Ableton loses connection to MOTU Ultralite

[arigold]

Hi there,

Every once in a while, Ableton Live 9 loses it's connection to my MOTU Ultralite. It says something about losing the audio device -- I often have to restart Ableton.

For what it's worth, I think it's the original MOTU Ultralite. The MK1 -- with the oldest Firewire. In fact, I have two adapters on the cable. One from oldest Firewire to newer Firewire and then another from newer Firewire to Thunderbolt. Maybe that's part of the reason?

The strange thing is that the MOTU stays on. So it's clearly getting power from the machine.

I'm guessing that one of the connectors is a bit dusty or otherwise weak. Maybe I'll try a new cable.

Thanks for any ideas,

Ari

[Mystic38]

do you have windows?..

I have seen this occurring on two machines recently, and it seems somewhat correlated with either windows updates downloading or mcafee.. other than this, the motu's have been rock solid for years..

[fishmonkey]

i would definitely be trying to rule out physical connection problems first...

[Coupe70]

It is very unlikely that Ableton loses contact to your Ultralite.
It's either your computer (hardware) or your OS (software) losing contact.
Does your interface disappear in the device manager or is an error shown
in the manager ?
As far as I understand it happens randomly, so I would focus on the hardware
(= the cable). What do you do to make your Ultralite re-appear ?
Adapters are always a possible culprit. Maybe the power coming from your
computer is a bit unstable due to the cable/adapters OR the port, keeping
the interface on, but not working properly anymore.
I would try if the problem persists when using a power supply.

[cotdagoo]

If it's windows, your PC may be shutting off the USB ports after a certain amount of time to save power.

http://www.groovypost.com/howto/usb-sel ... explained/

http://helpdeskgeek.com/windows-xp-tips ... sb-device/

[AAdel]

Actually it's strange and not a common issue.
You should rule out the following subjects:
1- Problem with USB driver or chipset
2- Problem with recent updates you've got
3- Any infection with viruses
4- Cable issue or long cable
5- Wrong driver version for MOTU
6- etc...

[fishmonkey]

it's a MK 1 Ultralite, so Firewire only, no USB...

[AAdel]

I should correct, please change all "USB"s to "Firewire" and add the following statements.
1- please make sure you have suitable 1394 adapter chipset like TI.
2- Isolate your cable and system from a noisy environment.
3- Check you Firewire bandwidth and version.