003+ rack disconnects at random

[thomastvivlaren]

Hey!

I own a 003+ rack, I've had it for 2 years now and bought it used in a very good condition.
The issue I got is that it disconnects at random when I'm running Pro Tools (version 10.3.7 if I remember correctly). It can be after 20 minutes of work, or after 3 hours. There's no pattern going on so it's hard to find what's the reason for this.
I've tried 2 different firewire cables, reinstalling my whole system (mac mini 2012 - Mountain Lion) and so on. Without any good results.

Any thought on this?

- Thomastvivlaren

[SpinningDisk]

Have you got the latest drivers? Are you running any other programs while running PT?

[thomastvivlaren]

Thanks for your reply!

Yes, I got the latest drivers. And well, I sometimes have the web browser open or text editor for lyrics. But that doesnt seem to be the reason. Even though I just run PT it will still disconnect.

[thomastvivlaren]

No one got a clue about this?

[YYR123]

Maybe check your FireWire port? External drive and see if it happens there as well

The 003r that I had - used to have led's on the inside of the FW connection.....green lights - maybe the FW ports on your interface are going out....hot swapping are a no no for those units

[JFreak]

I'd still think it must be a cable thing. The Mini has fw800 and the 003 has fw400, right? Are you using adapter or special cable, you didn't say. Buy a good quality fw800-->fw400 cable and do not use an adapter, try that and report back.

I had a 002R about 10yr ago and whenever I had trouble with it, it was the fw CABLE (or the infamous power harness CABLE)

[thomastvivlaren]

Thanks for the replies!

I've tried two kinds of firewire cables, one with adaptor and one regular that is good quality. Didn't get much better though.

I think it might be the ports that are going out, I've hot swapped a couple of times before I knew better and I bought it used, so I can't tell how the person before me treated it. The green light on the back panel you mentioned is shining bright even though the device disconnects, but the "host" light on the front panel goes out when the random disconnects are happening.

[@ndy]

Whenever my 003 disconnects, I change the buffer setting and it reconnects. Might work for you as well.

[SpinningDisk]

I don't know if you can but have you tried reloading firmware, resetting pram etc..?

[thomastvivlaren]

Thanks for the replies!

A couple of days ago I uninstalled the firmware and installed the most up to date version of it again. But it still disconnects.

I've kept the drivers window open when I run Pro Tools to see what happens when it disconnects. I discovered that it says "Hardware Connected" - "Streaming", and when it disconnects it stays the same. But the weird thing here is that even if I quit Pro Tools when the device has disconnected, the driver stays in "Hardware Connected" - "Streaming". Although it should be "Hardware Connected" - "Not Streaming".

Also, I've double checked that the Link LED on the rear panel is still green when the device disconnects. Which I guess means that the device got connection with the computer. And as I mentioned earlier the "Host" LED on the front panel dies when the device disconnects - doesnt this indicate that there is a firmware problem going on? Since it got connection with the computer even though it disconnects when using Pro Tools. But I might be wrong!

Just now I also discovered that the drivers says OSX Mavericks only and PT 11 only. http://avid.force.com/pkb/articles/e...02-003-Drivers , might this be the issue here?