MOTU 896HD not connecting to my Mac...

dragadiddle · Post by **dragadiddle** » Wed Aug 06, 2008 9:32 am

Hi everyone. I just moved my studio set up from an apartment to a house, and somehow during that time my MOTU has stopped working for me!

Currently when I connect my MOTU 896 HD to my computer it flashes (to connect) and then locks on 48K... however it never actually registers with my computer. I know it doesn't connect with my computer because the MOTU panel is set to pop up on my computer screen when connected to the computer.

I'm not really sure what happened. I moved a few blocks away, and so I took all my gear apart. It has been working fine for a year now... so I'm a little confused. Is there a certain "reboot" I can do to the 896HD and see if that fixes the problem? Any ideas would be appreciated!

I'm using: MOTU 896HD, connected to Mac G5 2.7 Dual. Using Nuendo 3.1

bkshepard · Post by **bkshepard** » Wed Aug 06, 2008 11:30 am

Hi dd and welcome to Unicornation.

Does the 896 show up in Audio MIDI Setup? I have found that when a FireWire interface like the 896 doesn't show up, it is frequently caused by the FireWire connection itself. It could be the cable, or the ports on either the computer or the 896. Try swapping out the cable and/or plugging into different FireWire ports. See if you can connect the 896 to a different computer. Chances are that during your move, something got bumped, rattled, bent, etc. Good luck.

dragadiddle · Post by **dragadiddle** » Wed Aug 06, 2008 11:51 am

Yea... I was worried about the firewire on the 896 being messed up. I've tried other cables, and they all do different things... one of them makes the 896 just keep flashing, another does the 44.1K but still won't connect to the computer. In my gut I felt it was a firewire port problem. In the Audio MIDI set up it does not show up in the Audio Devices section.

Do you know how easy or hard it is for me to try and replace the firewire port on it myself? Or should I really leave that up to the professionals?

bkshepard · Post by **bkshepard** » Wed Aug 06, 2008 12:06 pm

I've never tried to do something like that myself, so I can't say how difficult it is. But, unless you're REALLY comfortable with a soldering iron and making delicate electronics repairs, I'd suggest leaving it to the pros.

Before you do, though, make a couple of tests. With a known working cable, try connecting your 896 to another computer and try connecting a different FireWire device to the port on your computer. This will help you determine whether it is the computer or the 896 that has the problem.