Got my FW16E FireWire Expansion Board yesterday for my Motif XF6.

Here are a few details about my setup:

Dell Studio XPS 1340 Laptop
with Intel Core2 Duo P8700 CPU @ 2.53GHz, 4GB RAM,
Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit with SP1 and all Critical/Important updates installed.

My laptop has a built-in FW port (4-pin) with a Ricoh controller which I’m NOT USING and I’ve disabled it. Instead, I’ve installed a StarTech.com ExpressCard FW Adapter (EC1394B2). Supposedly, it has a Texas Instruments chipset (TI - XIO2213A). I’m using a 9-pin to 6-pin cable (6-feet) to connect my XF with my PC.

I’ve installed the Yamaha Steinberg FW Driver V1.6.0 for Windows 64-bit. My Motif XF Firmware version is 1.20.0. Additionally, the following settings are done in my Windows system as recommended by Yamaha in their YSFW Driver Installation Guide:

1. DMA mode of the Hard Disk is enabled.
2. Processor Scheduling is set to “Background services”.
3. Visual Effects options set to “Adjust for best performance.”
4. Remote Assistance option is unchecked.
5. Transition effects are disabled.
6. All network interface (wired/wireless) are disabled.
7. I’ve disabled all unnecessary programs.
8. Power Options are set to “High performance”.
9. Automatic Windows/Microsoft updates are disabled.

Please see the attachments.

Now, even after doing all these settings, I’m facing some glitches while using the FW16E as the audio interface. There are momentary interruptions in audio at random intervals (ranging from 2-3 seconds to 45-50 seconds). This happens even when I try playing some songs from iTunes while using the FW16E as the sound card.

I’ve tried adjusting the Buffer Size from 160 Samples to 512 Samples but to little avail.

What am I doing wrong? Is there any hope (Please don’t ask me to buy a new computer)?

Please help.

Regards,
Vikas

Click thumbnail to see full-size image

I don’t think you missed out on anything you could do. You just are unlucky this combination of hardware parts won’t work like it should. (That’s why I never will be using firewire for audio.)

Updated the YSFW Driver to V1.6.1 for Win7-64 after downloading it from the Steinberg website. Still no luck :(

Click thumbnail to see full-size image

VikasSharma - 26 June 2011 11:09 PM

Still no luck :(

Dear Motif experts, would you be kind enough to share your experience/suggestions on the matter?

Meanwhile, I’m also trying my luck with various tweaks. I hope my investment (of time, effort and money) in this FireWire stuff turns out to be a good one at the end. Amen.

Regards,
Vikas

Dear Troubled Windows Laptop Motif XS Firewire user,

I had the same screnario, same Startech Expresscard. My laptop was a Sony Vaio,but basically the same scenario. And never could get the glitches to go away.

I gave up. Really loved the idea of using the built-in audio firewire interface in the Motif XS for playing VSTs live via my Sony Vaio. How great to avoid having to carry an external audio interface and wiring it up at every show, right?? WRONG.

Never worked. I think you need to avoid Windows laptops if you want to use the XS firewire. Windows PCs (not laptops) are likely better because the Firewire card would be PCI based. But laptops, forget it.

Just my two cents.

Dennis

Macs all the way.  You will have no problems with firewire then.  Laptops or desktops…

I tend to agree. Macs all the way. Problem is I love the Sonic Projects OP-X Vst. They don’t have an AU version.

So I went with a Macbook Pro (for hardware reliability) and installed Windows 7 using Bootcamp. I used Brainspawn Forte as a VST host. My audio interface is a Cakewalk UA-1G (very compact, works great!).

So far stable through 10 shows straight. July will be the test as I have 15 outdoor shows throughout the month.

Dennis

DZarob - 27 June 2011 01:25 PM

Dear Troubled Windows Laptop Motif XS Firewire user,

I had the same screnario, same Startech Expresscard. My laptop was a Sony Vaio,but basically the same scenario. And never could get the glitches to go away.

I gave up. Really loved the idea of using the built-in audio firewire interface in the Motif XS for playing VSTs live via my Sony Vaio. How great to avoid having to carry an external audio interface and wiring it up at every show, right?? WRONG.

Never worked. I think you need to avoid Windows laptops if you want to use the XS firewire. Windows PCs (not laptops) are likely better because the Firewire card would be PCI based. But laptops, forget it.

Just my two cents.

Dennis

Hi Dennis!

Thanks for your inputs. I read your post regarding similar issues and it’s disheartening to know that, at the end of it all, you were forced to sell your mLAN FW card and switch to an external interface. Taking a hint from your post, I’ve followed several tips from Black Viper’s site to improve the situation. Meanwhile, I’ve also disabled Intel SpeedStep technology through my BIOS settings as suggested by Steinberg/Yamaha. I’ve also disabled WWAN from BIOS as well as OS.

I’m happy to report that the situation has improved a lot. I’m now able to play songs using iTunes through my FW16E interface without any glitches.

But the problem remains there while playing VSTi instruments within Cubase AI 5. I’ve also tried Kore 2 Player and unfortunately there still are those occasional interruptions in sound, although at much longer intervals now (not less than 1 minute).

I’ll keep trying for some more time to set it right with the help of people like you and I hope I’d be able to sail through.

Thanks & regards,
Vikas

before you use win 7 64bit have you try,

the 32bit win 7 version with success ?
you have only 4gB ,
thats good for 32bit OS.
and the 64bit mlan driver is the problem,
my last informations.

greetings Frank

In my situation, I tried both 32 bit and 64 bit versions of Windows 7. With both their respective drivers, 32 bit driver for 32 bit Windows, and 64 bit driver for 64 bit Windows.

Had problems trying to play realtime VSTs no matter what.

My laptop has a built-in FW port (4-pin) with a Ricoh controller which I’m NOT USING and I’ve disabled it. Instead, I’ve installed a StarTech.com ExpressCard FW Adapter (EC1394B2). Supposedly, it has a Texas Instruments chipset (TI - XIO2213A). I’m using a 9-pin to 6-pin cable (6-feet) to connect my XF with my PC.

Go to your CONTROL PANEL > DEVICE MANAGER > Sound, Video and games > Yamaha Steinberg FW Bus

On the GENERAL tab make sure that the LOCATION indicates your ExpressCard

Let us know what it says.

Click thumbnail to see full-size image

Bad_Mister - 27 June 2011 06:04 PM

Go to your CONTROL PANEL > DEVICE MANAGER > Sound, Video and games > Yamaha Steinberg FW Bus

On the GENERAL tab make sure that the LOCATION indicates your ExpressCard

Let us know what it says.

Thanks Bad_Mister for taking the time to read my problem. The desired screenshot is attached herewith.

As you can see, the LOCATION does indicate my ExpressCard with TI Chipset.

Thanks everyone else too for your replies and helpful hints.

Regards,
Vikas

Click thumbnail to see full-size image

In a desperate bid to resolve the issue by hook or by crook, I’ve uninstalled many of the programs and services from my computer but THE PROBLEM REMAINS there.

Is MacBook Pro notebook the only decent, portable, workable option for Motif XF - FW16E combination? If YES, then why this is not mentioned explicitly in the Yamaha literature? I’m losing hope. It appears that Dennis was right.

Bad_Mister (the Motif oracle), please get me out of this!

Without starting a discussion about “Mac better than Windoz”, my conviction is that when you’re
serious about making music, and from your posts I understand you are, get yourself a Mac and you’re done.
It’s transparent, easy to use and it simply works. I work with Macs since the early days of G3 and have
had Mac desktops, laptops, mini and iMacs eversince and never had problems like I see a lot on this forum
from people using PC and windows.
Mac and you won’t look back.
Btw. while this may sound like a publicity, I’m just a convinced user.

Cheers
Ab

wango - 28 June 2011 07:23 PM

...get yourself a Mac and you’re done.

Thanks wango for your response. I now realize that you might actually be right. Buying a MacBook Pro right away is not an option for me at the moment (you gotta have bucks, right?).

Would’ve been nice though if I’d got a warning somewhere in the Yamaha literature before making my purchase (they must be in the know and there’s no harm in being honest).

Wasted investment for me, at least for now.

:(

Just for a quick moan…

I too got a FW16e and all I have to do is plug in the firewire cable to the pc for it to Crash!

As far as I know all software is up to date. I will test again and try to fault find but I think that the Macs are looking good for next time.

If I can’t get this fixed I too will be asking for help!

All the best…