M-Audio FW 1814 connection problems...what's going on??!!

[jasonguitar]

I’ve been having problems with my FW 1814. Sometimes my computer is not recognizing the hardware at all. Other times during a session, the FW 1814 will suddenly go through its cycle of lighting up (which it does when the computer is turned on), and the sound cuts out. When this happens, usually both Pro Tools and the FW 1814 Control Panel freeze, and I have to end both programs and shut down my computer in order to use them again. I'm also getting a word clock error every now and then.

I have the latest drivers for my FW 1814. In fact, I’ve had to reinstall the drivers several times. Any ideas about what’s going on? Are there any other actions that I can take to fix this problem? I plan on calling Digidesign when I get home today. Thanks for any suggestions that you have.

Here is my Sandra info:

SiSoftware Sandra

Processor
Model : AMD Athlon(tm) 64 Processor 3700+
Speed : 2.40GHz
Model Number : 3700 (estimated)
Performance Rating : PR4325 (estimated)
Cores per Processor : 1 Unit(s)
Threads per Core : 1 Unit(s)
Internal Data Cache : 64kB Synchronous, Write-Back, 2-way set, 64 byte line size
L2 On-board Cache : 1MB ECC Synchronous, Write-Back, 16-way set, 64 byte line size

Mainboard
Bus(es) : ISA AGP PCI IMB USB FireWire/1394 i2c/SMBus
MP Support : 1 Processor(s)
MP APIC : Yes
System BIOS : American Megatrends Inc. 1004.006
System : To Be Filled By O.E.M. To Be Filled By O.E.M.
Mainboard : ASUSTeK Computer Inc. K8VSEDX
Total Memory : 1023MB DDR-SDRAM

Chipset 1
Model : ASUSTeK Computer Inc Apollo K8T800 CPU to PCI Bridge
Front Side Bus Speed : 2x 800MHz (1600MHz data rate)

Chipset 2
Model : Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) Athlon 64 / Opteron HyperTransport Technology Configuration
Front Side Bus Speed : 2x 800MHz (1600MHz data rate)
Total Memory : 1GB DDR-SDRAM
Memory Bus Speed : 2x 200MHz (400MHz data rate)

Video System
Monitor/Panel : NEC MultiSync LCD1970V
Adapter : RADEON 9600 SERIES (DNA 2.4.4.4)
Adapter : RADEON 9600 SERIES - Secondary (DNA 2.4.4.4)

Physical Storage Devices
Removable Drive : Floppy disk drive
Hard Disk : WDC WD800JB-00JJC0 (75GB)
Hard Disk : SEAGATE ST3200822A USB Device
CD-ROM/DVD : SONY CD-RW CRX320EE (CD 52X Rd, 52X Wr) (DVD 7X Rd)

Logical Storage Devices
Hard Disk (C:) : 75GB (56GB, 75% Free Space) (NTFS)
CD-ROM/DVD (D:) : N/A
3.5" 1.44MB (A:) : N/A
New Volume (Z:) : 186GB (165GB, 89% Free Space) (NTFS)

Peripherals
Serial/Parallel Port(s) : 2 COM / 1 LPT
USB Controller/Hub : VIA Rev 5 or later USB Universal Host Controller
USB Controller/Hub : VIA Rev 5 or later USB Universal Host Controller
USB Controller/Hub : VIA Rev 5 or later USB Universal Host Controller
USB Controller/Hub : VIA Rev 5 or later USB Universal Host Controller
USB Controller/Hub : VIA USB Enhanced Host Controller
USB Controller/Hub : USB Root Hub
USB Controller/Hub : USB Root Hub
USB Controller/Hub : USB Root Hub
USB Controller/Hub : USB Root Hub
USB Controller/Hub : USB Root Hub
USB Controller/Hub : Generic USB Hub
USB Controller/Hub : USB Mass Storage Device
USB Controller/Hub : USB Composite Device
FireWire/1394 Controller/Hub : VIA OHCI Compliant IEEE 1394 Host Controller
Keyboard : Standard 101/102-Key or Microsoft Natural PS/2 Keyboard
Mouse : Microsoft PS/2 Port Mouse (IntelliPoint)

Printers and Faxes
Model : Microsoft Office Document Image Writer
Model : HP DeskJet 950C/952C/959C

Power Management
AC Line Status : On-Line

Operating System(s)
Windows System : Microsoft Windows XP/2002 Professional 5.01.2600 (Service Pack 2)

Network Services
Adapter : Marvell Yukon 88E8001/8003/8010 PCI Gigabit Ethernet Controller

Performance Tips
Warning 100 : Large memory sizes should be made of Registered/Buffered memory.
Tip 2546 : Large memory modules should be ECC/Parity.
Notice 5901 : CD 1x= 150kB/s; Exercise caution when comparing measured versus published ratings.
Notice 5902 : DVD 1x= 11.08Mbps Exercise caution when comparing measured versus published ratings.
Tip 2 : Double-click tip or press Enter while a tip is selected for more information about the tip.

Regards,

Jason

[dillon99999]

get a firewire card that is RECOMMENDED BY DIGIDESIGN.
they are listed in the compatibility section.

Digidesign have qualified following FireWire HBA PCI cards:
- ADS Pyro PCI 64 (part number API-311)
- SIIG 1394 3-port PCI i/e (part number NN-440012)

----------------------------------------------------------

also recording to a USB drive is unsupported, and not recommended.
get an IDE, SATA or SATA2 7200rpm drive (internal is best).

[alfadog]

Dillon is right, it's one of 2 things. It's either another firewire device on that buss that is conflicting with the 1814, or if there is no other firewire device hooked up, it's the motherboard's firewire that is glitching on you. I've got the M-Audio Lightbridge and have an external firewire drive also hooked up. Anytime I load a project from the external firewire drive, or load a sample from the drive, my system will glitch. The audio totally distorsts at some random interval. It may run for a while with no problems and them all of a sudden, distortion! It drove me crazy for a while, but then figured out that firewire ports are very touchy about having an audio interface and another device on the same firewire buss. Adding another firewire card should solve your problem.

[jasonguitar]

Hey, thanks!! I will get one of the recommended Firewire cards and put my external hard drive on the motherboard's firewire port (even though I have that connected via USB at the moment). I had to connect the external hard drive via USB because I had it (and the FW 1814) connected to the same firewire port, and I had big problems with that. Sometime my computer wouldn't recognize the FW 1814, and sometimes it wouldn't recognize my external hard drive.

Hopefully this will solve my problem. I will post later about my progress.

Thanks, again!

Jason

[jasonguitar]

I have to sincerely thank you guys for helping me out!!! You guys rock!! I bought an ADS Pyro PCI 64 (part number API-311)Firewire card, and it seems that my connection problems and spontaneous shut down problems have ceased. Everything seems to be running very smoothly as well.

For those of you out there who are having connection problems with your FW 1814, be sure that you have a Digidesign-qualified Firewire card, and be sure that the 1814 and your external hard drive are not sharing the same FW card.

Thanks again!

Jason