The FireWire 800/400 card to own for 100% compatibility

[dizzydre21]

A FW audio interface, and 2 FW drives...all on the same FW bus? That's sort of asking for trouble. You really need to look at ways of balancing your I/O load. You may want to think about having the Presonus be the only device on your FW card, and then get another FW card for your drives. Or consider USB3 drives (they are so cheap these days).

I was only using one at a time man. I ended up snagging a 2nd card, same model, and it works pretty well. The Studiolive console wasn't recognized though until after I got a legacy driver off of the Presonus website. The band I am working with just so happens to know an ex Presonus rep, so he came out to their rehearsal on Wednesday and helped get me rollin'. The console has firmware from like 5 years ago also, hence the legacy driver. I thought Core Audio was supposed to recognize the console without anything, but I can't complain since it seems to work well now. I recorded 21 tracks off the board that day.

One thing I am curious about is what others see in sound settings for a Studiolive console. My hack called it "Friestudio" something or other. Isn't Firestudio a different interface from the console? If so, I probably downloaded a funky driver or something.

 

[Ginone]

I installed the card KALEA-INFORMATIQUE © - Carte Controleur PCI vers FireWire 400 IEEE1394a - 3 ports - Chipset TEXAS INSTRUMENTS TI TSB43AB22A that has been working perfectly well since day one. It's obviously a French vendor and it doesn't seem to be sold in the US. It should be available in Europe.
Nick

I'm pretty new to hackintoshes, so I'm a little surprised to see a PCI card said to be compatible with OSX, given how picky it is about (old) hardware components. Really? Can I safely buy this card? I'm going to install it on a Asus P5G41T-M LE motherboard running El Capitan. Will this card run out of the box?

Thanks!

 

[NicoD]

I'm going to install it on a Asus P5G41T-M LE motherboard running El Capitan. Will this card run out of the box?

If you read carefully my posts you saw it did with my build and in one year and a half it worked without a glitch. The important stuff is not the PCI bus, it's standard, it's the Texas Instrument chip that's on the card. This is the must-have for a FW card to work with Mac OS and that's what KALEA is advertising.
Nick

 

[Ginone]

Thank you for your answer.

Thinking about it, I'd choose a PCI Express card if possible, because in the future it will be pluggable in a newer motherboard, I if ever need it. The same french producer sells a PCIe firewire card, and it's even cheaper (no shipping costs):

https://www.amazon.it/dp/B005UO6QMC/?tag=tonymacx86com-21

but here I have no details about the chipset. Any clue about it?

 

[NicoD]

KALEA, for cards with the TI chipset, not only lists it in the specifications but puts a photo of it too. Look at the page of mine.
This card has a VIA chipset that I know nothing about besides it's not TI. The specs mention Windows has the drivers but say nothing about Mac OS.
Remember Mac OS has a driver for the TI chipset and for nothing else.
Yet if you look at this one: KALEA-INFORMATIQUE © - Carte Controleur PCI vers FireWire 400 IEEE1394a - 4 ports - DOUBLE CHIPSET TEXAS INSTRUMENTS + REPRISE D'ALIMENTATION - Particulièrement adaptée aux cartes son externes it has a double TI chipset but they say it's compatible with Windows only.
Just stay away from these cards.
With mine you know it'll will work from day one. OK, it's twice as expensive.
Nick

 

[Ginone]

Your card isn't more expensive. Amazon Italy says 15 euros plus shipping:

https://www.amazon.it/gp/product/B000WAUP8K/?tag=tonymacx86com-21

I'm low on budget, I don't want unecessary risks, I'll follow your suggestion. Thanks.

 

[NicoD]

You have it for less than half the price in Italy as we do! That's unfair!
I was on a budget too. It took time to select the components that were just right and not too expensive. My machine is exactly what I needed and it has been working fine so far.
Nick

 

[hockeycrush]

You have it for less than half the price in Italy as we do! That's unfair!
I was on a budget too. It took time to select the components that were just right and not too expensive. My machine is exactly what I needed and it has been working fine so far.
Nick

Can you guys confirm that Texas Instruments chipset firewire PCIe cards are still compatible with High Sierra 10.13+, and on newer motherboards? I have an ASUS Maximus IX Hero. Thanks

 

[Ginone]

KALEA, for cards with the TI chipset, not only lists it in the specifications but puts a photo of it too. Look at the page of mine.
This card has a VIA chipset that I know nothing about besides it's not TI. The specs mention Windows has the drivers but say nothing about Mac OS.
Remember Mac OS has a driver for the TI chipset and for nothing else.
Yet if you look at this one: KALEA-INFORMATIQUE © - Carte Controleur PCI vers FireWire 400 IEEE1394a - 4 ports - DOUBLE CHIPSET TEXAS INSTRUMENTS + REPRISE D'ALIMENTATION - Particulièrement adaptée aux cartes son externes it has a double TI chipset but they say it's compatible with Windows only.
Just stay away from these cards.
With mine you know it'll will work from day one. OK, it's twice as expensive.
Nick

I installed the card you suggested, it worked out of the box. Thank you a lot!

Bye

 

[Andross]

Can you guys confirm that Texas Instruments chipset firewire PCIe cards are still compatible with High Sierra 10.13+, and on newer motherboards? I have an ASUS Maximus IX Hero. Thanks

I've got the same question for my Gigabyte GA-Z270X-UD3 motherboard.
The recommended Startech PEX1394B3 causes impossible shutdown and sleep for me. Does anyone know about the SYBA SD-PEX30009 being OOB without problems with High Sierra 10.13.2? Thanks