Windows 7 Driver Install Problem SOLVED

[Advoc]

Scroll down to the 4th post to see solution. Everything before that is me having a hissy fit.



Hi guys.
Before you get paranoid about this being my first post please understand I've been lurking for a week and none of the fixes that are posted have worked for me. Right now I can't even try a different driver version because the MOTU website seems to be down and after reinstalling windows 3 times I've had it. Maybe I missed something. I hope that somebody here can see what it is i've done wrong.

Current System:
Intel Q6600 Core 2 Quad @ 2.4 GHz
5.5GB DDR2 ram
Windows 7 32-bit
2 Western Digital 500GB Sata2 HDD's
1 Seagate 1.5TB HDD
XFX ATI Radeon HD 5870 XXX 1GB DDR5
ASUS P5Q Turbo PRO mobo
DAW - Cubase 5
Interface: MOTU 896mk3 (I also have an 8pre on the way and a Mackie 800r for ADAT overflow)

the story so far:

I bought a bunch of hardware to upgrade my computer.
I couldn't install all of it because My new case hadn't arrived yet. So i went ahead and installed my MOTU drivers anyway and things were working.

First I installed the drivers then switched on my 896mk3. Windows tried to install its own drivers instead of the MOTU ones. So i had to uninstall the wrong driver from device manager. Then after a reinstall from the MOTU cd I rebooted and then switched on my interface. It installed the proper drivers. I was able to get things working and recognized and mapped out in Cubase 5 without any problems after that.. I even recorded a few tracks just to make sure.. things were working fine.

Then my case came. So i installed my new mobo and the rest of my hardware into it and reinstalled windows on a clean hard drive. I upgraded to window 7 64 bit to take advantage of all my ram and new hardware etc.

Well we know the issues with 64 bit OSes. I took all the steps. Made sure I had the 64 bit driver, Disabled User Account Control, ran the installer as administrator, restarted the computer and before connecting the 896 I reinstalled the 1394 driver to the legacy driver that was supposed to work, the drivers installed properly when I switched the 896 on. Then the roadblock. The audio console didn't complain at all that the mk3 wasn't attached. But every time I start cubase it says that the current windows soundcard can't record. So i go into the device settings and choose my MOTU. it switched over properly but then wouldn't show my 8 channels for mapping in the VST connections. So I restart the computer thinking that will re-initialize everything.. Except now windows just will not detect the mk3 at all. CueMix and the audio console says it isn't connected. And After about 3 hours of trying to figure out what is wrong I get upset and reinstalled windows 32bit.. because it worked just fine before, and I'm sick of dealing with these awful drivers.

So... 32bit is installed and activated. ready to receive my motu drivers. So I install them. Restart the computer. and when I switch on the mk3... windows doesn't find the proper driver to install... so i tell it to stop looking for the driver on windows update. and it just sits there grinding its gears unable to find the driver I just finished installing on it, nothing happened. I restarted the computer hoping that the driver woudln't install. And apparently it didn't because I see nothing in the device manager that shows a faulty device. So I turn the mk3 back on... nothing happens. I try to open the audio console. it says it isn't connected. I try to change the firewire driver to the legacy driver. and the system times out trying to install it an cancels the install.. SO i try to uninstall my MOTU drivers and start over... and the system sits there "preparing to remove...." and does nothing.

I just don't understand why this has to be so difficult and I don't understand why it all worked before on this OS.. and now it doesn't. Or why it intermittently decides it is connected or not connected for no apparent reason.

I thought I did my research. I love this interface, the preamps sound amazing and I want to use it. I'm all ready to go... why won't the damn drivers work?

I really need some help.

[Advoc]

well after screwing around for another couple of hours and unin/reinstalling the motu drivers from the CD about 4 times this is the situation.

The drivers installed themselves correctly once I switched on the 896. but It only installs 2 of the 3.

MOTU audio MIDI and
MOTU audio Wave.

In the device manager I see these 2 and another :
Motu Audio.

In Cubase I can select the motu ASIO device. but all the inputs and outputs are inactive except for analog 1 and 2 in (which it keeps calling stereo L and R) and Main outs L and R.

I'm guessing because the 3rd driver it needed to install was probably Motu ASIO or something similarily named. Without ASIO I don't get multitracking.

And I STILL can't get onto the MOTU website to check and see if the drivers on my disc are the newest or not. Is anybody else having troubles connecting to MOTU.com?

[HCMarkus]

DP 7.1 was just released, so MOTU's website is slammed.

[Advoc]

oh.. that makes sense. hopefully by morning i'll be able to get on there.

[Advoc]

Well after a few more problems and even one BSoD ( I haven't seen one in over 2 years since I was running windows XP ) I managed to get it working.

As it turns out the MOTU Asio driver isn't called an ASIO driver in the device manager. And once I finally had my firewire settings set up properly it really just came down to forgetting a step in my DAW. So in a way the very last problem I ran into was my own fault because I'm an idiot.

But! I'll post what I did to make sure it worked flawlessly.

Step one. Disable UAC
Step two. Use Device Manager to install Legacy FireWire Driver
Step three. Install MOTU driver (run as Administrator)
Step four. Restart computer (IMPORTANT STEP)
Step Five. connect MOTU interface and allow Windows to search for the driver. Even if it says it's searching windows update, do not interrupt it, it will find the proper drivers.
Step Six. Make sure your settings in the audio console match your setup.
Step Seven. Chose MOTU ASIO Audio from your devices menu in your DAW.
Step eight. Make sure you properly configure your input busses in your daw software. NOT ALL YOUR INPUTS WILL NOT SHOW UP AS ACTIVE IN THE DEVICE MENU IF YOU FORGET THIS STEP. (like I did)
Step nine. play!

The important steps are disabling User account control and restarting your computer afterwards. Running as administrator doens't do a lot since you've already disabled UAC, but it couldn't hurt to do it. I"ve also found that I made the same mistake in my DAW in both 32 bit and 64 bit windows. So, honestly, I don't believe there is much difference in the struggle between versions of windows 7, because it was no more difficult to do it in 64 bit than in 32 bit.

Several Members on here have described seeing a BSoD when switching to the MOTU Asio Driver in their DAW. Mine did this also the first time I tried (on this final windows installation). I allowed the computer to restart and I tried again and it worked. So keep trying.

I hope my experiences might help somebody else. I saw a lot of this information all over the forum but not really in a step by step process.