PCI-324 and OS X

[UltraJC]

Anybody using this combo with any great success? I have had nothing but problems on my rig (see below)- frequent crashes, less than stellar performance (about a 35% drop in CPU vs. DP 3.11), so I stuck with OS 9.2.2 because for now, at least it is far more stable. However, I am quite anxious to get into the world of soft synths and AU plugs ( I recieved my DP 4.5 update last week). The problem is MOTU has that ridiculous policy regarding 424 upgrades - you have to be a registered owner (I bought both my cards used). I would be willing, however to upgrade to a 424 (and a 2408 MK3) if that will fix the problem. Any thoughts?

BTW, I am using 2 interfaces on one card. Would there be any advantage to putting both 324 cards in the same machine and running each interface on it's own card? Just wondering.....

[Don T]

Hello:
I too noticed a drop in performance with OS 10.3.5 and DP 4.12. I attribute it to both the os and DP. One thing for sure is the video is slower. The later extentions don't work as well IMHO. There are rumblings that DP 4.5 runs faster, I dunno.
There will be no speed gain running two 324 cards with only 2 devices. PCI bandwidth is the limiting factor. Unless you are talking an older machine with 2 PCI busses.

[TheHopiWay]

My 324 card works fine in os9 and osx. It came with the MKII 2408.
A friend has the same set up but had a 324 card with a MK I and had big problems.
To troubleshoot we swapped 324 cards and the problems followed the older 324 card while the MK i worked fine if used with my later revision 324 card.
He eneded up bying a used 324 card from a friend along with a MKII and has since had no problems.
I believe (though I can't be certain) there's an issue with certain revisions of the 324 cards and that's what accounts for the hit or miss sucess of the cards when used in G4s.

[mastermix]

PCI 324 is legacy that should be banished in the OS X world.
It is old stuff...get a 424 or Firewire Interface instead if you can afford it..else stay in OS9.

Secretly MOTU agrees with this position....

Kris..

[UltraJC]

Thanks for the feedback - I suppose my suspicions were right. I'm going to see if either of my cards were not previously registered - then I can do the 424 upgrade. Hopefully, it won't be a problem to run the old interfaces with the new card.

[studioprez]

Welcome to upgrade hell. As the software gets more powerful your platforms going to get slower and you'll have to get a 424 for the new G5's PCI buss. Not to mention OS 9 support is fading by the hour. So sooner or later you just gotta bite the bullet.

[denne]

I'running a 324 on a dual 1.25Ghz OS 10.3.5 and DP 4.12 at my homebased studio with no probs. I upgraded to a 424 'cause I bought a G5 for bread'n'butter.

[ElGato]

PCI 324 is legacy that should be banished in the OS X world.
It is old stuff...get a 424 or Firewire Interface instead if you can afford it..else stay in OS9.

Secretly MOTU agrees with this position....

In the meantime...

...it seems that as long as you use the 324 exclusively for DP audio (while working in DP) and you use the Mac's "built-in" audio for all other apps, sys sounds, etc., you should be fine.

But yes, upgrade as soon as possible.

[TheHopiWay]

I realize some systems have problems with some 324 cards but.........
While a 424 is on my wish list to avoid potential future problems I have no need of one right now.
At present my 324 is working gtreat and DP is rock solid.
It's foolish to waste money on upgrades for no functional purpose. By the time I need the upgrade an even newer card (524?) may be out.

[LOXATUS]

PCI 324/ working perfectly on my Dual 1.25/DP 4.5/OX 10.3.6 (combo update) solid like a rock./Waves 5/Spectrasonics/VST Wrapper/Pluggsound/Virtual guitarist +E.E./Minimoog/Vanguard/TCworks/Sampletank/Kontakt/B4/... and more, i have a very good feel about my rig, ocasionaly crash, specialy with nsome VST Instr, but seems to be very stable.

[markwayne]

I own two pci324 cards which operate flawlessly with my g4 and osx, and one pci424 which has a serious conflict with my scsi card under osx/. This renders the pci424 useless for my g4. I'll save the pci424 for the day I break down and purchase a g5.

[Jim]

The 324 was working fine for me in OSX, but I couldn't use CueMix. So, I paid the $300 ransom for the 424 card, and now I can use CueMix, and have the same functionality I had with 324 and OS9. Grrr.

.

[markwayne]

That's how I ended up with the 424 that now sits inside my Giga system. It really was largely a cuemix ransom payment. Of course, after paying the ransom, I still don't have cuemix because the damn thing is so flakey about sharing the PCI bus.

[zandurian]

Have a 324 working great in os x with 4.52. Had bought a 424 while looking at going to g5 but decided to stick with the g4 for a while longer. MOTU said I would get better performance with the 424 but I couldn't see keeping it when the 324 worked fine. I used the refund to buy a UAD-1 card....

[Gerk]

Also of note, with 324 cards .. the choice of which PCI slot you use can make a big difference, especially on some of the older hardware. You will want a slot that's not shared with anything (most times try the slot furthest from the AGP slot - but that's not accurate on all hardware either).

Also if you are using other PCI cards your performance will degrade almost certinaly in many setups.

Mark