Firewire connection?

[Sober]

So I've had my Firepod for a while now and I haven't had any real problems. But just today it started giving me trouble.

On the front of the unit, it shows a red light when there is no connection at all, a blue light when the connection is fine, and the light will flash red/blue when there is a flawed connection.

Upon turning it on this evening, I got a red light. I hadn't made any changes to my configuration since I used it last. After shutting off the Firepod, trying different firewire ports, restarting my computer, and getting new drivers, I managed to get a blue/red light.

Even then, when I'm trying to reinstall the drivers, it says to connect the device to continue installation. I do so, but it can't detect it.

I tried connecting the spdif thing, so it'd have a word clock sync or what the fuck ever. Now I've got a red light again.

I've checked my hardware properties and all that, and I don't see any obvious problems on the pc end of things.

Is hardware specifically designed to deteriorate like this? What the fuck?

[starfinger]

do other firewire devices still work ok?

the only firewire tip I know is to make sure that windows isn't trying to manage the power settings for the port, but that doesn't sound related to this problem.

you could try uninstalling and then reinstalling.

or, you know, ask presonus or something.

-craig

[stueym]

So I've had my Firepod for a while now and I haven't had any real problems. But just today it started giving me trouble.
....
Is hardware specifically designed to deteriorate like this? What the fuck?

As a fellow firewire sufferer (Yamaha 01X has Yamaha's own proprietary hellish interpretation of 1394 called mLan) I have had my share of issues.

First did you change any other hardware or drivers in your systems since last having a stable environment? Did you isntall any new software that installs drivers....If so there is your trouble. 1394 is more fragile that fine porcelein.

Other thing may be what starfinger says about power on the PCI bus. Graphics cards in particular mess with 1394 lots!. Apparently almost all graphics cards will install thenir drivers in such a way that they dominate everything on the PCI bus. You can change the latency settings using a utility called Powerstrip. There are others but this is the one I have used. Basically you reduce the priority of the graphics card by setting it with a lower latency value and making your firewire card the dominant one.(higher value) be careful this is different from the latency we talk about in music software where low numbers are good. Here high numbers mean more priority so big is better.

Read:

suspect Graphic card (or other PCI card such as UAD/Powercore) is hoging the bus (symptoms- pops, cracles, silence etc)

Download free utility -Powerstrip-

http://entechtaiwan.net/util/ps.shtm

Graphics cards can sometimes be too aggressive in holding the bus*, causing problems for other bus-master devices, most notably sound cards. Although most mainboard BIOS Setup programs have an option where you can specify a default PCI latency, many cards ignore or override this setting.

To address this problem, PowerStrip allows you to specify the latency for each bus master device on the PCI bus.


1. PowerStrip menu > Options > Adapter information
2. Uncheck the Read-only checkbox
3. Use the device selector to select the bus master that needs adjustment
4. Change the latency - the value is a multiple of 8
5. Click Apply

Repeat for each bus master.

There aren't any hard and fast rules on appropriate values, but as a general guideline higher values yield better performance at the expense of other devices, while lower values are more appropriate to systems with multiple PCI cards.

I go to http://www.01xray.com lots for their forum. In partiicular the following sticky thread http://www.01xray.com/forums/showflat.p ... o=&fpart=1 has lots of good suggestions. Many are 01X specific but others are 1394 generic. Hope some of this helps.

[Sober]

More peices to my puzzle:

My soundcard (SB Audigy2 Platinum) has two firewire ports, one on the back and one on the front dock. Neither are working with the firepod. I don't own any other firewire gear to test this.

I haven't installed or altered a single peice of software or hardware since I got the firepod.

I won't be able to call Presonus from home until Tuesday, as every other day I'll be working during their business hours.

Thanks!

[ken]

I can't imagine why your soundcard would have a firewire input on it.

Perhaps you could spend $20 to get a PCI firewire input card to see if that works better. I have one and it works great with my MOTU 828mk2.

See page 79 of the SoundBlaster Audigy 2 Platnum manual. "Operating multiple audio devices in your computer may introduce usability issues."

Perhaps you could try disabling your Soundblaster card and using a firewire input connected to your mobo instead. Why is your SB card still installed anyway? Don't you use the firepod for all your audio needs now?

Ken

P.S. Try sending the Presonus nerds an e-mail for assistance.