• Registered: 2012-08-19
  • Posts: 3

Topic: Driver Multiface DSP (v1) crashing

Hi

I have some problems with the first edition of the RME Hammerfall Multiface DSP (the one without the volume controle knob).

This device used to work great together with an old laptop running Windows XP (x86) and a Cardbus HDSP interface. However, since I required some more processing power, I upgraded to a more modern desktop computer running Windows 7 (x64) and a HDSPe ExpressCard.
When I tested this new set-up, I noticed Cubase crashed when I tried to start it (see the Steinberg forum for more info on this). I first thought this was because of a problem with Cubase (hence the forum post), but when I delved deeper I found that I couldn't change the settings of the DSP, that lot of info wasn't showing (e.g. system clock frequency) in the settings program and that the settings program also crashed a lot of times.

This, combined with the fact that the processes couldn't be killed from the taskmanager (which is probably because the process tries to execute a kernel level function, like a driver function) makes me think there is something wrong with the drivers of the Multiface DSP / combination with Windows 7 x64.

I had this problem with the driver I installed from the CD that came with the HDSPe ExpressCard (can't find version number at this moment) and the newest driver (Version 3.29). I updated the Multiface's firmware about 4 months ago (with my old set-up ofc.).

Is there anybody who could give me some insight in this problem?
Thanks

  • Jeff
  • Jeff
  • Moderator
  • Offline
  • From: USA
  • Registered: 2007-05-21
  • Posts: 4,684

Re: Driver Multiface DSP (v1) crashing

Check your BIOS in the laptop, there may be an option for power management of the ExpressCard slot that needs to be disabled. Also, in Win 7, you have to set the Power Management (Control Panel > System) to "High Performance".

Regards,
Jeff Petersen
Synthax Inc.

Jeff's Website

  • Registered: 2012-08-19
  • Posts: 3

Re: Driver Multiface DSP (v1) crashing

Thanks, that seems to fix the problem.

It would be nice to have some error reports instead of a crashing driver though...

  • Jeff
  • Jeff
  • Moderator
  • Offline
  • From: USA
  • Registered: 2007-05-21
  • Posts: 4,684

Re: Driver Multiface DSP (v1) crashing

Hmm, I see you blamed this problem on RME over at the Cubase forum. It's nothing to do with RME, the (well known) problem comes from your OS settings, and possibly bad BIOS produced by the computer manufacturer. We would appreciate it if you did not spread false information such as this.

Regards,
Jeff Petersen
Synthax Inc.

Jeff's Website

  • Zapp
  • Zapp
  • S/Mux specialist
  • Offline
  • From: Vienna
  • Registered: 2007-06-11
  • Posts: 321

Re: Driver Multiface DSP (v1) crashing

:-)

Regards
Zapp
  • Registered: 2012-08-19
  • Posts: 3

Re: Driver Multiface DSP (v1) crashing

Jeff wrote:

Hmm, I see you blamed this problem on RME over at the Cubase forum. It's nothing to do with RME, the (well known) problem comes from your OS settings, and possibly bad BIOS produced by the computer manufacturer. We would appreciate it if you did not spread false information such as this.

Could you tell me what is "false" about my information?

When you write a driver or a kernel extension for a certain OS, you need to make sure it works correctly, and if all else fails, give a proper error message imo. There is a reason why e.g. video card driver are so enormously huge; a lot of code is just error prevention and making sure compatibility is assured.

I agree that the default system settings of Windows aren't ideal, and that people should take their time to set everything up properly, but it is very hard to solve a problem and change the right settings if you don't exactly know what is wrong.

It surprises me that professional software fails to do this. OK, your biggest market is probably MAC, and Windows is not an ideal platform, but after a few years I would expect bugs like this to be solved.

Also note I blamed it on the DRIVER made by RME. I'm not trying to get RME in a bad position or blaming RME itself. I like your hardware and before Windows 7 I had almost no problems with it, but ignoring problems with your software doesn't make them go away.

Anyway, Steinberg's software crashed as well, so the're not much better, and the fact that Cubase 5 tends to change the Power Options of Windows is pretty frustrating, so I guess I could blame them also.

7 Reply by MC

  • MC
  • MC
  • Administrator
  • Offline
  • From: Germany/Thailand
  • Registered: 2007-04-06
  • Posts: 25,777

Re: Driver Multiface DSP (v1) crashing

The problem lies in the PCI Express interface and its power saving control on lowest level. There is no way to control this from a driver. If the hardware communication between motherboard and ExpressCard fails because of this, the driver has no way to find out and issue an error message - simply because the hardware is still recognized, it is there, but just doesn't work as expected.

This problem is well known amongst the industry, in no way RME specific, and therefore often fixed by motherboard manufacturers in their BIOS code. That is the level where it can be detected/fixed/controlled, not our driver or firmware.

Regards
Matthias Carstens
RME

MC's Website