DM4800 Firewire Win10 Driver Offline

Jacko

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DM4800
Hi guys, getting really frustrated here, hoping someone can help. I know this topic has been covered quite in-depth, but I can find a solution so far.

Basically, my DM4800 with IF-FW Mk2 was working perfectly until I upgraded my entire system, now its not. Was running Win7 on an ASUS P6T motherboard that had built in Firewire (VIA Chipset) and everything was dandy. Now I have a new Gigabyte board that doesn't have Firewire, so have needed to find an old Firewire card that works....what a drama.

I've been through 4 now and the most successful one is the current TI chipset one, even though the others were VIA with compatible chipsets, none are even found by the desk software. The TI card comes up as compatible and seen by the Tascam software, so moving on with this one. I have 4 firewire cables too, 2 brand new, 2 older ones that used to work.

For the longest time the desk was saying 'No Cable' then all of a sudden it 'found' the cable and now I just have 'Driver Offline' error....progress I guess. The FW Software is blank, other then the system button. The desk says 'Driver Offiline'

So drivers. I am running the legacy driver as suggested in your sticky post. Please see screenshot. I have tried numerous times swaping drivers and rebooting, none of which makes any differance (other then updating the info seen in the FW control pannel)

I am currently running vf8 FW driver over f9, this has made no differance.

The TMC is v1.5

Desk is v1.7 with 1.10 firmware on the FW card.

For the record, I have tested moving the FW card between slot 1 and 3, also a second computer laptop. None of this makes any differance.
 

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Are you saying you tried a laptop as well with Windows 10? It's not clear from what you wrote. Do you have another XP or Windows 7 machine you can test with to rule out hardware issues? You may have coincidentally a hardware issue with either your DM or the IF-FW/DMMKII card. Also the fact that your new computer isn't installing the VIA chipset based cards is odd as well. I'd suggest the following in order:
  • Go through the Windows 10 checklist again in the sticky.
  • Try on another XP or Windows 7 machine to rule out hardware issue.
  • Try another motherboard (the largest common denominator here that's changed was your motherboard).
 
I't's also been reported that many people are having general PCIe FW issues with motherboards using the Skylake chipset 170, 150 and 110 chipsets. Another member mentioned this issue in another thread and although I was suspicious of the reports at the time, I'm starting to think otherwise especially if your new board happens to use any of those chipsets.

http://www.tascamforums.com/threads/motherboard-chipsets-and-firewire-400.4254/

Some have had success using a FW-800 card but I can't vouch if the DM's will play nice with whatever chip-sets are in those. Like I said earlier, it may be worth it using a "newer" older board like the one I recommended. The Asus I'm using has an Intel 3.4GHz i7 chip in it and is screams and will definitely work.
 
One thing I also read is if your FW card has a power connector...use it. The cards I referenced in the thread above both have power connectors. I didn't have to use them with my motherboard however it's possible that the reason your having issues is related to the newer boards and voltage. This may also explain why your OS doesn't recognize the VIA based ones. I'd check and try that first before anything else.

From the manual:

Note: The power connector is designed to provide additional power to the board when needed. This connection is OPTIONAL. We recommend to connect this power connector when the following conditions occur: - All ports are used - Firewire devices not being detected. In case you need to connect this power connector, power off your system first before making this connection.
 
Hiya, thanks so much for your help so far!

Good tip on the Firewire power, have connected that - unfortunately, made no difference to any of my firewire cards being detected.
My system is a new H170-d3hp board from Gigabyte, so yes has the 170 chipset. I've scoured the web and can't find any info on Firewire problems, however I have email tech support at Gigabyte so will let you know what they say. Windows sees the firewire cards and correctly instals software, its just the Tascam control panel doesn't - even though with my TI Firewire card it tells me its compatible in the system area.

I have gone back over my steps using your sticky post with both my TI and VIA cards. Unfortunately, computer says 'no'

The laptop I was using has WinXP installed.

I do still have my ASUS P6T motherboard that works, but I'm reluctant to just throw out all my nice shiny new PC gear to go back to it.

Moving forward: This is obviously going to be a nightmare anytime I upgrade hardware or a new Windows comes out, the support for Firewire will eventually stop. What would you suggest as an alternative to using the desk with a PC? The TIDF outputs would be the first consideration I guess, but then again where is anything that supports TIDF anymore? Other option is sell it and buy a Presonus or somthing, but then one day USB will stop and back to square one.

The joys of outdated digital equipment eh.
 
If you don't want to replace your motherboard with a known working one like I suggested, then my other suggestion is to try a FW-800 card which I've read others have had success with. I'm not sure what to tell you beyond that as it seems like its quite possible those chipsets have issues with FW-400 cards. As far as moving forward, it doesn't make sense to abandon this great mixer all because you can't use the latest and greatest motherboard. Like I said, the board I linked you to that I currently use with a 3.4GHz i7 Intel Processor works perfectly with Windows 10 (other than the remote layer/cascade issue which I'm still not sure exists beyond Cubase). That's pretty fast using the latest Windows OS and will probably last me another 10 years. More than likely one of my DM3200's will have a fatal issue before then. I don't feel at all "outdated" with those specs while I am using a mixer that was released over 10 years ago. It's quite remarkable actually.
 
Hi, I've had a reply from Gigabyte. In pigeon English they basically said there were no reported issues with Firewire not working with my board or the chipset, but anything like that I would need to talk with the Firewire card manufacturer. I've sent Texas Instruments an email, not expecting much from them as the card is about 5 years old.

On a side note, my wife had a Firewire video camera I had forgotten about. That works perfectly with the firewire card extracting video footage. So I've basically confirmed the card is working fine, even the Tascam software 'sees' it, just totally blank on the control software and still the 'Driver Offline' on the board.

I'm not sure how to go on, to be honest. I'm not overly in love with the board, but it does look impressive in the Argosy enclosure. It's more eye candy right now than anything I can actually use. Anyone living in New Zealand interested in making an offer, I'm all ears.
 
You didn't say if you tried again on your old windows 7 to rule out IF-FW card or DM hardware issue. You said it did work in the past but have you confirmed it still does?
 
It would be too much trouble, it's in a thousand pieces in an old shoebox lol.
 
Nothing else I could suggest then. Before selling though, if that's your intention, it would be fair to verify that there is no defect. Good luck.
 
Any updates with this thread? What's the final verdict? Do the H170 chip based motherboards have issues with PCIe FireWire 400 cards or did you get it to work?
 
Nah I've lost interest in it, the boards in storage till I can sell it. I was wasting days trying to get it working, and it will happen again when the next Windows comes out I'm sure. Using a little Focusrite interface till I can find an alternative console to buy.
 
I've gone from XP to Windows 7 to Windows 10 with the Dm3200 with no major issues. I can assure you that your problem isn't a Tascam or Windows 10 problem as many of us have migrated successfully. More than likely your problem hast to do with your new motherboard and/or the FireWire card chipset. Sorry to hear you gave up. Refer to this thread where another user is using a new Asus board with the X99 chipset successfully in Windows 10.

http://www.tascamforums.com/threads/dm4800-firewire-win10-driver-offline.4311/
 
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Yes, I think you're right - its just now I have a stack of fireiwire cards sitting here (5) that don't work - I just don't have the patience or budget to keep blowing $50 every time I see one on line in hope it works with this motherboard. The best way forward for me would be to flag the whole firewire side and find a A/D converter, hopefully something that works with TDIF as the board has a heap of those built in. Any advice in that direction?
 
Or maybe try one of the several motherboards that were recommended. You still need to first confirm whether or not your IF FW/MKII is functioning.
 
I've had this experience twice, found out that the firewire chip on the firewire Tascam card was dead, and had to be replaced :-/ I learned that the Tascam firewire board is fragile to eletrical bursts (or what its called, I'm Danish) and, in my case anyway, its important to unplug power from both my mixer and pc (also after unpluggin the pc power, hold in the power buttom for 5 secs), before pluggin/unpluggin the firewire cable. Hotswap I think is shure to break the chip on the board. Had my card repaired at a German company called Triplex.
 
Just to chime in here... I too have the H170 D3HP motherboard and have firewire issues also.

I upgraded my machine to an i7 6700, and found my via chipset firewire card was crackling and popping at all latency settings - including really long settings.

It used to be rock solid down to 3 ms on my old machine.

The card was recognized fine, I tried the legacy fire wire drivers, fiddled with bios settings, upgraded to a TI chipset firewire card.

Finally I flashed the motherboard bios to the newest version and now my machine does not see the firewire card in the Device Manager at all.

The one thing I am yet to try is to roll back to Windows 7, like my old machine was...

Anyway, it's leading me to suspect that there is an issue with this motherboard and firewire, especially after reading this:
https://www.gearslutz.com/board/music-computers/1027357-skylake-firewire-issues.html
 
I've had this experience twice, found out that the firewire chip on the firewire Tascam card was dead, and had to be replaced :-/ I learned that the Tascam firewire board is fragile to eletrical bursts (or what its called, I'm Danish) and, in my case anyway, its important to unplug power from both my mixer and pc (also after unpluggin the pc power, hold in the power buttom for 5 secs), before pluggin/unpluggin the firewire cable. Hotswap I think is shure to break the chip on the board. Had my card repaired at a German company called Triplex.

How did you discover the chip was dead? Is there a self-diagnostics you can run, or does it need to be sent away for checking?
 
Getting to the point where I will soon need to upgrade to Win 10. My current Mobo is an ASUS P9X79 WS (Intel x79 chipset) with integrated firewire 400 that has always worked seamlessly with my DM-4800 and IF-FW/DM MK2.

I still use Cakewalk Sonor Producer X3

I'm guessing the IF-FW/DM MK2 driver will install in Win 10, but will it work? Will TMC Companion install and work?

Here is my equipment page, https://warpdriveprod.com/equipment.htm

Thanks!
 

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