d24 card + 888/24 -- setup PROBLEMS

Hey forumites, I have a friend who just purchased a Mix+ system off eBay with a d24 card and mix farm and he can't get it working. He's using Mac OS 9.2.2 on a Dual 1.25 Ghz Processor G4 (mirror door) and he's got 512 MB of RAM. Hard Drive space isn't an issue, he's got an 80 GB Audio Drive and the only PCI cards in his computer are the d24 and mix farm cards. He always gets an error "Unable to create a DAE Deck" when trying to launch pro tools...anyone using this setup having similar problems? Anyone have any suggestions?? ~John

some d24 cards need a rev G upgrade from digidesign...BUT some mirror door macs will not work with d24 cards and 001 cards(even after upgrade)they lock up on startup..the G4 motherboard may need replacing through Apple.there is some info regarding this at the Compatibility page under Support link..

Hello, If the system boots then it is most likely not the mirror door G4 problem. First check the d24 card: -d24 cards that are Rev G (or earlier) will either not be recognized or not function properly (-9162, -6004 errors) when installed in a Power Macintosh G4. Rev G1 adds compatibility with G4 computers. You can verify the revision of your card by locating the letter printed in the lowest oval (there are 3 of them) to the left of the TDM receptacle. If the card needs to be updated have them contact tech support at 650-731-6100 to setup an RA to update the card. Also, in a d24 system with Mix cards the Mix Farm cards should come before the d24 card. The card order should be: Mix Farm - First interface goes on the first Mix card Mix Farm d24 Make sure all cards are connected via a TDM ribbon cable. I hope this helps. Mike

Well.......my question wasn't as silly as I thought......how 'bout that?...... A d24 card MUST have a farm card (mix or vintage) attached with the TDM ribbon cable to work AT ALL. It will not work without them. Period. You're going to have to get a tdm ribbon from somewhere. Don't know if Digi still has any to sell or not. You might check the You must not have gotten an instruction manual either (Sorry...couldn't help it. Don't worry; we all were new at this once also.) anthony

The other thing is you mentioned it is revision D. You must have revision G or later to work

i have a similar setup, here's what i suggest you do to get it running: 1. make sure the serial Rev version is compatible with your mac (compatability pages: if not, then contact digidesign for an upgrade of the farm so that it is compatible.) 2. make sure you have the slot order correct: [remove the pci video card and install them as follows:] slot one: mix farm slot two: d24 card slot three: any old style dsp farms/sample cell cards/ scsi card (if using one) slot four: video card [if you have doubts about the slot order, open digi test and select your system, and cpu and a handy graphic will show up setting you straight.] 3. make sure the tdm ribbon cable is connected to the mix farm, the d24 card and any other dsp farms. [if you don't have a ribbon cable, ask the person you bought it from to please send it to you, or check the digi store. if all else fails, call digidesign and buy one.] 4. open apple system profiler look at the hardware do they show up? do your scsi drives show up? 5. Run digi test everything pass? 6. Connect your 888 interface to the mix farm, not the d24 card. 7. restart [i suggest shut down, count to 10 and then start up] 8. open protools you should be good to go. if not, then you want to orchestrate an RA for your mac through digidesign tech support, and return your mac for a new mother board, and power supply. ouch! dss

Thank you all very much for your quick responses...I'm with my friend right now, we've been troubleshooting this for three hours more today, and still no results. Lately, after re-installing the OS and installing the d24 card, the system hangs at the extension with a book and eigth note on it (i'm not sure which one that is, but that's the icon)...after removing the d24 card, the system boots as expected. The card appears to be revision D. I'm not sure if this makes a difference, but the ribbon cable did NOT come with this system, and we've been trying to get the system to function with just the d24 and the 888/24. Does not having the mix farm card installed with the d24 make a difference? Could this be what's causing the problems? I'm also going to tell my friend to join the DUC, it's definitely very helpful. ~John

yes mix card in slot 1 and d24 card in slot 2 with TDM ribbon...however if you want to test the d24 card on its own via Cubase ASIO or Logic Direct i\o yes the d24 card will work on its own with this setup(without farm) in slot 2...it freezes every time if its in slot 1 even with the rev G upgrade...just tried it on my mirror door dual 1 Ghz...slot 2 works fine d24 and 888 only...slot 1 freeze..