896 Mk1: Blinking System Clock 44.1 light on power up

[carlos el loco]

Hi there,

Here's my setup;
896 Mk1, MacBook Pro ( OS 10.5.8 ), FW 800-400 cable. Sound system wide is affected.

Up until recently everything was running great. Then a few weeks ago I tried powering up the 896. It wouldn't connect. Only thing it would do was blink the System Clock 44.1 light. I turned it off and went a' googling. Finding nothing I again tried powering it up a little later. It worked fine again. Until the same whole thing happened again.

It's now become a recurring problem. Works most of the time, but will stop working all of a sudden and then not work again 'til a few hours later. Also sleep mode and screen saver seem to trigger a freeze, re-routing sound through the MacBooks internal speakers / headphone jack. I'll turn off the 896, turn it on again and get the same blinking 44.1 light. Then a few hours later try again and find that everything works fine.

Any ideas?

[1nput0utput]

It sounds like you might have a faulty FireWire cable or FireWire port. Try using a different cable, or switch the other FireWire port on the back of the 896. It would also be a good idea to test the 896 with another computer or test other FireWire devices with the MacBook Pro.

[carlos el loco]

Hi 1nput0utput,

Thanks for your reply. Unfortunately I've already tried both ports on the 896 using different cables and on another machine, and still had the same problem.

I also replaced the 896's internal fuse, which at first I thought had solved the problem only to see it recur within a few days.

I'm totally stumped, and it has literally just conked out again as I'm typing this reply.

[jimfisheye]

Well, you eliminated the cable as suspect. That was the 1st step. Get ahold of service. Sounds like hardware failure. Something's failing when it heats up. MOTU has a great repair policy - $80 flat fee (after warranty). I've had an interface go down twice in 10 years (2 different ones, not the same one - purchased both used). Not bad.

Also, these interfaces run a little hot. Treat yourself to a rack fan.

[carlos el loco]

Thanks jimfisheye,

Sounds like a pretty neat deal. How do you go about getting it?
And do you know if it's available in the UK by any chance?