• Registered: 2008-01-30
  • Posts: 8

Topic: Second FF800 Loses Settings when Making Changes to First FF800

I've been using 2 FF800s for a few years with limited success. Sometimes everything works fine, sometimes it doesn't. Everything is very hit and miss no matter what I try. I've tried multiple types of Firewire interfaces, cables and connection setups based on advice on this forum and others.

One common thing that has been happening for a long time which might be a sign that something bigger is wrong: if I change a simple setting on FF800 #1 (usually the latency setting), a whole bunch of settings on FF800 #2 change randomly. The latency on #2 changes to match #1, but so do the sync settings and some other random things (+4/-10 level settings, S/PDIF format, limiter on instrument inputs, etc.)  Each time this happens, I have to fix the settings back on #2 and select "store to flash," and I usually have to reboot because the audio is often garbled.

I'm getting so frustrated that I'm thinking about just daisy chaining FF800 #2 to #1 using the ADAT connectors since I only use the 8 analog I/O on #2. If I configure #2 as a slave unit over ADAT and disconnect the firewire port, what will happen if I need to change a setting on #1 (latency, for example)? Will unit #2 adjust to match?

Thanks in advance,
Synth80s

2 Reply by MC

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Re: Second FF800 Loses Settings when Making Changes to First FF800

Which driver are you currently using, and which firmware is in each of the FF 800?

Regards
Matthias Carstens
RME

MC's Website

  • Registered: 2008-01-30
  • Posts: 8

Re: Second FF800 Loses Settings when Making Changes to First FF800

I've had both units for several years, so I've run them with different firmware and drivers over that time. Right now, both are running firmware v2.77 and driver v3.047 under Windows 7 x64.

Update: I just setup the 2nd unit in standalone mode (per the YouTube video) and so far it seems to be working well, though I've only been testing for 20 minutes.

According to the manual, I should be able to use all 28 I/O channels on unit #1 over firewire 400 at 44.1kHz -- is that correct? I hope so, becuse with this configuration, I'm using all the analog I/O, the S/PDIF I/O and both ADAT interfaces on FF800 #1 (the first for FF800 #2 and the second for a multichannel external FX device).

Thanks again,
Synth80s

4 Reply by MC

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Re: Second FF800 Loses Settings when Making Changes to First FF800

I am not aware of such bugs in 3.047, but I will test. Current version is 3.059, which you should use as it fixes errors with writing/reading the flash (stored settings). FW 400 is fully sufficient to transmit all channels of one unit, of course.

Regards
Matthias Carstens
RME

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5 Reply by polcure09 (edited by polcure09 2011-10-27 21:25:41)

  • Registered: 2009-09-13
  • Posts: 6

Re: Second FF800 Loses Settings when Making Changes to First FF800

Hi

I also have a similar problem, with mine i have two Firewire RME 800 on two seprate FW800 ports(TI chipsets) and synced via Adat, firewire 800 1 as internal master, and firewire 2 as adat - slave. They sync up, never had a problem with driver 3.047.


However i updated the driver to 3.059, when i change the samples buffer on fireface 1 it saves as usual and firface 2 changes as well, however when i reboot the computer and see if the firefaces have saved the settings, fireface 1 saves the settings, but fireface 2 keeps defaulting to 128 samples which puts it out of sync with fireface 1.

I tried the firefaces sepearately, fireface 1 saves its settings, fireface 2 does not.

I tried the above with driver 3.047 both firefaces save there settings.

Fireface 1 is approxiamatley 4 years old, and fireface 2 is 6 years old.

I suspect the new driver 3.059 does not save corectly to older models of the fireface 800. Can anyone shed any light on this.

I use windows 7 64bit with sp1 along with cubase 6. Both firefaces have firmware v2.77

6 Reply by Synth80s (edited by Synth80s 2011-10-28 08:57:13)

  • Registered: 2008-01-30
  • Posts: 8

Re: Second FF800 Loses Settings when Making Changes to First FF800

polcure -- I've tried many configurations with two Fireface 800s over the years:

-- Daisy chained to a single FW800 port (never worked reliably because the FW800 card/drivers were unstable)
-- Daisy chained to a single Lacie FW400 port with bandwidth limiting (kind of worked, but limited functionality)
-- Connected to two different FW400 ports on two different Lacie cards (worked for a while, but stopped recently for some unknown reason)
-- Connected to two different FW400 ports on the same Lacie card (worked on and off, but sometimes resulted in massive pops/clicks and other issues)

As noted above, I recently configured FF800 #2 as a slave of #1 over ADAT. I lose some functionality, but so far it's far simpler and it *seems* stable, though more testing is needed. Of course the computer never sees #2 directly because it's no longer connected via FW, so the original "losing settings" issue has gone away. It's not the best solution in all scenarios, but I think it'll work for my needs.

I may also try 3.059 soon.

  • Registered: 2009-09-13
  • Posts: 6

Re: Second FF800 Loses Settings when Making Changes to First FF800

i tested the latest driver again blue screens and 2nd device losing sync and not storing settings, i removed all drivers and tried again still same problem, i have now reinstalled the 3.047 drivers everything works fine no problems at all, it seems to me that the new drivers have defiatley got a bug.

I'm using the belkin http://www.belkin.com/IWCatProductPage. … _Id=428558
FireWire 800 and USB 2.0 PCI Express™ Card

it has got ti chipsets not had problems with card or firewire 800 cables.

I hope they sort the new driver out with a new release.

8 Reply by MC

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Re: Second FF800 Loses Settings when Making Changes to First FF800

Synth80s wrote:

One common thing that has been happening for a long time which might be a sign that something bigger is wrong: if I change a simple setting on FF800 #1 (usually the latency setting), a whole bunch of settings on FF800 #2 change randomly.

Good news: this bug is fixed in the upcoming driver 3.061. Today or tomorrow in this cinema!

Maybe it helps for the other posters here too.

Regards
Matthias Carstens
RME

MC's Website