Hi all,
I've noticed that if I even look at the firewire jack funny, my unit instantly shuts off. I barely have to touch the cable. This is a huge risk with playing live. Anyone else experience this? Is there a jury rig fix?
Ultralite hybrid--super sensitive FireWire port?
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Discussion related to installation, configuration and use of MOTU hardware such as MIDI interfaces, audio interfaces, etc. for Mac OSX
Discussion related to installation, configuration and use of MOTU hardware such as MIDI interfaces, audio interfaces, etc. for Mac OSX
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mikehalloran
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Re: Ultralite hybrid--super sensitive FireWire port?
Try a different cable. Not all connectors are created equally.Prossi78 wrote:Hi all,
I've noticed that if I even look at the firewire jack funny, my unit instantly shuts off. I barely have to touch the cable. This is a huge risk with playing live. Anyone else experience this? Is there a jury rig fix?
DP 11.31; 828mkII FW, micro lite, M4, MTP/AV USB Firmware 2.0.1
2023 Mac Studio M2 8TB, 192GB RAM, OS Sonoma 14.4.1, USB4 8TB external, M-Audio AIR 192|14, Mackie ProFxv3 6/10/12; 2012 MBPs Catalina, Mojave
IK-NI-Izotope-PSP-Garritan-Antares, LogicPro X, Finale 27.4, Dorico 5.2, Notion 6, Overture 5, TwistedWave, DSP-Q 5, SmartScore64 Pro, Toast 20 Pro
2023 Mac Studio M2 8TB, 192GB RAM, OS Sonoma 14.4.1, USB4 8TB external, M-Audio AIR 192|14, Mackie ProFxv3 6/10/12; 2012 MBPs Catalina, Mojave
IK-NI-Izotope-PSP-Garritan-Antares, LogicPro X, Finale 27.4, Dorico 5.2, Notion 6, Overture 5, TwistedWave, DSP-Q 5, SmartScore64 Pro, Toast 20 Pro
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MIDI Life Crisis
- Posts: 26254
- Joined: Wed May 18, 2005 10:01 pm
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Re: Ultralite hybrid--super sensitive FireWire port?
A few things:
Of course it could be the unit.
It could also be the cable.
If you've EVER plugged or unplugged a FW cable with power on at any unit and at any point in the system, whether on the unit in question, another unit, or the computer, there's a good chance the FW was damaged. Contrary to popular belief, FW cables are not safe for hot swapping and doing so can fry the ports and even the FW circuits.
Hopefully it's just the cable.
Of course it could be the unit.
It could also be the cable.
If you've EVER plugged or unplugged a FW cable with power on at any unit and at any point in the system, whether on the unit in question, another unit, or the computer, there's a good chance the FW was damaged. Contrary to popular belief, FW cables are not safe for hot swapping and doing so can fry the ports and even the FW circuits.
Hopefully it's just the cable.
Re: Ultralite hybrid--super sensitive FireWire port?
Well, believe it or not--this is the third unit I've had shipped to me. 
Ha!
So unit 1: exhibited the same issues when ever the cable was just barely touched, tried multiple cables, too. I had never hotswapped because it just didn't seem like the right thing to do. I'm come from the Commodore 64 era and I'm very accustomed to turning things on in specific order and never plugging or unplugging things once a unit is runnning.
So--a second unit was sent. Much more stable. Never quit on me until...I started accidentally using the cable from the original unit. On that cable, though it wasn't sensitive in the "jack area", the unit started emitting all kinds of Wes Craven-esque sounds, powering off off at random, or just losing data connectivity. Now at this stage, I considered strongly that it could be a cable issue, but I had a gig the next night and needed a reliable piece of gear.
A replacement arrive the next day (because Sweetwater is just so good at taking care of their customers). Ran this unit and it was fine (didn't do any cable bump tests, however).
I tried the old unit with a cable I new and trusted from multiple nights of practice and mixing and seemed fine again. I decided use this unit for the show.
The next day, I powered up the new unit with the cable it came with--and all seemed just fine until I accidentally grazed the cable. Lights out! So, then I decided to try it with a cable I knew and trusted. Same instant blackout. Now, I didn't try it with the cable I know to be good, because I didn't want to risk frying the cable (overly cautious). I have at ton of work to get done over the next few days.
Other things I noticed about the new unit--the LCD is very dim, no matter what I do with the contrast settings. The power button is often unresponsive and it takes several attempts to get it to fire up.
So--I've decided that second unit is fine. It only powered off when I gave it a serious jiggle. Proof of concept never to be repeated. I'm going to keep my eye on it through out the weekend and see what's what.
Bottom line--unit 1: definitely the jack (maybe the bad cable fried it?)
Unit 2--definitely the cable, hoping the shoddy cable didn't damage the device
Unit 3--jack again--tried the brand new cable and the trusted cable.
Would be nice to see a thunderbolt version of the Ultralite at some point--beyond what I've experience, it really is the perfect unit for me at this time!
#ramble on#
Ha!So unit 1: exhibited the same issues when ever the cable was just barely touched, tried multiple cables, too. I had never hotswapped because it just didn't seem like the right thing to do. I'm come from the Commodore 64 era and I'm very accustomed to turning things on in specific order and never plugging or unplugging things once a unit is runnning.
So--a second unit was sent. Much more stable. Never quit on me until...I started accidentally using the cable from the original unit. On that cable, though it wasn't sensitive in the "jack area", the unit started emitting all kinds of Wes Craven-esque sounds, powering off off at random, or just losing data connectivity. Now at this stage, I considered strongly that it could be a cable issue, but I had a gig the next night and needed a reliable piece of gear.
A replacement arrive the next day (because Sweetwater is just so good at taking care of their customers). Ran this unit and it was fine (didn't do any cable bump tests, however).
I tried the old unit with a cable I new and trusted from multiple nights of practice and mixing and seemed fine again. I decided use this unit for the show.
The next day, I powered up the new unit with the cable it came with--and all seemed just fine until I accidentally grazed the cable. Lights out! So, then I decided to try it with a cable I knew and trusted. Same instant blackout. Now, I didn't try it with the cable I know to be good, because I didn't want to risk frying the cable (overly cautious). I have at ton of work to get done over the next few days.
Other things I noticed about the new unit--the LCD is very dim, no matter what I do with the contrast settings. The power button is often unresponsive and it takes several attempts to get it to fire up.
So--I've decided that second unit is fine. It only powered off when I gave it a serious jiggle. Proof of concept never to be repeated. I'm going to keep my eye on it through out the weekend and see what's what.
Bottom line--unit 1: definitely the jack (maybe the bad cable fried it?)
Unit 2--definitely the cable, hoping the shoddy cable didn't damage the device
Unit 3--jack again--tried the brand new cable and the trusted cable.
Would be nice to see a thunderbolt version of the Ultralite at some point--beyond what I've experience, it really is the perfect unit for me at this time!
#ramble on#