Firewire interface not working

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Emperor !!!

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I bought a FCA202 to try it with GarageBand on my new laptop before jumping into something more hi-tech (read: less amateur interface) without expending too much dough, results: the darn thing doesn´t work, the unit is powered through the FW bus and the two diodes light up (power and FW), BUT the sound is not coming through and the laptop is not recognizing the unit, I opened the ¨System Preferences¨and search on the ¨Sound¨entry and it just wasn´t there, I checked on the GarageBand ¨Preferences¨menu and, of course, it wasn´t there either.
I tried the unit on another MacBook Pro and it was the same.
It´s not the computer nor the FW bus, it´s the unit that´s not working properly.

Anyone with the same problem?
Anyone managed to get it working?

Bought some Behringer stuff in the past, never had a problem, guess I was being lucky.
 
Emperor !!! said:
I bought a FCA202 to try it with GarageBand on my new laptop before jumping into something more hi-tech (read: less amateur interface) without expending too much dough, results: the darn thing doesn´t work, the unit is powered through the FW bus and the two diodes light up (power and FW), BUT the sound is not coming through and the laptop is not recognizing the unit, I opened the ¨System Preferences¨and search on the ¨Sound¨entry and it just wasn´t there, I checked on the GarageBand ¨Preferences¨menu and, of course, it wasn´t there either.
I tried the unit on another MacBook Pro and it was the same.
It´s not the computer nor the FW bus, it´s the unit that´s not working properly.
Click to expand...

If you're running 10.4.10, Apple broke the FireWire Audio driver for some class-compliant devices, including this one. Either wait for 10.4.11 or temporarily roll back AppleFWAudio.kext to the 10.4.9 version:

http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?threadID=1007079&tstart=0

Be sure to roll forward to the 10.4.10 version if/when 10.4.11 does come out.
 
Just to be sure -- Is your FW port actually transferring data *at all?*

Had a recent similar incident -- MOTU was powered fine via the FW port, no data. Hooked up a DVD drive - NO DATA.

Bad logic board.
 
It's not Apple, it's not the OS or broken drivers, and most likely not a bad logic board either. It's the FCA202.

I had almost exactly the same thing happen to me with the FCA202 and my Mac iBook. The FCA202 is a piece of junk, return to the dealer and get your money back. Then spend a bit more and get something like the Presonus Firebox or MOTU Ultralite.

Are you running any other peripherals off the USB or firewire ports at the same time as the FCA202? In my case it wouldn't work if there was anything else connected to the Mac's USB or firewire ports, or if a firewire hard drive was chained from the FCA202 (as you are supposed to be able to do). It would work *only* if it was the sole peripheral, but of course that is pretty useless.

Get rid of it.
 
SonicAlbert said:
It's not Apple, it's not the OS or broken drivers, and most likely not a bad logic board either. It's the FCA202.
Click to expand...

No, the problem was much more widespread than just the FCA202. Several different FireWire audio chipsets failed, including chipsets by both Oxford and Texas Instruments. This affected products by a wide range of manufacturers, including Behringer, Mackie, Echo, Miglia, possibly some M-Audio devices....

More info

This suggests either: A. both Oxford and TI violated the spec and Apple tightened up their driver and broke them, or B. BridgeCo (the only silicon vendor whose devices worked in 10.4.10) violated the spec and Apple worked around them in a way that inadvertently broke everyone else. Of course it could also be C. all of the vendors egregiously violate the spec in numerous different and incompatible ways.... I know which one my money is on, and it isn't A. or B. :D

In any case, the Apple FWA team revved the driver in 10.4.11. It came out today, and if you upgrade, your interface should start working, assuming the hardware isn't defective. I suppose it could go either way, given that it is Behringer.... :rolleyes:

P.S. I -think- that PowerPC users upgrading to 10.4.11 will also see a nice performance boost (reduced or eliminated CPU spiking) as well, but I could be wrong. They might have merged the newer version of the driver into a previous release already. I haven't been paying that much attention.
 
The thing is, I was using my FCA202 with a much earlier version of OSX, 10.4.2 I believe, and on an iBook G4. The problem was specific to whether or not there were any additional devices on the USB and firewire ports along with the FCA202. If not, then the interface worked fine. The issue with the FCA202 had nothing to do with Apple or anyone else breaking the drivers.

Also, I've used a couple different interfaces with that laptop since the FCA202 and they work great. The way to solve the problem in my opinion is to send the Behringer unit back and get one from a different manufacturer that works. Again, I've had good luck with a Presonus Firebox and MOTU Traveler.

As far as 10.4.11, there's no way I would update to a new OS the day it comes out. That's asking for trouble in my opinion, having done it enough in the past to know about such things. Wait a while and to see if there are any problems the early adopters are complaining about. Then update when it looks safe. I'm still using 10.4.8 on both my desktop and laptop, and am having a very trouble-free computing experience!
 
I think the Mackie thing could work, thanks dgatwood

First I´m going to try another device, I´m getting an external HD if it works then the port should be fine, and I´m going to wait for the reviews on the .11 update before doing it myself.

good advise everywhere, thanks again
 
is this happening with other FWaudio devices, like the Mbox2 or MOTU ?

I forgot to say, I´m running on .10, sorry
 
I'm using 10.4.8 with a MOTU traveler, and I also used a Presonus Firebox on both my intel desktop Mac and my iBook G4. No problems in either case.

Don't know about 10.4.10 though. I stopped at 10.4.8 because it has just been so stable.
 
SonicAlbert said:
I'm using 10.4.8 with a MOTU traveler, and I also used a Presonus Firebox on both my intel desktop Mac and my iBook G4. No problems in either case.

Don't know about 10.4.10 though. I stopped at 10.4.8 because it has just been so stable.
Click to expand...

Neither of those was affected by this issue; the FireBox is one of the BeBoB devices, which for some reason weren't affected. MOTU ships their own drivers instead of using the Aople FireWire audio driver.
 
The MOTU drivers are good, by the way. More efficient than the Apple drivers. I noticed lower processing overhead with the Traveler than with the FireBox.
 
My own update -- Just had a *THIRD* logic board installed -- Now I can transfer data again (via whatever -- DVD drive was the test dummy).

I'll hook it up with a MOTU traveler later today if I get the chance.
 
Massive Master said:
My own update -- Just had a *THIRD* logic board installed -- Now I can transfer data again (via whatever -- DVD drive was the test dummy).

I'll hook it up with a MOTU traveler later today if I get the chance.
Click to expand...

Damn. What model of machine was this so I can be sure not to get one. :D
 
It's the MacBook/Black book.

I'm sure it was a fluke - The thing has been a champ for just under a year now (thank GOD it's just UNDER a year!).
 
Massive Master said:
It's the MacBook/Black book.

I'm sure it was a fluke - The thing has been a champ for just under a year now (thank GOD it's just UNDER a year!).
Click to expand...

Yeah, probably a fluke, considering how much FireWire ESD protection is in those things.... :D Were all the failures FireWire-related or just this one?
 
On the first card, it was just the FW port -- I think... Come to think of it, once the problem developed, I never tried plugging anything else (USB, etc.) in.

The replacement logic card was somehow defective and the computer almost immediately jumped into "panic mode" (I leaned me a new Apple word!).

This latest one seems to be doing the trick so far... Haven't hooked up an audio interface to it yet, but FW and USB connectivity and data transfer seem to be just fine so far. And I hope it's solid again... I'm still going to be running with a backup - Need to make several orchestral recordings over the next few months - I'll be making a 2-mix to the MOTU's AES/EBU out going to a MasterLink just in case.
 
Don't do any hot-swapping of firewire cables. I know you are supposed to be able to according to the specs, but make sure the computer and the peripheral are powered down before connecting or disconnecting the firewire cable. I've fried things by hot swapping, and no longer do it under any circumstances.
 
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