DM-4800 shows "Locked" on LCD, but "Unlocked" on the PC

[goodflow]

Greetings!
I'm in the process of setting up a DM-4800 with a new PC (Core i5, Windows 7, Cubase 7 as the DAW) and am running into some roadblocks. I believe (though I'm not 100% certain) that the problem can be narrowed down to an issue with FireWire connectivity. The Tascam runs flawlessly as a DAW controller, setup was straightforward and easy, my problem is with getting audio through the DM-4800. I believe everything is setup correctly both in Windows and on the board itself- I get intermittent audio. The readout on the DM-4800's LCD for the MKII card's status says "OK", and "1394: Locked". The mkII control panel app on the computer, however, says "Status: Unlocked", or sometimes goes back and forth between Locked and Unlocked. Additionally, the "Audio Dropouts" number continuously increases, up into the thousands. I've run just about all of the troubleshooting ideas I can think of, as well as everything I've found on the net, to no avail. Does anybody have any insight into what else I might try? Thanks!

 

[goodflow]

short reply to add that I've more or less isolated the FireWire card as the culprit- likely incompatible chip-set. I've gone ahead and ordered a SIIG DP-Firewire card that seems to have a successful track record with this Tascam.

 

[Tonepad]

Swap in a new cable, I've had one go bad. Good that you're trying a different FW chip though I've run 3 different kinds, TI, Via and now whatever is in my Asus x79 Sabertooth Mobo...never had a problem there, but FW chipsets can and do go bad as well.

 

[goodflow]

Thanks, I should have mentioned in the first post that the FireWire connection worked fine in my iMac, so I know it wasn't the cable. I installed a SIIG DP FireWire PCIe card in the PC today and it's eliminated the the connectivity problem at least... I still haven't gotten audio through the board, but I'm running a fever and am somewhat delirious so the configuration and troubleshooting will have to wait a few days

If anyone has some audio-routing (specifically, WDM configuration) resources beyond the IF-FW/DM mkII setup guide I'd love to take a look at them. I just built a new PC for the studio after ~15 years as a Mac elitist (deciding factor was cost- the identical hardware configuration running OS X would have cost me nearly 4 times as much) and am unaccustomed to so much tinkering. cheers!