MOTUnation.com

Hi all,

Like so many of you, I've been having a horrible time trying to get my 828mk2 working on Windows XP. If it wasn't for all the technical issues, my band's cd would've been released by now!

Anyway, for a while I had some annoying high-pitched squeals and dropouts and such, which were bad enough. But lately the problem has gotten much worse. Now once I boot up, the 828 will work fine for a few... sometimes a while, sometimes it gets screwed up immediately... but inevitable the sound cuts out with a loud pop, and the MOTU restarts itself. No fiddling with turning it on/off or anything, it just dies and comes back after a moment. The clock LED goes out, and the screen displays the normal power-cycle style init messages, and the thing kicks back in, but at FULL VOLUME! That makes it extra annoying... I'll simply be listening to music, then the 828 will die and come back on at full-blast, nearly blowing my head off with these M-Audio BX8 monitors! (Those monitors are really freakin' loud.) Eventually, it'll stop coming back, and it'll just sit idle.

I'm having a hard time telling if it's doing this on its own with the computer off, but it's a little tough to tell. I need to test that some more. If that's the case, I take it that there's a true hardware issue and I'd need to send it back to MOTU? If it's not doing it in standalone mode, then I suppose it's clearly a software/driver/config issue. It's just strange, because I've been scouring the internet for a long long time trying sort out various issues with this mk2, but this specific problem seems like a new one. I haven't seen anyone else complaining about the device actual restarting itself.

So yeah... any thoughts on what might be up or how I could fix it? Thanks in advance for any help!

try a factory reset as described in http://www.motu.com/techsupport/technot ... term=reset

Tried the factory reset already. Also tried several different driver versions.

Isn't there a firmware update for the mk2? I believe there is, but I can't find it anywhere... assuming there actually is one that is.

I had a similar problem with an 828mkII and it turned out to be low voltage. Anytime the voltage dropped below 110, the unit would fritz. Any way you can check your power outlet? An appliance or something may be drawing down the current when it starts or like me you might just have crappy power (really old house in a really old neighborhood). If you have a battery backup unit like APC, try plugging it into that - there should be some voltage regulation.

There are no downloadable firmware updates for the 828mkII. A chip upgrade used to be available through MOTU, but that was for the earliest units. When you power it up, if it says 1.01, I believe that is the most current .

Hmmmm.... I actually do have my MOTU plugged into an uninterruptible power supply unit, which is what I assume you're referring to when you suggest a "battery backup unit like APC". At least I'm pretty sure that's what it's plugged into, I'll double check when I get home. Do you think I'd have better luck plugging it into my Gemini power conditioner? That would be great if it was a simple fix like that. Also, if you have any ideas as to how I could check/monitor the voltage I'm getting, I'm all ears!

Oh, and my unit says it's at v1.00, so it looks like I should get it updated. Can I request the chip from MOTU and do the upgrade myself, or is that something I have to send it back to them for?

You can get an inexpensive multimeter from any electronic supply store. Good thing to have around anyway. For the update, you'll need to contact MOTU customer service - I believe you replace the chip (eprom).

Well, I didn't see the chip upgrade available in their store, at least not for any of the 828's. Customer service told me to talk to Tech Support about it, but it's really hard to get through to them. Still tryin'.

I really really hope that chip is still available... it better be!