Will the FW800 issue/Mbox Pro issues ever be fixed??

[biujee]

Would anyone happen to know when these issues may be resolved? It's starting to become very tedious now, and appears to many that DIGI can't be bothered to get a fix sorted for these issues. The new MBP have been out for a while now, yet DIGI is still selling their interfaces with 400 only.. especially portables ones like Mbox pro...??!!! I have the 800-400 convertor but its not the point..

I had an old MBP with FW400 & 800 connections, using my Mbox pro was great, had no problems at all. Using Pro tools and Logic without a hitch.
I then got a new MBP (unibody) and a G-Tech drive with two 800 ports, as like everybody, I like to move with the times and technology... My old 400 lacie drives died so got these as replacements.

I now have so many issues with my setup that its getting unusable.. the fact that you can't have an 800 connection anywhere in the chain is crazy, as Apple are starting to sell their laptops with 800 only.. I know why my setup is going nuts, but just feel that the Mbox Pro being geared towards portability should have a firmware update to fix this?? I know that some are using this configuration fine but it seems very hit and miss for others.

I have read all the threads regarding this, and have tried to follow all the guidelines but don't feel I should spend more money taking my current set up backwards to 400 so that it can fix a problem that surely DIGI should have addressed by now?

Any news or thoughts on how this problem may look to get resolved by DIGI?

Many thanks,
Biu

[Obsidian Dragon]

I agree with you and also wish that this can be fixed soon. Unfortunately, it was Apple that changed the port, not Digidesign. If you've been on this forum for a while, you will see that Digidesign is not the fastest when it comes to making changes and updates. They do a lot of testing and that take time. Changing the Mbox2Pro (and other firewire interfaces) to FW800 will require a redesign of the hardware. This is no easy task. Even simple updates like software changes seem to take a long time with Digidesign. I'm not complaining (okay maybe a little) but waiting is never fun. Even Digidesign didn't anticipate that Apple would drop FW400 so quickly given that it was Apple that pushed this out to the public in the first place.

[biujee]

Yes I totally understand and realize that Apple made the switch probably somewhat prematurely.. but DIGI are still continuing to sell their Mbox Pro regardless of users having to go backwards in technology for it to work..

I understand that we have to wait, but this issue has been around for some time.. telling users to buy a drive that has two FW400 ports on it is not the answer... DIGI rely on Apple to make sales, without their hardware, they would be left to run on PC's...

I would just like to know if we have any indication of a fix of some sort, whether it will be a firmware update to resolve the conflict or a new Mbox all together...

Mbox pro users who have the unibody machines and are having these problems are being treated unfairly by not knowing what the solution is or when it's coming.... How can we be expected to use our "Pro" hardware when we are being forced to operate it using technology that everybody else seems to have adjusted to.

Anybody from Digi have an answer as to when we can expect a fix??

[getz76]

Originally Posted by biujee

but DIGI are still continuing to sell their Mbox Pro regardless of users having to go backwards in technology for it to work..

That is not really fair. To be clear, if you have a single FireWire bus, anything you have connected to it will run at the lowest speed.

I have a Mac Pro. There are four FW800 ports. They are all on the same bus, so when I attached my 003R and my FW800 drive, even on different ports, they all run at FW400 speed.

Making the interface FW800 would be nice, but it really is not necessary. FW400 is plenty fast for 18 simultaneous I/0. Also, plenty of folks are using these interfaces with legacy hardware without FW800 ports.

[biujee]

I totally understand the logic about FW800 running at slower speeds due to them all being on the same bus... My gripe is with the Mbox pro and the new Laptops that only have firewire 800, and how we are not supposed to use FW800 anywhere in the chain??

Technology is moving on, but it seems that for the users that are using the mbox pro with the new unibodys, we are being penalized with poor performance because of Digi not fixing this issue.

[getz76]

Originally Posted by biujee

Technology is moving on, but it seems that for the users that are using the mbox pro with the new unibodys, we are being penalized with poor performance because of Digi not fixing this issue.

I am not sure I understand why you are blaming Avid for this one. It is Apple's issue. You need two buses if you NEED a FW800 drive and a FW400 interface. I have never found FW400 to have "poor performance" with Pro Tools. Are you actually having issues?

No other manufacturer is providing FW800 interfaces, either. Or did I miss some new gear?

[Obsidian Dragon]

Just an opinion: Avid/Digidesign may be hesitant to invest a lot of money to make a firewire800 interface. Apple has been experimenting with removing the firewire port entirely on some models lately. That doesn't give a lot of confidence that firewire will continue to be on all Macs. The new white Macbook, Macbook Air, and the now discontinued unibody Macbook are without firewire ports. Perhaps Apple is looking to move in another direction (ESATA? USB 3.0? FW1600? etc.) If I were Avid, I'd be waiting until Apple plotted a solid course before jumping to FW800. Apple has a history of abandoning technology and leaving users "high and dry." Consider AppleTalk, SCSI, 5V PCI slots, etc. We the end users will have to suffer the waiting until Apple and Avid agree on a common direction.

[filosofem]

Originally Posted by biujee

I had an old MBP [Mbox 2 Pro] with FW400 & 800 connections, using my Mbox pro was great, had no problems at all.

Mbox 2 Pro with supported FW800?


filosofem

[Barry Johns]

This drove me nuts when I had a Mbox 2 Pro, got rid of it and bought a 003 Console. Weird how they can't get this fixed.

[filosofem]

Originally Posted by Barry Johns

This drove me nuts when I had a Mbox 2 Pro, got rid of it and bought a 003 Console.

Both 003 and Mbox 2 Pro support 2x IEEE 1394 connectors what's the difference?


filosofem