Ultralite mk3 non hybrid firewire powermac g5 issue

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Discussion related to installation, configuration and use of MOTU hardware such as MIDI interfaces, audio interfaces, etc. for Mac OSX
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uryil
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Joined: Mon Dec 18, 2017 9:19 pm
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Ultralite mk3 non hybrid firewire powermac g5 issue

Post by uryil »

Hi there i’m hoping someone might have a solution to my problem. I have or think i have tried everything from here and general firewire related issues with powermac g5. But i could not find the solution yet so this is my first post on this forum.

I have a ultralite mk3 non hybrid and just recently is no longer stable/working on a powermac g5. But it was working fine for weeks (I recently bought the powermac). But have owned the ultralite since new and is still working fine on my powerbook g4 os x tiger 10.4.11. Using the same firewire cable that came in box.

The problem once ultralite boots and displays sample rate, after a few seconds the main out and input levels spike then screen goes blank, but interface still on, then it does the same thing over and over till i turn the ultralite off.

I have tried resetting to factory defaults, using different cable, fresh install of os x tiger, reset nv ram, reset smu, unplugged power cable from powermac and left for over 13 hours to reset firewire bus, updated drivers, bought a firewire 800 to 400 cable, my last thing I haven’t tried is buying a pci firewire card.

But i cant work out what happened or how to fix it. I have another powermac g5 and it has the same problem.
uryil
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Joined: Mon Dec 18, 2017 9:19 pm
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Re: Ultralite mk3 non hybrid firewire powermac g5 issue

Post by uryil »

Today i did some more research and have now also tried. Nvram reset with white screen and manually type and programmers reset holding power button until hear a tone then let go.
uryil
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Joined: Mon Dec 18, 2017 9:19 pm
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Re: Ultralite mk3 non hybrid firewire powermac g5 issue

Post by uryil »

I ended up buying a pci firewire card but would not fit into the slot on the powermac g5. The slot looks like a pci-e or pci-x slot but i researched and it states that it is pci.

Does anyone know what kind of firewire card i need for a powermac g5 early 2005 a1047 2061 2ghz ?

Its getting close to a year guys someone must have an idea.
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mikehalloran
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Re: Ultralite mk3 non hybrid firewire powermac g5 issue

Post by mikehalloran »

A G5 can have a PCI, PCIx or PCIe slot depending on the year and number of cores.
https://everymac.com/

PCIx is backwards compatible to PCI but the reverse is not true. A PCIe slot is completely different. MOTU devices want to see a Texas Instruments (TI) chip in a 3rd party FireWire card—not an issue on the internal bus.

So you have tried resetting the PRAM (not NV RAM on a PPC)? The FW ports collapse on these easily, especially if a FW hub is used. I have had to do it multiple times in a row to bring my ports back to life.

An old G5 can have a motherboard problem. Likewise, FW port failure on an 828 is not uncommon. Until you know that one or the other is good, it's hard to diagnose. TechTool Pro is a great tool for seeing if the ports are active—if you had AppleCare, it came bundled with a version of TechToo; that you can upgrade for free at micromat.com.

If your G5 can see any FW peripheral or if TechTool shows it's active, the port is good.
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, 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
uryil
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Re: Ultralite mk3 non hybrid firewire powermac g5 issue

Post by uryil »

mikehalloran wrote: An old G5 can have a motherboard problem. Likewise, FW port failure on an 828 is not uncommon. Until you know that one or the other is good, it's hard to diagnose.
Thanks for your advice.
The ultralite works fine on my PowerBook g4. It was running on the powermac g5 until this problem occurred with the firewire hub.The g5 does recognise a external hard drive using the firewire hub.

I will try reset the pram reset again. I have bought a startech PCI1394B_3 which has texas instruments chipset. I hope something will resolve the issue.
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mikehalloran
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Re: Ultralite mk3 non hybrid firewire powermac g5 issue

Post by mikehalloran »

Reset the PRAM a few times in a row is sometimes necessary.

BTW, do you have a known, good battery in there? If you don't know, remove it—no battery is better than a bad battery in these. Your settings won't be saved when you power down but you're trying to diagnose a problem. If it works without a battery, replace it. Like the PCI card, the correct battery depends on the year and model G5.

Do not use a FireWire Hub (at least for now) — my ports collapsed whenever I tried running my 828mkII through one. I tried a number of different brands. Apple support engineers said they'd never seen that happen but I've seen it on other Macs.

Here's a better page to navigate which G5 Macs took PCI, PCIx and PCIe cards. https://everymac.com/systems/apple/powe ... slots.html
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, 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
uryil
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Joined: Mon Dec 18, 2017 9:19 pm
Primary DAW OS: MacOS

Re: Ultralite mk3 non hybrid firewire powermac g5 issue

Post by uryil »

mikehalloran wrote:Reset the PRAM a few times in a row is sometimes necessary.

BTW, do you have a known, good battery in there? If you don't know, remove it—no battery is better than a bad battery in these. Your settings won't be saved when you power down but you're trying to diagnose a problem. If it works without a battery, replace it. Like the PCI card, the correct battery depends on the year and model G5.

Do not use a FireWire Hub (at least for now) — my ports collapsed whenever I tried running my 828mkII through one. I tried a number of different brands. Apple support engineers said they'd never seen that happen but I've seen it on other Macs.

Here's a better page to navigate which G5 Macs took PCI, PCIx and PCIe cards. https://everymac.com/systems/apple/powe ... slots.html
Thanks again.
I vaguely remember this problem first occurred when i had the powermac connected through the network transferring files from a pc windows. And also after using the utility “migration assistant”. I did some research into that theory but no concrete evidence.
I did try on my PowerBook with the network cable connected and it did the same issue. But after fresh install on the powermac several times i kind of ran out of ideas.

Now that i’ve Starting to resolve this issue again, i have two accounts with administrative privileges on both. I turned one set to none and vice versa but did not see any resolve.

I have already ordered and payed for the firewire card and they dont refund or changeover.
uryil
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Joined: Mon Dec 18, 2017 9:19 pm
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Re: Ultralite mk3 non hybrid firewire powermac g5 issue

Post by uryil »

This pci card worked. Stable, but in the motu audio setup has a message about wrong firewire version.
https://www.startech.com/Cards-Adapters ... PCI1394B_3
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