problems with RME HSDP 9652 and ADA8000

[tim]

That might also be a good idea to revert the driver to a few steps back. Perhaps that is causing my issue. According to the read me file from RME it shouldn't be a problem since it's backward compatible.

[hkmorgan87]

The drivers are indeed backwards compatible with the newer firmware.

[RBIngraham]

Just out of curiousity, have you tried to narrow it down a bit? I would start with just a single ADA unit on a single ADAT port. See if that works at all. Make sure all the ADAT optical cables work. Try each ADA unit seperate. It could just be one bad thing in the system that is causing the issues.

[stoven]

The others posts have given you good advice on what the sync settings should be both on the ADA8000 and the RME card.

+1 on the RAYDat cards. I have a system running two of them with M-Audio ProFire 2496 converters used in standalone mode. No issues at all.

I replaced my 9652 years ago with a Raydat and have never looked back. The Raydat is quite a bit more expensive, and it uses Pci express. But i love it.

The different sync method is a way of helping determine if the problem your having is caused by the card. If your preamp syncs this way, then you could still have a driver issue, or it could be the card.

[tim]

Maybe it's better to do a trace down of the steps I took to narrow down the card also the reason why I think it's faulty.

Before I even started to put everything in the rack I've started with installing and securing the card into the 19" rack computercase I've bought

Installed a fresh XP professional 32Bit edition and installed the latest drivers from RME that I had downloaded from their site. The previous owner told me he had flashed the card a month before so I went to the site of RME and flashed it again since there had been a new ROM release.

Funny thing is when I installed it at first it worked, the ADA sychronized and I had in and outputs working so I was thrilled to explore the possibillities of the system.

I've then started constructing the 19" shockmount flightcase, I'll have some pictures ready next time I post in a seperate thread. So I installed all the ADA's 1unit apart from eachother as I heard they tend to get pretty hot (power supply issues ? ) I cranked up the system and everything seemed to have loaded everything. Loaded the preset I had made in SAC before,it complained it wasn't able to find a soundcard.

Indeed, there was no more soundcard in my device manager in windows. So I took out the computer and reseated (with my wristband connected to an earthpoint incase you wonder) the card. Still no luck.

Then I went on the website of RME and found it could be corrosion on the pins of the PCI card. I took a pencil eraser as they said and cleaned the contacts. As a second messure I cleaned the PCI slot with a very fine special tissue/cloth we use at work for cleaning relay contacts.

Reseated/secured the card and windows found the card, fired up SAC and only to find there was no audio going in or audio going out of 1 ADA unit.
To be on the safe side I tried all three units. So I tested all three ADA units on a seperate MOTU 848MK2 I had laying around, they were ok.

That is when I started doubting my configuration and so read the RME manual wich is to say at the least very confusing.
I had a friend of mine bring his arch linux recording computer to test the card because I know these RME HDSP9652 work out of the box with ALSA in linux (I'm a linux kid )

I figured out the card only synced in 32Khz and 64khz on his computer.
Looking at the mixer of RME (standard in ALSA) I had signal on different channels with only 1 mic attached to an ADA unit. Then I installed my card again in my computer with the latest drivers of RME. Having the same exact result as on the linux computer with older drivers. This comfiremd there is no problem with the drivers. Just in case someone wonders I've tried also three different types of optic cablels all with the same result.

So I am pretty sure I've done everything I could to narrow down the problem.
Unless there is someone to tell me otherwise. Thank you all allready for the responses so for. Please do forgive me any spelling or grammar mistakes, I'm not an native english speaker/writer.


Kind Regards
Tim

[AntonZ]

The RME cards are very well made, they rarely break. I'd do a little more troubleshooting if I were you. Good thing to connect just one ADA8000 and work from there.

There is a four-position switch on the back of an ADA8000. What position have you set it to on your ADA's?

What do the sync lights on the ADA front panel say?

Can you post a screenshot of your RME settings display?

[soundchicken]

..complained it wasn't able to find a soundcard.

Indeed, there was no more soundcard in my device manager in windows. So I took out the computer and reseated (with my wristband connected to an earthpoint incase you wonder) the card. Still no luck. ....

I had this same issue with a MOTU 324. It turns out that there was about 1/16 of an inch extra where the card screws down on the top of the slot in the case. If I didn't screw in the card it worked fine. My final assumption was that in screwing it down (and moving the system around) I had cracked some traces or solder points on the MB. I replaced the MB and put some spacers in and have been good ever since.

[Donnie Frank]

Not sure how advanced a computer user you are, but step one would be to check the Windows Device Manager to make sure the Operating System is seeing the card. Step 2 would be to make sure the HDSP software is installed. I'm not at my house now, so I can't do screen captures. The easiest way to get to the Device Manager:

Right click "My Computer" -> Left click "Manage" -> Left click "Device Manager"

Look for the HDSP card in the right column. Be sure there is no exclamation point next to device. If there is, there is either a problem with the driver or the hardware itself. More-than-likely the former....

I hope this helps.

[tim]

Anton, 44KhZ en 48Khz both lights are on as they are master, when I hook the units up on the HDSP with the correct settings (adat slave) the locked light goes on as it should be, but the HDSP does not give me a lock.

Like I've said in my previous post, I've hooked all three (separately off course) on a MOTU 828mk2 all are working fine.

Lets just leave it as it is, it is broken i know now for sure since i've tried it in a 3rd PC with the exact same result. I'm done with it and my Raydat pcie is on order. It's once again a lesson learned that buying this stuff on Craigslist (or a European variant) is generally a bad idea.

[PhaseShifter]

Anton, 44KhZ en 48Khz both lights are on as they are master, when I hook the units up on the HDSP with the correct settings (adat slave) the locked light goes on as it should be, but the HDSP does not give me a lock.

Like I've said in my previous post, I've hooked all three (separately off course) on a MOTU 828mk2 all are working fine.

Lets just leave it as it is, it is broken i know now for sure since i've tried it in a 3rd PC with the exact same result. I'm done with it and my Raydat pcie is on order. It's once again a lesson learned that buying this stuff on Craigslist (or a European variant) is generally a bad idea.

The folks over on the RME forum are quite helpful and might be able to get the unit repaired for a minimal fee. You could then sell it afterwards and maybe recoup some of your money.