PLEASE! Update Mac FW-1884 drivers to 64 bit

So I made a quick discovery... I opened the Windows 1.8 driver which is for 32 and 64 bit... I opened it in Notebook. There are several tabs one of which shows as the MAC "FW1884_OSX_1_7_0.dmg".... WHY would the Mac "dmg" version 1.70 data be imbedded into the PC 1.80 version?

I am thinking that the answer lies in how it was compiled. There are other tabs which I have no clue on but I think that the drivers are compiled together. I wonder if one could study the structures and create the necessary code from there?
 
Did you really expect endless support for your money? That you were buying a digital product that would work forever? That was not a reasonable expectation. All companies make decisions about the life-cycle of their products based on profitability and demand. They all eventually stop making and supporting everything. And eventually all products become obsolete. Your old Tascam mixer is obsolete.... it's noisy by current standards, you can't get parts for it if it breaks, but more importantly it is not digital and does not need to interface with other digital devices running more modern software. All digital gear is obsolete long before it breaks.

Go ahead and write the driver, if you have the skills. Or see if a program like 32Lives will being the driver into 64-bit glory. Or do as I suggested and contact the company that actually created the drivers, track down the programmer, and see what he or she can do. Or do as thousands of other users of hundreds of others digital devices have done and just move on.
 
Jim, good points. I did contact Tascam as I indicated. Three times in fact. No response. They stopped support around 2010 about the time 64 bit was coming out. They did write a 64 bit driver for the PC. All they had to do was write a 64 bit driver for the Mac and the mixer could still be used today... no physical obsolescence - merely a driver issue. The hardware is not obsolete.

All I ask is for the source code and I will pay for the driver being developed. I am not a programmer but I can get someone to do it. I do not seek profit. I just want to run my hardware.

Since all we have are drivers there is a possibility to reverse engineer those at the binary level based on research I have done.

Then again... maybe I will just build a new and better mixing system. ;)
 
i remember buying a driver for a webcam to support audio input on an old mac years ago and the company that did it was supposedly well known for making audio drivers for hire... been trying to think of the name of them but can't so far...

argh...

it is a shame that i've got 8 mic pre's that are now useless as well as the 6 analogue outs that i was going to use for mixing 5.1 argh....

araraghdfsfhskj
 
can anyone recommend a replacement for the FW-1884?

i can temporarily do without the control surface but I need the mic pre's and the 6 analogue outs for mixing 5.1 audio...

shouldn't there be HDMI audio output interfaces by now?

anyone?

was thinking the Tascam US 366 might be suitable but throwing more cash at Tascam doesn't really tell them we aren't happy with them arbitrarily abandoning products?
 
can anyone recommend a replacement for the FW-1884?

i can temporarily do without the control surface but I need the mic pre's and the 6 analogue outs for mixing 5.1 audio...

shouldn't there be HDMI audio output interfaces by now?

anyone?

was thinking the Tascam US 366 might be suitable but throwing more cash at Tascam doesn't really tell them we aren't happy with them arbitrarily abandoning products?


YES, Behringer is introducing the X-Touch which will give you everything AND more than the FW-1884. Street price will be $599. You can add other modules and make it larger or hook it to an X32 or X32 Rack unit. It comes out in July. It rocks.

If you need an A/D converter I am using the Presonus Firestudio and it ROCKS. That's around $300 or less.

The verdict... moving on to new gear that is not Tascam... I mean they have the word "scam" in their name... huh. No more Tascam. You suck.
 
YES, Behringer is introducing the X-Touch which will give you everything AND more than the FW-1884. Street price will be $599. You can add other modules and make it larger or hook it to an X32 or X32 Rack unit. It comes out in July. It rocks.

If you need an A/D converter I am using the Presonus Firestudio and it ROCKS. That's around $300 or less.

The verdict... moving on to new gear that is not Tascam... I mean they have the word "scam" in their name... huh. No more Tascam. You suck.

i ended up buying a Focusrite Saffire Pro DSP and i think I'll get the x-touch controller that looks amazing! thanks for the tip!

anyone want to buy a FW-1884? i guess these could still be useful for windows users? it's no-go for mac users now?
 
I know this is a bit of an old thread - but I'm ready for action. I have reached out to Barry/Charlie of Frontier Design Group directly via email to see if I can't get my hands on the source code (if frontier even wrote it - they may have only designed the hardware). If I don't hear back from them or if they are unable to get me in contact with the correct people, I will be working my way up the chain in TASCAM. I'll keep you all updated!
 
I have given up entirely on Tascam. If you want my FW-1884 and custom anvil case (the first case custom designed for the 1884 by Anvil's group for me) let me know. It is a nice paper weight at the moment. Behringer xTouch comes out in just a few weeks, light years ahead, expandable to make a larger module, and far smaller and cheaper. You will need an A/D converter as I said above I use a Presonus Firestudio and there are many (also expandable) out there. Here's a preview of the xTouch:
 
Good Luck Nathan!

I can't blame Geozero much, but I would stay with the FW1884 if it had drivers. I haven't seen any technical docs yet for the X-Touch, but if it does HUI it should work with Logic Pro out of the box....
 
See: http://www.behringer.com/EN/products/X-TOUCH.aspx

Yes, HUI and Mackie out of the box. EXPANDABLE system. Will COMPLETELY integrate with all new OS systems. Has a 3 YEAR warranty!! 3 YEARS !!!!

  • Universal DAW Remote Controller for Studio and Live applications
  • Supports HUI* and Mackie Control* protocols for seamless integration with every compatible music production software
  • 9 fully automated and touch-sensitive 100 mm motorized faders
  • 8 dynamic LCD Scribble Strips for instant overview of track names and parameters
  • Ethernet interface for RTP (Real-Time Protocol) MIDI and future BEHRINGER X32 remote control
  • 8 rotary controls with LED-collars for on-the-fly adjustments of your favorite parameters

    • 92 dedicated illuminated buttons for direct access of key functions
    • 8-segment LED meters per channel for precise level control
    • Large jog/shuttle wheel and tape-style transport controls for intuitive operation
    • Built-in 2x2 USB/MIDI interface for direct connection to Mac* or PC computers and one external MIDI device
    • 2 dedicated footswitch connectors and one foot controller input for external remote control
    • 2-port powered multi-TT USB hub for connecting additional controllers
    • "Planet Earth" switching power supply for maximum flexibility (100 - 240 V~) and low power consumption for energy saving
    • 3-Year Warranty Program**
 
I just got a used FW1884 to supplement my FW1082 that I am using on Windows 7 and on OsX 10.8.4 with Logic. Just the control surface, but as someone pointed out, the audio section isn't all that stellar anyway. You say on 64 bit macintosh?? yes.

I hope to get the FW1884 working as well, we'll see how it goes. My method is to use a machine that has a driver as a gateway and connect it to the OsX 10.8 machine over the LAN.

Macs have Network MIDI, and Windows has RtpMIDI. I use my Win7-64 DAW machine with the 1.8 64 bit driver, and switch the virtual connection so either the Windows DAW or the Mac DAW uses the FW1082. You could use an older Mac running 32 bit OsX to do the same thing. On Windows you need Rtp.MIDI to make the connection over the LAN. On OsX you have the equivalent as Network MIDI, they even have identical setup panels.

Truth be told, the switching is the worst part, and if you throw a handheld into the stew it's virtual spaghetti. So maybe I'll devote one control surface permanently to each DAW. But once connected the FW1082 control surface works as well as it ever did with Logic.

The virtual connection is not specific to Logic, it should work with any Macintosh DAW software that understands the TASCAMs native mode, or its other modes like Mackie and HUI for that matter.

Here is a link to the procedure for making the FW1082 work with Logic X (Apple added insult to injury by removed the TASCAM template from the app with version 10.0.5):

https://www.gearslutz.com/board/10483306-post34.html

I'll put up more info on this forum once I determine if the same works OK for the FW1884.

As to writing a modern OsX driver, it could be anything from "eminently doable" to "very very difficult". It's not an application. "Just recompiling for 64 bits" is generally a pipe dream in the world of drivers.

Thank heaven for the 64 bit TASCAM Windows driver! Both OsX and Logic are 64 bit only - special case, need ninja tactics. But I rather expect the existing Windows 64 bit drivers can be shoe-horned into Windows 8 if you get past the installation. I'm not leaping at Windows 8 at the moment any more than at Maverick or Snow Maverick or whatever. Don't fix it if it ain't broke.

And DAMN it took me days to find this:
to invoke the FW1884 demo mode or POST or Self-Test (or whatever you call it) you hold all 4 REW + STOP + REC + SET keys while you power it up.

There's a factory reset invoked by holding PAN + FLIP + AUX3 + AUX4 and simultaneously power on.

And you guys on the 3 year Behringer warranty watch out, I learned the hard way the standard warranty on Behringer gear is 1 year, extensible to 3 if you register the product just so. I just squeezed by on the replacement of an FCA610.
 
Fernand -

Thanks for your informative post!

Lyford
 
My luck ran out. I have been using the FW-1082 as a control surface very and most effectively by keeping it connected to my old G5 dual PPC mac. That's the server. It makes a powerful wind tunnel disco sound, without even needing speakers. It runs OsX 10.5 and the last Tascam driver works fine on it with the 1082.

Then I only need to change one thing to pick it up over the LAN from
  • Logic Pro X 10.0.7 on OsX 10.8.4 64 bit, or from
  • Cubase 5 or Nuendo 4 on Windows 7 64 bit.
  • Or from just about any system.
The only thing to change is whether the FW1082 is in "Native" (for Logic) or "Cubase/Nuendo" (for ... Cubase & Nuendo) mode. That is easily changed with the FW-1082 control panel and without even resetting the virtual connection. A nice side effect of using this approach even for Windows 7 that has a perfectly good local driver is that when things get confused, and they do, it's much harder to lock up the DAW when the control surface is "further away".

Yet sadly a problemito developed with the FW-1884 that I just acquired over e-bay, and that took 2 weeks to get here. It appears to be fully equipped with two Firewire ports that be dead. It has fully connected once for a minute or so, with Logic on the adjacent i5 Mountain Lion machine, and flashing lotsa LEDs very BlingBling, joyfully clacking its flying faders, proving that the concept is sound, but the rest of the last two days it has failed to keep the FireWire LED on longer than a few seconds, no matter what I do. It's apparently good'n screwed.

The G5 Mac is a proud warrior from the good old days of the FW-1884, and if any system is to happily coexist with the FWs, this be it. And it doesn't. I've tried other firewire connections, and those act the same. Or rather the FW-1884 acts the same. Now the boat anchor must be shipped back, or something. Thanks to our FW benefactor, we have downloadable schematics for at least the FW-1884, I have downloaded them, so maybe I'm crazy enough to try fixing the 1884's firewire (and also the 1082's audio circuit). I doubt it. Direct your prayers to 1-800-PRAY4ME. If anyone has FW-1082 schematics PLEASE advise and skip the prayers.

Meanwhile those of you with fully functional FW-1884s can hold a candle to its feet and it has a good chance of working like the FW-1082 in the scheme outlined above.
 
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It turns out that once I
1 - updated the firmware
2 - warmed the FW-1884 up in ways I cannot describe in mixed company
everything started working, quite well.

Even with the VIA chip Firewire board and the Legacy driver on Windows 7. That worked with the FW-1082, and now both 1082 and 1884 are working on Windows 7-64bit and mac OsX 10.5, and (indirectly) OsX 10.8. I can keep them hooked up as desired, say the FW1884 on the windows machine where I can use its preamps (that are discrete transistor based and pretty damned clean), or on my old G5 dual 2 Ghz PPC, that used to be a fast machine, but presently is lucky to be asked out at all, and makes a decent bridge.

Cubase works fine with the FW1884 local and the 1082 remote. Logic X on the i5 runs with both Tascams remote (but no audio of course). I'm working on how to optimize the layout of my new-found dual control surface armada, time to visit IKEA.

Here is pretty complete info on how to get the Tascams working over the LAN to provide them as Control Surfaces for Logic Pro X, which is a beautiful DAW that only runs 64 bit and hence can't use the Tascams locally.

https://www.gearslutz.com/board/logic-pro-x/853795-fw-1884-support-2.html

Have fun.
 
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Oh, so glad I didn't have to replace U9.
So glad I can now use both the Fw1082 and FW1884.

For those who have never used rtp.MIDI (network MIDI)
to connect a device, it's a perfectly viable way to bypass
the absence of a local driver on the target machine. It's
not Rocket Science, and it works much like a cable.

Although the older preamps on theseTASACAMs might
not be "the latest and greatest", it's worth mentioning
that by using SPDIF or other digital carriers, it's possible
to bring them into fold on the target machine. It might
also be doable with an audio-over-ethernet protocol like
JACK.
 
I am trying to use my tascam fw 1884 as a control surface in fl studio i downloaded the most recent windows 7 drivers (1.80) from the website its showing up on the midi selection in fl studio but its not communicating. i got it without the installation disc is there something that i am missing besides a driver? i am using a HP pavilion dv6 (windows 7)
 
I don't use FL but you should be able to make it work. There are bits and pieces of additional info under "documentation", and scattered on the web. Deering Amps has a phenomenal web page dealing with the 1884, including schematics.

Fundamentally, the 64 bit 1.80 driver works in Windows 7, it enables both Audio functionality through ASIO and MIDI comms as 1) a MIDI interface and 2) a control surface. Compared to making it work in OsX, it's a piece of cake. The TASCAM must be set to the right mode to match what the DAW expects, whether native, Mackie or other protocol. You have to study the options, and you must know what FL wants. Go back to the Tascam site and also Deering Amps.

http://deeringamps.com/fw1884/

Can you be very specific as to what is showing up and what you mean by "not communicating"? What HAS worked for you?
 
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Appreciate the knowlegde Fl studio uses mackie protocol I'm currently trying to figure out how to enable the mackie control emulation on the Tascam so that the DAW picks it up..thanks
 

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