issues with firewire 800 to 400 conversion

If you have an 800 FW port, you have an intel iMac, I'll ask the hosts to move you to th proper forum.

Kyle Garvey wrote:
Is there some sort of problem with my adapter?

Would be helpful if you included a bit more information. What are you using as an adapter? You ideally should be using a FW400 to FW 800 cable, not an adapter, or a powered Firewire hub that supports FW400 IN and FW800 OUT. Are your Firewire devices drawing power form the iMac or are they using their own power supply? Ideally they should be using their own power supply to ensure they get adequate power. I know the iMac will supply power but possibly it is not enough power to one device for the device to work reliably. How many devices are you trying to connect concurrently?

I've got similar problems - my Allen Heath ZED R16 mixer works fine FW400 on a PC , but not with the INTEL IMAC. The INTEL IMAC sees the ZED, installs the drivers - Logic sees the ZED - I can record with it, but I can't get any sound from the INTEL IMAC back to the ZED. Even desktop audio doesn't get through to the ZED. I thought the problem might be with the ZED, but I read on other forums that there are known issues with the FW chips used on INTEL IMACS and that errors are common. Does anyone have any comment about this?

Yes, I am using the unlikely named "Snow Leopard" whatever that is. I read on another thread complaining about IMac FW incompatibility that some of the problems relate to the FW Chip that Apple used. Apparently the TI chip is supposed to be the reliable one but Apple started using (cheaper) chips made by Lucent or Agere and these have more compatibility problems. All supposed to be standard Firewire , of course, but that's the beauty of standards - so many to choose from. If you hit Command-S while booting up you will see a screen displaying the hardware on your Mac - see what is listed for Firewire.

You might want to ask on the Garageband or Logic forums to see if anyone there has the same issue or how they might have fixed it.

Mine has a TI chip - supposedly OK. I looked on TCAT website about their DICE FW chip and there is absolutely nothing that could be understood by a normal human being. I found a compatibility check utility - for Windows. I've looked on several forums and found loads of info on this - a lot of suggestions, none of which have worked. The common denominator seems to be the drivers for the mixer FW chip - but the maker's, Allen & Heath, aren't answering the phone. I'm going on every music equipment website that sells Allen & Heath gear and has a user review section and I'm going to write that yes its good gear, but you're on your own if you have problems.

All I want is for this thing to work. I bought an IMac because so many people had told me that "get a Mac- you just plug things in and they work - no faffing about with drivers like you get with PCs -just plug your mixer in and the mac will find it and set it up"

The next person who tells me that is going to get his lights punched out.

Its working. How - and why - and what was different to make it work remains a mystery but now the IMac not only sees the Zed, but audio flows nicely between the two. According to Gustav the Guru , it was a routing issue and my channels weren't set up correctly. But I tried all that before- ah but I didn't invest totally in the "rightness" of the Mac - I harboured feelings for the PC and the Mac could sense that and refused to work for me - Zen , and all that.

Sounds like a load of bollocks to me -BUT - my setup now works and I can get back on track with my life.

Now I need to get some hair restorer and sweep up the clumps of hair from my studio room floor.