8pre FireWire to macmini

[9LesPauls]

I bought a Mac mini late 2014 i7 and it has tb2 ports in the back I already have the 400 to 800 firewire adapter which is going into my factory Apple firewire 800 to TB Male adapter. I have no idea if this TB connection is suitable for the TB2 on my Mac mini. I saw a post here that said I needed to download the 828 hybrid driver which the mini doesn't recognize either , do I need a different adapter to go from the TB male on said FW to TB adapter? Or will this mini Mac just not work with my Motu 8pre and digital performer? I understand it needs to be DP 11 to work with Monterey and is there a free download for the DP 11? I hope all this makes sense? Thanks for any assistance in advance

[mikehalloran]

I bought a Mac mini late 2014 i7 and it has tb2 ports in the back I already have the 400 to 800 firewire adapter which is going into my factory Apple firewire 800 to TB Male adapter. I have no idea if this TB connection is suitable for the TB2 on my Mac mini. I saw a post here that said I needed to download the 828 hybrid driver which the mini doesn't recognize either , do I need a different adapter to go from the TB male on said FW to TB adapter? Or will this mini Mac just not work with my Motu 8pre and digital performer? I understand it needs to be DP 11 to work with Monterey and is there a free download for the DP 11? I hope all this makes sense? Thanks for any assistance in advance

You have the right adapters if the second is the Apple FW–TB adapter. You need the correct driver for your MacOS which we don’t know. You’ll find it listed under the 828mk3 Hybrid. If you don’t see it, check All downloads.

This assumes that your unit is functioning along with your cable and FW400–800 adapter, again, we won’t know any of that.

The DP 11 download is fully functional for a 30 day demo. After that, it requires a license, either New or Upgrade, to keep working. Double-check the System Requirements to ensure that it will work with your MacOS.

Performer Lite is free if you have registered your 8pre with MOTU. Put in a TechLink with support and ask for your license. When done, you will find a license and download links in your MOTU User Account. PL has some of DP’s functionality but limits you to 16 tracks each: Audio, MIDI, Aux. One of my users has it on his 2014 Mini with only 4GB RAM over Ventura.

If you have a mechanical hard drive in that nine year old Mini, you will want to upgrade it to an SSD to get any speed at all. It’s not hard but it takes awhile if you are handy with tools.

[9LesPauls]

Thanks very much for your help, I am at the point where I think I need to adjust the startup options/security settings to allow the said driver download to be recognized, holding the power button for 10 seconds does not bring up the startup option screen, just starts up with the apple and progress bar, I think this mini is an Intel base which requires control -9 to reach that page, ? which I'll try next. And yes mine says SSD and has upgraded storage (16 GB ) and a tera bite for the other. I apologize as I know you have covered this issue before, I am not very computer savvy to say the least, so again thank you very much. I do hope I can get to recording on this mini cause the Internet is very fast. My old G5 tower records good but compatibility is increasingly less in that dinosaur.

[mikehalloran]

holding the power button for 10 seconds does not bring up the startup option screen,

and it won't. That's for the M1 or M2 Mini, not the Intel.

I don't know where you are getting the rest of those directions—never seen those before.

The MOTU bulletin is correct on what needs to be done—it's that names and locations are different in Ventura. It needs to be done within 30 minutes after you install the drivers. I have found that a reboot after installation is often necessary.

When I had to do it last, I stumbled around and figured it out. Had I known that MOTU never updated the bulletin, I would have taken screen shots. It's possible that I've not installed the driver on any of my wife's Macs. If so, I can try that later this week.

[9LesPauls]

Ok so it is telling me the motu audio installer ( mklll hybrid 89555) was successfully installed, but the mini still doesn't see my 8pre and the 8 pre won't switch from converter to interface mode, I tried to power down / restart several times and still no go. I tried to load my original motu disk via an external disk reader/writer but it says it can't connect/not formatted , although an older version of DP 4.6 that was given to me does show up on my desk top. but it apparently isn't formatted to run/see 4.6. Not sure what I am missing? Can you suggest an interface that I can just plug and play that has at least 4 audio inputs that will work for this mini? Seems like that would be easier. Thanks

[9LesPauls]

update, took most of the day but,, my 8pre is now showing the interface led lit up! YES! Performer lite has been installed , I can see my registration info from my 8pre from 2011 on my motu account ,, now all I need is the activation key code for PL,, I have no idea where that info is ? I tried support but no help, any idea where that key code can be found? Thanks again

[9LesPauls]

Sorry just read back through the posts, tech ticket created, awaiting key code info response, and,,, I just tested and can now hear my guitar through the 8pre/mini!!!! hell yeah! Thanks Mike for your info and patience. I truly appreciate your willingness to share your knowledge , great site/asset for old/ IT feeble Motu users like me.

[mikehalloran]

You're welcome.

Unlike the old AudioDesk, Performer Lite does not need to see your MOTU interface to work (you just need to own one to get the license). It will, however "phone home" to verify that license every time you fire it up.