MOTU 828 Mkii Firewire and Mac High Sierra

rockitcity · Post by **rockitcity** » Thu Nov 30, 2017 9:23 am

Did a search, but didn't find the answer...

I upgraded the hard drive on my wife's late 2009 imac 27" this week, and am getting things sorted out. I did a clean install of Mac OS High Sierra 10.13.1 (I think). Downloaded the latest MOTU Audio and MIDI drivers, and checked the security settings to allow them to load (they did.) However, her 828 Mkii firewire is still not being recognized. Seems I saw some mention from MOTU some time ago about incompatibility of firewire with some Mac OS, but couldn't find anything recent on it from MOTU tech FAQ's.

So, is this interface compatible with High Sierra, and if not, what is the most recent Mac OS I can use? Kind of hate to downgrade the OS since it is working great otherwise, but don't really want to get another interface. I suppose I could get a cheap USB interface and ADAT link the 828 into that, but that's probably not a great idea either.

Thanks in advance for any info!

mikehalloran · Post by **mikehalloran** » Thu Nov 30, 2017 12:00 pm

Does your Mac have FW, TB or both ports? How are you hooking up your FW devices?

Mine is running fine in 10.13 on a direct connection with no other FW devices on a 2010 iMac with no Thunderbolt. I had to do some tweaking in Audio MIDI Setup.app to get it to work. With everything on, the 828 was greyed out. Deleting the profile caused a few more to show up and one of them was active. I deleted the rest and was good to go.

If you're not seeing it at all in Audio MIDI Setup.app, there's a problem. See if you can find the ports in About This Mac.

FW ports can crash for a number of reasons. Try resetting the NV RAM to bring them back.
https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT204063

rockitcity · Post by **rockitcity** » Thu Nov 30, 2017 1:22 pm

Hi Mike, thanks for the reply. The iMac has Firewire 800 and USB2, no Thunderbolt. I currently have a FW 800 drive hooked up between the Mac and the interface, which was working perfectly before the upgrade. I still have an El Capitan boot drive, so I will test that to see if it's a hardware or software problem. Hardware didn't change though. I'll look into resetting NVRAM. Haven't done that, although I did reset PRAM. Will report with any new findings.

mikehalloran · Post by **mikehalloran** » Thu Nov 30, 2017 2:34 pm

I'll look into resetting NVRAM. Haven't done that, although I did reset PRAM.

PPCs have PRAM; Intel Macs have NV RAM. If you did one, you did the other.

Take that FW drive out of the equation. See if you can get it working without that drive, then try putting it back in.

About This Mac should see the unit if it's plugged in and turned on assuming that the FW port is good. Start there. Next, can you get Audio MIDI Setup seeing it? Without those, then MOTU Audio Setup.app cannot see it and, without that, DP can't.

If you have to talk with MOTU, then give them a call but, the more you can troubleshoot on your own, the smoother that can be.

rockitcity · Post by **rockitcity** » Fri Dec 01, 2017 6:56 am

Just to close out the topic, I got it to work. Not really sure why, but here's what I did.

Since the prior El Capitan system was working fine (until the hard drive crashed,) I went to an earlier fresh install El Capitan boot disk, loaded the drivers (same as current according to MOTU) and checked the system report. Saw the FW 800 drive but not the MOTU interface. Shut down and took the FW drive out of the loop, restarted, and saw the interface in system report, but Audio MIDI setup didn't recognize it. So, I loaded the previous generation drivers, restarted, and finally, after a longer than expected delay, the interface was recognized. Yay!

Ok fine. So now back to High Sierra. Loaded the prior generation MOTU drivers on it, and again, after a lengthy delay, the interface was recognized. I then reinstalled the current drivers and put the original FW 800 drive back in the FW chain, and all is well.

After all this, I think the real reason the interface was recognized was patience. I expected MOTU audio setup would have seen it in the usual amount of time, but the first launch seemed to take so much longer (maybe 20-30 seconds?) that I figured it had crashed. Subsequent launches occur instantly. I doubt loading the previous drivers had any real impact. So the takeaway for anyone seeing this same issue would be to give it some time before going into trouble-shooting mode.

And thanks again, Mike for your suggestions.

mikehalloran · Post by **mikehalloran** » Fri Dec 01, 2017 8:21 am

guyusmaximus · Post by **guyusmaximus** » Sat Dec 09, 2017 7:11 am

Glad to see you got it sorted, I have the same issue on a Mac Pro late 2013 3.5G 6 core. High Sierra 10.13.1

Installed latest driver (1.67) first time install - done the security thing as suggested. MOTU Audio setup app installs fine but the Mac just won't see the device (MOTU 828 mkII). Am using a thunderbolt port with a firewire converter (as no firewire on mac bucket). Have checked that the port works, it does.

System report shows firewire device tree - Vendor0x1F2 Device 0x101800. not sure what that means apart from it sees something but doesn't recognise it.

Am close to giving up here.

Any last suggestions?

Pappy725 · Post by **Pappy725** » Mon Dec 11, 2017 8:49 am

Howdy all,
I upgraded(?) to OS 10.13.2 and was asked to activate DP each time I opened it up until today when it wouldn't open and then neither would MOTU Audio Setup. Restarted and everything is working fine now. I'm running an 828mkII with an 8Pre FW. The 8Pre is master because the 828 hasn't been recognized for several years now. It works with the 8Pre just not by itself. I was contemplating going to a Time Machine backup, but I'm glad it didn't come to that.

CONTROSOL · Post by **CONTROSOL** » Thu Jan 11, 2018 1:49 am

Vendor0x1F2 Device 0x101800

Exactly I have the same error with pro 2013

mikehalloran · Post by **mikehalloran** » Thu Jan 11, 2018 8:35 am

CONTROSOL wrote:Vendor0x1F2 Device 0x101800

Exactly I have the same error with pro 2013

What error?

Pappy725 · Post by **Pappy725** » Fri Jan 12, 2018 12:18 pm

Well, now that I’ve done the 10.13.2 Supplemental Update, it’s doing it again. Restarted, but that didn’t seem to help. And MOTU Audio Setup only sees my units if I start it first. It doesn’t open if I start my 8pre and 828 first. And I usually have to restart my units a couple of times before Audio Setup both. The 8Pre is always recognized, but not the 828. Curiouser and curiouser… DP is still the best DAW I’ve used, so I’ll put up with a few glitches.

CONTROSOL · Post by **CONTROSOL** » Sat Jan 13, 2018 11:10 am

I can’t see nothing in Audio motu panel

Downloading Mac OS Sierra 10.12.6

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CONTROSOL · Post by **CONTROSOL** » Sun Jan 14, 2018 3:04 am

I can’t look motu FireWire audio console in Mac OS X 10.12.6

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Pappy725 · Post by **Pappy725** » Sun Jan 14, 2018 6:53 am

If you mean MOTU Audio Setup, try starting it first, and then turning on your interface. I have to use a FW 400 to FW 800 cable and then a FW 800 to Thunderbolt adapter to connect my older 828MKII and my 8Pre. Hope this helps.

CONTROSOL · Post by **CONTROSOL** » Sun Jan 14, 2018 9:41 am

I haven’t the 8pre only the fire 400/800 cable and the adapter.

Sorry Pappy

Can you see the motu Firewire panel in your
Mac ?

Thanks

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