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Using the Legacy FireWire Driver in Windows 7

Using Microsoft's legacy FireWire driver in Windows 7 may solve some audio interface problems.

Using the Legacy FireWire Driver in Windows 7

Due to a problem with the default FireWire (IEEE 1394) driver in Windows 7, MOTU FireWire audio interfaces may exhibit symptoms such as audio artifacts or dropouts during audio playback or recording or while an audio client program uses the driver program. This issue has been reported to Microsoft, and a change to the MOTU FireWire audio driver that will avoid the problem is planned if a patch from Microsoft is not available when the next MOTU driver update is released.

At this time, it is possible to work around the problem by configuring Windows to use an older version of the FireWire controller driver:

  1. Disconnect the MOTU FireWire audio interface from the computer or turn it off.
  2. Turn on the computer, start Windows 7, and log in to your Windows user account.
  3. Open the Device Manager program:
    • Open the Control Panel.
    • Choose System and Security.
    • Choose System.
    • Choose Device Manager from the list of items on the left side of the window.
  4. Expand the IEEE 1394 Bus host controllers section.
  5. Double-click the FireWire controller device to which your audio interface is connected. This will open the Properties dialog.
  6. Choose the Driver tab, and click the Update Driver button to open the Update Driver Software dialog.
  7. Choose Browse my computer for driver software. Then choose Let me pick from a list of device drivers on my computer. Select the Show compatible hardware option.
  8. In the list of Models, choose 1394 OHCI Compliant Host Controller (Legacy), and then click Next.
  9. After the driver software has been updated successfully, click Close to close the dialog.
  10. Reconnect the MOTU FireWire audio interface to the computer or turn it on.