PCIe 424 and Windows 10

[bogmusic]

Hi guys
Does anybody have a 424 running with windows 10?

I am currently nunning with my backup 828 mk2 as I couldnt get the 424 working (with the latest drivers) when I upgraded. I would like to use my old 1224 for tracking as it was a good combination with my hardware mixer and I was thinking of grabbing more 424 compatible units now that everybody is going all thunderbolt.

When I tried (a few months ago) I couldn't get the 424 to find the 1224. It was working fine on my windows 7 system and I tried it with various cables (just in case)

It struck me as a driver issue but the latest MOTU driver lists the 1224 in the supported legacy hardware.

Any ideas?

[bogmusic]

Success
OK, I didn't give the motugurus much time to answer the question!
I had another bash at getting up and running with the PCIe424 card on my Windows 10 machine. My main reason was that I prefer the headphone amp in the 1224 over the 828 (long story) and I wouldn't let it lie, especially since I have hardly had any use out of the PCIe and I like the idea of low level access from DP.
Problem persisted until I checked to see if there was a bios upgrade for my motherboard (I was clutching at straws by this time). I knew that USB3 issues have been addressed with bios updates for many motherboards and thought I would give it a go. What could possibly go wrong?
Unbelievably nothing went wrong
PCIe card in slot, newest MOTU driver installed with both PCI and firewire boxes ticked, powered up and switched on the 1224. There it is! Opened a couple of DP projects and fiddled with my bundles (ooh err missus) and playback perfect. Just for badness I switch the 828 (still plugged in) on and no messages of doom. Restarted DP for it to find the MIDI ports and the choice of audio engines is there just like a Mac.
Me happy.
If I get any problems over the next few days I will come back here and slag myself off for being naïve - but until that horrible day I can confirm that Windows 10 plays nice with the PCIe 424.

[mikehalloran]

Unbelievably nothing went wrong

That is good news! You should mark this thread (resolved).

With the issues that so many are having with Win 10, a thread like this is a bright spot.

[bogmusic]

Cheers Mike.
I will keep it running for a while before proclaiming 'solvation'
I am starting a new project with Presonus Notion 6 which I will be rewiring with DP and will be pushing the PC quite hard with Cinematic Guitars Infinity & Cinematic Guitars Organic Athmospheres in two instances of Kontakt. If all that runs smoothly I will declare stability!
The future's so bright, I gotta wear shades.....

[Coque]

Hello Avatar
Im wonder if you continues successfully using Motu Audio Installer 4.0.6.6814 as Windows 10 driver (controller)to drive Motu 424 PCIe.
Is it stable for you?. Something strange or wrong?.
Many Thanks for leading this very useful thread.

Coque (waiting for your replay to install it in my system).

[bogmusic]

Hi Coque
So far, so good with the motu drivers (v4.0.6.6814)
My only issues with Windows 10 were encountered during the upgrade process. My machine had been set up to dual boot between two operating systems and this caused numerous problems with the install process due to changes made by the booting software.

Since I also have a MacBook pro which is running DP I decided to try Windows 10 to see if the newer operating system and latest drivers could handle my 828mk2 firewire and PCIe 424 simultaneously, assuming they would be using the same driver.

I was never too happy with the idea that my operating system was on an SSD with limited space which was being wasted with extra partitions and backup material and as I suspected the system developed "disk errors" after running a few times. With no install media I assumed I was now suckered since I had no product code for a clean install without buying a new copy of the operating system (something I would be happy to do if I had the confidence that it would run things properly)

After a bit of research I discovered that Microsoft have addressed this issue by allowing a clean install and letting you use the product code of your previous operating system (in my case Win7 Pro). I downloaded the install media onto a usb flash drive (4gig minimum) and booted from the usb drive. The install went smoothly. You do need to have an active internet connection for this process, in my case the install software detected my wifi connection and once I had entered the login details the install completed in about 20 minutes. I now had a clean install of Windows 10 pro activated and ready to go. (drumroll please)

I downloaded the latest MOTU audio installer, installed (usb/firewire and PCI audio tickboxes were already pre-ticked) and restarted my pc. I switched on the 1224 first, followed by the 828mk2. Opening up the MOTU PCI Audio console confirmed that the 1224 was detected and then the MOTU audio Console confirmed that the 828 was running. Checking the windows playback devices I noticed that I can select any of the outputs for either device as the playback engine. Clicking on the CuemixFX icon brings up two instances of the console, one for each device, nice!

With this new setup I have not encountered any setbacks other than occasionally needing to reset the 1224 after start up if the unit is already switched on before booting.

Rewire is working perfectly with DP9 and Reason9, Kontakt5 runs perfectly in standalone mode using the 828 alongside DP9 on the 1224 and so far I have had no crashes or freezes. I am still going through a few tutorials to get acquainted with new features in DP9 and Reason9 so I haven't yet put the system through any really heavy work but I have tried some crazy experiments and I have failed to break anything.

I still intend to come back here and report on my progress with a bigger project once I can drag myself away from messing about with Reason's player modules - stay away, they are addictive

[Coque]

Hello Avatar : Superb description!!
Now I am going to install the 424 Motu Driver in my Windows 10.
Thanks you so much for your perfect help and for the time and effort you need to make this test.
I will return when Driver+424+1224 installed and fully working!

Chers
Coque

[bogmusic]

Good luck with the install Coque

[lxm]

Hi I tried using the latest driver for my pcie 424 under W 10. It works but the CPU load has increased with Cubase 10. With W7 and cubase 10 the CPU load is a lot less and with no spikes. Same project loaded with each OS. Is there a new driver going to be done for the 424 for W10?

[mikehalloran]

Hi I tried using the latest driver for my pcie 424 under W 10. It works but the CPU load has increased with Cubase 10. With W7 and cubase 10 the CPU load is a lot less and with no spikes. Same project loaded with each OS. Is there a new driver going to be done for the 424 for W10?

Unless MOTU announces a driver update on their web site, we will not know the answer.

There might be another issue causing your CPU load and spikes. What are your buffer settings?

[lxm]

Buffer size is identical on the same machine. Im using an HP Z800 so I have a drive with W7 and I can pull the drive and put in a W10 system drive in its place. So, Cubase 10 on both drives. Same DAW with the same buffer settings. On the W7 setup I can drop the buffer setting to 64 and the ASIO meter in Cubase operates at around 25% and no spikes. On W10 theres significant spikes with the buffer at 128 and the average load is around 50%. W10 and the 424 drivers do not get along from my experience with them. Im stuck using W7 until theres a fix. Its too expensive to upgrade as Im using 4 - 24 I/O boxes with the 424 card and a new system with that many ins and outs is a lot more than I can afford. Hopefully MOTU wil have an upgraded driver soon as support for W10 starts getting phased out this year in October and loses support in 2025.