc. reports of some M-Audio devices (but no specifics, and if true, is probably unrelated)

Working:
  • Presonus FireBox (supposedly, though I wonder)
  • Probably all other BridgeCo BeBox devices (FIREPOD)
  • AFAIK, mLan devices (FireStation, Yamaha hardware)
  • Anything with custom drivers, e.g. Phillips chipset (MOTU), BridgeCo with different firmware (M-Audio), whatever Digi uses, etc.

Unknown:
  • Dice II chipset (FireStudio, Alesis IO/26, TC Konnekt)
  • RME chipset (custom FPGA-based silicon)

If you run into this, you'll have to downgrade the AppleFWAudio.kext to the 10.4.9 version. Post in this thread if you run into this problem and we'll try to help you downgrade the driver.

As I run across more reports of working/non-working devices, I'll try to keep this thread updated.
 
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I had problems with the Behringer FCA202 and OSX 10.4.2 on a G4 iBook. I wouldn't use that particular interface as an example of Apple's OS not working. There may indeed be an issue, but I found the FCA202 to be flaky enough to return to the dealer and get my money back. In my experience the FireBox is solid on the several computers and OS versions I've tried it with. I haven't used it on 10.4.10 though.

I'm still on 10.4.8 and it's working great, so I don't feel motivated to move to a newer OS.
 
Mackie, too.

SonicAlbert said:
I had problems with the Behringer FCA202 and OSX 10.4.2 on a G4 iBook. I wouldn't use that particular interface as an example of Apple's OS not working
Click to expand...

If it were just the Behringer, it wouldn't have caught my attention. When I saw reports of other manufacturers' gear, that caught my attention. Don't get me wrong here. I'm the last person to bash Apple or Apple products. It's hard making a single driver support all these devices (each with their own set of bugs that you have to work around). I've met some of the folks who maintain this driver, and I can't repeat many of the words they use. :D

I'm not trying to scare people or bash Apple or anything. I just want to make sure that as few people as possible get burned by this. I've filed a bug on it, so hopefully they'll find and fix the problem. Until then, though, you should probably only apply this update if your gear is in the "working" list or uses the same chipset. :)

That said, if you do install the update and your interface stops working, I'd like to know what device you're using, and I'll pass it along to the appropriate people.


SonicAlbert said:
There may indeed be an issue, but I found the FCA202 to be flaky enough to return to the dealer and get my money back. In my experience the FireBox is solid on the several computers and OS versions I've tried it with. I haven't used it on 10.4.10 though.

I'm still on 10.4.8 and it's working great, so I don't feel motivated to move to a newer OS.
Click to expand...

It looks like FireWire audio devices that use the Oxford OXFW970 and TI FireWire audio chipsets are not working, but BeBoB devices (e.g. FIREPOD, FireBox) are working. I don't know about other chipsets.

There are about seven different FireWire audio platforms that pretty much every manufacturer uses. The ones I'm aware of are: BridgeCo (BeBoB), Philips AV LLC (???), Oxford (FW970), TI (iceLynx-Micro), TC (DICE II), Yamaha (mLan), and RME (???). There might be one or two others lurking out there, but those are the most common ones in approximate order from most common to least.

MOTU and Tascam use Philips chips, Presonus uses BeBob (except the FireStation, which I think is mLan). AFAIK, all of those work.

Mackie, however, uses TI for some of their devices, I believe. They recommend not installing 10.4.10 because apparently it breaks some of their mixers---specifically, the 400F and 1200F.

If it breaks the Mackie, it should also break the Echo AudioFire. I think the "M-Audio Fire" that I found on one discussion board was probably a screwed up reference to the Echo AudioFire.

This issue probably does not affect other Mackie Onyx hardware (with the add-on cards), as they reportedly use a BridgeCo chipset.

On the plus side, 10.4.10 is reported to fix problems with the Apogee Ensemble (another BridgeCo BeBoB device).
 
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I had bigger problems with the 10.4.10 update. My system would freeze on the OS X boot/splash screen. I got it to boot up in Safe Mode and ended up backing up everything and re-installing from scratch. I think I'll just wait for Leopart at this point...

PIMA :mad:
 
Yes, after many years of music computing I've come to the conclusion that you only update your OS for three reasons:

1. The update fixes known bugs that are bothering you

2. The new OS has features that you simply must have

3. The new OS is required by software that you use on a daily basis

Otherwise, stick with what is currently working.

I normally stay quite behind the cutting edge. My laptop came with 10.4.2 on it, and that's what is still there. My Mac Pro cam with 10.4.8 on it, and that's what I'm still using. I assume that the OS that's on the computer has been thoroughly tested with the hardware and is as stable as any OS will likely be. Both my laptop and Mac Pro have been incredibly stable.
 
brzilian said:
I had bigger problems with the 10.4.10 update. My system would freeze on the OS X boot/splash screen. I got it to boot up in Safe Mode and ended up backing up everything and re-installing from scratch. I think I'll just wait for Leopart at this point...
Click to expand...

That's kind of weird. What model of computer? Is there a panic.log in /Library/Logs?
 
dgatwood said:
That's kind of weird. What model of computer? Is there a panic.log in /Library/Logs?
Click to expand...

1.66 CoreDuo Mac Mini w/ 1Gb of RAM.

Too late to look at the log - I already reinstalled OS X and am back to 10.4.9
 
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