Ultralite MK1 not recognized in Mountain Lion (or Windows)

[steinny]

Hi,

I just purchased a used ultralite MK1. It powers up fine via firewire 400 connected to my older (2008) iMac running OS 10.8.5. I installed the latest drivers, which purport to support the "legacy" ultralite.

While it powers up fine with firewire and seems to work perfectly as a standalone mixer, the mac will not recognize the ultralite at all. I've read this issue can be caused by insufficient power from the firewire bus, so I connected a generic power supply (19v) that powers the ultralite with no problem--the mac still won't recognize it. My mac has no problems recognizing other firewire devices, and the ultralite is not daisy chained.

I also installed the latest drivers on an even older windows computer running windows 7 and there seems to be the exact same problem--powers up fine over firewire but computer won't recognize it.

It seems weird to me that everything would seem to be working perfectly, including power over firewire, yet the ultralite cannot communicate with either computer--the ultralite is running firmware 1.15. This suggests to me the perhaps the latest drivers do not actually support the older ultralites, despite the advertising.

Anyone have any suggestions? Are there maybe older versions of the driver that might work? I did try installing the earliest archived version of the driver that supports mountain lion and nothing changed. I hope I don't have to return it since it's a really nice piece of hardware...

thanks.

[mikehalloran]

What happens when you fire up MOTU Audio Setup.app? There's a box you can check that fires up the app whenever your unit turn is turned on.

Does it appear in Apple's Audio MIDI setup.app? Does it show up in System Preferences when you click on Sound / Input?

It should be present in all three when the unit is on.

Do you know that your FW port is working properly? Is it a known good cable? The bus power is not a good indicator but if it detects a drive or other device then the bus should be good.

If the bus is down, reset the NVRAM (PRAM on an Intel Mac). Hold the Shift-Command-P-R keys down on boot up, let it chime at least three times.

Not a good idea to use a FW hub with these - at least until you have it working properly.

Never hot swap these - yea, we know that you're supposed to be able but motherboards have been fried in the attempt. Plug/Unplug only with both the unit and your Mac off. It's ok to turn the device on after your Mac boots.

[steinny]

What happens when you fire up MOTU Audio Setup.app? There's a box you can check that fires up the app whenever your unit turn is turned on.

Does it appear in Apple's Audio MIDI setup.app? Does it show up in System Preferences when you click on Sound / Input?

It should be present in all three when the unit is on.

It doesn't show up at all anywhere--the MOTU Audio Setup doesn't see it, doesn't show up in audio/MIDI setup or system preferences. As far as the mac is concerned it's not connected at all.

Do you know that your FW port is working properly? Is it a known good cable? The bus power is not a good indicator but if it detects a drive or other device then the bus should be good.

I have two firewire external drives that work perfectly with the FW port. I've tried a couple of cables--they work with the drives but don't affect the ultralite situtation.

If the bus is down, reset the NVRAM (PRAM on an Intel Mac). Hold the Shift-Command-P-R keys down on boot up, let it chime at least three times.

Would this help even given that the FW port seems to be otherwise working?

Also, is there any chance that the generic 19V power supply I'm using--that seems to power the ultralite just fine with no issues--is somehow not giving enough or the right kind of power for it to connect to the mac, i.e., do I need the proprietary motu power supply for it to work properly?

Thanks.

[mikehalloran]

Resetting the NVRAM won't hurt.

Most boxes can be reset to factory default. I don't know the reset procedure for the Ultralite. Perhaps someone can post or link to that.

Some MOTU boxes are known for problems with the FW port when they get old. The 828mkII is known for this (mine is fine).

You just bought this?

[steinny]

I reset the RAM, didn't help. Also factory reset the Ultralite multiple times, didn't help.

Just bought it used--seems like it needs to go back unless anyone has further suggestions.... ... very strange given that it seems to work perfectly in all other respects.

[mikehalloran]

Yes, I think it needs to go back. It's not showing up in Windows, either.

Here is the FAQ but I think you've gone over all of it:

http://www.motu.com/techsupport/technot ... =ultralite

http://www.motu.com/techsupport/technot ... =ultralite

[steinny]

I was hoping maybe older versions of the driver might work as opposed to the latest version--any reason to think that might work?

[mikehalloran]

I was hoping maybe older versions of the driver might work as opposed to the latest version--any reason to think that might work?

Not likely - unless it's an OS 10.7 issue - and Lion had a Lot of issues. The latest drivers actually help legacy devices.

Try the following with only the Ultralite connected and on:

Do About This Mac, More Info. On the Firewire bus, it should show up with a name that probably begins with Vendor and some code. Even without drivers, that should be there.

If it is there, it's possible that an old driver, known to work with Lion could possibly help. If it isn't there, then no.

[steinny]

Try the following with only the Ultralite connected and on:

Do About This Mac, More Info. On the Firewire bus, it should show up with a name that probably begins with Vendor and some code. Even without drivers, that should be there.

If it is there, it's possible that an old driver, known to work with Lion could possibly help. If it isn't there, then no.

Nada! Guess it needs to go back...thanks for the suggestions though!