PCMCIA Firewire 400 for Snow Leopard/003 Rack+?

[torbjorn71]

Hi everybody I'm a newbie to this forum but have been working with Protools LE for quite some time. I just got a brand new 003 Rack+ and it just stopped working.

Thought I'd try a PCMCIA Firewire 400 dedicated connection, see if that works. Anyone know of a PCMCIA Firewire 400 hub that works with Snow Leopard/Protools LE/003?

The reason I am trying this is below. Thanks in advance--

For a while it was starting up but said to 'Protools cannot communicate with 003. Please reconnect the 003 and hit OK' once in a while.. I used to do this and it would then work, now it says it all the time and I am trying to figure out why. It won't work at all. I've been reading the forum and suggests uninstalling plug-ins, trying different cables, etc.

If I try the 003 through a different drive (Mac -> FW800 Fantom G-drive 500GB -> FW 400 003) I get slightly better results, as in Protools connects and doesn't crash, but I can't even get an empty template to play without H/W Buffer warning.

Both the G-drive and the Glyph work fine from the Mac's FW800 perspective, I can write/read files no problem it seems. So I'd like to try connecting without the daisy chain.

I am running a Macbook Pro 17" 2.93GHz w Snow Leopard, PT LE 8.03, 4GB RAM, dedicated Glyph 320GB drive, running mac -> FW800 to Glyph then FW400 -> 003.

[Park Seward]

Digi doesn't recommend a hub.

You may be suggesting using a Express slot card and that will work.

You say it "just stopped working". What changed?

Just as a test, what happens if you plug the 003 directly into a 400 FW port?

What is your playback buffer set at?

When you say you try to get an "empty template to play". What is that? Empty? No audio?

[nst7]

If you just switched to the Glyph, and you're not using a fw800 to 400 adapter, that might be the problem. Other drives will act as converters (i.e., 800 from mac into 800 port, 400 port to 003) but Glyphs seem to have a problem with that. If you run an 800 to 400 adapter from the glyph to the 003 it might work better.

And the G drive's seem to have issues when they're placed in the middle of the chain, which might explain those problems. Even though in most cases it's not recommended, people have had better performance putting the G drives last in the chain.

[torbjorn71]

Park-- Thanks for the reply. To answer your questions:

Sorry I was thinking Express card, not hub. I am looking for a FW400 Hub that works with Snow Leopard and my Intel Macbook Pro 2.93 GHz.

The reason for this is because I was hoping to try to connect directly to the Mac with the 003, as you suggest, and the Mac has one FW800 port that's it. I tried a brand new FW800/400 cable to go from the Mac to the 003 and nothing mounts at all, the Mac doesn't see it.

Playback buffer is at its max. The pop up dialog says to 'increase' the buffer.

Sorry and about the empty template I just mean an empty session with nothing to do of any consequence. it wont even play without a pop up error.

I suspect the Glyph may be the issue, somehow choking the data transfer. I'd like to test going directly to the 003 from the Mac with an express card. The Glyph is working fine on its own. The daisy chain is failing.

[torbjorn71]

Thanks for the response, NST7. I had not just switched to the Glyph, but to the 003, from an Mbox. I am not using an adapter. I'll try the 800 -> 400 cable I have form Glyph to 003 instead of 400 -> 400 from the Glyph to the 003.
Thanks for the note on the G-Drive, but I was just using it to try and rule out the 003 having problems. It's not a dedicated audio drive. It's too noisey for a studio.
I may replace the Glyph with something else as well and try that.

[torbjorn71]

Ok I tried a FW800 ->FW400 cable from the Glyph to the 003. No luck.

[Park Seward]

Originally Posted by torbjorn71

Park-- Thanks for the reply. To answer your questions:

Sorry I was thinking Express card, not hub. I am looking for a FW400 Hub that works with Snow Leopard and my Intel Macbook Pro 2.93 GHz.

I suspect the Glyph may be the issue, somehow choking the data transfer. I'd like to test going directly to the 003 from the Mac with an express card. The Glyph is working fine on its own. The daisy chain is failing.

Digi doesn't recommend hubs. You should be able to daisy chain.

You may want to download the AJA Kona speed test. It can be used on any drive to determine the bandwidth. Handy item.

http://www.aja.com/ajashare/AJA_System_Test_v601.zip

As a test, try the empty session from your internal hard drive with the Glyph disconnected. That way you can at least see if the problem is with your drive.

[torbjorn71]

Thanks Park. I will try the speed test software.

My laptop has no FW400 plug only 1 FW800. I cannot actually get the 003 connected without a PCMCIA 400 Express card or a daisy chain thru a FW 800 device (such as a drive) that has a FW400 daisy connector, or a hub.