• Registered: 2018-08-02
  • Posts: 11

Topic: Mac Crash - USB's and Bluetooth die

Hi all,

First post as I just purchased an 802 second hand today.

I plugged my 802 in (iMac late 2015 27" all latest software on mac and RME) and everything worked fine for 10 mins then I noticed all my external USB devices got disconnected and I had a squiggly line through my bluetooth so mouse and keyboard wouldn't work.

Never had this before. Rebooted and about 20mins later my cat jumped from my desk and same thing happened...

I've never experienced this since I've had my iMac almost 3 years with over 10-15 interfaces being used from long time to few hours in a session.

I've changed the USB cable the guy sold with the RME and it's been stable for about 4 hours. I'm presuming its a dodgy cable but my question is (sorry for long winded intro)...

Has any RME users experienced this before?
I'm feeling 99% its the cable and not the interface but I'm baffled how a cable can make my computer act like this?

Haven't found any info online with similar experiences.
Considering I've invested in this since I've heard RME are the most rock solid units around and I need it for live, I just want to get to the bottom of it to draw a conclusion.

Thanks,

Ryan

  • cyrano
  • DAW Mastermind
  • Offline
  • From: Belgium
  • Registered: 2015-04-28
  • Posts: 701

Re: Mac Crash - USB's and Bluetooth die

When your USB devices also get disconnected, this points to a power problem. The Mac is shutting down power to these ports because of an "emergency" stop from the SMC.

One reason could be the Firewire port on the FF800 drawing power from the FW bus. That could point to a PSU failure in the FF800. But I've never seen that also cutting power to the USB ports.

Another reason could be the internal power circuitry of the MB Pro slowly failing.

Do you think the cat triggered the failure? Or rather leaving, because it sensed failure?

The cat could be an indication of static charge on the Macbook or the FF800. Cats are very sensitive to that kind of stuff.

The FF800 has an internal PSU with ground. Is it on the same electrical circuit as the Mac? And is the Mac on a three-prong connector to mains, or a two-prong? Is that electrical circuit properly grounded?

With dry weather, ground problems will be more frequent, as the soil dries out. It's been awfully dry here...

MB Pro - 2 X FireFace 400, FF800 & DigiFace USB
ADAT gear: Korg, Behri, Fostex, Alesis...

cyrano's Website

  • Registered: 2018-08-02
  • Posts: 11

Re: Mac Crash - USB's and Bluetooth die

To clarify this is an RME 802 and iMac plugged in via USB.

No trouble now in 24hours which leads me to think it was a dodgy USB cable. I cant fathom how that happened. It must have tried to draw a huge surge of power from the iMac making it panic and shut down all ports.

Slightly concerning but that's my only conclusion as I can't find any similar experiences online..