No sound on 002R units

[JFreak]

Power up, yes. Open a PT session, unmuted.

[t-sun]

Mine must be different somehow from what you're remembering, opening a new session does not do that. The Mute only affects the monitor outputs anyway, and has nothing to do with the inputs.


I have just confirmed that setting Analog Out 1-2 as the output for the PC sound itself will output sound through the headphones jack. Setting In 1-2 for PC sound input does not show any incoming sound and it still does not pass sound to Pro Tools.



Is there a factory reset procedure or something I can try? A service manual? I can't find a software control setting and everything else seems to work, each 002R was sourced from a different seller and they seem to have the same problem, which indicates software but I'm not familiar with them enough to know what else might go wrong. Maybe a firmware update that caused problems, which can be rolled back?

[JFreak]

Factory reset is unplugging power for 4 hrs then power up again.

[EGS]

Originally Posted by t-sun

I have two 002R units that I'm trying to use with an old Windows XP-based Dell D830 laptop (not both wired, I know that won't work, one will be an ADAT slave to have a full 16 tracks if I can get them working). However, I'm not getting any signal on any channel on either of them, either through to the headphones output or in to Pro Tools LE 8. Tracks armed, inputs selected, I see nothing on the meters. The lights appear to act as expected, both units can be (individually) recognized by the computer and by Pro Tools. To be completely clear: I am not connecting both to the computer at the same time.



I've been testing with various instruments (guitar, synths, drum machines) plugged directly in to each channel on the rear of both. I've also opened both up and reseated the internal cable connections and checked for corrosion, both appear fine. It seems unlikely that both units could have exactly the same problem, but with kit this old it's possible?


Am I missing something that should be obvious to someone with more experience?

Try all I/O settings set to all the defaults? Are you seeing 8 ins & 8 outs in the I/O settings page?

[t-sun]

Originally Posted by EGS

Try all I/O settings set to all the defaults? Are you seeing 8 ins & 8 outs in the I/O settings page?

I am:
Mic/Line 1-2
Mic/Line 3-4
Analog In 5-6
Analog In 7-8


Plus the 8 ADATs and stereo S/PDIF. I'm testing by creating default template projects, either 32 or 24 channels, from the opening screen. Hardware settings page shows Digidesign FW 002 Rack set to 44.1khz.

[Darryl Ramm]

When troubleshooting KISS

Stop using templates and start with new empty sessions, just create mono audio tracks one for each input.

Always start by confirming outputs works. Import a known good commercial recording into a session and confirm that it plays back OK.

Common mistakes causing no meter inputs on a track is using the wrong track type, not having phantom power engaged if it is needed, and not having the preamp gain turned up, or rarely being in postfader metering mode and having the faders pulled down. With the 002 the mic/line push in/out switches have to be in the correct position. Make sure you are not making some basic mistake here, the common factor between both these units is the person driving them.

Get signal gen plugin running on one mono audio track output to a physical output and running at say -3 dbFS and with a 1/4 phono TRS to TRS cable use that to test each analog line input. Worry about line inputs before preamps or DI inputs. Test stuff with signal gen, not trying to play different instruments, that is what it is there for, again KISS.

There is just nothing great that a 002R offers, and instead of this museum-ware you would almost certainly be better off with any modern low-cost USB interface.

[t-sun]

Originally Posted by Darryl Ramm

When troubleshooting KISS

Stop using templates and start with new empty sessions, just create mono audio tracks one for each input.

Always start by confirming outputs works. Import a known good commercial recording into a session and confirm that it plays back OK.

OK, imported a stereo WAV file from a sample CD demo track to a blank Pro Tools project stereo track. Output to headphones is fine, shows the waveform fine.

Originally Posted by Darryl Ramm

Common mistakes causing no meter inputs on a track is using the wrong track type

Default tracks have been audio, created a blank and set for mono audio.

Originally Posted by Darryl Ramm

not having phantom power engaged if it is needed, and not having the preamp gain turned up, or rarely being in postfader metering mode and having the faders pulled down.

Not needed, knob is up, mix window shows defaults at 0db. I'm not sure how I would set it to post-fader metering, but the meter is showing zero and I'm getting zero audio so I expect that hasn't somehow gotten changed on a blank project.

Originally Posted by Darryl Ramm

With the 002 the mic/line push in/out switches have to be in the correct position. Make sure you are not making some basic mistake here, the common factor between both these units is the person driving them.

I've honestly tested it with the switch in both positions, and also tried to move the switch a bit to see if I get any pop in the signal or change in output. I get nothing. I agree, the issue is common between the two units and therefore something common, either me doing something wrong or the system having some setting I'm not aware of. I've actually got two different compatible Dell laptops that I can test with, both have the same problem. I'm hoping it's a matter of my own matter of not knowing what I don't know.

Originally Posted by Darryl Ramm

There is just nothing great that a 002R offers, and instead of this museum-ware you would almost certainly be better off with any modern low-cost USB interface.

They are cheap, I had a compatible computer available already, and a very good analog mixer I intended to use with them. The only replacement for the setup I am replacing is another out of production firewire mixer. At this point, I just want to confirm that the equipment works before I sell it. I have a hardware studio and I use DAWs solely for recording. Older computers are plenty powerful to function as a multi-track hobbyist studio and this hardware may not cost much now, but considering how expensive it was back when new, it would be a bit of a disgrace for it to be dedicated to the landfill at this point.

[EGS]

Originally Posted by t-sun

... Output to headphones is fine, shows the waveform fine....

Cool, you are now getting output.

Inputs? Patch a known line level signal into each one of the 8 analog inputs. Any inputs working? Try ADAT & Spdif inputs, too. Anything?

Uninstall/reinstall 002 drivers? Trash prefs? Bad plugs? Corrupted OS? Un/reinstall ProTools?

[Darryl Ramm]

Sounds like you've done some good troubleshooting.

I would still test with signal gen, confirm you have a high level output at the further TRS plug on the output cable with a multimeter and use that to probe the line inputs.

I would still try to think through any common things here, whether they are as simple as sharing a potential broken audio cable or anything else you might be doing.

I would confirm that optical ADAT and S/PDIF coaxial input(s) are dead as well. Making sure you are feeding them at the correct sample rate, and clocking from the digital input.

Especially if the analog inputs only are faulty, you might want to poke around the 002 internals, starting with the power supply voltages and distribution to the analog inputs.

[t-sun]

Originally Posted by EGS

Cool, you are now getting output.

Inputs? Patch a known line level signal into each one of the 8 analog inputs. Any inputs working? Try ADAT & Spdif inputs, too. Anything?

Uninstall/reinstall 002 drivers? Trash prefs? Bad plugs? Corrupted OS? Un/reinstall ProTools?

I've tried multiple inputs. I don't really think using one or the other of the two 002Rs as an ADAT input would be useful if neither seem to carry basic audio, and I have no other ADAT input devices, and no SPDIF inputs.



As I said before, I have two older Dell laptops which have the built-in Firewire with the Intel chipset, both have the same input issue. The other is XP SP3, 2gb ram, same version of Pro Tools LE.