828 Mk1 Broken Firewire Port

[JonathanP]

Hello,
First post to the forum!

I bought a very cheap Motu 828 Mk1 the other day. The seller said that it was returned due to Firewire problems with a Mac. I took a gamble that it could've been due to driver issues with that particular person, but unfortunately, it is the Motu's Firewire port which is broken. Everything else that I'm able to test works perfectly.

I am using the latest drivers for Windows which support 'All Motu Audio Equipment including All Legacy'. I assume the Legacy drivers is the right one? I'm on Windows 7 Ultimate x64.

I opened it up, but couldn't see any visual signs anywhere that something should be obviously wrong with the Firewire port or the PCB. I haven't looked on the underside of the PCB yet, but I plan to tomorrow.

I don't think the 828 Mk1 is quite worth what Motu would charge to replace it, so that is out of the question. If needs be, I'll run the TRS outputs into a cheap Behringer USB audio interface (making sure to keep the hissy Behringer's gain turned down!)

I can solder and have two multimeters, so am able to take measurements. I have absolutely no experience with surface mount components however. I was wondering if there's any measurements anyone can recommend I do? Unfortunately, I can't find a service manual for it anywhere.

For the repair, I would hope that a simple repair of a Firewire port would be cheap. I may contact my engineer and see if he'd be able to do it, but otherwise are there any engineers in the UK that can be recommended for this? Or is it something that even a computer repair place might be able to do?

Many Thanks in advance for all your help.
Jonathan.