hello everybody,

Same problem here but just on hot plugging and some random distortion on record and playback (one short each 5, 10 minutes)

My config is Macbook Pro unibody 2.8 may 2009 with 4gb Ram running 10.6.1 clean install, latence 64 on logic 9,  fw 91 and driver 1.18

ps :(sorry for my poor english)

I do experience the distortion, too. But I could not identify the real reason behind it. It's not just a problem of the UC driver, but OS X' USB driver turns upside down for anything audio until a reboot is done (means a NI Kore is distorted, too, once it happens).

Up to a few days ago I always thought it would be connected to Parallels Desktop, but then I had one incident where Parallels was not running at any time before it happened.

Do you happen to use a Logitech mouse maybe?

Problem is that during Beta I seemed to be the only person experiencing this and it happens somewhat randomly.

Could you please test if your other USB audio devices still work properly once the distortion thing happens with the UC?

I will try to reproduce your circumstances as well. The first time it happened for me (still in beta) I also woke the Macbook Pro from sleep. But I also had it happen without sleep mode (I don't use sleep very often, I prefer a clean boot-up), and then it happens rather sporadic/unpredictable.

I just have the problem of the NI Kore dropping out while the UC does not. It doesn't matter if both run concurrently or not, it doesn't matter into which USB port I plug the Kore.

So I am still not convinced that this is a pure problem of the UC. Maybe both the UC and Kore use similiar mechanisms/system-calls, maybe the part of the OS X USB driver that is responsible for isochronous data transfer is bugged.

Whatever it is, I hope RME can find a solution once they can reproduce it according to your description. Right now they seem to be very busy with Snow Leopard though, so give them some time and don't use Sleep mode meanwhile.

*snicker*

Hand me something and I will find the most exotic bugs. It's almost like a curse, but a sometimes a good one.

Thanks for checking back on the Parallels thing and for identifying the file. I will forward your finding to the Parallels development team and hopefully it will be fixed anytime soon (I am actively using Parallels).

How did you find and identify the kext?

The "System" directory is hidden, you need to tell Finder to show hidden files via Terminal or via some application like "Mainmenu".

And the problem you describe is different from what we are discussing here anyway. Our kind of "distortion" (better dropouts) is permanent and can only be solved by rebooting. :-P

Timur,
Thank you for your reply,

I can't find the "ConnectUSB.kext" too
anyway my problem is for part the same: distortion permanently on some hot plug,   the different problem is shorts randoms dropouts, maybe it's part of same problem.

I was told by another Parallels user that "ConnectUSB.kext" is a version 3 file. So it seems that version 4 and 5 use different methods.

I have sound problems also, every 10 or 20 min the audio play back level drops with a digital distortion over the top of it for a second or 2, not pleasant and I Imagine it being worse really loud over a PA during a live gig

I sometimes get kernel panic if I plug it in when my computer is awake.

System sound regularly stops playing back when using different sound apps at once requiring me to go into prefs and re select it then quite the app, re open it and that usually fixes things, pretty annoying after a while.

Loud crackling when adjusting distortion levels with expression pedal via midi (maybe not RME problem)

latest drivers
snow leopard
ableton 8
santa rosa MBP, 4gig ram

SHOULD I TAKE MY OS BACK TO PRE SNOW LEOPARD? I NEED A STABLE SYSTEM TO START PLAYING LIVE.

I ASKED RME THIS IN AN EMAIL, NO REPLY

I'd like to add, this thing sounds amazing when its working, way clearer with a better stereo field than my apogee duet which in retrospect coloured and muted things slightly.

Hi,

Sorry for not replying earlier. I'm afraid I can't provide a solution unless the problem is reproducible. Have you tried the solution posted above?

Regards
Daniel Fuchs
RME

I find some AppleUSB* .kext in my computer and:
-BJUSBLoad.kext
-EPSONUSBPrintClass.kext
-IOUSBFamily.kext
-IOUSBMassStorageClass.kext
-LexmarkUSBMerge.kext
-SM56KUSBAudioFamily.kext

Nothing seems connected with parallels.

I tried my uc in play stand alone and it seems to work perfectly,
so i presume it's not a hardware problem.

Talk about strange,
Going back into my extensions folder.. I found a Logitech USB mouse kext file on ALL computers I have tested this on. To my knowledge - These computers have never had a Logitech Mouse. I have never installed any Logitech software on my 2 laptops.So, I've removed it and the UC is working fine again. But why was it working earlier after removing the parallels usb kext file (and the logitech driver was still there)? Hmmm... I'm confused. I think all I'm doing is just guessing now and maybe my problem is quite random. Time will tell over the next few days.

corneliusw you don't have also the random dropout problem ?  just the sleep/hot plug problem ?

The strange thing is i have the hot plug problem too but not at all the sleep problem and for me the hot plug problem is random...

Very unattractive solution but what do you think about clean reinstall of one of yours mac ?

hmm... that would seriously suck at this point before a tour. Everything on all my machines is running perfectly - except for this. Other sound cards seem to be fine. I may just give up on the UC and see a refund or swap it for a FF400 - which is what I originally had and was working perfectly, until I dropped it!

Well, I've had a weekend of constant use over multiple machines and I can confirm things are still running quite bad. Now, after around 1 hour of constant use, it now develops the distortion problem that a few have described. I even created a new partition and installed a clean 10.6.1 with the basic audio software I use - same problem. I don't understand why things are now getting worse? This is feeling way more random than I expected and I definitely can't rely on this for gigs.

Is support ever going to answer my email? Or is the very simple feedback on this thread our only response?
HeadScratch

forget what i told before. After more testing it's seems it's not cyclic, just random.

RME team, no ideas for us ?

Hi,

I haven't posted for a while.. as I wanted to be as sure as possible and do many tests. Also thanks Watercolours for your feedback.

I've been concentrating on the two laptops, Macbook Pros. One Macbook Pro (2.4 Santa Rosa, June 07 running 10.5.8) is now working perfectly after reseting the SMC. Since resetting the SMC, all problems concerning the Fireface UC have disappeared! A relief.

However, my other computer- a Macbook Pro, (2.66 unibody with removable battery April 09 10.6.1) is not working perfectly, but much better and very usable with the UC. After resetting the SMC on this machine, I no longer have the distortion after waking up from sleep. This is brilliant! However, random distortion happens after it has been playing for a while... longer than 2-3 hours or when hot plugging USB peripherals. When I say random - I really mean random. I have been keeping a good record of all actions up until the point it distort. I will continue to test over the next week and provide feedback.

For the other guys experiencing problems.. definitely try the SMC reset:

http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1411

Good luck!

Hello everybody,

Thanks for the informations, i tried to reset the smc but some 2009 macbook pro like mine seems to have a problem with that...
for exemple:http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jsp … ;#10475004

i try to find more infos.

Hey,

titirom... same here. It's definitely not coming from the inputs.

After more use and a clean install on a new partition, I can confirm that the Macbook Pro early 2009, unibody with removable Battery, has issues and my other computers don't. I don't seem to have a hardware problem according to the hardware test cd, however there seems to be some incompatibility. I'm not sure what to do now... may just go back to a Fireface 400 if i can.

hi,
Some news: I tried with bootcamp/win xp, it's worse. For example in record, take a look at the error counter, after 15/20 sec :

Same problem on playback.
Tried also without usb hub and with a new usb cable
I'm totally lost.
Corneliusw do you have a possibility to test with bootcamp ?

Hi timur,

Thank you for future report on Macbook pro 2009.
Like i said before, i have also the hot plug distortion problem, and i though, maybe it's a part of same problem.
But maybe it's two different problems.
Do you think i can have two different problems ?

Timur,
Thank you for your comments. Maybe i have a hardware problem and the shared hot-plug/sleep problem.
tomorrow if i have time i'm try your advices on bootcamp and see.

Hi Corneliusw,
Have a very good tour :-)