896mk3 Hybrid stopped talking to iMac!

[michaelkevin]

Hello all, I'm new to the board. I'm looking for some help/suggestions/experience regarding my MOTU 896mk3 192 kHz Hybrid FW USB 2. The unit just stopped communicating with my iMac (OSX Mountain Lion, 3.4 gHz quad-core).

It was working fine just two nights ago. After a session, I unplugged the interface from the iMac firewire 800 port for a Hard Drive transfer, and then plugged the interface back into the Firewire the next morning. No wiring had changed, but the unit simply wouldn't show up in the computer. I've reinstalled the MOTU drivers and programs every possible way. I tested all Firewire and USB ports on the iMac and all USB and Firewire cables, I tried every possible sequence of shut down/reboot hardware/restart, I reset the PRAM, but still the computer simply won't recognize the interface anymore. It won't show up in the System Prefs / Sound menu, nor in the MOTU audio hardware application (which normally shows a "General" tab plus a tab for each connected interface).

I have another, older 896 that is my secondary interface, it works fine and is a slightly different model ("MOTU 896mk3 192 kHz Firewire", just has firewire 400 and no USB). To avoid confusion, I'll call the problematic new 896 "896 HYBRID", and I'll call the older, still-functioning model "SECONDARY 896".

The wiring setup during my last successful use was as follows:
-iMac FW 800 port to 896 HYBRID FW port #2
-896 HYBRID FW port #1 to Glyph hard drive
-896 HYBRID optical in A to SECONDARY 896 optical out A
-Apogee Big Ben via word clock --> 896 HYBRID wordclock --> SECONDARY 896 wordclock

And this is the exact wiring that remained in place when the 896 HYBRID stopped showing up in my iMac. The ONLY things that changed between the night the unit functioned and the next morning were:
-ejected Glyph harddrive (connected to iMac via 896 HYBRID)
-pulled out 896 HYBRID FW from back of iMac for HD transfer
-shut off both interfaces
-(next morning)... turned on both interfaces, plugged Firewire back in

Also, there were NO software updates that occured in the interim.

Now some weird tidbits that might aid in diagnosis...
-When troubleshoot yesterday morning, I had the wiring setup listed above, and neither of the two interfaces would show up in the computer. Oddly, when I connected the external hard drive to the available FW 400 port of the SECONDARY 896, bing, the SECONDARY 896 was suddenly listed in System Prefs and in the MOTU hardware app. But the HYBRID still wouldn't show up. So it would seem that SECONDARY 896 was communicating through the drive, to the 896 HYBRID, to the computer. But while all this information passed through 896 HYBRID, that unit itself remained undetected.
-SECONDARY 896, which I now have connected directly to the iMac so I can stay up and running, is still syncing through word clock via the 896 HYBRID (daisy chain: Apogee Big Ben word clock ---> 896 HYBRID wordclock ---> SECONDARY 896 wordclock)
-896 HYBRID still sends bus power to the external Glyph hard drive.

That's my novel, and that's my problem. I'm guessing something has just gone wrong with the unit, but I hope there's something simple that I'm overlooking. These are the most similar situations I could find in online forums, and neither were resolved:
-http://www.motunation.com/forum/viewtop ... =2&t=44746
-http://www.motunation.com/forum/viewtop ... =2&t=30569

Any help is immensely appreciated. This is honestly very surprising... I've never had an issue with MOTU hardware, this feels like a Digidesign situation, right?

Cheers,
Kevin

[mikehalloran]

The obvious question: What happens when you plug in via USB?

[Klaus]

I had 2 896mk3H go kaputt when hotplugging ...
It *should* be possible though, as far as I know.
Since then, no more hotplugging.
I'm not sure if Motu is testing these situations, my guess : no.

Take care

Klaus

[michaelkevin]

Thanks for the input! Just to clear it up, Klaus, hotplugging is when you plug the 896 into the computer when the interface is already powered-on, correct?

If so, I definitely hot-plugged the SECONDARY 896 several times, and that one works fine. But that probably doesn't rule it out as the cause for the 896 HYBRID. It could have just been a susceptible unit?

Mike, as for the USB port on the 896 HYBRID, tested it first thing, and it's the same thing as firewire. Doesn't register as anything anywhere in the computer.

[Klaus]

Hotplugging > if anything is powered on...
When my FW connection didn't work anymore, the USB was kaputt too...
Best

Klaus

[michaelkevin]

Ah, thanks, Klaus. Sounds like hotplugging is the issue here.

What did you do with your bad 896s? Send them in for Warranty?

[Klaus]

Yes, they were new Hybrids...

Klaus

[mweiss]

That is scary news. Sometimes I don't always have control when the union guys back stage start unplugging my stuff after a concert. I never had any trouble with my 896 Original, but now that I have the mk3H, I am concerned about this happening because some stage hand started unplugging stuff while it was still powered on. If so, I'm gonna be sending it in for repairs monthly!

[Klaus]

Yes scary at best...
I just don't get it how Motu wants us to hot-plug *directly* on the interface, when it is buried in a rack...( thats what Kemble told me, and another solution is still pending, like FW hubs testing on Motu's labs )
That's why I added a Hub, but then no more hot-plugging with the mk3H interfaces...
I mean the Mac and it's keyboard and touchscreen is also buried in a rack, only ther FW cable
is accessible for connection...

My real world situation is like 10-20 times connecting and disconnecting during a week

Hope Motu is reading this...

Best

Klaus