No Firewire on P5GDC-V

[Patrick Keenan]

Hello All,
Have just built a machine around a P5GDC-V board. Installed XP Pro.
Everything works, except..

The onboard firewire ports (TI chipset) are detected and drivers are
installed. Windows says they're working. However, neither of the two
firewire devices I have are detected when plugged in.

These devices are a hard disk in an external box and an M-Audio Firewire
410. They worked properly when attached to another machine a few minites
before, with the same cables.

For test (and to actually commit work) I installed another Firewire PCI card
(VIA chipset). With this card.. everything works. Shut down and move
stuff back to the TI connectors - nothing. Back to the Via card - it works.

Any ideas why this would be? Is there a way to get the onboard Firewire
ports to actually work?

thanks.
Patrick Keenan

 

[Paul]

Hello All,
Have just built a machine around a P5GDC-V board. Installed XP Pro.
Everything works, except..

The onboard firewire ports (TI chipset) are detected and drivers are
installed. Windows says they're working. However, neither of the two
firewire devices I have are detected when plugged in.

These devices are a hard disk in an external box and an M-Audio Firewire
410. They worked properly when attached to another machine a few minites
before, with the same cables.

For test (and to actually commit work) I installed another Firewire PCI card
(VIA chipset). With this card.. everything works. Shut down and move
stuff back to the TI connectors - nothing. Back to the Via card - it works.

Any ideas why this would be? Is there a way to get the onboard Firewire
ports to actually work?

thanks.
Patrick Keenan

Nothing really promising comes to mind:

1) Device could really be dead. Now, since the chip is detected,
that means it has not been disabled. The PHY pins on the chip could
be dead I suppose. I don't know of a really good way to test for
that.

2) When you upgrade the BIOS, it sometimes helps to clear the CMOS,
or try "Load Setup Defaults" or the like in the BIOS. You should
unplug the computer before using the CLRTC or equiv jumper.
Check the system clock, and make sure it gets reset to 1980 or
whatever the beginning of the epoch is. If the system refuses to
clear CMOS for you, you may need to pull the CMOS battery for at
least 10 minutes, after you've unplugged the computer.

This doesn't seem likely to be your problem, as it sounds like
you've already had a look in Device Manager.

3) Have a look in Device Manager. Are there any Power Management
options for the Firewire chip ? The datasheet for the TI Firewire
chip, says it has power saving options, but the chip should wake
up when a Firewire device is plugged in.

4) There is an option called "1394 Networking". Sometimes people
have trouble getting a LAN card to work, because of that option.
I don't think the "vice-versa" case applies though, so that should
have nothing to do with it.

5) I presume at least one of your Firewire test devices is
"self powered" instead of "bus powered". It could be that +12V
is not available on the Asus connector for some reason. That would
prevent a bus powered device from responding. A self powered device,
with its own power brick, should work.

PHY interfaces do get blown out. Sometimes people connect a DV
camera for the first time, and kaboom, no more Firewire port.

You may have to return the board to your retailer, if the retailers
return policy allows it. Otherwise a warranty claim and RMA to
Asus might be needed.

Paul

 

[Rob Hemmings]

Hello All,
Have just built a machine around a P5GDC-V board. Installed XP Pro.
Everything works, except..

The onboard firewire ports (TI chipset) are detected and drivers are
installed. Windows says they're working. However, neither of the two
firewire devices I have are detected when plugged in.

These devices are a hard disk in an external box and an M-Audio Firewire
410. They worked properly when attached to another machine a few minites
before, with the same cables.

For test (and to actually commit work) I installed another Firewire PCI card
(VIA chipset). With this card.. everything works. Shut down and move
stuff back to the TI connectors - nothing. Back to the Via card - it works.

Any ideas why this would be? Is there a way to get the onboard Firewire
ports to actually work?

I've heard that removing the TI drivers and installing MS ones
can fix this. Unfortunately I've also heard the opposite. Have
a look at this which attempts to provide a list of possible fixes:
http://www.ramelectronics.net/html/ieee-1394_support.html
HTH

 

[stevem]

I've heard that removing the TI drivers and installing MS ones
can fix this. Unfortunately I've also heard the opposite. Have
a look at this which attempts to provide a list of possible fixes:
http://www.ramelectronics.net/html/ieee-1394_support.html
HTH

Rob,
I have a P5AD2E-Premium, and the manual specifically states that the TI
(Unibrain) drivers are IEEE1394b, and that they do NOT support DV Camcorders
(which are, apparently, 1394a). Although it states that the 1394b drivers
support most a/b consumer electronic devices other than DV camcorders, it
may well be that Patrick's devices won't work with 1394b. The manual states
that for camcorders, you should revert to the Microsoft drivers, so you may
well be right in suggesting this to Patrick. No wonder there's so much
confusion over Firewire!
Regards,
Steve.

 

[Patrick Keenan]

Rob,
I have a P5AD2E-Premium, and the manual specifically states that the TI
(Unibrain) drivers are IEEE1394b, and that they do NOT support DV Camcorders
(which are, apparently, 1394a). Although it states that the 1394b drivers
support most a/b consumer electronic devices other than DV camcorders, it
may well be that Patrick's devices won't work with 1394b. The manual states
that for camcorders, you should revert to the Microsoft drivers, so you may
well be right in suggesting this to Patrick. No wonder there's so much
confusion over Firewire!
Regards,
Steve.

Thanks. the P5GDC-V manual calls the ports 1394a, and I'm using the stock
MS drivers that work for the Via-chipset card. The board provides 2 6-pin
ports.

One of the two FW devices I have is a FW/USB hard disk case (with drive) and
it has its own power supply. it's detected on the VIA card, but the TI
ports just ignore everything.

I'll look for other drivers and see if that helps. I"m hoping I don't have
to return the board.

Thanks again,
Patrick Keenan

 

[Bubbamike_01]

Rob,
I have a P5AD2E-Premium, and the manual specifically states that the TI
(Unibrain) drivers are IEEE1394b, and that they do NOT support DV Camcorders
(which are, apparently, 1394a). Although it states that the 1394b drivers
support most a/b consumer electronic devices other than DV camcorders, it
may well be that Patrick's devices won't work with 1394b. The manual states
that for camcorders, you should revert to the Microsoft drivers, so you may
well be right in suggesting this to Patrick. No wonder there's so much
confusion over Firewire!

If you are using WinXP sp2 you should install this update:
<http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;885222> and
follow the instructions on the page.

Bubba

 

[Patrick Keenan]

Nothing really promising comes to mind:

1) Device could really be dead. Now, since the chip is detected,
that means it has not been disabled. The PHY pins on the chip could
be dead I suppose. I don't know of a really good way to test for
that.

2) When you upgrade the BIOS, it sometimes helps to clear the CMOS,
or try "Load Setup Defaults" or the like in the BIOS. You should
unplug the computer before using the CLRTC or equiv jumper.
Check the system clock, and make sure it gets reset to 1980 or
whatever the beginning of the epoch is. If the system refuses to
clear CMOS for you, you may need to pull the CMOS battery for at
least 10 minutes, after you've unplugged the computer.

This doesn't seem likely to be your problem, as it sounds like
you've already had a look in Device Manager.

3) Have a look in Device Manager. Are there any Power Management
options for the Firewire chip ? The datasheet for the TI Firewire
chip, says it has power saving options, but the chip should wake
up when a Firewire device is plugged in.

4) There is an option called "1394 Networking". Sometimes people
have trouble getting a LAN card to work, because of that option.
I don't think the "vice-versa" case applies though, so that should
have nothing to do with it.

5) I presume at least one of your Firewire test devices is
"self powered" instead of "bus powered". It could be that +12V
is not available on the Asus connector for some reason. That would
prevent a bus powered device from responding. A self powered device,
with its own power brick, should work.

PHY interfaces do get blown out. Sometimes people connect a DV
camera for the first time, and kaboom, no more Firewire port.

You may have to return the board to your retailer, if the retailers
return policy allows it. Otherwise a warranty claim and RMA to
Asus might be needed.

Paul

In the end, I phoned the retailer, explained the situation, and they told me
to bring the board by and exchange it. I did so this morning; plugged it
in; everything works properly now.

-pk