Urgent Help required - MOTU 828 MKII

[Vanity]

Hey guys, i'm in need of some urgent help for fixing my Motu 828 MKII.

Here's the problem:

Every-time i plug the interface into my MacBook Pro and open logic, either all the metre lights go into the red and freeze, or on the cuemix screen it comes up with some random weird text.

In more detail..

MacBook Pro is on, i turn my 828 on and plugin the firewire cable in (i've tried turning it on with the cable already pluged in) i then run my liquid mix software as i've got a liquid mix plugged into the back off the 828 (i've tried without it plugged in). That motu audio setup software pops up and i minimise it. I then open Logic, wait for the project to load then the 828 will do one off a few things. Sometimes when i hit play in logic all off the meters go into the red and freeze. Sometimes on the cuemix screen it will come up with some random text. And sometimes when i hit play i get no sound and the meter goes into the red. Is this fixable? As currently i cannot make music, its putting my whole life on hold, i really need it for University.

Cheers in advance!

[cuttime]

STOP HOT SWAPPING YOUR CABLES!!!

If you haven't fried anything, try a reset and good luck!

Copied from another thread:

- Try a factory reset - push the Setup knob, turn it all the way to the right and follow the directions on the LCD. (828 mk II, Traveler and UltraLite ONLY)
- Try setting both your Optical Input and Optical Output in the MOTU Console to ADAT.
- Try a different Firewire cable.
- Try removing all other Firewire devices.
- Try different Firewire ports.
- Try toggling the red voltage switch on the right side of the unit with the unit OFF. Do this 5 or 6 times, then set it to the correct position and try again. (not applicable to Traveler or UltraLite)
- Try powering the unit via Firewire or DC power (Traveler and UltraLite ONLY)

- Try the unit with a different computer, if possible.

- Try reinstalling drivers:

Goto Macintosh HD > System > Library > Extensions
and trash the file, "MOTU Firewire Audio.kext."

Go into the Applications folder and trash all 3 MOTU Consoles. Empty the trash.

Reboot your machine, run a Repair Disk Permissions from your Apple Disk Utility, then reinstall our most recent drivers
from our website being sure that unit is NOT turned on.
Reboot and turn on your device.

[Vanity]

Cheers for the response, will try now. What do you mean buy stop hot swapping my cables?

[cuttime]

What do you mean buy stop hot swapping my cables?

Don't plug or unplug while anything is powered up.
http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/41832 ... -swappable

http://www.m-audio.com/?do=support.faq& ... 167730a7ae

[Vanity]

Specs: MacBook Pro i5, running Logic Pro 9. 4GB Raw, 500GB Hard drive.

[Vanity]

Specs: MacBook Pro i5, running Logic Pro 9. 4GB Raw, 500GB Hard drive.

[mikehalloran]

Reset your PRAM to set the FW port to default.

You can fry your 828, your MacBook or both by hot swapping cables - if you haven't already. Apple no longer fully supports the FireWire spec - hasn't since the PPC. The 828 should be plugged in before you turn on the computer. It should be plugged in directly to your Mac. Many of us have had problems with Intel Macs and FW hubs.

When MOTU Audio Setup comes on, set up your 828 then turn the application off. Don't minimize it.

[777artin38]

Phuck Mike Halloran : how many times will i have to tell you that the PRAM has nothing to do with the firewire ports.

Here is again what Apple has to say about the PRAM :

"Your Mac stores certain settings in a special memory area even if it is turned off. On Intel-based Macs, this is stored in memory known as NVRAM; on PowerPC-based Macs, this is stored in memory known as PRAM.

Information stored in NVRAM / PRAM includes:

Speaker volume
Screen resolution
Startup disk selection
Recent kernel panic information, if any

If you experience issues related to these functions, you may need to reset the NVRAM or PRAM. For example, if your Mac starts up from a startup disk other than the one you've specified in Startup Disk preferences, or if a "question mark" icon appears briefly when your Mac starts up, resetting NVRAM / PRAM may help.

Note: OS X does not store network settings in NVRAM / PRAM. If you are troubleshooting a network issue, resetting it will not help."

And Mike you keep saying to reset the PRAM it over and over again.

OP : you don't need to reset the PRAM for this trouble. Don't bother with Mike Halloran say.

[cuttime]

Does the device or bus still show in your system profiler? Also try starting the 828 before you boot the Mac.

[mikehalloran]

Phuck Mike Halloran : how many times will i have to tell you that the PRAM has nothing to do with the firewire ports.

I really don't care. You can shout till you are blue in the face. You are absolutely wrong, by the way.

TechTool Pro is my tool of choice for diagnosing dead FW ports. It's very easy to see if they are working or not. Yes, technically, PRAM is for PPCs and NVRAM is Intel Macs but Apple Support techs still call it PRAM as do I. I take care of over 30 Macs for various businesses and schools and have seen this issue a lot.

Every time my FW ports have gone dead. Resetting the NVRAM/PRAM has brought them back to life. Many times, I might add. With my G5, I lost count.

The last time I experienced this, it was about 3 months ago on my iMac and the PRAM reset didn't work. So I got Apple support on the phone. I figured my motherboard had fried for certain this time and they were guiding me through tests to see if I needed to swap it for a refurb under AppleCare. The first test they suggested was reset the PRAM. After a few more tests, I was handed to another tech who suggested ... do I have to tell you? The third time we reset the PRAM a half hour later, my FW port came back to life. The response from the support tech was that four times was unusual but not unheard of - usually it responded in three times or less.

For the record, resetting the NVRAM/PRAM on an iMac with only one working arm and hand is extremely difficult.

[777artin38]

Mike.......you take care of only 30 macs. There is your problem. If you'd know better you'd have more business.

When you're wrong.....you're wrong.

OP : have you tried passing and routing audio in your interface without any firewire connection. MOTU's interfaces are known for blowing firewire connection when hot-swapping them. Bad MOTU design as firewire should be hot-swapable.

If your interface is passing and routing audio without being connected to a computer you have stumble on a blown fw connection.

Good news is it will mostly be the 24.576Mhz FW clock inside your interface the problem. A 1.80$ piece you can find at Mouser and change it yourself if you can solder a bit. Shouldn't take you more than 15-20 minutes to repair.

777

[mikehalloran]

Please don't make this a pissing contest. It does nothing to help anyone. Believe me, if in your 8 posts, you told me anything a million times - or even once, I probably would have noticed.

I do not know that NVRAM is the cause of the OP's issue but when I say that resetting it often fixes FW and USB port issues, I am right. Resetting the SMC also works in some cases but I have never experienced it. Here is a good discussion on both.

https://discussions.apple.com/message/17390394#17390394

My experience trumps what you have not researched correctly on the internet. 100% of the time.

As far as the internal fix for the 828mkII, when I asked for a part number and source, you never did respond.

In any case, isn't the symptom that the 828mkII FW port be dead? The symptoms in the OP do not point in that direction.

Back to the OP. If you have AppleCare, you have access to a free version of TechTool. Check your FireWire port.

Try another FW device and see if it works in the port.

[Phil O]

While this statement is true...

Information stored in NVRAM / PRAM includes:
Speaker volume
Screen resolution
Startup disk selection
Recent kernel panic information, if any

...it does NOT say "Information stored in NVRAM / PRAM is limited to:"

Much, much more information than this is stored in NVRAM and it is common practice to reset NVRAM when troubleshooting firewire port failures. A friend of mine who works at the local apple store tells me this often times solves port problems (both firewire and USB). So, there MUST be something stored there that affects these ports. Otherwise it wouldn't work. Right? Just sayin'.

My advice to the OP is try what mikehalloran suggests. You may need to adjust some of your settings afterwards, but it won't hurt anything on your system and, best case scenario, it could solve your problem.

Phil

[cuttime]

Well, maybe the OP needs to chime back in if they haven't been scared off.

[777artin38]

Maybe he just resetted his computer's PRAM.....

Isn't it amazing how many false informations we can find on forums and internet.

Oh no......i just peed all over my shoes.