reset firewire bus

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reset firewire bus

Hi everyone,
I own a Mac Pro 4.1 8-core. Could everyone give me the procedure to reset the firewire bus on that mac? The link on this page http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1151?viewlocale=en_US is not working anymore.

Thank you very much,
Giulia

Mac Pro 8 Core, Mac OS X (10.6.5), RAM 8 GB / GHz 2.26 / HD 2x500 GB

Posted on Dec 11, 2010 10:17 AM

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Answer 1

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Kappy

Level 10

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Dec 11, 2010 11:06 AM in response to pianorock

That link just worked fine for me.

You can't specifically reset the FW bus. Just restart the computer which resets everything.

Perhaps if you outlined your specific problem there may be a specific solution.

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Answer 2

pianorock Author

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Dec 11, 2010 1:25 PM in response to Kappy

Hi!
Thanks..

on that link i find

"Check System Profiler for hardware Issues
Open System Profiler (from the Apple menu, choose About This Mac, then click More Info) and then click either USB or FireWire. If you don't see your device listed in the pane, the issue could be with the device itself or your computer's USB or FireWire port. To rule out the port, plug the device into another USB or FireWire port on your Mac and then check System Profiler again (press Command-R to refresh the window). Also try *_resetting the FireWire bus_*. If you see your device listed in the pane but it doesn't work, you may want to contact the device's manufacturer for assistance."

On "resetting" there is a link to a page that does not exist anymore. I work with many audio FireWire devices and sometimes I have to reset the bus, I used to do this with older macs but with the new Mac Pro I don't know how!

The old procedure was to unplug all the devices, the AC and keep the mac off for 15 minutes.. is that true?

Any ideas?
Thanks a lot

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Answer 3

Dec 11, 2010 1:27 PM in response to pianorock

Thought you could use this info about getting FireWire to work!

First, you should always Repair Permissions in Disk Utility before and after any update; I would do that now. If you installed your update with FireWire plugged in, your Mac may not recognize it anymore.

Try resetting your FireWire ports by disconnecting all FW devices, shut down your Mac and unplug it from AC power (wall socket) for 30 minutes. plug it back in and try FW.

If that didn't work, download the combo update from this site (yours may be corrupt), not Software Update, disconnect all firewire + USB devices except keyboard + mouse, Repair Permissions, re-install update , Repair Permissions again + try.

If that still didn't get it Zap the PRAM. While restarting Mac hold down the following key combo Command-Option-P-R. Keep holding those keys down till you hear the second start-up chime, then release.

For those of you with Macs that are not PowerBooks or iBooks, a bad internal PRAM battery can cause FireWire to not be recognized, so make sure it's good! Also, here is Apple KB HT1317 on getting FireWire to work.

Here's another Fw Faq.

DALE

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Answer 4

pianorock Author

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Dec 11, 2010 1:48 PM in response to Dale Weisshaar

Thanks a lot!!
So disconnecting the devices and keeping the mac turned off is still a good way! Great!

Thank you so much, Dale!

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Answer 5

Kappy

Level 10

361,741 points

Dec 11, 2010 2:00 PM in response to pianorock

That procedure doesn't "reset" anything. It was a temporary solution to help with problem FW connections. If you shutdown the computer for a couple of minutes that's really all you need do to reset everything. It just removes power long enough to remove anything in memory that could be corrupted. Sort of similar to resetting PRAM in the event that something stored there became corrupted. Pretty much it's an old method that isn't available anymore because it no longer applies except to very old models.

If you are having problems with FW devices then first check with their manufacturers' to see if they are still compatible with your running version of OS X. Seek any firmware updates for the devices. For many audio/Midi devices you will find they are not fully compatible with the latest version(s) of OS X and/or require firmware and/or driver updates.

If the issue is with OS X try reinstalling OS X to resolve the problem.

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Answer 6

pianorock Author

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Dec 11, 2010 2:14 PM in response to Kappy

Ok, so that's the reason why the "resetting" link is not working anymore.

My audio interfaces was not recognized via FireWire (via USB it worked), but I knew that drivers and utilities were up to date and compatible with the OS X.
I solved the problem with PRAM reset, a repair disk permission from DVD and keeping everything off for 15 minutes. Maybe 2 minutes with everything still plugged is the same, I just didn't read your answer in time.. sorry!
The repair disk permission didn't worked when done not from DVD.

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