Mbox 3 on Windows 7 laptop.

[Jamesrey]

I have the Mbox pro, and my laptop has no firewire ports. I've bought 3 different firewire express cards and it has only worked (somewhat worked) one time. Is there anything i can do to use my Mbox 3? I have all the drivers and am running 9.0.6

Sandra report:
SiSoftware Sandra

Computer
Model : HP HP S-Class
Workgroup : WORKGROUP
Host Name : Jamie-HP
User : James Rey

Processor
Model : Intel(R) Core(TM) i5 CPU M 460 @ 2.53GHz
Speed : 2.66GHz
Cores per Processor : 2 Unit(s)
Threads per Core : 2 Unit(s)
Type : Mobile, Dual-Core
Integrated Data Cache : 2x 32kB, Synchronous, Write-Thru, 8-way, 64 byte line size, 2 threads sharing
L2 On-board Cache : 2x 256kB, ECC, Synchronous, ATC, 8-way, 64 byte line size, 2 threads sharing
L3 On-board Cache : 3MB, ECC, Synchronous, ATC, 12-way, Exclusive, 64 byte line size, 4 threads sharing

Computer
Platform Compliance : Intel Centrino Mobile Technology
Mainboard : HP 1411
BIOS : HP 68AZZ Ver. F.0B 09/16/2010
Bus(es) : X-Bus PCI PCIe IMB PCMCIA USB
Multi-Processor (MP) Support : No
Multi-Processor Advanced PIC (APIC) : Yes
Total Memory : 7.86GB DDR3 SO-DIMM

Chipset
Model : HP Core (Auburndale/Havendale) DRAM Controller
Front Side Bus Speed : 1x 133MHz (133MHz)
Total Memory : 8GB DDR3 SO-DIMM
Channels : 2
Memory Bus Speed : 2x 532MHz (1GHz)

Memory Module(s)
Memory Module : 99U5428-040.A01LF 4GB DDR3 SO-DIMM PC3-10600U DDR3-1332
Memory Module : 99U5428-040.A01LF 4GB DDR3 SO-DIMM PC3-10600U DDR3-1332

Video System
Video Adapter : ATI Mobility Radeon HD 530v (40 SM4.1 450MHz, 512MB DDR3 2x600MHz, PCIe 2.00 x16)

Graphics Processor
STREAM Processor : ATI Mobility Radeon HD 530v (40SP 2C 500MHz, 512MB 2x700MHz)

Storage Devices
SAMSUNG HM320HJ (320GB, SATA300, 2.5", 7200rpm, NCQ, 16MB Cache) : 298GB (C:) (E:)
hp DVD RW AD-7586H (SATA150, DVD+-RW, CD-RW, 2MB Cache) : 1GB (F:)

Logical Storage Devices
SYSTEM : 300MB (NTFS)
Hard Disk (C:) : 281GB (NTFS) @ SAMSUNG HM320HJ (320GB, SATA300, 2.5", 7200rpm, NCQ, 16MB Cache)
HP_RECOVERY : 15GB (NTFS)
HP_TOOLS (E:) : 2GB (FAT32) @ SAMSUNG HM320HJ (320GB, SATA300, 2.5", 7200rpm, NCQ, 16MB Cache)
Hard Disk (Q:) : N/A
Avid Audio Devic (F:) : 1GB (CDFS) @ hp DVD RW AD-7586H (SATA150, DVD+-RW, CD-RW, 2MB Cache)

Peripherals
LPC Hub Controller 1 : HP HM57 LPC Interface Controller
LPC Legacy Controller 1 : SMSC FDC37B72x
Audio Device : HP P55/PM55/3400 High Definition Audio
Audio Codec : Integrated Device Tech 7605h
Audio Device : HP RV730XT Audio device [Radeon HD 4670]
Audio Codec : ATI (AMD) HDMI Audio
Disk Controller : HP P55/PM55/3400 6 port SATA AHCI Controller
USB Controller 1 : HP P55/PM55/3400 USB2 Enhanced Host Controller
USB Controller 2 : HP P55/PM55/3400 USB2 Enhanced Host Controller

Printers and Faxes
Printer : PDF Complete Converter (2400x2400, Colour)
Printer : Microsoft XPS Document Writer (600x600, Colour)
Printer : HP Deskjet F4400 series (1200x1200, USB, Colour)
Printer : hp deskjet 940c (1200x1200, USB, Colour)
Fax : Microsoft Shared Fax Driver (200x200)
Printer : Amyuni Document Converter 300 (2400x2400, Colour)

Network Services
Wireless Adapter 1 : Atheros AR9285 802.11b/g/n WiFi Adapter (802.11g (ERP), WEP n-bit, 54Mbps)

Power Management
Mains (AC) Line Status : On-Line
Battery No 1 : 42%

Operating System
Windows System : Microsoft Windows 7 Ultimate 6.01.7601 (Service Pack 1)
Platform Compliance : x64

[albee1952]

Use an approved firewire adapter with a TI chipset(Texas Instruments) and disable the wifi. Personally, I would go with 9 or 9.0.3(9.0.6 was awful on my setup). Don't forget all the system tweaks and Run as Admin, with Desktop Composition disabled

[Jamesrey]

Well what would be considered an "approved" chipset? Can I get a link? I was unable to find anything on the website about "qualified" cards for the mbox pro.

[Jamesrey]

By the way, what was wrong with 9.0.6? i updated it because that bug where it blinks stop/play when you hit play.

[albee1952]

Texas Instruments is the approved chipset. As for 9.0.6(or any update), if it addresses issues that you HAVE, then go for it. All I am saying is, don't update for just because its there. On my system, 9.0.6 performed noticeably worse than 9, and I am actually not having any issues. Check for cards from SIIG as that company seems to use the TI chipset on many of their FW cards. Also, you may want to try all 3 drivers that are resident on Windows 7. Avid recommends using the Legacy driver(so start there) but that one never works for me(turns my 003 into a midi note generator). The TI Compliant driver is the one that works here, but each system may be different

[Jamesrey]

Ok. thanx. Yeah, that's what i got, TI. I actually called avid and was able to get it working. Then i used a smaller interface for mixin this song. [I dont need the mbox pro to monitor, i like it for recording.] But today when i plugged it in to record, i am back at the same problem; my computer does not recognize the mbox. It was working fine for like a day until i switched interfaces. Very frustraiting! any further advice would be much appreciated.

[Turbotramp]

Originally Posted by albee1952

Texas Instruments is the approved chipset. As for 9.0.6(or any update), if it addresses issues that you HAVE, then go for it. All I am saying is, don't update for just because its there. On my system, 9.0.6 performed noticeably worse than 9, and I am actually not having any issues. Check for cards from SIIG as that company seems to use the TI chipset on many of their FW cards. Also, you may want to try all 3 drivers that are resident on Windows 7. Avid recommends using the Legacy driver(so start there) but that one never works for me(turns my 003 into a midi note generator). The TI Compliant driver is the one that works here, but each system may be different

hey there! i'm having a similar problem with my Mbox 3 pro. i'm not sure which firewire card to use. i see you are recommending to use TI chipset, i have access in my country to buy the Lycom FW-101TI that uses the TI chipset.
i would appreciate a lot if you could help me decide which way to go :P
my pc is running on windws 7 64bit
thanks a lot!