hotpluginig the firewire devices

janne · Post by **janne** » Mon Jan 15, 2007 12:06 am

Hi there

Im just curious m-audio has a warning about hotpluging,how is that with MOTU devices?

If anyone knows please reply

regards

coolcolin · Post by **coolcolin** » Mon Jan 15, 2007 6:22 am

I just sold my M Audio 1814. I did make the mistake of hot plugging it a couple of times and it really confused DP. With my Motu FW system, 2 828 Mk1 (on a FW Hub) and a Behringer ADA8000 on lightpipe "it just works".
Colin P

Dwetmaster · Post by **Dwetmaster** » Mon Jan 15, 2007 6:25 am

Even though it never did any harm to my system, I try not to do it while DP is running. Outside of DP I do it all the time no Problem though

janne · Post by **janne** » Mon Jan 15, 2007 10:27 am

Thanks for the info guys:)

KarlSutton · Post by **KarlSutton** » Mon Jan 15, 2007 11:53 am

according to the 002R user guide they recommend shutting of the interface before unplugging the firewire, so I do that with my 828mkII as well.

borjam · Post by **borjam** » Tue Jan 16, 2007 2:15 am

Plugging and unplugging an interface with DP running might be a bad idea, as many programs are not ready to handle that situation correctly. The more complex the program, harder to do it correctly.

However, firewire hot plug issues can be of an electrical nature. As far as I know, there are three typical failure causes:

1) Static discharge. In areas with a low humidity level we tend to accumulate static charge. It can discharge with a spark and even damage components.

2) Wrongly inserted connectors. The firewire connector isn't so good at preventing this, and extreme care must be taken not to insert it wrong.

3) Too many bus-powered devices

In case of failure in a Mac, you can try to shut down the computer and disconnect it from the mains and wait for 10 minutes. Make sure to disconnect FW devices from the bus as well, as one of the electrical protections in place needs time without current in order to recover (it's a thermal fuse).

Often this will be enough, as the electrical protection is actually quiet decent. Of course serious accidents happen, and I think it's always a good idea to keep a spare Firewire card (at least for Powermac/Macpro/Macbook Pro users) just in case. One of these accidents happening on Friday evening with something to deliver on Monday morning, and you're dead.

Anyway, I wonder why in hell manufacturers haven't designed a detachable/user replaceable phy like that used for some gigabit Ethernet interfaces.

janne · Post by **janne** » Tue Jan 16, 2007 7:01 am

yes ive read it on the m-audio page where they suggest not to hot plug.
Thanks for the useful answer:)

bateman · Post by **bateman** » Fri Jul 25, 2008 3:44 am

so will it be enough just to turn of the card, or should you turn off the computer also (or can the computer just be in sleep mode)?

Phil O · Post by **Phil O** » Fri Jul 25, 2008 8:21 am

I had a problem a while back with the firewire interface on my Apogee converters. To make a long story short, the problem has been solved in Leopard. But, it seems that whatever code corrects the problem is loaded at startup and only if the Apogee unit is connected and turned on (made obvious by the fact that booting takes about 30 seconds longer with it connected). Anyway, although the Apogee will work if connected after booting, it reverts back to the old problems. There's so much odd stuff going on with drivers, I would say play it safe and connect before booting.

Phil