003 Rack Stopped Working!

[ryanwilsonfive]

I was playing back audio with my 003 Rack tonight and all of the sudden, crackle, hiss, more crackling, then ... no audio. I was using Windows Media Player at the time, so I thought something may have been wrong with that. So, I open up Pro Tools ... No Sound! Restart the computer, same problem. I can see audio signal on the meter, during playback and record. I know it's receiving signal, but nothing is coming out of the headphones or monitors. No "Mute" or "Alt CR" has been selected. In fact, I shut down everything, tried on the MacBook Pro and got the same result. However, on both Windows & Mac systems, I do get sound when using the "Aux In" and an alternate sound source. I'm pretty positive it's a hardware problem and there's something wrong with my unit. What should be my next step?

[albee1952]

Do the front panel buttons appear to work?(like MUTE and Mic/Line buttons). I would try a new FW cable(yes they can fail for no apparent reason). If no love there, trash prefs(always a step for solving odd behavior). If all else fails, take it to AllPro Electronics(close to music row). They fixed my 003 controller at a fair price and its worked great ever since(3 months now).

[The Weed]

And PLEASE turn off the computer and the 003 BEFORE swapping the cable.

Cheers,

[albee1952]

Originally Posted by The Weed

And PLEASE turn off the computer and the 003 BEFORE swapping the cable.

Cheers,

That's a great point that I should have mentioned. Although, since I knew this and was always careful, you should know that I still managed to burn out the firewire chip on the 003 PCB. Rather than replace the entire PCB, AllPro repaired it on a component level, which saved some money. (around $300 vs $500 to replace the entire board).

[ryanwilsonfive]

Thanks guys.

All of the front panel buttons work fine, and like I mentioned, the Aux In works just like it should, and I am getting audio to come through there.

I have tried two different Firewire cables (being cautious not to hot-swap), as well as tried both Firewire ports on the 003R unit itself, and still no luck. The green "Link" light on the back lights up just fine, and when I open Pro Tools or Windows Media Player, the front panel "HOST 1394" light comes on as it should.

I haven't trashed Prefs just yet, because I'm having this problem on both the Mac & PC.

I'm actually in GA right now, so I've put in a call to take it up to Shaw Hill Group, who are listed on the Digidesign support page.

Again, I'm getting audio in, just no audio coming out. I've tried using the Alt CR too. Nothing. The only think I can think that is different with my setup, that I've changed recently, is added a new API Lunchbox, and changed the XLR/TRS cable coming out of my UA-710, which those things shouldn't cause any problems. Thank the Lord this didn't happen a week ago during my last big mix project! Guess I'm back to my trusty 'ol Mbox 2 for the meantime, since I'll be cutting drums at another studio for my upcoming project.

What was the problem you were having with your 003 albee?

Thanks again!

[albee1952]

Mine stopped communicating. Due to the placement of my rig, I wonder if someone bumped the cables on the back and caused the firewire cable to move just enough to break the connection and cause the arcing that seems to kill the controller chip. I will never really know, but it killed my firewire card(in the PC) as well. Running fine on the motherboard connection after the repair.

[The Weed]

I too burned out the card in my 002 Rack and thought I was careful as well. $500 lesson for me <sigh>

Another thing to do is mark which side of the firewire connector should be "up" to go into the connection properly. Having the connector in the wrong way and powering up can also cause problems/money loss.

Cheers,