Universal Audio Apollo Issues

[vermaasd]

Hello fellow audio enthusiasts and hackintosh builders. I come to you after weeks of perusing the forums and attempting to solve these problems on my own. Hoping someone can offer some insight to my current issues because I'm losing my mind in a sea of forum tabs.

In a nutshell, I recently purchased a UAD Apollo Quad and it does not work with my firewire setup. Setup is as follows:

z87x ud5h
i7 4770k
nvidia gtx760
32gb RAM
TP-Link PCI Express Wifi Adapter
Sonnet Allegro FW800 PCIe card (as recommended by UAD)
I have tested in both ML and Mavericks with the same issues arising
DAW: Pro Tools 10.3.7 or 11.1.2
UAD software... well, I've tried them all, but currently on 7.5

The Apollo installs properly and is recognized as the interface. However, after inserting any instance of a UAD plug within Pro Tools, I receive error messages that all pertain to firewire interrupt (-38, -109, T0), but they don't give any actual details.

UAD won't help me out since a hack isn't an authorized system, and I've done all of their recommend optimization settings within their software and the OS settings. I've also swapped out cables, removed my wifi card, swapped PCIe slots, disconnected all external fw drives, repaired permissions... I'm definitely a noob in the world of building, but I'm wondering if there are any bios settings or multibeast installers that I'm perhaps overlooking here. Anybody have similar issues that they've encountered/fixed? I've seen some people with successful thunderbolt builds, but I haven't seen much re: firewire. I'd rather not have to purchase a new motherboard and run via thunderbolt, but if that's the only solution...

Any ideas, guys? I'm desperate!

Thanks,
D

 

[smfelton]

Have you checked out the UAD forum, it's full of people reporting exactly the same issue. So don't worry it's not your Hack that's causing the problem.
However I'm sorry to say the only solution found so far seems to be to go thunderbolt.
Hope that helps

Just for an example http://uadforum.com/uad-satellite-apollo/15217-open-letter-ua-regarding-98-38-50-error-issues.html

 

[vermaasd]

Have you checked out the UAD forum, it's full of people reporting exactly the same issue. So don't worry it's not your Hack that's causing the problem.
However I'm sorry to say the only solution found so far seems to be to go thunderbolt.
Hope that helps

Just for an example http://uadforum.com/uad-satellite-apollo/15217-open-letter-ua-regarding-98-38-50-error-issues.html

I have been all over their forum and keeping up with this particular thread, too. I confronted UAD about the problem when they wouldn't help me out, saying that there seem to be a lot of users with qualified systems that are having the same problems (and many without, I presume), but I can't get anywhere with them. Understandable... I get that they can't help every user with different components. Just hoping to come across another hackintosh user that was successful with a firewire build.

Since the switch to thunderbolt is a viable option, I'm also half waiting to see whether the new thunderbolt 2.0 board will work with the latest Mavericks/UAD software updates. I'm pretty sure 2.0 vs 1.0 is irrelevant in regard to the Apollo, but it may be worth it for future uses.

Mostly, I just don't want my mixing to come to a grinding halt any longer. Killing me.

 

[vermaasd]

Have you checked out the UAD forum, it's full of people reporting exactly the same issue. So don't worry it's not your Hack that's causing the problem.
However I'm sorry to say the only solution found so far seems to be to go thunderbolt.
Hope that helps

Just for an example http://uadforum.com/uad-satellite-apollo/15217-open-letter-ua-regarding-98-38-50-error-issues.html

Hey smfelton, I've upgraded to the ud7 th after seeing some success w/ thunderbolt and the Apollo Twin. I noticed you're successfully running the Twin on your ud5 th board. Do you have any BIOS setting recommendations? I installed the tb drivers via Windows 8.1, and the Apollo is recognized/will successfully playback via iTunes, Chrome, and PT 10 and 11. However, when in PT (either version) playback will begin to stutter or hiccup even if there aren't any plugs inserted. I keep getting CPU overload errors regardless of buffer size shortly after the stuttering begins. After the error pops up, the Apollo essentially disappears. Doesn't meter, doesn't playback, and since it isn't hot-swappable, everything must be rebooted.

Have you run into anything similar w/ the Twin? Any thoughts off the top of your head? I'd really love to get the Apollo on the list of confirmed interfaces w/ this mobo.

Many thanks!

 

[B-San]

This might be a long shot, but try removing your graphics card and run off the integrated graphics, that way with the wifi card also removed, the Sonnet FW card will be the only PICe card installed?


I've tested/ran an Apollo on a good number of Z77 boards via both FW and TB without issue - but have only done so on a couple builds which did not use the processor's integrated graphics.


Edit: Oops just seen you upgraded your mobo

 

[vermaasd]

This might be a long shot, but try removing your graphics card and run off the integrated graphics, that way with the wifi card also removed, the Sonnet FW card will be the only PICe card installed?

No worries, appreciate that suggestion! I did try that as well when I was using the (z87) UD5H, but was unsuccessful. I figured that wouldn't necessarily be the problem since I had seen a few other builds successfully using graphics cards as opposed to integrated graphics. Regardless, it didn't seem to make a difference.

I'm really fairly stuck. Now I have a nice hack, and a nice interface but they don't like each other...(yet). Open to any suggestions, though. I think I'm one of the few that is attempting this combo, and I'm sure others would be happy to find out if (and when) we can get these things to play nice with each other.

The battle continues...

 

[B-San]

No worries, appreciate that suggestion! I did try that as well when I was using the (z87) UD5H, but was unsuccessful. I figured that wouldn't necessarily be the problem since I had seen a few other builds successfully using graphics cards as opposed to integrated graphics. Regardless, it didn't seem to make a difference.

I'm really fairly stuck. Now I have a nice hack, and a nice interface but they don't like each other...(yet). Open to any suggestions, though. I think I'm one of the few that is attempting this combo, and I'm sure others would be happy to find out if (and when) we can get these things to play nice with each other.

The battle continues...

Sorry to hear that... I am actually putting together a new Hackintosh which features a GA-Z87X-UD5 TH.

I installed Windows as well as the Thunderbolt drivers the other day, and am planning on installing Mountain Lion on it tonight, and will keep you posted as to how it works with my TB-equipped Apollo.


Have you tried updating the firmware on the Apollo? Have you tried using the Apollo with a Mac which has Thunderbolt ports to see if the performance doesn't exhibit any of the problems during playback?

I've had a small issue on occasion that if I use the Apollo in Windows last before shutting down, it wouldn't connect with another Hack until I booted into Windows first. If I remember to have the Mac side running the Apollo last before attempting to connect it to another Hackintosh then it would connect every time without issue.

Maybe you can take something from the experiences I just detailed and hopefully something can be of use!

 

[B-San]

@vermaasd

I was successful in getting my Apollo to function with the GA-z87X-UD5 TH.

Here is the following post which gives an overview.. it also provides other insight into getting Thunderbolt functionality with the current-gen Thunderbolt-equipped motherboards:

http://www.tonymacx86.com/general-h...z87x-ud5-th-other-tb-boards-3.html#post788366

Hope this helps!

 

[vermaasd]

@vermaasd

I was successful in getting my Apollo to function with the GA-z87X-UD5 TH.

Here is the following post which gives an overview.. it also provides other insight into getting Thunderbolt functionality with the current-gen Thunderbolt-equipped motherboards:

http://www.tonymacx86.com/general-h...z87x-ud5-th-other-tb-boards-3.html#post788366

Hope this helps!

Amazing! Thank you for this link and congrats on getting yours functioning. I'm going to get to work and see if I can get things firing on all cylinders here. Hopefully we'll have success. I'll report back soon!

D

 

[vermaasd]

B-San, Thanks for the insight! I made those bios tweaks and ditched the tb kexts. Just ran a pretty light session and so far so good. No hiccups, no dropped audio at this point. I'm going to load up a 100+ track session this weekend, tax things a bit, and see how it handles. Light at the end of the tunnel???? We shall see....