Apple Firewire Port problems....

aburgener · Post by **aburgener** » Fri May 23, 2008 1:01 am

Hey...
I have an iMac intel Duo 2.4GHz (Tiger 10.4.11) that was purchased back in november. I have started a small project studio and am currently using a MOTU 8PRE. It has been in use since March. I have been travelling with it and recording bands. About a week or two ago, I recorded a band, set my stuff up in the studio and was beginning to work on the mix. For some reason, my iMac will no longer see the 8PRE as an interface and will only act as a converter. I have tested the 8PRE on on a PC and it will sync and act as an interface, so now I know it is an issue with my mac. I have tried to reload the drivers but with no luck. I currently am at a dead end and dont know what else to do. I am a fairly new user to mac and am at a loss for a solution. Does any body have any ideas or suggestions?

Thanks

fishmonkey · Post by **fishmonkey** » Fri May 23, 2008 1:16 am

hi

have you tried another firewire cable?

does the port still work with other firewire devices?

and have you been hot-plugging the port?

swishniak · Post by **swishniak** » Fri May 23, 2008 9:22 am

ive never used this interface before - does it have an external power supply?

i had this problem once with an edirol that wouldnt boot up at all running on firewire power, like it should be able to, until i plugged in its external power cord.

aburgener · Post by **aburgener** » Fri May 23, 2008 11:51 am

Just so there's no confusion, this is a friend's piece of gear and I told him to just use my username to post here for convenience - but I know a little about what he's tried and what he hasn't too, so I'll reply...

Have we tried another firewire cable? -- just the one. But it worked perfectly on my PC. On the Mac at his house, the interface powers up, it just doesn't work as an interface. There's a small indicator on the front panel that lights up green if it's enabled as an interface and this is dim. I'm also assuming it doesn't show up in Logic as an audio device either.

Does the port work with other firewire devices? -- this is the only one he's got to test, to my knowledge, so - dunno.

Does it have an external power supply? -- if you mean a brick, no. I don't think this can be bus powered, but I could be wrong. We were using the power cord anyway. Like I said - on the PC it powers up and operates normally.

I think we want to investigate/troubleshoot more towards the software configuration side of things. It doesn't look to be an issue with the device itself hardware-wise because it works properly on a different computer.

Thanks for the replies so far.

fishmonkey · Post by **fishmonkey** » Fri May 23, 2008 11:59 am

it might well be a software issue, but it would still be worth testing the port with another device to make sure it's okay, just so you can rule it out...

you can fry firewire ports when hot-swapping...

has the mac had any os x updates recently?

arafel · Post by **arafel** » Fri May 23, 2008 10:08 pm

This is my procedure when a device glitches, hangs or does not show up...

I'm assuming that your just using the Pre8, not an Aggregate Device under the IAC Driver (eg. Pre8 and a Ultralite "combined" into a device seen by your Mac as "Pre8 Ultra" etc).

Close all apps. Shut down. Power down the Pre8. Unplug the Pre8 Firewire. Switch Firewire Cables (even if it works on another 'puter).

Restart. Open Audio Midi Setup (under Utilities - I put mine into the Dock). Check both Audio and Midi tabs to see it your Pre8 still shows up as active (should not as you disconnected it). Delete your Pre8 even if it does show up (select and delete).

Find the Pre8 drivers. (Library ->Audio->MidiPlugins). Delete and Reinstall if you can.

Unplug all other Firewire devices. If you have daisy chained your audio device thru a Hard Drive or Splitter(or any other device), undo the Pre8 from the chain and be prepared to plug your Pr8 into a Firewire slot directly into your Mac (use the other port (or USB) for all other devices.

Shutdown. Plug Pre8 Firewire back in. Plug Pr8 power back in. Restart.

Open Audio Midi Setup. Check both Audio and Midi tabs to see if your Pre8 shows up. ReScan under the Midi tab if you need to.

I hope this gets your Pre8 working nicely with your iMac.

aburgener · Post by **aburgener** » Tue May 27, 2008 11:47 am

arafel - I will forward this info along to my friend... thanks a lot for your reply

chalkline · Post by **chalkline** » Tue May 27, 2008 12:00 pm

On the negative side the firewire bus may have blown. It can sometimes happen when hot plugging FW400 devices, although more commonly nown to happen with m-audio FW410 and the likes! Anything like a dodgy fw cable can cause this. I had this happen on my MacPro, luckily it was in warrinty still, and it was an ipod cable that caused it!
Maybe try to find something else firewire or borrow something, to test, as this is not cheap to repair!

aburgener · Post by **aburgener** » Tue May 27, 2008 12:19 pm

Yeah, the only thing that sucks is that I'm not sure where he's going to borrow another firewire device. I'd agree that the port needs to be tested though... just not sure what to test it with.

chalkline · Post by **chalkline** » Tue May 27, 2008 6:58 pm

If you look at about this mac and go to hardware devices and look up firewire, when my firewire bus burnt out it couldn't see it here, so worth a check.