• dnode
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Topic: working firewire controllers - SIIG ?

Hi all,

I expected a long and current(!) list of (non-)working firewire controllers on this forum ... but there's not much. For my new workstation I want to buy a fw controller for a future FF800. I have some requirements and some specs. I hope someone/RME-support could shed some 'green' light on this?!

Requirements:
-Windows7 x64
-PCI-e
-1394b (s800)

After searching for a long time I found some controllers from SIIG that look decent and use TI chipsets (I think, see below)

The controllers (and relevant information from SIIG website) I found are:


(1) SIIG DP FireWire 800 PCIe (partnr: NN-FW0012-S1)
-------------------------------------------------
-Provides 3 FireWire 800 ports (9-pin)
-Compliant with IEEE 1394b & backward compatible with 1394a-2000 and 1394-1995 standards
-Compliant with PCI Express Base Specification Revision 1.0a
-Chipset: ???
-Installs in any available PCI Express slot and supports serial bus data transfer rates of 100, 200, 400, 800 Mbps
-Onboard power connector to provide more reliable power source
-PCI Express enabled PC or Mac? desktop with an available PCI Express slot; Windows? 7 (32-/64-bit) / Vista (32-/64-bit) / XP (32-/64-bit) / Server 2003 & 2008 (32-/64-bit) / 2000


(2) SIIG FireWire 800 3-Port PCIe (partnr: NN-E38012-S3)
-------------------------------------------------------
-PCI Express 1-lane (x1) FireWire adapter works with PCI Express slots with different lane width
-Installs in any available PCI Express slot and supports data rates up to 800Mbps
-Chipset: Texas Instruments TI XIO2213
-Port type: Two 9-pin and one 6-pin external FireWire ports
-Compliant with PCI Express Base Specification Revision 1.0a
-Supports IEEE P1394b and backwards compatible with 1394a-2000 and 1394-1995 standards
-Onboard power connector to provide reliable power source
-PCI Express enabled system with an available PCI Express slot; Windows? 7 (32-/64-bit) / Vista (32-/64-bit) / XP (32-/64-bit) / Server 2003 & 2008 (32-/64-bit) / 2000


My questions:

-@RME-support: will any of these cards work? Did you ever test them?

-@others: does anyone have any experience with these cards? (I'm not sure, but I think user AR2 does?!)

-Which card is the better one?

-Am I correct that it is better to have a fw800-only solution (card 1) than a combo (card 2)?

-Is the TI XIO2213 chipset any good on card 2?

-The chipset of card 1 is not listed. Does anyone know which chipset it is and is it any good?

I know these are a lot of questions, but I want to know, because I don't have a preference (if both are OK), it is only that card 2 is more easily available from my location.
Big thanks upfront if anyone could reply to this topic!

kind regards, dnode

  • Registered: 2007-05-19
  • Posts: 213

Re: working firewire controllers - SIIG ?

no need for firewire 800. the FF 800 does not run @ 800 only 400.
only point to an 800 card is if daisy chaining 2 ff800

Scott
ADK

  • dnode
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Re: working firewire controllers - SIIG ?

Hi,

Although I'm happy with your reply and I want to be positive and friendly, you're not answering any of my questions. I also think you have to be careful with "no need" and "does not", it's not helping, it's confusing.

Is there anyone, hopefully RME itself, with any 'SIIG' experience?

regards, dnode

4 Reply by MC

  • MC
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Re: working firewire controllers - SIIG ?

We have not tested these cards, but we expect both to work correctly. Personally I would buy number 2 if you don't have a FW400 socket on your computer, might come in handy at some time.

Regards
Matthias Carstens
RME

MC's Website

5 Reply by dnode (edited by dnode 2009-11-19 02:25:08)

  • dnode
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Re: working firewire controllers - SIIG ?

Hi Matthias,

Thanks for the reply!
I mailed user AR2 about this topic, maybe he will share his experiences later on?!

grtz, dnode

  • Jeff
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Re: working firewire controllers - SIIG ?

I have used the NN-E38012-S3, works great on XP anyway.

Regards,
Jeff Petersen
Synthax Inc.

Jeff's Website

  • dnode
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Re: working firewire controllers - SIIG ?

Great Jeff! Thx for your reply!
This makes me a bit more sure it'll run fine on w7/x64 as well together with the FF800.

Now that my questions are more or less (a little bit) answered, I come back to my earlier stated expectations. Matthias/Jeff, wouldn't it be great for clients/users to find a sticky topic here with a simple list of (non-)working firewire controllers? Wouldn't it even be more nice to have an up to date list on the RME website? The current list and relevant articles are just plain old and not very usable, even if you stay after the hype.

It's just that it took me a long time researching the net on finding these cards and it's not that my requirements are that funny (well, maybe the w7 part is  #8-). SIIG was the only one, that I found, that can deliver PCI-e, 1394b and up to date 64-bit drivers for all main OS's (I bet they will even run fine on Linux/BSD). Isn't this all a bit strange? Next to PCI-e, Firewire is the technology RME implements solutions on and it seems to me that the company is partly dependent on availability of this technology ... well, for making some money  #8-)

Maybe you have your reasons? I kind of found what I am looking for ...

grtz, dnode

8 Reply by MC

  • MC
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Re: working firewire controllers - SIIG ?

These days we are not aware of not-working FireWire cards anymore. The bugs in the chips have been ironed out, the older cards that did not work have vanished into unknown locations...

Regards
Matthias Carstens
RME

MC's Website

9 Reply by dnode (edited by dnode 2010-05-16 02:00:42)

  • dnode
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Re: working firewire controllers - SIIG ?

Hi,

So, it's been a few months, my system is up and running with a SIIG FireWire 800 3-Port PCIe (partnr: NN-E38012-S3), no driver problems whatsoever. The problems only started when installing my FF800 .... known problems if I read the forums correctly?! I'm refering to post http://www.rme-audio.de/forum/viewtopic.php?id=8041

If I understand correctly "The unibrain drivers do not work with the FF"?! Did I buy my long sought after FW card, costing 130 euros, for nothing?

OK, switching back to MS drivers (or using the ubSwitch tool) appears to make everything work, but I rather have nothing to do with drivers from MS (which is obvious if you read around, on this forum as well). Although my 'production' setup is not ready yet, I hope no 'production' problems arise ...

Could you please explain to me what kind of situation I am in right now?

-is there a problem using the MS drivers for my FF800?

-do I need to apply MS hotfixes as described in several other posts? And what are the consequences?

-why are Unibrain drivers not working? (chipset is TI)

-at what FW speed am I, using MS drivers? How can I check?

-above question is, because I want to know what my upgrading possibilities are, extending with an extra ADAT ADC box or maybe even an extra FF800. Are problems to be expected with upgrading?

All I wanted to initially know is: what is (not) working and research well before spending my hard earned money ...

dnode

10 Reply by alexoosthoek (edited by alexoosthoek 2010-05-15 22:55:42)

  • Registered: 2008-12-03
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Re: working firewire controllers - SIIG ?

Maybe you should calm down a bit.

You told one of the guys that gives a lot of free info here(Scott, he builds audio computers for a living) to get out of your way. And Matthias too, who is a programmer at RME, posts here in his own time.


Have a nice day!

-----------------------

Various ADK computers :-)
  • dnode
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Re: working firewire controllers - SIIG ?

Hi Alex,

You are absolutely right, I edited my post ... sorry & thanks