Thunderbolt to Firewire connection not recognized

Question

Thunderbolt to Firewire connection not recognized

I have recently purchased a 2017 iMac and all the ports work without a problem.

For my Music Home Studio, I use an AVID Mbox 3 Pro and it runs through Firewire. So I purchased the "Firewire 800 to Thunderbolt adapter" as well as the "Thunderbolt 2 to Thunderbolt 3 (USB-C) adapter". When turning the Mbox on, it turns on fine but the iMac does not recognize the Mbox. I have downloaded the latest driver for the Mbox, but that did not fix the issue. I use the Mbox for Logic Pro X as well as Pro Tools 11.

The Mbox connects perfectly to my laptop that has a firewire port so I don't believe it's the Mbox.

If anyone can solve or has a similar issue, please let me know.

Thanks,

- Ken

iMac (Retina 5K, 27-inch, 2017), iOS 11.2.1

Posted on Dec 18, 2017 12:58 PM

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Answer 1

kerochan

Level 4

1,071 points

Dec 18, 2017 1:35 PM in response to Kenisinoregon

Hi Ken

Sorry to hear of your problems.

You have a 2017 iMac, what OS are you running?

Maybe a good idea to check the Avid site at the compatibility chart, I am fairly certain that its not compatible with High Sierra.

Good luck

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Answer 2

Dec 18, 2017 1:38 PM in response to kerochan

Hi Kerochan,

I have checked with Avid and the Mbox is capable of running MacOS Sierra. I was able to use it normally on my MacBook Pro (on Sierra) with a firewire port so I don't think the Mbox isn't the problem. I was also able to use it for Logic X just fine.

I am going to the nearest Apple store to test on their computers if it's not a faulty adapter (FW800-TB2 & TB2-TB3).

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Answer 3

Dec 21, 2017 7:33 PM in response to Kenisinoregon

I have had some issues with using the thunderbolt 2 port on my MacBook Pro and an adapter providing firewire 800, to external hard drives, and have come to the conclusion it's just not good medicine to mix things this way. It's better to have units with similar in/out interfaces than to jam things together. The FW800 and Thunderbolt interfaces handle power requests differently, and that may have been part of my problem as well as the different throughput. You have a three part chain; FW800? > Thunderbolt2 > Thunderbolt 3 (both ways), so that's a big change in data flow that might choke the pipeline. Anyway... I decided to stay away from the adapter world, and figure in upgrades with similar interfaces. System works much cleaner...

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Answer 4

kerochan

Level 4

1,071 points

Dec 18, 2017 1:47 PM in response to Kenisinoregon

Ah, fingers crossed it is a faulty adapter.

Keep us posted on what happens at Apple

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