24io no longer working. PC at fault or 24io hardware?

[SilentCoup]

Hello all.

I have been using a 24io (bought 2nd hand) for the past couple of years. During this time it has been fairly reliable, although pretty much every time I start up the PC, it does not boot up properly in Windows (both XP and 7), showing as blank in the MOTU device manager. This can usually be fixed by unplugging the cable from the back of the PCI-424 and putting it back in, although several attempts are required before it "syncs" up. I have tried a variety of 'firewire' cables, but the problem persists regardless.

Occasionally, it crashes mid-session, giving a nasty BSOD. This happens sometimes for no reason at all, but more often when changing sample rates.

However, it has now stopped working completely! I am going to reformat my PC anyway, update all firmware and software (as I have seen suggested on this forum numerous times), and then reinstall the MOTU (do the drivers first, then fit the PCI-424, as has also been mentioned elsewhere), and hopefully things will work. I am a little worried that I might have worn out the port1 audiowire connection on the PCI-424 card though, through years of continuous plugging and unplugging!

Nonetheless, I came across this post on here (http://www.motunation.com/forum/viewtop ... 424#p97559), and it got me wondering whether there is indeed a hardware problem with the 24io itself, as the author of the post has had similar issues to me and claims that after a fix of the i/o box, it worked fine.

Is anyone able to shed any light on my situation?

Many thanks

Chris

[torrentg]

C:\Windows\Minidump

Copy the files out of there to any other folder, then upload to any online host like Rapidshare. Paste the link here and I'll have a look for ya.

[SilentCoup]

Hi Torrentg,

Ive uploaded the minidump file to here.

Im keen to know your findings. As mentioned, the 24io works after pulling the firewire cable in and out of the pci-424 a few times, but im worried that it might have worn out the connection there over time.

I am also worried it might be a fault with the breakout box itself, as has been mentioned in the post i linked to above. However, reading other posts, i can see that you often put the issues down to software conflicts due to updates etc.

I was going to do a complete reinstall of Win7, and make sure everything is fully updated afterwards, but it will be greatly appreciated if you had a look at the issues anyway.

Many thanks

Chris

[UltimateOutsider]

I'm betting you're looking at a hardware defect of some kind. I've only had mine a few weeks, but never once have I seen the issues you're describing. It always shows up and just plain works. (And I've been through many power cycles and warm boots in that time.)

I'm about to re-route my home studio to use the 24i/o exclusively (most of my gear is currently still cabled to the UltraLite-mk3).

[torrentg]

Hey Silent. Just saw the p.m. now.

It is a 0xD1 stop error happening with the MOTU Audiowire driver:

Code: Select all

5: kd> lmvm MotuAW64
start             end                 module name
fffff880`14b76000 fffff880`14bd5000   MotuAW64 T (no symbols)           
    Loaded symbol image file: MotuAW64.sys
    Image path: \SystemRoot\system32\drivers\MotuAW64.sys
    Image name: MotuAW64.sys
    Timestamp:        Fri Jun 11 12:32:19 2010 (4C126513)
    CheckSum:         0005FF7F
    ImageSize:        0005F000
    Translations:     0000.04b0 0000.04e4 0409.04b0 0409.04e4

Update that to newest from MOTU.com.

Also good to update the NVIDIA video driver from their site as well:

nvlddmkm nvlddmkm.sys Thu Jul 29 19:29:28 2010 (4C520ED8)

For good measure too, update Flash for both I.E. and again for the other browsers you might use:

http://www.filehippo.com/download_flash ... irefox_64/

http://www.filehippo.com/download_flashplayer_ie_64/

---------------

Also wouldn't be a bad idea to do a full Windows Update.

[SilentCoup]

I'm betting you're looking at a hardware defect of some kind.

I bloody well hope not! It is something that had crossed my mind actually, although it does work the majority of the time. Just needs a little faffing around with the fire/audiowire cable and pci-424 to get it working.

Hey Silent. Just saw the p.m. now.

It is a 0xD1 stop error happening with the MOTU Audiowire driver.

Many thanks for investigating this, TG. You are a God amongst... motunation users! I will definately have a look at this then, update my PC to its eyeballs, and let you know how it goes.

Cheers!