Which PCIe Firewire Card Will Work With Windows 7 and Weiss DAC2??

[scott rosenberg]

hi all,

 

i recently finished assembling a music server running Windows 7. i added a Siig NN-E38012-S3 pcie firewire card to use with my Weiss DAC2, however, there seems to be a compatibility issue.

 

running a system scan in the weiss firewire io program indicates the chipset (TI) is compatable, however, i continue to get the following error message: "Weiss Firewire IO; Driver Error: Device is not accessible; Check the driver configuration or device connection"

 

i installed everything on my laptop (XP) and things are fine, so i know the DAC is allright - i just can't things to work on my music server.

 

I assume that the issue is with the Siig firewire card in te music server, though i was told Siig was one of the better brands and TI chipsets were compatable with the DAC2.

 

If you are running a DAC2 and Windows 7 with an add-on PCIe firewire card, could you please post the Make and Model of the card?

 

many thanks,

Scott

 

[The Computer Audiophile]

Hi Scott - The Siig cards are very respectable and I'm somewhat surprised it's not working. This may sound weird but it has worked with two people I know who've had Weiss FireWire DACs. Unplug the DAC from the computer and from its power source. Reboot the computer. Then plug the DAC into the computer, then the DAC into its power source.

 

[vortecjr]

my unit came with a green sheet labeled "Important notice, please read!" Basically, it warns against hot swapping. The firewire cable should only be connected when the unit and the computer are powered down and power cables are unplugged!

 

The guys that made my custom firewire cable confirmed and advised the same thing. Except that when you use their cable (with the power conductors cut) you have less chance of an issue.

 

Jesus R

www.sonore.us

 

[scott rosenberg]

thanks for the suggestions, fellas. i'm using a 6-pin to 4-pin cable with a 6-pin to 4-pin adaptor so as to eliminate power from that line. that said, i still went through the sequence chris suggested with the same results... on launching the Weiss Firewire IO application, i get an error message stating that the device is not accesable; check the driver configuration or other connections.

 

what's odd is that the system scan in the weiss io program shows that the firewire device does not have any compatability issues????

 

do either of you have a suggestion for a pcie card that you know works with Windows 7 and the DAC2?

 

many thanks,

Scott

 

 

 

[The Computer Audiophile]

Have you tried this with a standard FireWire single cable?

 

[VincentH]

Hi There,

 

I had a similar issue with my RME FireFace 400 on Windows 7. The solution was to install the Windows 7 'legacy' firewire driver.

 

From the RME forum:

 

Windows 7 seems to include at least three different FireWire drivers. As reported in other forums to make the Fireface (and others) run under W7 you just have to change from the incompatible default driver to the compatible one.

 

- Go to Device Manager, FireWire Contoller.

- Choose Driver, Update Driver Software

- A list pops up that (on our systems) showed three entries:

 

OHCI-compliant 1394 Host controller

OHCI-compliant 1394 Host controller (legacy)

OHCI-compliant Texas Instruments 1394-Host controller

 

- From these three select 'OHCI-compliant 1394 Host controller (legacy)'

 

Try that; there's no harm, if it doesn't work you simply change the driver back to the default one.

 

[scott rosenberg]

i appreciate all the inputs. i resolved my problem by completely removing the Weiss and 1394 drivers and installing a new firewire card. the one that worked was the Siig NN-E200012-S2.

 

hopefully this information will prove useful to folks in the future that experience a similar issue.

 

oh, and also note as above that it may be necessary to force the OS to use the legacy 1394 drivers as described here: http://kc.flex-radio.com/KnowledgebaseArticle50433.aspx

 

best,

Scott

 

 

[scott rosenberg]

in case folks encounter these same issues in the future, i'll document what finally worked for my system. i thought, per my post above, that the new SIIG card took care of everything. that was not the case, as anytime i tried to select north of 96khz, i would get a blue screen and system crash. i then tried three other firewire cards, all with TI chipsets, all gave me the same result.

 

i then switched to a FAR less expensive card with a VIA chipset, and now everything works just fine - right up to 192khz. i'm not sure if this is an issue with W7, or just with my system, but all 5 TI chipset cards had the same issue that switching to a VIA chipset seemed to resolve.

 

-Scott

 

[msb1]

Hi Scott,

 

Can you tell me what card finally worked? I have a Weiss Minerva here and I just cant get it to work properly. It syncs, the software works, but the output is scratchy.

 

My ASUS MB has an onboard FW card that shows as incompatible so I bought a FW card with a VIA chipset. It shows the VIA chipset as compatible but same problem.

 

I have changed the driver to legacy and done all that but with no luck. Could it be a problem with my Motherboard?

 

Incidentally I have a new Sony Vaio Laptop as well as a Dell Laptop and the Weiss is incompatible with both of them too (RICOH FW chipsets). Is it just my luck that 3/3 computers I own don't work with the Weiss or is there a problem with the Weiss.

 

Thanks

 

 

[scott rosenberg]

do you have any other FW devices that you can use to check the operation of the onboard FW? possibly an external HDD?

 

the card that finally worked for me was by a company called PPA... it was the least expensive (by far) of all the cards I tried. Worked flawlessly - and since it also had a 4-pin plug, I was able to use a 6-to-4 cable w/o extra adapters.

 

in the end, i built an entirely new server based on a Gigabyte MoBo with TI FW chipset, and that too has worked perfectly.

 

here's a link to the specific card: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16815263009

 

best of luck!!

Scott

 

 

[msb1]

Hi,

 

The firewire card I put in looks the same as the PPA one and has the same chipset. I am able to get music output but it's sounds scratchy (Staticy).

 

I have checked the FW ports with a HDD and they work fine.

 

Can you tell me what settings you have on the media player software as well as in the Weiss settings?

 

Thanks for the help.

 

[scott rosenberg]

if you're getting some output, but it's scratchy, that's not what i was experiencing. you should probably email weiss... daniel is EXTREMELY helpful and prompt in his responses.

 

[pierreotter]

I needed The right Information..I had waited for this information a long time

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