Topic: Firewire comp. between Fireface 800 and HP DV7 laptop serie (JMicron)

Hello all,

i have spent most of my sunday by looking into various posts on Fireface 800 dedicated forums (including this one), in order to be sure that the couple of machines i have planned to buy can be connected and run with no major issues

- a fireface 800
- a laptop  PC HP DV7 serie (DV7-2260ef) running Windows 7 64 bits (chipset Firewire : JMicron JMB381)

I have to admit i have not find out the answers to all my questions. So i need your help to answer and hence i am opening a new thread. Apologize if it is duplicate info.

By reading some posts on the forums,  sounds to me that :

1) laptop PC which does not own TI (or VIA) firewire chipset are not recommended to be used together with Fireface 800.
2) some of the worst firewire chipsets to be run with Fireface 800 are Ricoh and JMicron.
3) Into the most recent laptops (including HP DV7 series), it is often a combo chip which is taking care of both Cardbus interface and Firewire, so using a TI equipped Cardbus to Firewire card on these laptops does not resolve problems inherent to the combo chipset (Ricoh / JMicron) . 
4) Almost no PC laptop built today running recent core duo proc / i7 are released with TI or VIA firewire chipset
5) Some recent versions of Fireface 800 firmware corrected bugs due to non-compatibilty between Fireface and some firewire chipsets. Sounds to me that i read the chipset involved was ricoh but i am not 100% sure. 

Knowing also that :
- i am not (yet) willing to go to Apple ;-) .
- i have no possiblity for the moment to run DPC latency Checker on the  DV7. 

My questions are :
- Did someone already run without facing issues, a Fireface 800 connected to an HP DV7 2xxxx laptop / Windows 7 ? In case you did, what Firewire interface are you using on the laptop (builtin JMicron ?  or racher a Cardbus card with interface firewire TI chipset based ? )
- May someone confirm 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 above are still true today with the latest version of Fireface 800 firmware. Some of the posts i read were old and i am not sure they are still true today. 
- In case HP DV7 is not suited for audio, does anyone know what kind of affordable solution i can find in France, (not sure ADK laptop are sold in France) to have windows 7 + a recent core duo / quad  with a 17" laptop connected to a Fireface 800 and running OK.

thanks in advance for your answers.

Stephan

Re: Firewire comp. between Fireface 800 and HP DV7 laptop serie (JMicron)

http://www.adkproaudio.com/laptop2.cfm

Scott did send one to Holland :-)

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Various ADK computers :-)

Re: Firewire comp. between Fireface 800 and HP DV7 laptop serie (JMicron)

Thanks Alex for pointing that adk is delivering overseas. I did not noticed it. Anyway, not sure adk is "affordable" for a non-professionnal like me. I would prefer to go for a cheaper solution.
 
While i did not get any answer on this laptop, here are some information i grabbed into different forums about HP DV7, hoping it will help other people.

- sounds the first DV7 (1xxx) series are not running well audio firewire based, even when using the expresscard port with a TI chipset card inside. See discussion into:  http://h30434.www3.hp.com/t5/Hardware/f … td-p/10066  and http://createdigitalmusic.com/2008/11/1 … for-audio/ 
(pb ACPI ? pb shared IRQ ?). I have also noticed that some of these models were mounted with a DVD burner TSS corp, same brand than the DVD burner which created audio troubles in some DELLs. Same causes, same consequences ?

- because the DV7 2260 ef (second serie) sounds a good potential candidate with 2x500g0 running 7200tr/mn, one core duo running 1GHZ bus speed, 4G RAM, a video card with dedicated memory and no TSS corp  inside :-), i am perhaps going to make the big jump soon, buy it and will let you know ..

Cheers,

Stephan

Re: Firewire comp. between Fireface 800 and HP DV7 laptop serie (JMicron)

Just be sure it doesn't have a JMicron FW chipset in it rant

That same chipset controls the Xpresscard bus ............................

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Various ADK computers :-)

Re: Firewire comp. between Fireface 800 and HP DV7 laptop serie (JMicron)

Well, i am not sure to understand this last point i.e (the same chipset controls the Xpresscard bus).

After performing some research on the web, sounds to me that:
- the expresscard is (should be :-)) connected on the host side directly via a PCI-e lane, as shown in http://www.expresscard.org/web/site/ecu02.jsp. 
- the JMB38x chip is dealing with firewire I/O and various card format, but not expresscard, (see http://www.jmicron.com/JMB38X.html) , and is also connected to the host via a PCI-e lane. It does not exhibit any PCI-e lane in output

More on the PCI-e lanes : http://computer.howstuffworks.com/pci-express1.htm

My understanding is that it should be 2 differents and independant PCI-e lanes and hence JMicron chip should not have any influence on the expresscard flux. May someone confirm or infirm ? Am i missing something ?

Thanks

Stephan

Re: Firewire comp. between Fireface 800 and HP DV7 laptop serie (JMicron)

Hello all,

DV7/ FF800 the story : 

I finally bought this DV7 2260EF HP / Win 7 64 bits and a friend of mine (thanks Daniel) let me his FF800 in order to try it on the laptop. Result was a nightmare : crackles, pops, distorded sounds, not able to even read 2 single tracks in reaper / ableton live.

I have spend a lot of times by trying a lot of things to make it work:
- reading docs, how bad JMicron is etc ..
- disable aero, minimizing color set
- use an expresscard with TI chipset.
- disables devices on the laptop (graphic card / lan / wireless )
- tuning .. Etc ..
- reading Timur posts about PC hardware ;-) .

DPC Latency checker is showing this laptop is not optimal for running as a DAW, but is still in the green anyway. These crackling sound were really abnormal, because it was not some crackles from time to time, it was rather continuous noise when reaching low latencies.  Still the same behavior for weeks ... until yesterday :-) .

I have performed 2 things and just after these modifications laptop / FF8000 was working fine.
- update the lan (Realtek) link driver with the latest version available.
- go into the BIOS and disable the option "Power saving for IEEE 1394 and Card reader".

Now reading the tracks is OK, even with very low latency and i am going to run more intensive tests to see how the card is behaving in recording.

The tricky thing is that i have roll back one after the other my two modifications in order to understand which one was the one that succeed, and i am now with the BIOS option enable and the previous lan driver, it is still working fine which is good ;-), but a little bit disapointing, because i would have loved to communicate the correct information to all the guys that are living the same nighmare with HP laptops. I have seen many in many forums.

So Bios-Power Saving or either Lan driver version ? Or may be something else that i did not pay attention with : i also tried to upgrade my HD4650 ATI graphic driver but the update soft failed without really doing the upgrade. Still staying with my old 8.632.000 version.

I am really thinking BIOS option is the best candidate for fixing the issue, but i cannot proove it. In case someone that got these problems of crackles and distortion while using HP DV7 and firewire, reading this post, and got his problem fixed by one of the two actions above, please indicate which one is the good one.

Hope it helps,

Stephan

Re: Firewire comp. between Fireface 800 and HP DV7 laptop serie (JMicron)

Hi Stephan,
what you did is very appreciated and useful.

I am in the process to find the successor of my 4 years old Toshiba and find we are all exposed to some serious potential damages; the risk of buying a not working ( we're not even close to thinking to a "good working") laptop is very high.
I know, people offering professionally tuned laptops would be the most wise option, but unfortunately their prices make this solution a luxury that is available for too few of us.

So, trying to figure out how to benefit of the various powerful ( on paper and for a generic use) and good priced laptops is an activity which is keeping many of us busy.

I know I haven't been telling anything new and I don't know why I have been writing the obvious, the thing I wanted to tell you is: please go on with your test, the HP DV7 was the option I was considering as well... cool

thanks !
Luca

Re: Firewire comp. between Fireface 800 and HP DV7 laptop serie (JMicron)

Hi Stephan,
Yes the BIOs is the main source of the problems on what seems to be all the current major brand laptops.
IF HP derided they wants to improve the BIOs so that it works with pro audio hardware it won't make the JMicron work any better.
It may make it possible for the TI express card to work successfully there by bypassing the Jmicron.

Jmicron tends to showing up on more and more laptops sense they make the card reader, firewire and now even the network controller chips.
They are offering it cheaper than their competitors. The computer industry for better or worse is driven by by things being a low coat as possible.
Sense pretty much all computer components and laptop shells are manufactured by a handful of companies they dictate what the whole industry gets to sell. Doesn't matter if your Dell, HP, Apple, Gateway, Lenovo or even ADK, PC Audio Labs or whoever.

Main stream laptop companies will typically only react if it effects people in their main market of business, gaming and home use.
We and others deal with smaller laptop shell manufacturers that build for the high end gaming and video side of things which can be effected by the same performance and compatibility issues we are seeing in the Pro audio world. We more flexibility with getting them to fix or improve performance issues. This all leads to specialized system like this being more expensive than a normal home/business laptop.

We would love to able to offer a laptop system for under $1000 but with the current choices we have it just isn't possible with out ending up with the same issues as a DELL or HP. Even trying to get a desktop system down under that magic $1000 is tough. Even if you DYI the while system you end up having to sacrifice quality, performance and compatibility somewhere in the setup to get to that price.

Thanks Chris

Chris Ludwig | ADK Pro Audio
www.adkproaudio.com
https://www.facebook.com/adkmg

Re: Firewire comp. between Fireface 800 and HP DV7 laptop serie (JMicron)

Hello all,

coming back with some testing results. My feeling are (very) mixed sad .

Testing is showing anyway results are not black or white. HP DV7 with RME Fireface 800 is actually working and might be an acceptable solution for some of us that are not looking for a high perf DAW. But as explained in many threads by Chris and others, this laptop is not designed to be a high performing DAW and it is clearly reflected in the tests results. 

You will also find some interesting information and debate into the following post: Cakewalk post on HP DV7

First of all, i have run into an acceptable configuration on the laptop by doing the following tuning (i am running Window 7 64 bits)

-> disable aero, run 16 bits color, loading latest graphic card driver
-> disable WIFI (it generates picks in DPC latency checker once it has been enabled at least once after boot)
-> within the BIOS, disable Power Saving on IEEE1394 and state C6, load the new HP BIOS F.41.   
-> install the latest FF800 beta firmware (3.016)   

Then i have struggle a lot with really weird behavior (very noisy sound even when reading simple 2 tracks) coming from Reaper x64 before understanding that Reaper 32 bits was running a loooot better with Win 7 64 bits. Tuning Reaper threads with "Real time" behavior is also a must. I am also using Ableton live and this guy is running OK without tuning. I have done the testing anyway on Reaper 32 bits. 

* With all RME channels outputs set in the RME Panels. 
-> record from scratch 16 audio tracks (44.1 khz)  from both ADAT input // with 128 buffer latency with no cracks-pops on the recording audio. 
-> cannot read / play all 128 samples 6 tracks with some few effects + 5 VSTI  => lot of crackles / pops. VSTI are NI instruments (2 * grand piano + 1 * electric piano + 2 * absynth) 
-> cannot read / play 1024 samples 6 tracks with effects + 5 VSTI not working => less than above but still lot of crackles / pops.

* With analog Channel 1-8 only set
-> cannot read/ play safely 128 / 256 samples 6 tracks with effects + 5 VSTI  => some very few but still crackles / pops
-> OK to play/ read crackles / pops free with 512 samples

* By removing totally input channels from RME fireface panel, i was able to play crackles free at 256 samples.

CPU perf did not raised above 40% in all the testing sequences. crackles and pops are happening when CPU is reaching 30% usage.

DPC latency checker is not showing any specific peak that could explain the cracks and pops.  With 128 samples tuning, DPC latency checker is exhibiting an average latency of 160 ?s and stay in the green area even when crackles / pops occured with low latency tuning.

Any explanation from DPC gurus here ?

I have perform the testing with the built-in IEE1394 port running the JMicron IEEE1394 chipset. I have a TI chipset based Expresscard but this card is exhibiting even worst perf than with the built-in port.

I think it is mainly due to the fact that this Expresscard is a combo  (2 IEEE FF 400 + one USB 2.0) and hence is adding a PCI to PCI bridge between the IEEE1394 controller and the cardbus PCI controller.
By the way, at least for the DV7 2260-ef, it is not true to say that the JMicron chipset is also controlling the Expresscard slot, that's not what the device config is showing.

In case someone had a try with a solid Expresscard 1394 TI based, i will be interested in knowing the results. 

Hope this helps.

Stephan

Re: Firewire comp. between Fireface 800 and HP DV7 laptop serie (JMicron)

Hi Stephan,
It does seem more like a bandwidth bottleneck and not a buss interrupt from your descriptions.
Are you getting Error code readouts in the Fireface Settings panel?
Have you tried limiting bandwidth in the Fireface Settings Panel to see if this effects things?
The xpress slot is not JMIcron but the JMIcron does effect the performance of that slot.
The combo card got most likely will cause trouble at least from other FW/USB combo cards I've tried TI or otherwise.

You should try running a program such as SIW or PC Wizard to see if they give you anymore info on the motherboard sub system manufacturer information.

What video card is on this system?

Thanks Chris

Chris Ludwig | ADK Pro Audio
www.adkproaudio.com
https://www.facebook.com/adkmg

Re: Firewire comp. between Fireface 800 and HP DV7 laptop serie (JMicron)

Hi Chris,

thanks for your answers.
- i am not getting error code readout on the RME panel while getting the pops. 
- yep i have tried by gradually limitating the bandwith, that's what i was trying to describe in my post ;-) (all RME channels / Analog 1-8 / Etc .. )
- Video card is an ATI HD 4650.

Sounds i have some good news anyway :-) . I have finally making it works to an acceptable level for me (44,1 kh, 48 samples, all FF800 channel configured, 50-60% CPU usage without pop and crackle, by using my external Expresscard 1394 combo with TI chipset inside (XIO 2200) and by using Ableton Live instead of Reaper.

So a big part of the issue sounds to be with Reaper that does not perform well enough with Windows 7 x64 at low latency. TI chipset tends to improve the global performance anyway.

I will try to come with more numbers in one week ot two for those who are interested.  Next step is to possibly better tune Reaper for W7.

Bottomline anyway is that i am going to buy one FF800 ;-) . With my testing, sounds HP DV7 + FF800 + Ableton +  external Expresscard is performing well enough for my personnal usage. In case i will need in the future a really pro and stable laptop DAW, i will go then for an ADK ...

Cheers and special thanks to Chris and Alex for their help.

Stephan

Re: Firewire comp. between Fireface 800 and HP DV7 laptop serie (JMicron)

Hi Stephan,
If the laptop is working using the TI express card @ 48 samples with a reasonably decent sized project then I'd say your working fine.
Most people are working at 128 samples.

Thanks Chris

Chris Ludwig | ADK Pro Audio
www.adkproaudio.com
https://www.facebook.com/adkmg