Fw1804 Sync Problems

[PVS]

I just purchesed this unit new and it will sync part of the time if i am lucky
[sync logo drops in and out on the tascam screen]
the computor is new 3.2 processer 1 gig ram etc should be ok
the cuebase user web site talks about this issue but offers no answers
the on board sound card is disabled and the computor in settings [sounds] shows the fw1804 as the default sound card but it only works part of the time
if i start the computor with the tascam powered down it will say no sound card connected

if the unit works at all it is fine, recording is ok and so is playback inside cuebase
cd's will play and all is good
when it is not working recording is not stable and any audio playback from cuebase or cd will breakdown, stutter
ie sound stops and starts
any thoughts or any other sufferers out there
PVS

 

[Kevin Deschwazi]

Quite an old thread but I'll chime in in case you're still struggling.

First of all make sure you're machine is configured OK; do a clean install of the drivers and make sure you have your buffers set up sensibly in your DAW software. If the buffer is too small you're trading CPU load for lower latency.

Next try a different (decent quality) FW cable, the one supplied by tascam has known to be a bit crap and hence faulty on arrival.

Assuming you're using an internal fw connection you could also try a seperate PCI firewire card. Apparently cards with Texas instruments chipset are the most likely to give you problem free performance and these can be had pretty cheap these days. I picked up a brand new Apdaptec 4300 fireface for around £10 on ebay.

When you install a FW PCI card in a WinXP machine it automatically enables itself for network connectivity so you need to disable this (in network connections).

Hope this helps

 

[PVS]

Quite an old thread but I'll chime in in case you're still struggling.

First of all make sure you're machine is configured OK; do a clean install of the drivers and make sure you have your buffers set up sensibly in your DAW software. If the buffer is too small you're trading CPU load for lower latency.

Next try a different (decent quality) FW cable, the one supplied by tascam has known to be a bit crap and hence faulty on arrival.

Assuming you're using an internal fw connection you could also try a seperate PCI firewire card. Apparently cards with Texas instruments chipset are the most likely to give you problem free performance and these can be had pretty cheap these days. I picked up a brand new Apdaptec 4300 fireface for around £10 on ebay.

When you install a FW PCI card in a WinXP machine it automatically enables itself for network connectivity so you need to disable this (in network connections).

Hope this helps

thanks kevin
but things only got worse i returned the unit to the wholesalers and was told alls well
and since posting my questions i also noticed that it may start if i was lucky
now heres were it gets wierd
if i took my computer and fw unit for a drive to a friends place it would run just as you would expect
go home and it would not work
i remember seeing in a post about preheating the unit to kickstart it so to speak
you may laugh but the post said someone from tascam distributers here in Melbourne Australia had mentioned it
in talks with the above staff i raised this post and was told it was true
thay had a unit that was playing up and ran a hairdryer over it and it would start up
take it out to the carpark for a few hours to cool down and it would not start up
the computer would not see it

so as the only difference between my friends house and mine is that his house is vfery warm asnd mine very cold and the fact it is also wintre here I SAT IT IN FRONT OF THE HEATER FOR 5 MINS and guess what it ran the next 8 hours i could not fault the thing

the next morning it would not start no fire wire light to be seen but the computer did see the unit as the sound card

warm the unit as above and away it went stright back to the store and money refunded

Presonus have just released their V-FIRE interface and this will sync my 2 VSR880 units via R BUS leads and hook via firewire to the computer and if i want a desk in front for recording stright to the computer i can hook via r bus my VM3100 pro desk for phantom effects etc

heaven

thanks for the reply
PVS

 

[PVS]

as an after thought if you think it warents it feel free to post it to others that may be having trouble as the sort of troubles that i read about that sugested chip sets as fixes a lot sounded the same as i was experiencing but a good story all the same

PVS

 

[Kevin Deschwazi]

Actually I have heard of this on the Tascam forums but it had slipped to the back of my mind, pretty weird.

It's pretty warm here at the moment, I just hope my 1082 (which has worked perfectly up until now) doesn't start freaking out as we get into winter, I guess I'll need to have a hairdryer handy?

I'm glad you got a refund without any hassle and have now found a setup which works for you.