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New MBP Won’t Find MOTU Ultralite
(Also posted on Apple message boards)
Greetings!
I have a new MBP, with an original Motu Ultralite. I loaded the latest MOTU drivers for OS 10.6. I can\’t get the MBP to see the device anywhere. I tried a reinstall, and still nothing. Never had a problem before on previous system…
I have the MOTU plugged into my external drive, and then into my Firewire 800 on the MBP. Others do it this way, with no problem, and power doesn\’t seem to be the issue. I also plugged the MOTU directly into the MBP, with no change. I have checked System Profiler, and Audi/MIDI setup. I\’ve tried everything I know how to do, to no avail…
Could it be the new drivers? I know the previous drivers for 10.3 worked fine. Do I need to uninstall the new drivers and reinstall the old drivers? Is there something I\”m missing? I\’ve been researching this for hours, with no fix…
Thanks in advance for any guidance…
Blessings,
17\” MacBook Pro Mac OS X (10.6.6) 2.2 GHz Intel Core i7/8 GB 1333 MHz DDR3
Craig Larson
August Heat Productions
Apple Valley, MN -
8 Replies
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Just an update…
I just turned on my computer and the MOTU suddenly mounted! While I don’t have any profound explanation, I discovered my hard drive has to be powered on, in order for the MBP to find the MOTU. If I turn off the hard drive, the MOTU doesn’t mount, but it will still power up. I had tried both the MOTU and hard drive in this same configuration earlier in the day, with no success…
While I wasn’t initially using power to the hard drive or the MOTU, (running both bus-powered) I tried plugging in the power to the MOTU and shutting off the hard drive to see what would happen. The MOTU wouldn’t mount.
It appears the hard drive needs to be on to pass along whatever signal mounts the MOTU. Yet, the MOTU powers up just fine without the hard drive being turned on. Seems to me it should mount if it powers up…
It would seem I only have a few options:
1. Leave the hard drive on when using the MOTU. (Not practical)
2. Purchase a firewire ExpressCard (which I believe requires its own power?)
3. Plug the MOTU into the MBP first, and daisy chain the hard drive to the second port in the MOTU. This would limit my FW 800 hard drive use to FW 400.Any thoughts or other workarounds?
Blessings,
Craig Larson
August Heat Productions
Apple Valley, MN -
If this is a brand new MacBook Pro, you could use the Thunderbolt port to connect one (or both) of the devices. Currently FireWire adapters are not available, but you could pick one up when they hit the stores and use the MOTU on your dedicated FireWire port, and your external drive on your Thunderbolt port (with the adapter).
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Sam:
Thanks for your feedback…
Yeah, I’m looking forward to the Thunderbolt drives, but I have a feeling they ain’t gonna’ be cheap! I guess I’ll wait and see how the pricing shakes out, size availability, etc…
In the meantime, I still have several firewire drives in my arsenal that I’m need to use, so I’ll need to figure out a short-term fix. I’m thinking the ExpressCard is going to be the option. I’ve rad some positives on the Siig models…
Have a great day!
Blessings,
Craig Larson
August Heat Productions
Apple Valley, MN -
You don’t have to buy new hard drives to use them with Thunderbolt. You can use your old FireWire and USB drives with it. You just need the new FireWire/Thunderbolt adapters that are coming out. They’ll likely be $25 to $30 or so.
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Sam:
Didn’t hear about the adapters…
Dumb Q, but will that make the drives run at the faster transfer speeds, or just allow you to use the port? Also, I would assume the adapters are going to need at least two connection points, given the external monitor needs…
Thanks again. You’ve been very helpful!…
Blessings,
Craig Larson
August Heat Productions
Apple Valley, MN -
Your old drives won’t operate at faster speeds. If you have a hard drive that’s highest speed connection is a FW800 port, the fastest it would operate on Thunderbolt won’t exceed 786.432 Mbit/s.
Thunderbolt doesn’t make old technology faster, it’s just compatible with it. The awesome thing is that a single Thunderbolt port could act as six FireWire ports.
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Sam:
I guess I can always dream!
Well, in essence I can get by doing what I’m doing until these adapters become available. Then I can just run the MOTU off the FW 800 direct, and use the TB port like you suggested.
Thanks for helping me work through this!
Blessings,
Craig Larson
August Heat Productions
Apple Valley, MN -
Hi Sam, you look like you know what you are talking about. I have the newMBP also and am experiencing dramas as my MBP does not see it. I have got the latest firmware update from MOTU – i have the MOTU ultralite 2 (not MK3) and still it does not t see it.
I have a 400 – 800 adaptor as the MOTU is 400 and it is connected to my 800 slot.
Have you or anybody else got any suggestions?
BTW, when I plu the MOTU in i can switch it on as it is powered by the connection . Speakers and everything else comes on but the Audio MOtu Sept up console doesn’t launch like it did last week onmy old G4 17″ powerbook.
THanks for any help, Ani
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