Not sure what's going on, but you need to have some more info:
#1-this one is crucial*** DO NOT "hot-patch" the 003(plug or unplug the FW cable). Doing this can(and usually will) fry the FW circuit in the 003, the FW controller in the computer, or both
#2-the 003 does not have a "stand-alone" mode(the 002 did, but the 003 does not).
#3-what computer is it? Does it have an approved FW chip installed(post a Sisoft Sandra Lite report if this is a PC as that can reveal hardware compatibility problems). The 2 most common FW controller chips are VIA and TI(Texas Instruments) and VIA often will not work.
#4-is this a new problem and the 003 worked fine recently, or it a new(to you) setup?
#5-(for PC) have you tried all 3 of the firewire drivers that are available? Avid recommends the Legacy firewire driver, but that never worked for me. Of the other 2 drivers(if you tell the computer, "Let me choose from a list" in the driver update menu), the driver that worked when I had my 003 was the "T.I. Compliant driver(the 3rd option turned the 003 surface into midi note messages
).