828 mk3 flashing screen and will not start

[g1981c]

so it is happening like for the 3rd time

i be listening to music then the sound begins to break up and goes silent

i turn off the soundcard. i turn it back on but instead of coming on the screen flashes and nothing happens.

i think the first time it happened i just kept turning it on and off until it started.

the second time i turned it off, restarted my pc, turned it on - and it worked.

now i tried both and it's not working. keeps flashing.

what gives ?

[monkeymusic]

Ok, I have now seen and heard of over 5 examples of the 828 suddenly not booting, and the display acts like it is getting woken up/turned off/woken up @ 1.5 second intervals....

My personal one and 2 at the school are doing this....silence from the MOTU Tech line....

Any other sufferers?

[bayswater]

It's happening now and then to mine. I'm wondering if it has something to do with heat.

[artificiel]

anybody got anywhere with this? have the same issue (sporadically over the past months, but now almost everytime i try to use the interface).

[bayswater]

Mine just stopped on its own. Somewhere in there I did update the FW drivers and set up Cuemix very carefully and save the settings. It hasn't caused any problems for quite a while now. Maybe it was heat. I used to have the unit in a sunny place in the summer. Now it's in a dark place in the fall.

[Mr. Meoff]

Just happened to me again the other night... Powered off, on, flash... off, wait a min or 2, flash... I got frustrated, took the dog for a walk, got back and powered on, WORKs!, it booted. I sent the unit in a year ago after having it for only a few months for the same boot/flashing problem. It's happened a few times since last May, all I can say/do, is let the unit sit for at least a good hour and it seems to boot... I wonder if the hybrid users are having these issues???

Meoff

[bayswater]

I was having the problem but it went away. I can only think of two reasons -- it happened in the summer and may have been heat related, or it has something to do with something corrupt in the software or configuration state when powered down, and it goes away after a few startups. I've been a lot more vigilant about making sure everything but my Mac is on and stable before starting up the Mac. Maybe that helps too.

[ChiantiM]

Same issue here - screen flashes green. At times if I let it sit for a while (10min) then it comes back.

[Gadget Fiend]

I have the same issue with my 828mk3 Hybrid (connected to a 27" iMac Core i7 2.8GHz via Firewire 800). I too originally suspected heat as the cause. However, this inability to boot up (with the display flashing) seems to happen more frequently (but not always) after I restart the computer. So that would tend to rule out overheating as the cause.

I'm starting to think that it is a clock sync issue. That is, the 828mk3 seems to have "forgotten" the clock source and is now unsuccessfully trying to lock onto something on start up.

Has anyone tried to connect the 828mk3 to a Word Clock source (and select this source as the master clock)? I'm curious if this might resolve the issue.

[bayswater]

I had this problem for a while, but it stopped once the weather cooled late last summer. I know that's pretty weak evidence, but if the problem comes back later this summer, I'll conclude it a heat issue.

I've been following a very strict power up sequence since then and have not had any problems. (Everything on a power bar except the iMac, start these up, wait for everything to get stable, then power up iMac, the start up G5 (which is connected to a 2408 which in turn is connected via ADAT to 828).

I'll try the wordclock solution you suggest if I get a chance.

[ShiroiKaze]

Discovered the problem with this is the power supply and heat. Powering down the unit, and that means disconnecting the plug for a while, in my case overnight at times cures the problem to get a proper boot. I NEVER turn off my units, and if there is a power outage just for a brief moment, it will flicker for days unless I turn it off, unplug it and let it cool down sufficiently before attempting to start it again. Found a workaround for those daring to get in there and attempt surgery: http://www.motunation.com/forum/viewtop ... ng#p497447

[bayswater]

Discovered the problem with this is the power supply and heat. Powering down the unit, and that means disconnecting the plug for a while, in my case overnight at times cures the problem to get a proper boot. I NEVER turn off my units, and if there is a power outage just for a brief moment, it will flicker for days unless I turn it off, unplug it and let it cool down sufficiently before attempting to start it again. Found a workaround for those daring to get in there and attempt surgery: http://www.motunation.com/forum/viewtop ... ng#p497447

Definitely heat is the issue. Mine will never start up if it has been on within that last few hours, or if there is anything warm next to it in the rack. Even if nothing has been on, it won't start up on a hot day. We had an exceptional hot summer, and I finally gave up on it.

Thanks for the posting -- maybe I'll try the mod and see what happens. MOTU will replace it with another for $100, but that along with shipping costs is more than the commercial value of the unit, so I'm not likely to do that.

[mikehalloran]

Discovered the problem with this is the power supply and heat. Powering down the unit, and that means disconnecting the plug for a while, in my case overnight at times cures the problem to get a proper boot. I NEVER turn off my units, and if there is a power outage just for a brief moment, it will flicker for days unless I turn it off, unplug it and let it cool down sufficiently before attempting to start it again. Found a workaround for those daring to get in there and attempt surgery: http://www.motunation.com/forum/viewtop ... ng#p497447

Definitely heat is the issue. Mine will never start up if it has been on within that last few hours, or if there is anything warm next to it in the rack. Even if nothing has been on, it won't start up on a hot day. We had an exceptional hot summer, and I finally gave up on it.

Thanks for the posting -- maybe I'll try the mod and see what happens. MOTU will replace it with another for $100, but that along with shipping costs is more than the commercial value of the unit, so I'm not likely to do that.

Hmmm... the OP on that link never came back to tell us if that actually fixed his unit. If so, it would be nice to see a couple of photos and a more complete description of what he did.