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Mavericks 10.9.1 & Saffire Pro14 - Unstable Firewire Connection

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Nov 23, 2013
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Motherboard
Gigabyte GA-Z87X-UD5H
CPU
i5-4670K
Graphics
HD 4600
Mac
  1. MacBook Pro
  2. Mac mini
Mobile Phone
  1. Android
Initially, the connection seems stable but after 1 week, the firewire connection seems to be flaky. I am on the version 3.3 of the Saffire Mix Control.

So, I uninstalled it and reinstalled Version 2.4. Although, intermittently I still lose connection, it is working almost 80% of the time, which is still annoying.

Any suggestions? I am on Gigabyte Z87X-UD5H and Mavericks 10.9.1 - installed from fresh.

Thanks

Update: Jan 03, 2014:
Totally don't work at all....sigh

update Jan 8:
reformatted system from scratch and everything works perfectly
 
Today, jan 25 - the FireWire seems unstable again.

i noticed that the FireWire unstable connection after I installed Paragon NTFS (demo) in this and earlier occasion.

Anyone with the same experience or it's just a coincidence?
 

Thanks for the info.

i am using the FireWire headers on my motherboard Gigabyte GA-z87-ud5h. I bought this mobo because I wanted the native FireWire connections so that I don't have to work with PCI-e cards.

I just uninstalled Paragon NTFS and it seems to be working, most of the time - so far.
 
If you go look on Focusrite's website and other sites dedicated to audio interfaces, as well as a few other threads here, you will find that Focusrite only recommends Firewire systems using some specific Texas Instrument chipsets. I have no idea why, but they frequently become unstable with anything else, maybe someone with more technical understanding can explain why the chipset makes a difference...

I am considering building my first Hackintosh for use in audio recording with a Saffire Pro 40, so I was curious myself what chipsets were being used on all of the various motherboards listed here on this site. It sounds like you might have answered my question. So as nice as it would be to use the native Firewire, the reality is that you probably can't. At least not reliably.

I would be interested in knowing what you figure out and what is your current configuration. I am not looking to reinvent the wheel here, I want something that will quickly and easily come together and work.
 
If you go look on Focusrite's website and other sites dedicated to audio interfaces, as well as a few other threads here, you will find that Focusrite only recommends Firewire systems using some specific Texas Instrument chipsets. I have no idea why, but they frequently become unstable with anything else, maybe someone with more technical understanding can explain why the chipset makes a difference...

I am considering building my first Hackintosh for use in audio recording with a Saffire Pro 40, so I was curious myself what chipsets were being used on all of the various motherboards listed here on this site. It sounds like you might have answered my question. So as nice as it would be to use the native Firewire, the reality is that you probably can't. At least not reliably.

I would be interested in knowing what you figure out and what is your current configuration. I am not looking to reinvent the wheel here, I want something that will quickly and easily come together and work.

Hi, so far the native mobo firewire connector to my Prof14 works fine since I have uninstalled Paragon NTFS for Mac. There is far fewer incidents of firewire disconnection since. I know others have no problem with that driver but I have. I suppose that it is still too early to try so I monitor and update this post.

All the best to your build. It is a very enjoyable experience so I encourage you to start asap. I was forced into building a hackintosh after my 2006 Imac died last November - tired of being told that there is no parts available and I should just move on. So, I moved on - to a hackintosh.
 
The FireWire is unstable again as of today. The problem seems to be triggered by iTunes. The connection was there before playing iTunes. Once iTunes plays a tune, the FireWire connection drops.

any idea why?
 
Better get a PCIe card with TI chipset, those onboard Firewire VIA chipsets and audio interfaces never work well.
 
I took a chance and bought a NEC based PCI card with 2 firewire 1394a ports for about US$15 at a computer parts shop.

Today is day 3 and everything works. Typically, it takes about 3 weeks or so before it breaks, so fingers crossed. Will update it if it fails.
 
hey gonegolf!

I have the same board AND audio interface :D

I started using the internal SPDIF-port, but the audio sometimes crackles after a few minutes (it sounds like stutter or a horribly wrong sample rate conversion) and it probably has something to do with chrome? But this is another topic :/

These problems went away on the internal headers, but my graphics-card produces EMI (I 'hear' my mouse move). So i eventually might buy a PCI-E Firewire-Card, and I’m looking for one that actually works ;)

How is yours holding up so far?
 
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