Ultralite MK1, Big Sur, M1, problems, etc.

[theviirus]

Ultralite MK1. Mac Mini M1, Big Sur, using an apple tb3 -> tb2, tb2 -> fw800, fw800 -> fw400 cable chain that has been going strong since 2018.

Ive tried the Ultralite mk3 hybrid drivers and Ultralite Mk4 drivers following each of the threads that MikeHalloran has contributed to regarding this.

Each one works as expected once or twice after installation but then eventually my ultralite isn't recognized unless some unknown combination of circumstances occur. I've tried turning on my ultralite: ASAP on startup, after startup but before login, after login, physically disconnecting the ultralite before startup and then connecting it before switching it on, etc. I've checked my dongles, cables, no apparent issue. This happens regardless of if I'm using the PSU or not. The only thing I have not been able to try is updating the mk1 firmware, but the updater doesn't work on any computer I have and I don't want to risk failing a firmware update via a virtualized OS.

I've also tried trashing preferences. No that hasn't helped.

I'd love any answers or advice, but I'm not optimistic I will get a definitive answer. At this rate I may have to just move on until my MK1 is supported again or upgrade when MK5s are available again. I also wanted to post because it seems like no one here has shared recent experience with the UL MK1. Any help is sincerely appreciated.

[mikehalloran]

Each one works as expected once or twice after installation…

That's not good — I'm guessing but the symptom is not one I've seen unless a) something else is controlling System Preferences/Sound or b) a hardware issue.

a) When you have it working, open System Preferences/Sound and look at the Output while it's running. Switch to Input and note the settings. Take screen shots if necessary. When it's not working, do those panels look the same. There are now so many apps trying to control this on my Mac that I must keep that window open so that I can watch the Output change as I initiate a process and manually click on the correct bundle before I go forward. Really weird but I never had to do this before Big Sur. Screen recording apps will do this but they're not the only ones anymore.

b) The usual culprits are dirty connections and heat. Look for brown spots on the circuit board and bulging caps in the power supply. Burnish all connectors, ribbon cables and PCB boards by dissembling and replacing three times. You may get lucky.

[theviirus]

Each one works as expected once or twice after installation…

That's not good — I'm guessing but the symptom is not one I've seen unless a) something else is controlling System Preferences/Sound or b) a hardware issue.

a) When you have it working, open System Preferences/Sound and look at the Output while it's running. Switch to Input and note the settings. Take screen shots if necessary. When it's not working, do those panels look the same. There are now so many apps trying to control this on my Mac that I must keep that window open so that I can watch the Output change as I initiate a process and manually click on the correct bundle before I go forward. Really weird but I never had to do this before Big Sur. Screen recording apps will do this but they're not the only ones anymore.

b) The usual culprits are dirty connections and heat. Look for brown spots on the circuit board and bulging caps in the power supply. Burnish all connectors, ribbon cables and PCB boards by dissembling and replacing three times. You may get lucky.

Ive been having continual issues with this for about three months now, and they've only been getting worse...which points to it likely being a hardware issue. (I opened it up but nothing looked odd; no blown parts, no bulging parts, no burn marks, nothing that looks out of the ordinary. I just remembered one issue I've been having recently that I didn't consider before. Occasionally on startup, all of the levels will be at zero and I'll have to select my default hardware preset (preset 1) on the hardware itself. When it was being recognized by my mac, I could get cuemix to save and recall hardware presets.

Re: system prefs. Nope, nothing is switching outputs or anything away from the motu while its running. It just doesn't show up at all. It will show up once or twice after a driver installation, but then just not appear ever again. When it was being recognized, it would work fine. Could turn it off and on and it would just work fine as a solo audio interface, an aggregate, or just side by side with my Universal Audio Arrow.

More and more I'm suspecting this is a sign that its dying. I'll hold out hope for a little longer, in case anyone else has information to share.

Thank you for your insight Mike!

[Re8et]

I'd love any answers or advice

Gang up together. Fw have been left out...

The MOTU Audio Installer now supports the following interfaces on M1 Apple Silicon Macs:

4pre
828x (Thunderbolt only)
828mk3 Hybrid*
896mk3 Hybrid*
8pre USB*
Audio Express
MicroBook IIc
Track16
UltraLite-mk3 Hybrid*
*FireWire only variants are not supported.

[theviirus]

I'd love any answers or advice

Gang up together. Fw have been left out...
The MOTU Audio Installer now supports the following interfaces on M1 Apple Silicon Macs:

Its been confirmed by users here that firewire devices can work with the mk4 software.
My issue is likely a dying audio interface, not software incompatibility.
As such I have moved on from motu until maybe mk5 ultralites become available again.

[Re8et]

I'd love any answers or advice

Gang up together. Fw have been left out...
The MOTU Audio Installer now supports the following interfaces on M1 Apple Silicon Macs:

Its been confirmed by users here that firewire devices can work with the mk4 software.
My issue is likely a dying audio interface, not software incompatibility.
As such I have moved on from motu until maybe mk5 ultralites become available again.

I too have bad capacitors in my Mk2...
I suspect it's some bad caps bc static sometimes make it to the output...
Sigh, thats a lot of debugging... good luck with your unit!