Re: Mac OS X Test driver 2.65 for FF 400/800

"I'm not sure this will work for everyone but it has certainly worked for me."

I did exactly what you did 3 weeks ago and my computer worked fine for 4 or 5 days. Then I deviated from the normal power Mac Pro and RME400 on/off sequence and it totally screwed things up again and I've not had it working since (see previous posts). Hope it continues to work okay for you.

Mac Pro 2 x 2.8 Quad 32GB Ram

All that we see or seem, is but a dream within a dream.

Re: Mac OS X Test driver 2.65 for FF 400/800

Timur wrote:

An Uninstaller would be nice and could possibly save from alot of confusion around the proper installation/uninstallation process. Maybe the Installer should even do a complete uninstallation by option or automatically.

This would be awesome!

I think there are a lot of people that don't actually read this forum.

RME Fireface UFX
Mac Mini 2.6 GHz 16 GB Ram Areca RAID | MacBook Pro 2,2 GHz 16 GB Ram | OS 10.10.5

253

Re: Mac OS X Test driver 2.65 for FF 400/800

Timur wrote:

An Uninstaller would be nice and could possibly save from alot of confusion around the proper installation/uninstallation process. Maybe the Installer should even do a complete uninstallation by option or automatically.

Well, the installer (Apple's own) does have the option of complete uninstallation prior to installing the new files turned on. That caused lots of people (read: not all) to have no driver files at all after 'successful' installation...

We have no third party Installer or Uninstaller and don't expect this to change, sorry.

Regards
Matthias Carstens
RME

Re: Mac OS X Test driver 2.65 for FF 400/800

davidwright wrote:

"I'm not sure this will work for everyone but it has certainly worked for me."

I did exactly what you did 3 weeks ago and my computer worked fine for 4 or 5 days. Then I deviated from the normal power Mac Pro and RME400 on/off sequence and it totally screwed things up again and I've not had it working since (see previous posts). Hope it continues to work okay for you.

I hope so too. :-)
I'll report back if any strange behavior starts to reappear.

Just to be perfectly clear:

I have never encountered any Kernel Panics on this computer.
I only had the freezing system issue prior to the removal of the old drivers.

So it seams like we have two different problems here.
Some have a Kernel Panic issue and some have a freezing one.

This two may be unrelated!?!

RME Fireface UFX
Mac Mini 2.6 GHz 16 GB Ram Areca RAID | MacBook Pro 2,2 GHz 16 GB Ram | OS 10.10.5

Re: Mac OS X Test driver 2.65 for FF 400/800

Eric Bradley wrote:

I had huge freezing problems with the 2.64 - 2.66 drivers.
The only way to avoid it was to make sure that the Fireface was on before I booted up my mac.
I was almost convinced that this was a Snow Leopard/Firewire issue that maybe would be mended when 10.6.3 arrives.
But I got tired of waiting so I decided to delete the drivers and start from scratch, with 2.67, following this instructions:

[large]Remove the RME Fireface driver and apps on Mac OS X[/large]

Just send all the files listed below to the Trash.

/Applications/Fireface Mixer
/Applications/Fireface Settings
/Library/Audio/MIDI Drivers/Fireface MIDI.plugin
/System/Library/Extensions/FirefaceAudioDriver.kext
/Users/username/Library/Preferences/Fireface folder
/Users/username/Library/Preferences/com.rme.FirefaceMixer.plist
/Users/username/Library/Preferences/com.rme.FirefaceSettings.plist

When using the new Snow Leopard driver also delete:
/Library/LaunchAgents/de.rme-audio.firefaceAgent.plist

After trashing everything I restarted my Mac and installed the new drivers.
and.... IT WORKS NOW!!!

I haven't had a single freeze in 24 hours of work.
And I started the Fireface after computer boot, even after I started Logic.
I put my computer to sleep with the Fireface still on > Woke the computer and it still works!
I put my computer to sleep with the Fireface turned off > Woke the computer turned on the Fireface and it still works!

I'm not sure this will work for everyone but it has certainly worked for me.

Sorry....
Spoke too soon.

IT'S BACK.

I just powered my fireface unit while typing and the system froze with a beach ball of hell.

Well... somethings definitely fishy with 10.6. Maybe my first assumption that it will be mended in 10.6.3 was correct after all.

RME Fireface UFX
Mac Mini 2.6 GHz 16 GB Ram Areca RAID | MacBook Pro 2,2 GHz 16 GB Ram | OS 10.10.5

256 (edited by Timur 2010-03-07 14:32:25)

Re: Mac OS X Test driver 2.65 for FF 400/800

RobR wrote:

Timur

Can you confirm that 2.67 is OK if one uninstall completely any previous driver?

I did not install 2.67 yet, because on my Macbook Pro 17" (2009) I do not experience the problems (using 2.65). One reason might be that it was a complete fresh installation and that I did *not* yet install Logic (still own 8). Another reason might be that I mostly used Windows 7 lately.

Currently I'm tending towards leaving Apple behind as much as possible since I did not hear a single word back from them since I got the dented Macbook Pro replacement which still has the same ExpressCard problems (wrote several mails to their replacement service). Apple's service is questionable in several areas and obviously the same can be said about their quality-price ratio.

I do have one of the Imac 21.5" units around that caused one Kernel Panic upon connection when I tested it quickly some weeks ago, but I did not find time yet to set it up and test it with the latest driver revision (it's not a music computer, but for an architect who only uses Windows on it anyway).

Re: Mac OS X Test driver 2.65 for FF 400/800

MC wrote:
Timur wrote:

An Uninstaller would be nice and could possibly save from alot of confusion around the proper installation/uninstallation process. Maybe the Installer should even do a complete uninstallation by option or automatically.

Well, the installer (Apple's own) does have the option of complete uninstallation prior to installing the new files turned on. That caused lots of people (read: not all) to have no driver files at all after 'successful' installation...

We have no third party Installer or Uninstaller and don't expect this to change, sorry.

No problem for me. wink I already guessed that the Uninstaller process might have caused troubles in the past which lead to the manual process.

A third party (Un)Installer that makes really sure that all files are being unlocked and deleted would surely be a nice addition, but I understand that this would mainly be a convinience thing for those who don't know how to do installations manually.

Re: Mac OS X Test driver 2.65 for FF 400/800

Timur wrote:

I did not install 2.67 yet, because on my Macbook Pro 17" (2009) I do not experience the problems (using 2.65).

Are you able to:
1. Start your computer without powering the inerface.
2. Play iTunes.
3. Quit iTunes and then powering the fireface without any problem?

RME Fireface UFX
Mac Mini 2.6 GHz 16 GB Ram Areca RAID | MacBook Pro 2,2 GHz 16 GB Ram | OS 10.10.5

Re: Mac OS X Test driver 2.65 for FF 400/800

I can check Itunes again, but these were my more sophisticated test results: wink

http://www.rme-audio.de/forum/viewtopic … 778#p35778

Keep in mind that I'm using a FF400 though.

Re: Mac OS X Test driver 2.65 for FF 400/800

Still freeeezing Snow Leopard. last firmware, last drivers, all clean system. aghhhh sad

Re: Mac OS X Test driver 2.65 for FF 400/800

"Sorry....Spoke too soon. IT'S BACK."

Not surprised!

I'm not an 'expert', but I do consider myself a very experienced Mac user (14 years) who has progressed system by system, Desk top computer by desktop computer to my current set up, using Logic, Aperture, Photoshop etc in a professional capacity. I've tried all manner of investigating, isolating apps, I've had my computer checked twice now to ensure my drives and RAM are okay and I've installed Snow Leopard twice. What I know for sure is that everything worked fine in Leopard, so all the problems, kernel panics freezes and crashes have occurred since Snow Leopard was installed. I also never had anything like these problems with any of the previous operating systems - and I was always a user who bought the new OS early.

While the RME drivers may not be helping the problem - there does clearly appear to be a conflict - I am more and more convinced because of my own experience that the problems are triggered by Snow Leopard. My computer has been problematic the last few days (just had everything checked out by the apple dealer) without any RME drivers installed and with nothing connected except a 30"monitor! It seems to have settled down today and is working okay, but for how long? Who knows. I reinstalled 2.66 a couple of hours ago, remove the p.list file and the RME400 appears to be working okay and no issues - yet.

Mac Pro 2 x 2.8 Quad 32GB Ram

All that we see or seem, is but a dream within a dream.

262

Re: Mac OS X Test driver 2.65 for FF 400/800

I've tried to install "leopard" on my new macbook pro 2009, thinking it would solve all the problems, but it seems like the new mac computers -sold after snow leopard came out- can't support any other system than snow leopard...
did anyone tried?

Re: Mac OS X Test driver 2.65 for FF 400/800

The problems are to inconsistent to make sense, thats the problem. I have exactly the same apps running on a macbook (white 13") and that's working like a dream, never the slightest hint of a problem. Logic, apperture, photoshop etc etc and ALL the same stuff as is on my Mac Pro.

Mac Pro 2 x 2.8 Quad 32GB Ram

All that we see or seem, is but a dream within a dream.

Re: Mac OS X Test driver 2.65 for FF 400/800

davidwright wrote:

While the RME drivers may not be helping the problem - there does clearly appear to be a conflict - I am more and more convinced because of my own experience that the problems are triggered by Snow Leopard.

I'm with you on this one.
Let's hope things get better with 10.6.3

There's one note on the 10.6.3 fixlist that may resolve this issue:

IOFireWireSerialBusProtocolTransport
- Resolves mounting issues with FireWire DVD drives.

RME Fireface UFX
Mac Mini 2.6 GHz 16 GB Ram Areca RAID | MacBook Pro 2,2 GHz 16 GB Ram | OS 10.10.5

Re: Mac OS X Test driver 2.65 for FF 400/800

piewo wrote:

I've tried to install "leopard" on my new macbook pro 2009, thinking it would solve all the problems, but it seems like the new mac computers -sold after snow leopard came out- can't support any other system than snow leopard...
did anyone tried?

I doubt that somehow because:

1. The hardware did not change (except for IDs). It's still the same NVidia chipset with the same everything.

2. I can swap the harddrive of my 2009 Macbook Pro (17") with my old Leopard clone and it runs like nothing has changed (except for application activation being necessary because of the changed hardware IDs).

Re: Mac OS X Test driver 2.65 for FF 400/800

The other point I meant to add, is that I also think the conflict issue is somehow related to sleep and/or start up (and yes, I know that is what many other users have posted on this forum). I say this because the one consistency (for me at least) has been that the computer settles, as it has done again for me today, and it will almost certainly be okay for the rest of the day. But tomorrow morning, whether I power down or leave in sleep mode tonight, the problems will surface again.

Mac Pro 2 x 2.8 Quad 32GB Ram

All that we see or seem, is but a dream within a dream.

Re: Mac OS X Test driver 2.65 for FF 400/800

Great! New situation here: For one week, I didn't have the time to make music. Before, I had the problem everyone had, but I worked around it by restarting my Mac after the FF800 had been turned on. It was recognised during the grey startup screen.

Today, this doesn't work any more! I sit here, want (and have to!) make music, but five (!!!) restarts and one shutdown plus restart haven't helped: The red light stays on. Ridiculously enough, the red light turns OFF, when I restart the FF800. But then I have the old problem: Audio apps freeze, and the mixer and settings don't autostart. However, when I restarted the Mac today, the red light stayed on, while mixer and setting DID autostart (the settings displaying a sample frequency of "-1073748 kHz").

Guys, this is getting absolutely RIDICULOUS! Now I WANT to :censored work but the FF800 gives me the kick in the head. Never had this before!

Ah yes, and before anybody asks: No, I did NOT change anything particular. One week ago, it worked just like that, today it doesn't.
The only thing that changed in the system: I disconnected my printer and scanner and connected and installed a new printer-scanner combi device by Canon. Connected or not, turned on or not, the red light stays. And NO, I don't think this should be happening, it's just a :censored printer for :censored sake! rant

Re: Mac OS X Test driver 2.65 for FF 400/800

Christian, like I said in a previous post, one of the problems is that f you keeping having freezes and kernel panics, there is a good chance additional problems will happen on your drive as a result. So in the end, it's difficult to know what the problem really is.

My advice would be to remove all traces of the RME driver, as posted earlier, and see if you have problems without the RME installed - just try running other apps. If it's okay, reinstall RME driver as stated earlier, making sure you remove /Library/LaunchAgents/de.rme-audio.firefaceAgent.plist and see if that does any good.

Mac Pro 2 x 2.8 Quad 32GB Ram

All that we see or seem, is but a dream within a dream.

Re: Mac OS X Test driver 2.65 for FF 400/800

I should add that I did just that this morning and it's still (fingers tightly crossed!) working, so hopefully I can finish my work today.

Mac Pro 2 x 2.8 Quad 32GB Ram

All that we see or seem, is but a dream within a dream.

Re: Mac OS X Test driver 2.65 for FF 400/800

I'd also reset PRAM and run repair permissions and verify drive from your install disc before re-installing the rme driver......

Mac Pro 2 x 2.8 Quad 32GB Ram

All that we see or seem, is but a dream within a dream.

Re: Mac OS X Test driver 2.65 for FF 400/800

Scott, this was one of the very first things people claimed: It's the RAM or it only happens with 4 or more GB of RAM. Hardly anybody has commented on this ever since, but for me it was always a strong contender... I wasn't able to test it on my MacPro yet, but for my MacBook it's true: FF400 running smoothly on 2 GB, crashing on 4.

Best regards,

Christian

Re: Mac OS X Test driver 2.65 for FF 400/800

BTW, after a night of 8 hours of sleep, today, the restart workaround worked again! Yesterday, it was absolutely impossible to get the FF800 to work, today it worked right away after the restart. So I'll head for David's tips and try all thos nasty little resets and re-installs.

Best regards,

Christian

273 (edited by Timur 2010-03-08 09:47:03)

Re: Mac OS X Test driver 2.65 for FF 400/800

Since we are talking about RAM again, let me quote something from the Windows 7 thread that includes a "memory corruption" message by Windows (Macbook Pro 17 2009):

The platform firmware has corrupted memory across the previous system power transition.  Please check for updated firmware for your system.

Re: Mac OS X Test driver 2.65 for FF 400/800

I have on my MacBook Pro (early 2008) 4 GB ram
this model is with TI firewire chipset
works fine with OSX driver 2.67 and fut 2.77, Win driver 2.9992
OSX 10.6.2 and BootCamp 3.1 / Windows 7 32-bit
Fireface 800 from august 2004
Cubase 4.52 and 5.1, WaveLab 6.11
works fine

maybe this info helps or not regarding 4 GB ram !

regards S-EH

Re: Mac OS X Test driver 2.65 for FF 400/800

I am also having this problem on my Mac Pro and I have 12GB of RAM.

/K

Re: Mac OS X Test driver 2.65 for FF 400/800

I had the same thought about RAM. My Mac Pro came with 6 GB and I added another 4 GB equaling 10GB. My Mac technician thought that the erratic behaviour was indicative of faulty RAM. But they've had my computer on test twice now checking drives and RAM and both are fine. So if it is a RAM related problem, it doesn't appear to be down to faulty RAM. I'm hoping that the forthcoming 10.6.3 will solve whatever is going on.

I made the point yesterday that after two days of frustration, my computer settled down yesterday. I switched on this morning and so far, aside from hanging and taking 10-20 seconds to do the simplest task every now and again earlier on, indicating something isn't right, it's workable. But, the point is, it has settled down again and will be alright for the rest of the day. Truly weird!

Mac Pro 2 x 2.8 Quad 32GB Ram

All that we see or seem, is but a dream within a dream.

Re: Mac OS X Test driver 2.65 for FF 400/800

After my earlier post, I tried to open Logic this evening - I've been working on artwork for the past three days, although I did process a master CD in wave burner and have been listening to itunes without problem.

Complete computer crash. No warning, no reason, aside from opening Logic. The crash was so bad that it rendered my system drive as "beyond repair" when I eventually managed to get the original OS disc into the computer to repair permissions and verify drives.

I have never ever known crashes cause this much chaos and damage to a hard drive - it's insane!

So, I'm erasing my system drive and starting all over again - joy!

Mac Pro 2 x 2.8 Quad 32GB Ram

All that we see or seem, is but a dream within a dream.

Re: Mac OS X Test driver 2.65 for FF 400/800

Not sure anymore if my problems are related to this forum or not. Installed Snow Leopard ONLY on my computer today and the hanging apps continued! Spent the whole day swapping RAM about, installed another hard drive that worked fine in another computer and the problems persist! So my Mac Pro is back with the approved apple dealer for the third time in a month, and it is clearly a hardware problem. Difficult to understand how the RME drivers could've caused that kinda damage. As and when I get a fully working computer again, I'll report what happens when I get back to the stage where I can actually install RME drivers. Good luck one and All!!

Mac Pro 2 x 2.8 Quad 32GB Ram

All that we see or seem, is but a dream within a dream.

Re: Mac OS X Test driver 2.65 for FF 400/800

Something quite strange happened today (and I'm disgusted that I didn't think of it before - I just FORGOT I had this thing!!!): I crawled behind my machinery and realised I had a Firewire 400/800 expansion card in my MacPro. The external hard disks are connected to it.

So, just for fun, I disconnected the FF800 from the Mac's own FW port and connected it to a FW800 port of the card. I turned on the Fireface, the red light turned off, and the FF settings and mixer autostarted (which hasn't happened even ONCE since I switched to Snow Leopard!).

Logic, however, froze again, during CoreAudio initialization. :-O

So, why's the FF800 happy enough with another FW controller to autostart mixer and settings but still freezes afterwards? Maybe this helps any of the developers?

Here's the MacPro I use (don't know how to find out details on the FW controller):

Hardware-?bersicht:

  Modellname:    Mac Pro
  Modell-Identifizierung:    MacPro1,1
  Prozessortyp:    Dual-Core Intel Xeon
  Prozessorgeschwindigkeit:    2,66 GHz
  Anzahl der Prozessoren:    2
  Gesamtzahl der Kerne:    4
  L2-Cache (pro Prozessor):    4 MB
  Speicher:    5 GB
  Busgeschwindigkeit:    1,33 GHz
  Boot-ROM-Version:    MP11.005C.B08
  SMC-Version (System):    1.7f10
  Seriennummer (System):    YM6326S7UQ2
  Hardware-UUID:    00000000-0000-1000-8000-0017F20034A0


Here's the data of the PCIe card I use:

pci104c,8025:

  Typ:    IEEE 1394 Open HCI
  Treiber installiert:    Ja
  Bus:    PCI
  Steckplatz:    Slot-4@4,2,0
  Hersteller-ID:    0x104c
  Ger?te-ID:    0x8025
  Subsystem-Hersteller-ID:    0x1409
  Subsystem-ID:    0x3110
  Versions-ID:    0x0001

Best regards,

Christian

280

Re: Mac OS X Test driver 2.65 for FF 400/800

Just to keep you updated.
Sadly the problem was back beginning last week.
The workarrund turning the fireface on before starting the mac works, but it is not the most elegant solution.
I hope there will soon be either a new driver or an OS update.
Finest greetings from Germany.

Guido

MacPro 2.66 GHz Quad Intel Xeon
8 GB 1066 MHz DDR3 Mac OS 10.6.2
FF 800
Logic 9.1.0

Re: Mac OS X Test driver 2.65 for FF 400/800

Hello,

i bought yesterday the FF 400 and it doen'nt work with my Macbook pro early 2009. I used this test driver, but it was'nt better. If you start any audio app like iTunes, no sound, just the red Host led on the FF.
After mailing the support, he means to connect a HD between Mac and FF. It works, but is it your serious?
Is there no other solution for this issue?

I mean, any macuser that bought a mac can not use any Fireface...

282

Re: Mac OS X Test driver 2.65 for FF 400/800

violetpow wrote:

Hello,

i bought yesterday the FF 400 and it doen'nt work with my Macbook pro early 2009. I used this test driver, but it was'nt better. If you start any audio app like iTunes, no sound, just the red Host led on the FF.
After mailing the support, he means to connect a HD between Mac and FF. It works, but is it your serious?
Is there no other solution for this issue?

I mean, any macuser that bought a mac can not use any Fireface...

Your problem is unrelated to this discussion. You have a defective FW controller chip in your Macbook Pro.

http://www.rme-audio.de/forum/viewtopic.php?id=974

http://www.rme-audio.de/forum/viewtopic.php?id=1475

Regards,
Jeff Petersen
Synthax Inc.

Re: Mac OS X Test driver 2.65 for FF 400/800

Reading this thread after another "mysterious" hang on loading a project in Logic 9.1 in 32 bit mode. In the console I saw:

PlugIn Fireface MIDI.plugin -- /Library/Audio/MIDI Drivers/ does not contain a supported architecture.

That's what brought me here.

Over the past 6-8 months, I have been having a nightmare with hangs/crashes/freezes mainly when launching Logic projects once Logic app is already active. I've also had the RME FF400 host light problem.

I have been all round the houses trying to pin point where the problem lies, and may have had layered problems that are not related - I really don't know. It's been a right mess. It started with Logic 8.0.2 on Leopard - I moved to SL and Logic 9 in an attempt to solve the problems!

I thought it was Nomad Factory plugins to start with, then BFD2 possibly. Then thought it may be the Mac - checked all cores and RAM - seemed fine. Then I suspected the FF. Tried new drivers - seemed better. Hangs continued though. Got rid of the Blue Tubes (Nomad) plugz. Seemed better - was clear of problems for a few days maybe. BUT - then got another hang on project loadup. Nothing to do with Blue Tubes this time it seems.

Overall I get less problems but it still happens - like this one just now.

Back to suspecting RME drivers??

Running:

Mac Pro 2.8GHz 8-core early 2008
10.6.2
FF400 (wall outlet power)
latest drivers
Logic 9.1 32/64
32 bit kernel

Mac Pro 2.8 GHz 8-core Early 2008 - 10.6.4 - 14GB
RME FF400 - Driver 2.89
Logic 9.1.3 64-bit

Re: Mac OS X Test driver 2.65 for FF 400/800

i've had v similar problems for starting in summer 2009 - total kernel panics, but once the system was going, worked fine for the rest of the day (usually).  Problem was triggered after having been away for a month and not using the system.

NB My music computer isn;t on the internet - I hadn;t upgraded the drivers or OSX since 2008 - once its stable i tend to leave it alone.  I never thought the problem was the FF800 and tried all manner of things to sort it . . . I was only alerted to this thread having read a review of the new RME USB unit in this months Audio Media - it talks about the removal of 'a texas instruments chipset in recent Macs'.  So I turned to this forum, depressed to hear that this problem is so rife.

My personal solution . . .

I never turn off my FF800 now (its been turned on for two months) and the problem has pretty much disappeared. No freezes for a month.

In fact , only one freeze in the last two months.  Only exception: when I was away for  2 weeks and didn;t use the computer. Froze first time when I got  back.

I never upgraded to Leopard - still on panther. System is a 4gbram quad Mac Pro (april 2007). With 3 hard drives. Logic 8. But used to crash using all sorts of programmes.

I've also noticed some erratic behaviour on my USB ports (printer, midi i/o) probably unrelated, but the problems arrived at the same time.

maybe someone else will find this solution works for them.

paul

ps am I missing something? What do RME say about all this?

285

Re: Mac OS X Test driver 2.65 for FF 400/800

Here is a small update. Thanks to user Logico we have verified that the same problem that we found for a short time on our own computers is still the main culprit. The simple call of a standard FireWire command makes - some - computers go hayward. It's the same command that we notified Apple about some time ago, and they were not able to see the error themselves, nor to find an error in our source code. Meanwhile we also have proof that this problem affects the Fireface 800 as well - if the Mac is one of those that poof when connecting the FF too late then it doesn't matter if it is a FF 400 or 800.

Please believe us that the whole situation is highly unsatisfying not only for your but also for us. We continue working on it and hope to have a fix as soon as possible. Until then just use the known workaround and first switch on the FF - or never switch it off.

Regards
Matthias Carstens
RME

286

Re: Mac OS X Test driver 2.65 for FF 400/800

Thanks Mattias.

P.

FF400 Bus powered|MacPro 2008-2,8x8core-16Gb ram|Mountain Lion 10.8.4

287

Re: Mac OS X Test driver 2.65 for FF 400/800

For now, should I use driver v2.66 or 2.67?
Post #14 here says that "Mac driver 2.66 for SL will not solve the ongoing sleep issue, but includes two important fixes: noise when starting a recoding and invalid SysEx sending via MIDI."
So if 2.67 only use different LaunchAgent, which one is safest?

I always turn on my Fireface 800 first and always have turned off power savings on my MacBook Pro (on hard drives too), and never go in sleep mode during sessions. So I never really experienced or tried to see if I too got the problem talked about in this tread. Got Logic 9.1 crashing some times, but I believe it is not related to the Fireface.

288

Re: Mac OS X Test driver 2.65 for FF 400/800

No real difference. Use 2.66...

Regards
Matthias Carstens
RME

Re: Mac OS X Test driver 2.65 for FF 400/800

I think it's the end of the RME road for me! I got my Mac Pro back Thursday; to cut a long story short; new hard drive, new graphics card and a new processor. Snow Leopard loaded, ilife and iworks loaded! Works like a dream, as it should - no problem. Installed logic pro 9 - everything fine. No 3rd part software installed. Installed RME400 Drivers 2.66.......................computer doesn't recognize driver. Tried 5 times installing and uninstalling. The most worrying things was that when I did a repair disc permission and verified system disc,  the new drive came up with loads of "invalid...." blurb in red! It was okay beforehand!! Disc repaired, but, I'm now very, very, very unsure about trying to install rme drivers again! Just what the hell is going on here? I think I'll be contacting Digital Village on Monday and insisting on a refund and will change to another make of driver, because whoever is at fault here is irrelevant to me, because I'm a professional who is unable to work because the RME driver doesn't want to work with an apple computer and no-one it seems has a clue why!

Mac Pro 2 x 2.8 Quad 32GB Ram

All that we see or seem, is but a dream within a dream.

Re: Mac OS X Test driver 2.65 for FF 400/800

Thanks for the update. My MBP is still crashing if I don't restart before plugging in the FF800 on latest driver clean install.

It's a pain, and a symptom of Apple's losing the plot with the Mac platform sad

Re: Mac OS X Test driver 2.65 for FF 400/800

An amendment to my post earlier today, my mac pro had a new graphics card and a new logic board, not a new processor. Also, as a point of interest, I spoke to my local mac dealer technician this morning and he tried to download the drivers to, but they wouldn't install on his mac either!

Mac Pro 2 x 2.8 Quad 32GB Ram

All that we see or seem, is but a dream within a dream.

292

Re: Mac OS X Test driver 2.65 for FF 400/800

Can you please give details of 'won't install'? What exactly happens?

Regards
Matthias Carstens
RME

Re: Mac OS X Test driver 2.65 for FF 400/800

I downloaded the Zip file, open the zip file and installed the driver (6 times). However, neither of the RME apps will open. The RME400 is on (powered) and connected via firewire (as it always has been). When I uninstalled, (to reinstall) I noticed that there an NO items in the user library! The mac technician did the same and the same thing happened to him. Bizarrely, he then experienced "hanging applications" for the first time ever! I don't know what mac he was using, this was done over the telephone this morning.

Mac Pro 2 x 2.8 Quad 32GB Ram

All that we see or seem, is but a dream within a dream.

294

Re: Mac OS X Test driver 2.65 for FF 400/800

You used 2.66...strange, I'll check that. Did you try 2.67 instead?

Regards
Matthias Carstens
RME

Re: Mac OS X Test driver 2.65 for FF 400/800

Tried both and even looked on the net in desperation to see if I could get 2.65 because that worked for me before..........

Mac Pro 2 x 2.8 Quad 32GB Ram

All that we see or seem, is but a dream within a dream.

296 (edited by davidwright 2010-03-21 20:09:31)

Re: Mac OS X Test driver 2.65 for FF 400/800

I've been having issues (hanging apps, kernel panics and system crashes) with RME400 drivers in Snow Leopard for 5 months. This is well documented with RME in this thread, apple and my local apple dealer Bite Systems (Norwich). My Mac Pro has been to Bite three times in the last 8 weeks to try and resolve the major problems these issues have caused to a 2008 Mac Pro 2.8 GHz Quad Core Intel Xeon with 10Gb Ram, (thankfully still under three year warranty!).

The cost to my business during the past 2 months has been in the region of ?1000 in lost earnings. I am a professional musician and will be headlining a festival in Holland in 8 weeks time, but I'm currently three weeks behind starting working on the 2 hour concert set required due to these computer/RME problems. Thus you will understand that I now seek an immediate resolution to the issue.

Last Thursday I got my Mac Pro back with new logic board, new graphics card and a new system hard drive with Snow Leopard installed. Over the weekend I did a completely clean reinstall of my studio applications and because everything was working 100% I decided to give the RME drivers one last try. Please bear in mind this is the 3rd time I have done a complete reinstall!

At first my Mac Pro didn't recognise the RME driver, but eventually after weekend help from apple (thanks Simon) I realised that this was due to the front firewire port on the Mac Pro not working! However, within 3 minutes of connecting the RME via the apple monitor firewire port, I experienced hanging application/kernel panic - call it what you will - that resulted in my having to power down the Mac Pro. Following this, neither of the monitor fire wire ports worked!

Today I removed all traces of the RME drivers, did a PRAM and safe boot, verified permissions and checked drives were okay. I then found my apple monitor firewire ports to be working again, but not the one on the front of the Mac Pro.

I installed drivers for my live desk, an Alesis Multimix16 and connected via the apple monitor firewire port. Everything is working fine and 9 hours later I'm running photo shop, aperture, Logic, itunes and in fact, anything I can try in an attempt to make the computer fall down - it wont - it's working just as it should!

In conclusion, while I would love to use the RME drivers above any other make, I can't, and consequently I have an RME 400 audio driver purchased from Digital Village (Cambridge) 6 months ago that is not fit for purpose and I am therefore seeking a full refund on that purchase from Digital Village, or a credit to purchase another audio driver.

With regards to the firewire port on the front of my mac pro, this needs to be repaired, and I have no way of confirming if it wasn't working when it was returned from Bite, or if connecting the RME driver killed it! Clearly connecting the RME driver to my apple fire wire had a detrimental effect. But, I would like clarification from apple that this will be covered under warranty. I need to keep my computer on site now for the next  two months, so the firewire repair can be done after that time.

Finally, I suppose the obvious question has to be, could the RME400 device itself be faulty and somehow be sending power/current or something like that through the Firewire cable? I have even moved the device nearer to the computer and changed fire wire cables. I will be telephoning Martin Warr at RME's UK distributor Synthax on Monday morning to arrange the return of the RME400.

There must be people using RME drivers without these issues, and it would be great to hear from them to compare notes and systems, but there comes a point when the user has to say, "enough's enough".

Mac Pro 2 x 2.8 Quad 32GB Ram

All that we see or seem, is but a dream within a dream.

Re: Mac OS X Test driver 2.65 for FF 400/800

oops.......apologies on two counts. Firstly for appearing to have taken over this thread, and secondly for posting the wrong text in my previous post at 16:03 - I intended to copy and paste a shorter, more relevant to the thread text account.

In a nutshell, I'm now convinced that my problem has nothing to do with RME drivers, but the RME400 hardware itself! That's the only thing that makes any sense now after all this time and messing around.

Could it be that there are other RME users with problems that have also fixated so much on RME "drivers" that they're missing the less obvious cause is actually the unit itself?

Hopefully I can get a replacement unit to at least test the theory.............

Mac Pro 2 x 2.8 Quad 32GB Ram

All that we see or seem, is but a dream within a dream.

298

Re: Mac OS X Test driver 2.65 for FF 400/800

As always with not clearly to define problems there are many possible causes, maybe even several working together.

That said I did not hear about this update before, nor saw anyone using/mentioning it here:

http://support.apple.com/kb/DL1004

Maybe it helps one or the other...

Regards
Matthias Carstens
RME

Re: Mac OS X Test driver 2.65 for FF 400/800

"That said I did not hear about this update before, nor saw anyone using/mentioning it here:

http://support.apple.com/kb/DL1004

Maybe it helps one or the other..."

Came up as "not supported on this system" when I tried to install it on my mac Pro. Simple truth is that for me, everything is working fine at the moment on my computer. When I had 'windows of calm' before, the computer always felt "flakey" as if something was gonna happen. I'm sure other uses who have had problems will know what I mean. Now though, it's firing on all cylinders and aside from getting the firewire port sorted out, there are no issues at all. But, there are no RME drivers installed or perhaps more pertinently, the RME400 isn't connected. Like I said before, if I can get a new RME400 sent to me from synthax or DV then I will give RME one more, final shot.

Mac Pro 2 x 2.8 Quad 32GB Ram

All that we see or seem, is but a dream within a dream.

Re: Mac OS X Test driver 2.65 for FF 400/800

Well, with me, it's not the unit... Different from you, it all runs perfectly as long as I start the FF800 *before* my Mac (or do a Mac restart for that matter). So it can't be the unit. It has to be the drivers and how they interact with the new OS (which isn't so new any more). I still got a Leopard installation on one of my internal hard disks, and no matter what I try - the FF800 runs there without a glitch, no matter when I turn it on or off. It all started with SnowLeo, and I'm hopeful that it ends here... soon... please? :-)

Best regards,

Christian