Digital Audio Workstation & MIDI > Audio & MIDI Hardware
PSA: M-Audio Firewire 410 Firmware Downgrade Success! Now Working in Mac OS 9
visibleprism:
Ah bummer, sorry to hear that! I'm going to go through the process from scratch and record the steps in more detail, especially what I'm seeing when installing on the XP machine. In the meantime, let me know if there's any other info I can provide that might be useful!
@ssp3 - not sure if this was directed at me, but I removed the CD from the drive before rebooting the Windows machine
aBc:
--- Quote from: visibleprism on December 19, 2023, 07:31:15 PM ---I'm going to go through the process from scratch and record the steps in more detail...
--- End quote ---
Great! After our last dismal FW410 collective effort here - no hurry for another possible rabbit hole.
I detest Windows… but there’s an old HP and a pristine NOS copy of XP Pro to be installed here.
And Thursday might just be the rainy day for all THAT. ;)
Thanks!
ssp3:
--- Quote from: visibleprism on December 19, 2023, 07:31:15 PM ---@ssp3 - not sure if this was directed at me, but I removed the CD from the drive before rebooting the Windows machine
--- End quote ---
The question was to DieHard. I found it strange unexpected, that the CD was accessed by _?_ when rebooting.
aBc:
And then there's this that I seem to vaguely remember from last time:
PC Laptop and desktop users with the I-Link 4-pin 1394 interface
need to use the 12 VDC power adaptor provided in order to power
an M-Audio FireWire interface for operation on their computers.
If you are connecting your M-Audio FireWire device to a 6-pin connector
on your computer, the unit will be powered through the FireWire cable -
do NOT use the provided power supply when using a 6-pin connection!
The old HP desktop here only has the 6-pin FireWire connections. ::)
Ordinarily I wouldn't think that also using the VDC adapter would matter.
(But now I might test it first with a Windows Vista PC.)
DieHard:
--- Quote from: ssp3 on December 19, 2023, 06:16:48 PM ---Question. Did you leave the CD inside the drive during reboot on your Win machine? If so, why?
--- End quote ---
Yeah forgot to take it out and then it grabbed stuff off of it after reboot (additional drivers and probably the control panel) it seems to discover and load additional items after the initial install upon connection and re-start.
--- Quote ---f you are connecting your M-Audio FireWire device to a 6-pin connector
on your computer, the unit will be powered through the FireWire cable -
do NOT use the provided power supply when using a 6-pin connection!
--- End quote ---
Well, I doubt this came from M-Audio... the "Do NOT" makes no sense... should read "optionally use the Provided power" It is ALWAYS better, IMO to use an external power supply, AC adapters for FW devices (if you have one), yes bus power works fine, but will draw power from the card/MB directly which should be avoided when and if possible (especially if daisy chaining).
At any rate, it will NEVER hurt the situation to use power supplies for devices. After seeing many cards die and logic boards die from customers over the years, as a general rule I try to use extra power for devices whenever possible. I have seen many USB power rails blow on newer macbooks from people who literally use their $1800 macbook as a phone charger instead of buying a $4 Wallmart ac adapter.
I made an exception about a year ago, with (4) PCIe cards for my tech servers:
https://www.amazon.com/FebSmart-Ports-PCIE-Self-Powered-Technology-No-FS-HA-Pro/dp/B089ZXXVHY/ref=sr_1_4?crid=32T6SVJIZNIHO&keywords=amazon%2BUSB3%2Bpcie&qid=1703091685&sprefix=amazon%2Busb3%2Bpcie%2Caps%2C137&sr=8-4&th=1
These newer USB3 cards power up external Mechanical and SSD drives without issue and seem to be fine with it, it was annoying to route power to my old cards at the bottom of the HP servers
Back to FW, I have never blown a FW device or a FW card; I usually follow this rule, connect the FW device to the mac with the mac off, turn on power for the FW device, turn on the mac.
Ahhh... an update.. just found this on the Apple Community Forum:
--- Quote ---Nowhere in the manual does it say that you cannot connect the AC power adapter to the FW 410 while a six pin (powered) firewire cable is in use. It does say that the AC adapter is included to power the unit when a computer with four pin firewire ports (the kind that don't supply power) is connected to the FW 410. As bus power from a firewire port is often the victim of RFI from the components in the computer, I was advised by M-Audio tech support to utilize external power whenever feasible to increase the SN ratio on the device. So basically they told me to connect both at the same time. I assume that the FW 410 knows when it is receiving power from the AC adapter and knows to not utilize the power from the firewire bus simultaneously. If you are really worried, I suggest you call M-Audio tech support and let them tell you what I just did. One final thought: I have used my FW 410 with two power sources (firewire and DC in) for the two years since I've had the unit.
--- End quote ---
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