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Level 2

255 points

Tascam US-800 and Lion

I bought a Tascam US-800 audio/MIDI interface to replace the US-122 that quit working when I installed Lion (it only has 32-bit drivers).

I'm using it with Garageband. It works fine when I first start up/restart the computer, but when I go back to it after a time, it doesn't work. Neither the MIDI nor audio work, though the US-800 shows up both in System preferences and GB prefs. The signal light for the audio channel I'm using lights up, so the US-800 is getting signal, but it does not seem to be passing it on. If I unplug the USB and plug it back in, the US-800 disappears from both prefs (after a warning from GB) and doesn't return until a complete system restart.

Anyone else having this issue? Any thoughts on resolving it?

Thanks.

Mac Pro (Early 2008) 2.8 mhz single core, Mac OS X (10.5.2)

Posted on Aug 1, 2011 5:57 PM

56 replies

Dan Radmacher Author

Level 2

255 points

Nov 7, 2011 4:12 AM in response to Dan Radmacher

The clean install worked - for three days. The system quit recognizing the US-800 overnight. The likeliest culprit, I think, is Steam. I had just installed it last night. Now the question is whether uninstalling Steam will fix the problem.

Dan Radmacher Author

Level 2

255 points

Nov 7, 2011 6:26 AM in response to Dan Radmacher

And I'm right back where I started from. Uninstalled Steam and the Library/Application support files. Rebooted. In less than an hour, US-800 is hosed. This is incredibly frustrating. I'm ready to throw the US-800 out the window. All that time spent on the clean install and a manual migration wasted.

Is there anyone out there who has any ideas about what might be going on? I'm at a complete loss.

Dan Radmacher Author

Level 2

255 points

Nov 9, 2011 6:15 AM in response to Dan Radmacher

Instead of throwing the US-800 out the window, I repaired permissions and rebooted. So far, so good.

I'm wondering if Steam is, indeed, the culprit. Is anyone with a US-800 running Steam without issues?

Dan Radmacher Author

Level 2

255 points

Nov 9, 2011 10:19 AM in response to Dan Radmacher

No go. Just lost the connection again (or whatever's going on).

Maybe it's time for another visit to Tascam tech support. Does anyone have any troubleshooting ideas to try to isolate this?

Dan Radmacher Author

Level 2

255 points

Nov 28, 2011 10:20 AM in response to Dan Radmacher

Tascam tech support is absolutely worthless. I finally decided to return the unit through Amazon (up to 80% back even though I've had it this long; yay, Amazon!). Then I noticed the US-800 was on sale for half what I paid for it originally. Thinking maybe it was a problem with my unit, I bought another one. But no go. The new one is even glitchier than the original.

Now I don't know what to do. I could continue to try to troubleshoot this, or I could return the latest US-800, but I don't know what to exchange it for. MOTU gets good marks, but I don't know that I can talk my wife into spending that kind of money ($395 for the MOTU Sound Express). But I am so tired of dealing with this.

Anyone have suggestions for a good audio/midi interface to use with Lion and Garageband? I can make do with two inputs (one guitar/one mic), but it would be nice to have some expandibility.

Nov 28, 2011 10:31 AM in response to Dan Radmacher

I've been following this thread the whole time. I've done a bit of experimenting on my system. Do you have external USB devices other than the US-800 plugged in? I know you had tried a USB hub, right? Anyway, on my iMac (2009, i7) the US-800 is now predictable. I thought at first that it had to do with sleep mode. But now I've tentatively determined that the crashing is related to my 2 TB external USB hard drive. My 1.5 TB drive works fine, incidentally. But when I mount the 2 TB drive, the US-800 will inevitably crash after a while. Not sure what's specifically going wrong here - I may try a USB hub sometime and see if that improves it.

Oh, and just so you know, I don't have Steam on my system and never have, so clearly there's something else going on here. I installed the US-800 in Windows XP in Boot Camp, and it worked just fine with both hard drives plugged in (and I was using the computer for about 3 hours composing music so I KNOW it didn't crash at all) so this is not a hardware issue.

Dan Radmacher Author

Level 2

255 points

Nov 28, 2011 10:46 AM in response to osxuser93

I have a printer hooked up and a USB webcam through a hub. I've got an iPhone dock running from my Cinema Display (the second USB port on there goes to the hub). I run the US-800 straight to the computer, not through the hub (which I've heard is not advised). I've tried each of the three USB ports in back (other two are connected to Cinema Display and keyboard. Just for fun, I'm going to hook it to one of the USB ports on the front and see if that makes any difference. Maybe there's a problem with the USB controller in the back. I'll report back.

I hate this, because the US-800 is a GREAT unit for the price. If it only worked consistently.

Nov 28, 2011 10:53 AM in response to Dan Radmacher

So running it through a USB hub is not advised?

Actually what I was suggesting was that you try running it with nothing else (except your keyboard) plugged in, and see if it works. My guess is that in my case, it might be overloading the USB controller. I do a lot of video editing, and one frequent, fairly predictable cause of crashing the US-800 is when I'm running Adobe Premiere Pro with a lot of clips loaded from my external drive, and they're all cached in RAM, and then I start playing a clip that isn't cached. The hard drive spins up to load the clip, the first couple frames play, and then the US-800 crashes. It's happened a lot. Maybe a Firewire drive would bypass that problem.

Anyway, I have mine working pretty consistently. As long as I don't mount that external drive... which is a hassle, because it means I have to do a lot more copying back and forth. So it's not fixed, but at least I've isolated what makes it crash, in my case at least...

Dan Radmacher Author

Level 2

255 points

Nov 28, 2011 11:03 AM in response to osxuser93

I have read that running an audio interface through a USB hub can cause problems.

I don't think I have enough going on, USB-wise, to cause an issue. All my hard drives are internal. I could try disconnecting the webcam, I suppose, which I rarely use.

It will be interesting to see if moving to the front port makes a difference. If so, I may invest in a dedicated USB PCI card.

Dan Radmacher Author

Level 2

255 points

Nov 28, 2011 6:29 PM in response to Dan Radmacher

Back at home after several hours away. I came home to no MIDI and a very fuzzy guitar (through a clean amp setting). That's a new symptom. Quitting and restarting GB (as opposed to a total system reboot) brought it back to normal.

That's progress, I suppose, but not much.

Dan Radmacher Author

Level 2

255 points

Nov 29, 2011 4:03 AM in response to Dan Radmacher

And this morning I wake up to a GarageBand alert, "The US-800 has been disconnected." That's also a new symptom. But it looks like it will take a restart to restore function.

Apparently, it's NOT the USB port.

Looks like I'll be packing this thing up and sending it back. Any recommendations for a replacement? Best one for my needs looks like the MOTU Sound Express, but I can't find that for less than $395.

Nov 29, 2011 5:31 AM in response to Dan Radmacher

So I have the same issue with my Late2009 Macbook and my iMac12,2 model. Has Apple given up on this?

Dan Radmacher Author

Level 2

255 points

Nov 29, 2011 5:35 AM in response to christopherfromflor

I'm not sure Apple knows about it. Tascam knows, but thinks it's an isolated issue, some sort of driver conflict or something on the affected machines. They may be right. The symptom set is certainly screwy and unpredictable.

Dan Radmacher Author

Level 2

255 points

Dec 5, 2011 12:38 PM in response to Dan Radmacher

I'm giving up. Had a hopeful couple of days after I unplugged the Web cam, then the same thing happened again. I put a MOTU Audio Express on my Christmas list, and will be returning the US-800 as soon as Santa comes through.

What a waste of time and effort this has been. Tascam has lost a customer.

Dec 15, 2011 1:40 PM in response to Dan Radmacher

Hi Dan,

I know you gave up on this but if anyone else figures it out, please let me know. My US-800 won't connect to my MBP i7 unless I have done a fresh reboot. I'm hoping a firmware fix may be in the offing here soon or some other update that will resolve this issue.

Tascam US-800 and Lion