Firewire connection damage

[Gareth Magennis]

Hi,

I have a MOTU firewire audio interface the the owner says he plugged the
firewire cable into the wrong way round. It now does not communicate with
the computer.

Is it possible/likely to damage the interface circuitry this way?



Cheers


Gareth.

[Don Pearce]

Gareth Magennis wrote:
> Hi,
>
> I have a MOTU firewire audio interface the the owner says he plugged the
> firewire cable into the wrong way round. It now does not communicate with
> the computer.
>
> Is it possible/likely to damage the interface circuitry this way?
>
>
>
> Cheers
>
>
> Gareth.
>
>

You could certainly do mechanical damage, but you would have to push
hard. Firewire doesn't otherwise let you plug things in the wrong way round.

d

[Gareth Magennis]

"Don Pearce" > wrote in message
...
> Gareth Magennis wrote:
>> Hi,
>>
>> I have a MOTU firewire audio interface the the owner says he plugged the
>> firewire cable into the wrong way round. It now does not communicate
>> with the computer.
>>
>> Is it possible/likely to damage the interface circuitry this way?
>>
>>
>>
>> Cheers
>>
>>
>> Gareth.
>
> You could certainly do mechanical damage, but you would have to push hard.
> Firewire doesn't otherwise let you plug things in the wrong way round.
>
> d


I think this guy is a drummer ;) He seems to think that even though he
didn't think he would be able to, he did actually get it in the wrong way
round. I was wondering if the design included protection from this kind of
event or whether it does permanent damage.

Looking at the connections
http://www.storageweb.co.uk/hdd/installguide/Firewire%20Connector%20Pinout.htmswapping it around puts 30 volts on TPA. Just wondering if the interfacechip has onboard protection against this.Looking at the PCB, the firewire connectors go straight to the chip pins.Gareth.

[Gareth Magennis]

Sorry, bad link:

http://www.storageweb.co.uk/hdd/installguide/Firewire%20Connector%20Pinout.htm

[Don Pearce]

Gareth Magennis wrote:
> "Don Pearce" > wrote in message
> ...
>> Gareth Magennis wrote:
>>> Hi,
>>>
>>> I have a MOTU firewire audio interface the the owner says he plugged the
>>> firewire cable into the wrong way round. It now does not communicate
>>> with the computer.
>>>
>>> Is it possible/likely to damage the interface circuitry this way?
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> Cheers
>>>
>>>
>>> Gareth.
>> You could certainly do mechanical damage, but you would have to push hard.
>> Firewire doesn't otherwise let you plug things in the wrong way round.
>>
>> d
>
>
> I think this guy is a drummer ;) He seems to think that even though he
> didn't think he would be able to, he did actually get it in the wrong way
> round. I was wondering if the design included protection from this kind of
> event or whether it does permanent damage.
>
> Looking at the connections
> http://www.storageweb.co.uk/hdd/installguide/Firewire%20Connector%20Pinout.htmswapping it around puts 30 volts on TPA. Just wondering if the interfacechip has onboard protection against this.Looking at the PCB, the firewire connectors go straight to the chip pins.Gareth.
>

Ok, if you manage to get it in backwards, you put power voltage straight
on an input/output (TPA - transmit strobe, receive data), so I'm going
to say yes, damage is likely.

d

[Don Pearce]

Gareth Magennis wrote:
> Sorry, bad link:
>
> http://www.storageweb.co.uk/hdd/installguide/Firewire%20Connector%20Pinout.htm
>
>
>
>

Don't worry - I saw the extra.

d

[Richard Crowley]

"Gareth Magennis" wrote in...
> I have a MOTU firewire audio interface the the owner says he plugged the
> firewire cable into the wrong way round. It now does not communicate with
> the computer.
>
> Is it possible/likely to damage the interface circuitry this way?

The larger 6-pin connector is unlikely to suffer from this problem.
However, the tiny 4-pin connector has been known in video
circles to be inserted upside-down by many users.

That almost certainly results in catastrophic damage to the Firewire
port, likely on both ends. Its easy enough to put a new Firewire
card in a desktop computer, but there are lots of people out there
using camcorders with dead Firewire ports. :-(

[gareth magennis]

"Don Pearce" > wrote in message
...
> Gareth Magennis wrote:
>> Sorry, bad link:
>>
>> http://www.storageweb.co.uk/hdd/installguide/Firewire%20Connector%20Pinout.htm
>>
>>
>>
>>
>
> Don't worry - I saw the extra.
>
>



Something very strange happened to that mangled post - something ate most of
my spaces! Never seen that before, most odd.



Gareth.

[Edmund[_2_]]

On Mon, 22 Sep 2008 16:56:28 +0100, Gareth Magennis wrote:

> Hi,
>
> I have a MOTU firewire audio interface the the owner says he plugged the
> firewire cable into the wrong way round. It now does not communicate
> with the computer.
>
> Is it possible/likely to damage the interface circuitry this way?

The firewire chip from Sony is designed to burn at the slightest
thing that can go wrong, varying from wearing nylon clothes or
disconnecting the firewire connection.
This is happening all the time with the sony camcorders.
Many other camcorders are protected and last forever just like the
$ 10.00 firewire prints for computers.

The bad news is that sony makes this chip for other companies too.
( some Canon camcorders have the same chip and the same problem )


>
>
>
> Cheers
>
>
> Gareth.

Edmund

[Gareth Magennis]

"Edmund" > wrote in message
...
> On Mon, 22 Sep 2008 16:56:28 +0100, Gareth Magennis wrote:
>
>> Hi,
>>
>> I have a MOTU firewire audio interface the the owner says he plugged the
>> firewire cable into the wrong way round. It now does not communicate
>> with the computer.
>>
>> Is it possible/likely to damage the interface circuitry this way?
>
> The firewire chip from Sony is designed to burn at the slightest
> thing that can go wrong, varying from wearing nylon clothes or
> disconnecting the firewire connection.
> This is happening all the time with the sony camcorders.
> Many other camcorders are protected and last forever just like the
> $ 10.00 firewire prints for computers.
>
> The bad news is that sony makes this chip for other companies too.
> ( some Canon camcorders have the same chip and the same problem )
>
>
>>
>>
>>
>> Cheers
>>
>>
>> Gareth.
>
> Edmund
>


Thanks. MOTU use this chip
http://www.datasheetcatalog.com/datasheets_pdf/T/S/B/4/TSB41AB2.shtml

Texas Instruments TSB41AB2.



Gareth.

[Gareth Magennis]

"Soundhaspriority" > wrote in message
...
>
> "Gareth Magennis" > wrote in message
> ...
>> Hi,
>>
>> I have a MOTU firewire audio interface the the owner says he plugged the
>> firewire cable into the wrong way round. It now does not communicate
>> with the computer.
>>
>> Is it possible/likely to damage the interface circuitry this way?
>>
>>
>>
>> Cheers
>>
>>
>> Gareth.
> Yes. Even if it doesn't seat, it's fairly common to get some intermittent
> contact of the power bus with signal, and this blows out the PHY chip.
>
> Send it to MOTU.
>
> Bob Morein
> (310) 237-6511
>


Thanks to all.

Have changed the Interface IC now and everything is working again. Quite a
tricky 64 pin flatpack surface mount jobby. Not for the feint hearted.

Sheesh, I need a cup of tea now.




Gareth.

[zinalias]

"Soundhaspriority" > wrote in message
...
>
> "Gareth Magennis" > wrote in message
> ...
>> Hi,
>>
>> I have a MOTU firewire audio interface the the owner says he plugged the
>> firewire cable into the wrong way round. It now does not communicate
>> with the computer.
>>
>> Is it possible/likely to damage the interface circuitry this way?
>>
>>
>>
>> Cheers
>>
>>
>> Gareth.
> Yes. Even if it doesn't seat, it's fairly common to get some intermittent
> contact of the power bus with signal, and this blows out the PHY chip.
>
> Send it to MOTU.
>
> Bob Morein
> (310) 237-6511
>


Thanks to all.

Have changed the Interface IC now and everything is working again. Quite a
tricky 64 pin flatpack surface mount jobby. Not for the feint hearted.

Sheesh, I need a cup of tea now.




Gareth.

Hi, im new here, im happy to find this post since is an interesting one to me cause i have a MOTU 828mkii interface with the same problem, dead firewire connection, so i wonder if you (Gareth) could tell me where did you find the firewire replacement and if you change it your self or send it to someone else.

Since im in Mexico its kind of expensive for me to repair it directly with MOTU cause i need to send it to the local dealer (wich is in the capital) and then they send it to USA and back the same way, and it ends up costing me almost $300 dls. so i'll appreciate if you can help me with this one.

For those wondering how could you connect the firewire cable upsidedown, i know its almost impossible but the input of the computer was a little weird, its not the most common one that are from the surface to the inside of the unit, this was a little prominent to the outside with a couple of metal sheets that embrace the firewire cable, and this are the ones that failed apart and let the cable in backwards.

A Hundred anticipaded Thanks to every one, and have a good time