MOTU 896HD not recognized

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Level 1

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MOTU 896HD not recognized

I recently unhooked my studio because of a move. I'm now hooking everything back up and neither of my (2) *MOTU 896HD's* are recognized by Logic Pro 8. I've searched for HOURS through these discussion forums and found posts of similar audio problems and I've tried the solutions that have been offered (i.e. toggle the voltage switch, unplug the computer and wait a few minutes, install the latest driver, etc.)

The interesting thing is that I hear 2 pops about 2 seconds apart from my monitors when I turn on the 896. I also hear a noise when I turn it off. So, I'm thinking that the firewire cable is OK, the computer is just not seeing the unit(s).

It was working before I disconnected everything. You can imagine how frustrating this is! Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

2 x 2.66 GHz Dual-Core Intel Xeon, Mac OS X (10.4.1), G5 Intel

Posted on Nov 24, 2009 8:34 PM

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Answer 1

spheric

Level 3

699 points

Nov 25, 2009 5:17 AM in response to MuziccMan

Does the Audio/MIDI Setup Utility (in /Applications/Utilities) see them?

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Answer 2

Nov 25, 2009 6:29 AM in response to MuziccMan

hmmm, I work with MOTU896HD and everything is fine, may try to upgrade the system, if you are still on 10.4.1 then try some of next.

+1 check it in Audi/MIDI setup.

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Answer 3

MuziccMan Author

Level 1

0 points

Nov 28, 2009 7:53 PM in response to spheric

No, it's not recognizing it.

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Answer 4

MuziccMan Author

Level 1

0 points

Nov 29, 2009 9:20 PM in response to MuziccMan

I learned that those pops that I normally hear when the 896HD is first turned on are coming from the MAIN OUTS on the back of the unit. I pulled the XLR out of the MAIN OUT (Right), which seems to be way more sensitive then the (Left), and I heard the popping sounds. They are the same as if you were to pull out a mic cable from a mixer that's still on. I thought it was the firewire cable.

So, I've changed firewire cables a few times.........still nothing. The latest driver on the MOTU website is 1.4.23. I even found 1.4.9 on a site referred to from somebody in this forum (don't know why MOTU doesn't have it on their site). I installed both drivers.........nothing.

I'm trying to finish a project and this thing is REALLY HOLDING ME UP!!!!!!!!!!

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Answer 5

MuziccMan Author

Level 1

0 points

Dec 1, 2009 9:05 AM in response to MuziccMan

Just spent some more money and upgraded to Snow Leopard. Still nothing............this really *****!!!!

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Answer 6

Dec 19, 2009 6:55 AM in response to MuziccMan

I'm having the same problem. did you find a solution?

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Answer 7

Dec 19, 2009 11:08 AM in response to MuziccMan

Hi Guys

I just upgraded my whole system from a G5 running Tiger & Logic Pro 8 to a Mac Pro running snow leopard and LP9 and my 896HD is working perfectly. I had the latest drivers on tiger and just migrated them over to snow with no problem

Did you check the firewire port with another device, like a HD, to make sure it is working properly?

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Answer 8

MuziccMan Author

Level 1

0 points

Dec 20, 2009 7:08 PM in response to Donald Hoeber

This evening, I decided to try to hook up 1 of my 896HD's to my G4 Powerbook. The strangest thing happened. I noticed that the lights on the front panel of the 896HD stopped blinking after I attached the firewire cord. I checked back on the laptop, opened up the MOTU Audio Setup and the 896 tab APPEARED!!!! I couldn't believe it! I don't know what I did except pull the firewire cord out forcefully and it's now in the 2nd port, not the 1st port. So, that leads me to believe that the physical firewire connection is loose or something. That's strange, because I know I tried both firewire ports on both units multiple times, plugging the cable in and out. And........get this, I installed the driver off the CD that came with the unit onto the laptop, so the laptop driver is not the latest. Very, very strange!!!!!

Anyway, since I have 2 units, I'm going to see if I can get them both hooked up as an aggregate device. If not, at least I have 1 working now.

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Answer 9

MuziccMan Author

Level 1

0 points

Dec 20, 2009 7:11 PM in response to Stresspress

Check my recent post and check your firewire connections VERY WELL!!!

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Answer 10

Dec 26, 2009 4:32 PM in response to MuziccMan

I have an original 896 running DP7 on a MacBook Pro 17 with Snow LEPER....
For no reason whatsoever and certainly without any perceived similarities in what I am doing in the moment ....the LED on The output of Channel 3 starts flashing ... sometimes just in the middle of the row .... in that moment DP7 locks up until I turn off the 896 and reboot it ... sometimes DP7 crashes ... sometimes it recovers... sometimes I make it through another pass sometimes I don't.It has even done it in itunes
MOTU had me do disk repair permissions, create another user, change cables ... sometimes it works for an hour.Oddly I still have my 828 which exhibits none of these systems using the same cable and firewire port.
For $100 MOTU will repair rebuild the 896 .... but most importantly .... thy'll be on the hook to solve the problem.
ANY HELP GUYS?????

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Answer 11

MuziccMan Author

Level 1

0 points

Jan 18, 2010 9:18 PM in response to JOSEPH PITONZO

Recently got 1 of my 896HD's back from a local repair shop. They work on EVERYTHING and I've used them a number of times to repair keyboards, etc. They tried to contact MOTU themselves, but they wouldn't give them any info. So, I'm short $50. My studio has been down a couple of months now over the holidays, but things are starting to ramp up again and I need my stuff to work. I'm really tempted to get another interface, but if I can get what I have repaired...............when it's working, MOTU interfaces are hard to beat.

Regarding your problem, I have absolutely no idea why it's behaving like that. But it makes me wonder about the insides of these boxes.........

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