[spampup]

Hi, All,

I have Dell Inspiron 5150 laptop, 3.06GHz HT, 1.25GB RAM, 40GBHD,
running Windows XP.
The laptop is 4 years old, and I have, of course, updated to Win XP
SP2 ages ago. All is working perfectly.

I have a rear panel 4-pin Firewire 400 1394 port that I have never
used.


I am setting up to do some music recording, and I have decided to
purchase a Firewire-based audio recording interface, probably a
Focusrite Saffire or a Presonus Firebox.

[Harry Lavo]

"spampup" wrote in message
oups.com...
Hi, All,

I have Dell Inspiron 5150 laptop, 3.06GHz HT, 1.25GB RAM, 40GBHD,
running Windows XP.
The laptop is 4 years old, and I have, of course, updated to Win XP
SP2 ages ago. All is working perfectly.

I have a rear panel 4-pin Firewire 400 1394 port that I have never
used.


I am setting up to do some music recording, and I have decided to
purchase a Firewire-based audio recording interface, probably a
Focusrite Saffire or a Presonus Firebox.
.
In doing my online research on the various available devices, I came
across references on several of the manufacturers' support sites to
problems some folks have had with poor performance of Firewire devices
after updating their systems to Win XP SP2.

Apparently one of the effects of the SP2 update was to reset the 1394
Firewire speed from the SP1 default of S400 down to a new default
speed of S100, causing glitches and dropouts with some connected audio
and video devices.


The first reference to this problem that I found is he

http://www.focusrite.com/answerbase/article.php?id=235

There is more info here- see third post by "Fulcra":

http://acapella.harmony-central.com/...&page=3&pp=100



There are two "fixes" or patches for the Firewire problem available
from Microsoft.

KB885222 is he

http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=885222

and KB904412 is he

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/904412



Anyway, I can't find any information to help ME decide if I need to
install either or both of the patches.

The info I've found is contradictory... I don't know if I only need to
worry if using Firewire 800 devices (800 isn't supported on my system
anyway), or if I should install the patches "just in case".


I can find no information about either of the two Microsoft fixes on
the Dell Support Forums. (Although there are references there to
problems some folks have had with Firewire and XP SP2, there have been
no specific fixes offered.)

Also, It seems possible that this problem might be moot... I've
installed tons of "Microsoft Updates" over the past few years, and one
of those updates might have already corrected the problem. (How would
you know?)

So...


I need to know if it would be advisable for me to install either or
both of the patches before I attempt to install a Firewire interface!

Thanks in advance for any advice or information!

Ken, notice the dates on the updates...they are way back in 2004 and 2005.
If you've done *any* cumulative upadate since mid-2005 you've already
installed the patches.

BTW, I use a Presonus Firebox and have been able to get it to work okay.
Had glitches at first, but did most of the fixes described in a white paper
issued by Swee****er, and found that setting background operations to take
priority made the final fix. No problems since.

[Laurence Payne]

On Tue, 13 Mar 2007 14:03:34 -0400, "Harry Lavo"
wrote:


BTW, I use a Presonus Firebox and have been able to get it to work okay.
Had glitches at first, but did most of the fixes described in a white paper
issued by Swee****er, and found that setting background operations to take
priority made the final fix. No problems since.

That setting is standard advice for ANY audio recording system.

[Harry Lavo]

"Laurence Payne" lpayne1NOSPAM@dslDOTpipexDOTcom wrote in message
...
On Tue, 13 Mar 2007 14:03:34 -0400, "Harry Lavo"
wrote:


BTW, I use a Presonus Firebox and have been able to get it to work okay.
Had glitches at first, but did most of the fixes described in a white
paper
issued by Swee****er, and found that setting background operations to take
priority made the final fix. No problems since.

That setting is standard advice for ANY audio recording system.

May be, but I don't think it is XP's default setting, at least not on the XP
Pro that was installed on mine.

[Romeo Rondeau]

Harry Lavo wrote:
"Laurence Payne" lpayne1NOSPAM@dslDOTpipexDOTcom wrote in message
...
On Tue, 13 Mar 2007 14:03:34 -0400, "Harry Lavo"
wrote:

BTW, I use a Presonus Firebox and have been able to get it to work okay.
Had glitches at first, but did most of the fixes described in a white
paper
issued by Swee****er, and found that setting background operations to take
priority made the final fix. No problems since.
That setting is standard advice for ANY audio recording system.

May be, but I don't think it is XP's default setting, at least not on the XP
Pro that was installed on mine.

Of course it's not! Audio workstations need some pretty specific tweaks,
this being one of them.

[Laurence Payne]

On Tue, 13 Mar 2007 14:19:55 -0400, "Harry Lavo"
wrote:

That setting is standard advice for ANY audio recording system.

May be, but I don't think it is XP's default setting, at least not on the XP
Pro that was installed on mine.

No, it isn't the default setting. But it's one of the few tweaks for
a DAW that really make a difference.