FW1884 loses sync win7 x64

[quixotic120]

Hello

I have a FW 1884 that is set up with an older windows 7 x64 pc (core i5 650, 8gb ram) with a TI FireWire card.

Right now it works but it’s so delicate; it will work well for a bit then I will have an issue where the “in sync” text in the clocking section of the monitor app will drop and reappear over and over (along with a faint pop in the monitors). Any computer audio that plays is choppy because it only plays when in sync. The FireWire light remains lit throughout.

once it starts doing this it is a total pain to get it back to normal. Takes several restarts of both the pc and fw1884. once it’s working normally it’s perfect.

I’ve noticed I can fairly consistently trigger this by running the addictive drums 2 app in ASIO, this almost always causes the issue after a few minutes of playing around on the mpc or whatever, not sure if that’s relevant. Also it won’t work at all with the legacy FireWire driver in win7 or 10 like in the deeringparks tutorial; I’ve only ever gotten it to work in win7 with the default fw driver.

SN is 0140159

I’ve tried the following:
New FireWire cable
New port on the fire wire card
Reinstalling firewire driver
Reinstalling fw1884 driver and software
Reinstalling win7 and trying win10
Power cycling

what else could be wrong here? Is this mostly controlled by the U9 ic on the deeringpark site? I repair electronics as a side thing so I was considering that but the description makes it seem like that’s more for when the cable is inserted incorrectly and stuff blows up, not so much weird fw behavior. I ordered one to try anyway since it’s cheap. I thought I’d ask anyway though because given that this works perfectly some of the time I thought it was more likely there’s a software issue. Any ideas would be greatly appreciated!’

 

[quixotic120]

So today I went back at it; realized I had never tried the fw port 2. Tried that and FireWire light never came on (cable was definitely plugged in correctly). Now the FireWire light doesn’t come on at all regardless of cable or port used. I’m 100% sure the cable orientation was correct.

I’m giving it a few hours to chill and I’ll try again (this thing is obviously temperamental) but at this point unless someone has a suggestion I’m down to “replace u9” as my only option

 

[DeeringAmps]

You are certain that the firewire card is a TI chipset?
You ran the OHCI test tool from my site to verify?
At this point what are the led lights on the 1884 doing when you boot it?
Maybe U9 is damaged, I can't say definitively, but what I do know is you must run
the Legacy driver on a TI chipset to get the 1884 to function properly/reliably
in Win 7 and above.

 

[quixotic120]

Thanks for the reply!! Yep and yep. Funny enough after not playing with it for a few days it’s working great now with the standard TI FireWire driver. Loaded up cakewalk and everything worked as it should, played with ad2 in asio again, bulletproof, and stayed that way for well over 2 hours

If I switch to the legacy driver it doesn’t work at all, no FireWire light, only operating as a stand-alone mixer. With the default driver it’s inconsistent but at least sometimes it’s working. In win10 it won’t work with any driver, tried with two separate PCs and one was a fresh install of win10. Same deal, never gets detected and fw light never lights. All the other lights act normally and I’ve never had an issue using it as a stand-alone mixer, that part is fairly bulletproof.

I did buy a u9 from you but it’s still in post. It’s a simple enough repair so I’ll probably try it anyway plus if I read the service bulletins right mine also would benefit from changing the electrolytic smoothing caps in the the FireWire circuit so I’ll do that too. Before I go in and change u9 I might try to get another FireWire card as this one is fairly old but I guess they all kind of are at this point. Other than those two things I’m not sure what else to try.

 

[DeeringAmps]

If I switch to the legacy driver it doesn’t work at all, no FireWire light, only operating as a stand-alone mixer.
That does not sound right, but its doing what its doing. I don't doubt ya!
You bought a U9? You're Jon in PA?
Says its arriving "late", the 16th (today) after 8pm. (probably tomorrow, if its in PA tonite)
I read the service bulletins right mine also would benefit from changing the electrolytic smoothing caps in the the FireWire circuit
You should have said something, I have the caps.
You are familiar with SMD work I take it; this is not an "easy" repair!
One can build a 5E3 Deluxe with a Weller Soldering Gun; but that dog won't hunt on the U9!
Loaded up cakewalk
You active on the Cake forum?
Tom

 

[quixotic120]

I am! Every package for the last month has been arriving late unfortunately but it’s understandable given what’s happening in the world, not a huge rush anyway. I actually had appropriate caps on hand so no worries there.

tonight it started losing sync again (while recording, ugh) so I think I am gonna try it and maybe trying windows 10 again if it works. Believe or not changing out the chip isn’t terribly difficult with hot air, the resistors and caps will probably be a bit more difficult just because of the density of parts around them. Surface tension does a lot of the heavy lifting in SMD rework thankfully. I’ll try to take some pics or something

I still might see if I can try another firewire card but I also forgot that I have to get a low profile card and I’m not finding a ton of options there that aren’t either crazy priced or out of stock.

I don’t think I’ve ever been on the cakewalk forums although in researching this issue they sure came up a lot. I’m more of a lurker 99% of the time

 

[DeeringAmps]

"might see if I can try another firewire card"
That would be my first move.
(Looks like your package finally made it, only answering here so others
stumbling on this have some guidance...)