Dropouts using Firewire Sound

Did you ever figure this out?  I have a 9200, Edirol FA101, and whenever I plug the device into the firewire, the "system" process jumps to about 20% (2.0ghz) every 5 seconds.  Needless to say, audio is crackled with dropouts.

I have the FA101 working perfectly on my desktop, so I know it is possible.

Thanks.

Hi Illwafer - I noticed that problem too - wasn't sure if it was related to the 1450 card or not. I was able to improve that 5 second interruption by increasing the buffer settings for the Edirol (located in Control Panel). Make sure they aren't set to minimum. (I have mine one step up from minimum).

If that doesn't make a difference, try disabling your wireless card (right click on My Network Places, click on Properties, right click on Local Area Connection and select Disable).

Then try the FA 101 and see how it sounds.

I just fixed it today. I bought an Intel 2915 abg wireless card and installed it.

Finally! My FA 101 works without interruption while the wireless card is enabled. Seems like the problem was with the Dell 1450 wireless card.

Thanks for replying, PrincipalJ.  I will try your ideas later today.

I contacted Edirol this morning and here's what they said:

Unfortunately, Windows does not allow any manual changes to IRQ's any more. You should try this: remove the PCMCIA Firewire card and its drivers. Reboot. Re-install the card with its drivers again. See if Windows has decided to assign it a unique IRQ. If not, borrow someone's PCMCIA card - a network card, wireless card, whatever - then remove your Firewire card drivers and install the new device. Leave the new device's drivers installed, but plug in your Firewire card and install its drivers. Check the IRQ number. Windows should now have been forced to pick a unique IRQ.

I can't be sure this will work, of course. If you cannot get a unique IRQ for your Firewire, you may have to contact Dell and inquire about factory changes to device IRQ's.

Best Regards,
Edirol Corporation

Yeah, I talked to them too and got the same response. Notebooks do not have options to allow interrupts to be assigned to different pieces of hardware. There may only be 1 or 2 PCI slots available on the motherboard and the operating system has to allow sharing to occur.

That's why it's useful to disable all of the items not being used so the computer doesn't have to share the interrupt resources. It's the only option you have available on the laptop.

However, I found that's not the problem anyway. I was able to install the software and run the Edirol on another brand of laptop without trouble. And after trying everything else (reloading the operating system, stripping all the unnecessary programs out and running just the sound software) it didn't make any difference until I swapped out the Dell wireless card and put in the Intel wireless card.

It's working fine now, even with the wireless card enabled. The way it should be,...

No luck.  I messed around more with the buffer settings, and I was able to eliminate the spikes I think...

But the crackle is still there.  The Edirol fix didn't work, as everything is on IRQ11.  I disabled everything except the video card (on IRQ11), and I still had the crackle. 

Even if I'm not in an audio app, I can hear the soundcard popping, and then I see the Digital Sync led light up as if the card is reconnecting or something.

I'll mess with it for a few more days, and if I can't get it...I'll have to send my sweet Inspiron back.

Well I fixed it in case anyone is interested.  Absolutely nothing worked, so I had to turn the laptop into a "Standard PC" instead of using ACPI.  Basically, I lose power saving features and suspend, but my firewire audio card works like a dream.

It was very easy to do as well....

If you are unable to resolve your IRQ conflict, you may need to assign IRQs manually. ACPI (Advanced Configuration and Power Interface) is an open industry specification developed by Hewlett-Packard, Intel, Microsoft, Phoenix, and Toshiba. ACPI establishes industry-standard interfaces for OS-directed configuration and power management on laptops, desktops, and servers. If your system is ACPI compliant, then ACPI will assign the IRQs. In order to manually assign IRQs, the Hardware Abstraction Layer (HAL) must be changed to Standard PC with APM support.

In Device Manager, expand "Computer" and right click the expanded entry. Select Update Driver, then choose "Install from a list or Specific Location (Advanced)", click Next. Select "Don't Search, I will choose the driver to install.", click Next. If Standard PC is shown in the list, choose it, otherwise untick Show compatible hardware, then select Standard PC from the list. Click Next.

Was the same issue with mine - I had to disable the 1450 wireless card in order for the firewire to work without interruption.

I could not find a setting that allowed the 1450 to be enabled and the firewire to work together. However, I replaced the 1450 with the Intel 2915 abg card. It works fine in my 9200. You might be able to find the 2915 wireless card on eBay (or from Dell) for less money than a PCMCIA card that does a/b/g. (Plus the added convenience of built-in wireless).

All the best!