Dell Inspiron 9400 M-Audio Firewire 410 Problems

MadWax · Post by **MadWax** » Sun Sep 24, 2006 1:32 pm

hope someone can help...

Basically its seems to me the m-audio driver hangs when I’m using ableton 5.02, cubase sx 2.39 or sound forge 7 when I record anything, it works fine for couple mins then stops recording and just get a loud hum instead.

Its like it gets interrupted, basically the m-audio console hangs and you can’t adjust any faders or settings you have to close m-audio console plus Ableton, cubebase, etc then reopen again for it to unhang itself so you can record again.

I also find that when you playing projects or DJing in Ableton if I try and make an adjustment in the m-audio console it hangs, but this don’t affective the play back in Ableton that’s ok and plays for hours with no problems, glitches or hangs. All you have to do is close m-audio console down. When you open it again its ok you can see all peak levels working but if you try and make an adjustment again it will hang again.

I’m using latest drivers for all software and hardware. I’ve been onto m-audio tech support which they say that it is an IRQ sharing problem and dell laptops are crap for music, they also said that I should reinstall windows XP Pro from scratch which I have thanks to my mate who works for Dell so my laptop has fresh install of XP less all the crap that dell put on when you buy it.

I still have the same problems.

I have also disabled all WiFi, Bluetooth, modems etc that may conflict with the firwire 410 in the bios and device manger, still have the same problems.

As to the IRQ sharing problem which is well documented on the dell forums http://forums.us.dell.com/supportforums ... io&x=0&y=0 you basically cannot change them in the dell bois they are fixed to share. My IRQ IEEE 1394 firewire port is fixed to share with Intel® 82801G (ICH7 Family) PCI Express Root Port – 27D6 what ever that is! These are both on IRQ 19….

If anyone has any advice I would be very grateful as I am at my wits end and am thinking of selling my laptop and firewire 410 which are both 5 months old.

Many Thanks

Max Melville

My Spec

Dell Inspiron 9400,

Intel Centrino Duo T2600 2.16 GHz,2MB L2 cache, 667 MHz FSB,

2gb of ram 667MHz DDR2,

ATi Mobility X1400 256mb ddr,

100gb HD 7200rpm,

On board Sigma Tel HD Audio,

4 Pin Firwire,

M-Audio Firwire 410. (Driver Version 5.10.0.5036)

Windows XP Pro Service Pk2 Laughing

idema · Post by **idema** » Mon Oct 09, 2006 7:01 am

I don't think it's just the Dell that's causing the problem.

I've actually got a Powerbook G4 running Ableton Live 6 (and I also had this problem in 5.2).

I'd be recording a DJ set live from my DJM 800 mixer, and just the digital part of the recording would hang, but still follow on an empty track.

It did this last week, I was recording with a S/PDIF from the mixer, and also a passive mic, for recording the crowd...the s/pdif hung up after about 35 minutes, but the mic kept recording on it's own channel (and got sound) the whole way through.

I wonder if it's the Firewire 410 interface, seems, we're both using one. I also have the latest driver updates from M-Audio.

Apollonius · Post by **Apollonius** » Sun Nov 05, 2006 4:50 am

I'm betting it's an IRQ problem. I had also heard about problems with Dell's and audio interfaces while I was researching firewire boxes and laptops. Don't know what the issue is, but I've heard it before.

controlphr33k · Post by **controlphr33k** » Mon Nov 06, 2006 7:55 pm

If you see a graphics card taking up an IRQ in addition to that PCI Express Root Port, then the PCI Express Root Port is the Express port on the side of your laptop. If you don't see a graphix chip in the IRQ list, then the PCI Express Root Port likely IS the IRQ related to your graphix chipset.

You can't have your firewire IRQ sharing with your graphix IRQ. . .it's just a no-go, the graphics card will hog all the resources every time.

let us know regarding the two situations above,

-cF

MTG · Post by **MTG** » Sat Nov 11, 2006 5:47 pm

I have the same problem...I'm getting ready to sell this piece of shit and move on..did you find a fix?

Mupp · Post by **Mupp** » Mon Nov 20, 2006 6:29 pm

Hi everyone,

interesting thread. The problem is most probably related to intel speed step power saving technology for notebooks - which simply don't work very well with firewire audio. In windows xp speedstep control is integrated into the operating system so turning speedstep off in bios won't help as windows overrides and turns it on again.

Try downloading speedswith xp (it's free). http://www.diefer.de/speedswitchxp/index.html

Then set to max performance preset in speedstepxp. Then click "options", "CPU policy"-tab and set "AllowPromotion" to "No" on all C-states.

This will cause the processor to always run at fix maximum speed and I believe it will solve your problems. It solved mine.

My system: Dell Inspiron 510m, integrated firewire-port, M-audio 410

drummamon · Post by **drummamon** » Sun Sep 02, 2007 10:26 pm

I've been working on this bastard for a week. The problem is the laptop sharing IRQ's. So shutting off the problem children is the key, plus there is a hotfix from Microsoft to resolve a firewire speed issue. My system =
Dell Inspiron dual core T2350, 2gigs ddr2 ram, ati1400 mobile, cubase sx3, nuendo 3, Presonus firepod, XPpro SP2.
Instructions to resolve audio issue:
install MS Hotfix KB885222
In device manager:
Disable all PCI Express Root Port in system devices
microsoft UAA Bus Driver for HDA
all NICS including 1394
all RICOH devices off.
and the sigmatel audio codec

Of course all systems are different, but after this fix I have had NO lag or clicks or pops!!!

Dell Inspiron 9400 M-Audio Firewire 410 Problems

Dell Inspiron 9400 M-Audio Firewire 410 Problems

Probable fix?

Problem Solved!!!