• Registered: 2011-09-01
  • Posts: 9

Topic: Fireface 800 Stability Issues w/ Windows 7

Hi RME & Audiophiles!

I've been a proud owner of an RME Fireface 800 for several years and it has been rock solid for me... until recently!

I decided to upgrade my old Windows XP 32bit Pentium machine to a brand new HP computer running Windows 7 Home Premium Edition 64-bit.   Computer stats:

HP P7-1254
Quad AMD A6-3620 e/ Radeon HD Graphics 2.20 GHz
8 GB RAM
1 TB SATA 7200 rpm HD

The system didn't come with a built-in FireWire port so I added a Vantec FireWire 800/400 PCIe Combo Host Card that has one FireWire 400 port and two FireWire 800 Ports on the back.

I hooked my RME Fireface 800 to the new PC using a standard six-foot 9-pin to 9-pin FireWire Cable.

I installed the RME drivers and TotalMix software exactly as stated here on the forum (boot - let detect - fails - goto device manager - update driver - reboot - fireface settings & mixer install automatically).  It said it installed correctly.  Everything seemed cool!

(I'm running driver 3.0.67.0 dated 1/17/2012 - Firmware was already updated since the last update in 2009)

Now for some reason the Fireface works some of the time and other times it stops working for no reason.  For example,  I was using it for an hour this afternoon but after I left my computer alone for awhile and came back I noticed that Ableton complained that there was no audio interface all of a sudden. 

I tried to open the Fireface settings and it wouldn't open.  I opened the Fireface mixer and all of the channels were going crazy!!  By crazy I mean all of the channels show the meters fluttering and the "clipping OVR" lights were randomly flashing (see photo at bottom).  As I said -- I can't open the Fireface settings so I assume the Fireface has become disconnected somehow or is conflicting with something.

In the device manager nothing is marked or looks suspicious.   I can't find any errors in the Windows event viewer.

I've tried uninstalling and reinstalling as instructed on other posts in this forum (uninstall software via control panel, reboot, remove driver) and the problem still intermitently happens after reinstalling.

To deal with this I can sometimes reboot and the problem goes away for awhile.  I can work per normal... othertimes I need to reboot serveral times before it will be normal again.

I thought maybe it was my FireWire card or FireWire cable so today I bought a new cable and exchanged the PCIe FireWire card for a new card....  It worked when I first reinstalled and I was relieved but sure enough the problem started happening again!

If I go back to my Windows XP system on the old computer it works fine.

Has anyone seen anything likese this?  Can anyone help?  I'm pulling my hair out over here.

Thanks!

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7251/6858412224_2d8359f5eb.jpg

  • Jeff
  • Jeff
  • Moderator
  • Offline
  • From: USA
  • Registered: 2007-05-21
  • Posts: 4,667

Re: Fireface 800 Stability Issues w/ Windows 7

Set the Win 7 power scheme to High Performance (not Balanced) in Control Panel. Also see links here:
http://www.rme-audio.de/forum/viewtopic.php?id=12742
http://www.rme-audio.de/forum/viewtopic.php?id=1704

Regards,
Jeff Petersen
Synthax Inc.

Jeff's Website

  • Registered: 2011-09-01
  • Posts: 9

Re: Fireface 800 Stability Issues w/ Windows 7

Thanks for the quick reply, Jeff!

I've set my power scheme to be High Performance based on your recommendation.   I'll try that for awhile and if the problem happens again I'll proceed with trying the legacy drivers followed by the latency diagnostic tools you've suggested.

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

Re: Fireface 800 Stability Issues w/ Windows 7

Vantec FireWire 800/400 PCIe Combo Host Card that has one FireWire 400 port and two FireWire 800 Ports on the back.

never use a combo card
is the vantec TI chipset?

  • Registered: 2011-09-01
  • Posts: 9

Re: Fireface 800 Stability Issues w/ Windows 7

Hi Jcschild,

How can I tell if the Vantec is the TI chipset?   The card came with zero documentation.

In the Device Manager it says:

IEEE 1394 Bus host controllers --> Texas Instruments 1394 OHCI Compliant Host Controller

What is wrong with the combo cards?  I couldn't find a single FireWire 800 PCIe expansion card - they all seemed to be combo.

Thanks!

6 Reply by djjd5000 (edited by djjd5000 2012-03-28 02:18:38)

  • Registered: 2011-09-01
  • Posts: 9

Re: Fireface 800 Stability Issues w/ Windows 7

Also,

Found this site with some hints and tips on getting your Windows7 environment better suited to running high-end audio:

http://focusrite.com/answerbase/en/article.php?id=1071

  • zigor
  • AD/DA expert
  • Offline
  • From: Luxemburg
  • Registered: 2011-07-05
  • Posts: 67

Re: Fireface 800 Stability Issues w/ Windows 7

I use the LaCie express card R34 with 2 Firewire 800 outputs and, up to now, it works fine.

The card is fitted with a TI chip, check it here :http://www.lacie.com/us/products/product.htm?id=10537

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

Re: Fireface 800 Stability Issues w/ Windows 7

djjd5000 wrote:

Hi Jcschild,

How can I tell if the Vantec is the TI chipset?   The card came with zero documentation.

In the Device Manager it says:

IEEE 1394 Bus host controllers --> Texas Instruments 1394 OHCI Compliant Host Controller

What is wrong with the combo cards?  I couldn't find a single FireWire 800 PCIe expansion card - they all seemed to be combo.

Thanks!

its TI.
you do NOT need Firewire 800 for 1
and there are non combo cards for both 400 and 800.

FYI 800 is technically not support on win7 (speed/thruput) drivers work sort of.

Scott
ADK

  • Registered: 2012-08-18
  • Posts: 3

Re: Fireface 800 Stability Issues w/ Windows 7

Hello everybody,
I have a Fireface 800 interface and a new pc with W7/64 on which I installed a pci firewire card StarTech model PCI1394B_3 with TI chipset, 1 firewire 400 and 2 firewire 800 ports.

Unfortunatly I experienced immediatly a problem with Fireface, PC see the interface and allow to enter panel and change settings, but clicking play (on the sequencer or also on Windows Media Player) nothing happens and nothing moves, either the time or the bar.

I temporarily installed a VIA card with which I can work with some dopout, but I intend to solve the problem with the StarTech-TI card that installed in the same configuration (same PC, same firewire card, same S.O. and same sequencer) works correctly with a digital mixer with firewire interface, and recorded live 20 tracks continuously for more than an hour without dropouts, so I think that this card has no problems and even the computer.

What can I do?
Thanks
Pilloso

  • Jeff
  • Jeff
  • Moderator
  • Offline
  • From: USA
  • Registered: 2007-05-21
  • Posts: 4,667

Re: Fireface 800 Stability Issues w/ Windows 7

Set the Win 7 power scheme to High Performance (not Balanced) in Control Panel. Also see links here:
http://www.rme-audio.de/forum/viewtopic.php?id=12742
http://www.rme-audio.de/forum/viewtopic.php?id=1704

Regards,
Jeff Petersen
Synthax Inc.

Jeff's Website

  • Registered: 2012-08-18
  • Posts: 3

Re: Fireface 800 Stability Issues w/ Windows 7

Ok I re-installed firewire card with TI chipset, I changed driver with "legacy" as explained, and I changed to High Performance in control panel, but nothing change, with this card my Fareface does't work at all.
I also tried LatencyMon, the message say that the system is suitable for real-time audio...

The only thing left for me to try is the other card with VIA chipset in combination with these new settings: if I will experience less dropout and crashes, do you think I can trust it or I should try to work with the TI card in every way?

  • Registered: 2008-01-01
  • Posts: 3,025

Re: Fireface 800 Stability Issues w/ Windows 7

This is not the first time that I hear about TI based Firewire cards causing issues lately. No idea what manufacturers changed to make these seemingly less reliable than what we all were used to in the past.

I can tell you that the LSI/Agere based Firewire ports of late Macbook Pros work very stable and high performing even on Windows. So finding a card using one of those chips. Revision number needs to be at least seven (7!), though, because 6 causes problems.

VIA cards may work flawlessly or may not work good. I saw both cases (one VIA based mainboard and one VIA based card, one worked, one not, just forgot which was which).

  • Registered: 2012-08-18
  • Posts: 3

Re: Fireface 800 Stability Issues w/ Windows 7

I still hope to be able to do something to fix the problem between my Fireface 800 and this TI card that I specifically purchased since RME recommends this chipset, and I remind you that this card on the same computer and S.O. works fine with another firewire audio interface...