I can only echo your feelings.  That so-called "Support" page contains some of the most inpenetrable writing I've ever seen.  It's like they lead you up to a door, vaguely suggest that something useful might be found behind the door, but then go off and tell you all about the door, how and when it was made, what a doorknob is, etc. - when what we're really interested in is whether or not we need the Hotfix to get our 1394 ports up to speed!

Is there any easy way to view the sidspeed setting of the firewire ports?  In the support article for the XP SP2 fix number KB885222, it suggests that the value can be found in a subfolder in the Registry, but when I follow the path outlined in that article...:

     1. Click Start, click Run, type regedit, and then click OK.
     2. Locate and then click the following registry subkey:
     HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Enum\PCI\1394_hc_hw_id\1394_instance_id\Device Parameters

..., I get as far as the HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Enum\PCI folder, but then there is NO 1394_hc_hw_id available, so I cannot access the further \1394_instance_id\Device Parameters, and so can proceed no further.

I have no idea whether or not I need to apply the XP SP3 Hotfix (955408) outlined on the page Matthias originally pointed to, as the writing on that page is completely unclear as to what it does, or how and where to view the resulting values.

It would be very helpful, if someone more Windows XP knowledgeable than I am could outline a simple method whereby we could at least view the sidspeed settings of the 1394 ports on a computer. 

In case it matters, I am running XP SP3 on a Bootcamp partition on two Macs - an iMac and a MacBook Pro, both of which are equiped with Firewire 400 AND 800 ports (1394 a and b).  Both machines have the TI Firewire chips (thankfully) and I connect my Fireface 800 to the Firewire 800 port and my external hard drives to the Firewire 400 port.

Thanks to anyone who can help me fight my way through the forrest of Windows configuration...

Are you looking for the correct Id? To know what's the correct Id go to:
Control Panel->System->Hardware->Device Manager
Right click your 1394 controller and select properties
In the Details Tab you can see the Device Instance Id.
It's that Id that you should look for in the registry.
My Id is: VEN_104C&DEV_8235&SUBSYS_8023104C&REV_01

My SidSpeed is set to 0x03, so, considering the link supplied by MC, I should change it to 0x02?...

Considering the link supplied by MC above, we should keep it at 0x02...
MC, can you confirm that with the new patch for SP3 SidSpeed could be set to 3, or is it still buggy and we should set it to 2?

This need a clarification, because the link above only referred SP1 and SP2, and now we are talking about SP3... maybe an update in that article?

I appreciate this thread.  I brought this to the attention of the SAWStudio Users Forum a while back, too.

It looks like there's another issue besides only the SIDSpeed entry.

If you look at the bottom of the KB article, you'll see that a DLL is involved, as well:  Cstupd1394sidspeed.dll

You can manually edit your registry, of course, which doesn't necessitate installing the KB fix.  However, I'd like someone to confirm that changing the SIDSpeed entries ALONE is enough to solve the problem, or is the DLL necessary, too.

I installed the KB fix, but I find no mention of the DLL on my hard drive.  And I can't confirm that I'm now getting the FW800 bandwidth even though I've manually edited the required registry entries.

Anyone?

Thanks,
Ira Seigel

Frank, sorry to change the subject of your post, but I'm curious as to your setup.  What DAW(s) are you working with?  I'm specifically interested in Logic Pro 8 with an older (or new but inexpensive) Mac laptop, working smoothly with a FF800 or 400.

Thanks,
Ira Seigel

I have read both articles, 885222 and 955408.
The hotfix for SP2 have 2 files: Cstupd1394sidspeed.dll and Ohci1394.sys
The hotfix for SP3 have 1 files: Cstupd1394sidspeed.dll

From my understanding:
After the SP2 upgrade we need a new Ohci1394.sys, and the Cstupd1394sidspeed.dll will change the Registry for the EXISTING 1394 devices (KB885222). If after applying the hotfix you install a NEW 1394 device, you should change the Registry for the NEW 1394 device. So, if you have your device already installed you only need to run the hotfix. Any new device you might add post this hotfix, you should set the correct SidSpeed in the Registry for it, following the instructions in the 885222 article.

If you have applyed the hotfix above for SP2 and then you upgrade your XP SP2 to SP3, you only need to set the correct SidSpeed setting in your Registry for the 1394 devices (KB955408). If you are confident with editing the Registry, you could skip the hotfix and just set yourself the SidSpeed in the Registry. If you are not, just run the hotfix.

Best Regards

This is quite valuable information.  Thanks.  Can you post a link to the actual driver (does it exist outside of a Vista install file)?

Keep us updated on your results with your other machines.

Ira

I find the above messages very confusing and should be grateful for advice.

I have both FF400 and FF800. I am running Windows XP with SP3.  I have not installed KB955408.

My FF400 has been working fine.  I have not used the FF800 for a while, but updated the drivers today:

Driver date: 30.01.09 : Version 2.95 : H/W Revision: 2.47.

I only ever use the firewire 400 connection to the computer.

Questions:

1. Do I need to bother about KB955408, or does it only matter with the firewire 800 connection?

2. Should I install firmware 2.94?  The RME Driver page says it is for FF800 with or without TCO (I dont have TCO).  But the readme advises me not to use it unless I have TCO.  These advices conflict!

Thanks for help.

David

> Right click your 1394 controller and select properties
> In the Details Tab you can see the Device Instance Id.
> It's that Id that you should look for in the registry.

I get : PCI\VEN_104C&DEV_8032&SUBSYS_3091103C&REV_00\4&13826118&0&4AA4

I opened regedit and searched on this string.  There were several occurrances of it, but none of them had a SidSpeed variable.

Help!

David