Hi all.

I received my mr816 yesterday but am about to tear my hair out in pure desperation,I just cant get it to work stable.

First things first,here is how I have set it up.

Mr816 firewire to pc
Xs8 firewire to mr816

I have the latest cubase5 running on vista32 and have only installed the Yamaha/Steinberg firewire driver NOT the mlan driver.
Have set up all the settings according to the Mr816 opperation manual.

What happens is this,when I connect a microphone(or any input source) to the mr816 going through cubase,the signal comes and goes like small dropouts,my first thought was that this was related to a bad mic cable so I replaced it with a new set of mic and cable,the same thing happen.
And worth mentioning is that this does not happen when I use the unit standalone,that is not connected to a pc.

And when I use the vst editor it is kind of like the pc lock up or freeze for a couple of seconds every minute or so.

I have been up almost all night now trying to get it right,I have reinstalled windows 2 times and messed around with settings but NO WAY am I going to get this to work,so I am hoping that you have a solution for me,if I dont get it right by tomorrow I am returning it.

All the best
Helge.

Helge,

Maybe I am wrong, but you cannot use the Steinberg extension driver ment for Cubase AI when you use more than one fire wire device. In this case: the XS8 and the MR816.

You need the new Yamaha Steinberg extension driver, available around March 3rd. I think.

I have to admit, I also am confused what you actually need for mLAN communication and the Steinberg integration for the new Cuabse 5 program.

Maybe Athan can give us some info about that.

Jan

Hi Jan.

Thanx for your reply.

If I am not wrong there was a tutorial by BadMister on how to interconnect the Mr816 and Motif XS so that they worked togheter almost as one unit,but I can not find it on this new motifator site,hope it will be uploaded soon.

But if you are right it might be worth the wait,as long as they work stable an well togheter,thats all I ask for.

Anybody with concrete info on this ?

Maby BadMister got a solution :-) ?

All the best
Helge

The following is only my recollection/understanding of the new setup.

The YSFW driver (This is a driver, not to be confused with the extensions - Jan) is a peer to peer driver not an mLan network driver. It will allow several devices (4?) to connect to your PC/Mac in a peer to peer fashion. In this way, each device is addressing the computer directly and is not part of a multi-device network. (as I understand it).

Therefore, perhaps you should connect each devices to thePC/Mac and not chain them? Being firewire, this may not matter but worth a try.

You should get the Extensions for Steinberg DAW 1.41 (this is not a driver Jan) and I believe the new VST editor will replace the need to get both Studio Manager and the XS Editor as we used to. You will also need the software specific t editing/controlling the MR816 (I have not seen this kit).

Also, you must ensure the XS’s firewire firmware is upgraded to 1.06. The upgrader is on the download site.

Please forgive me if I have missed something or got it wrongbut at least you have something to try! :))_

Regards,

B

I did for get something!

In the Utility on the XS make sure you choose FW and not mLAN as your method of communication.
This option only appears after upgrading the firmware to 1.06 - I recall.

B

hi and thanx boulez.

I have the latest firewire firmware 1,06 and updated xs os 1,12 and have played around with vst editor but to no use.

anything else i might hae missed ?

all the best
helge

boulez I am using the fw setting,but thank you for the tip:-)

Sorry - didn’t read your post fully.

Sounds like a software/driver issue. Have you tried using only the 816+PC or just the XS+PC?

B

You have the wrong driver installed.  Go to http://www.steinberg.net and download the MR Tools package.

Uninstall the current AI driver and install the MR Tools.  This newer driver allows you to connect the Motif XS Rack and the MR and also has lots of cool tools for editing the effects on the MR , etc. Also there are extensions in that package that help you with the setup.

Sorry for the confusion, but in this case ( MR and XS) you need the driver from the Steinberg site as it is a bit newer.

hi again :-)

it works fine when I use the xs alone,have not tried the mr by it self though.

Sorry if I was not clear on what drivers Im using,it is the tools for mr 1,2,0 package I have installed not the yamaha mlan drivers,but thanx for the info Yamaha_US.

Dont know if it is any help but I will try installing win xp now and see if that helps.

Any tips and feedback is whery much appreciated,thanx.

all the best
helge

Where is the tutorial from Bad Mister explaining the way these are supposed to be connected together? I’m getting my mlan card tomorrow and I’d like a refresher course :]
So let me get this right.. No AI driver if I have the MR 816CSX but just use the 1.2.0 MR tools drivers correct? The tutorial would be helpful.

Actually, a tutorial will assume you have the correct drivers and extensions - which is covered very completely in the instructions included with your hardware/download. The tutorials will list what items you should have - but the instructions, if followed carefully enough should get you to point where you are up and running. And when they are insufficient or unclear, we will try and fill in the gaps. (Particularly when an important item is missed)… But reading is going to fundamental in all of this.

We hope you spend the time before attempting to use the items, to read the documentation that comes with each piece. If you are using the Steinberg MR816-series unit and you are using a Motif XS and wish to use both - then you MUST use the new Yamaha Steinberg Firewire (YSFW) driver.

Additionally, you must have updated the mLAN16E2 (firewire firmware) in order to use this driver with your Motif XS or Motif Rack XS. There is a new parameter found on the following screen that must be set to use the YSFW driver
Press [UTILITY]
Press [F1] GENERAL
Press [SF4] AUTOLOAD
Set the IEEE1394 Driver = FW
Press [STORE] to update your Utility mode settings
Reboot the Motif XS.

In the Motif-Rack XS this is found
Press [UTILITY]
Select GENERAL
Page DOWN to page 2 of 5 (2/5)
Set IEEE1394 Driver = FW
Press [STORE] to update your Utiity mode settings
Reboot the Motif-Rack XS

The Steinberg units (MR816X/MR816CSX) cannot use the mLAN Driver and cannot use the peer-to-peer AI Driver. The new Yamaha Steinberg Firewire Driver is NEW. And is different as it is a multiple peer-to-peer Driver (...which is on the CD in the box with the unit - “TOOLS for MR").

This multiple peer-to-peer arrangement is much more musician friendly (as opposed to the recording engineer-friendly mLAN driver).

Sorry, but if this is all confusing, please don’t let it be. If you are going to use a computer, you must expect (and be prepared) to use the proper drivers. A driver, in layman’s terms, is extra instructions that turns your glorified calculator (my term for a computer) into a professional musical recording device. Trust me, when you take a computer out of the box, it is not really designed to do many of the things we ask it to do… music being one of them (oh, yes, it is designed to playback music)… but the software/driver/firmware etc., etc., you must use to get a computer to do professional recording is what you have to be prepared to deal with.

If you are not willing to deal with this, then, as we say, “step away from the computer”. The first line of defense for yourself, is to read the README files, and the INSTALLATION GUIDES, and the ONLINE MANUAL (usually found by clicking HELP within the program).

The documentation that comes with your units should be sufficient to get you up and running. The tutorials cannot do much but help you conceptually deal with finding your own work method based on proper setup.

And if you have a Motif-Rack XS, please, please, please post your questions in the Motif-Rack XS forum. I will not answer questions concerning setup and operation in the Motif XS forum if it concerns the Motif-Rack XS (simply for clarity’s sake). It is not fair to those who actually own the Motif XS. And it is not fair to those who own the Rack XS and would be looking for answers in that forum.

The setup is different. The Motif-Rack XS is not a Motif XS… it is a Rack XS. If it were the same it would have keys, RAM expansion and use the Motif XS VST Editor. It does not.

It will be very important to get the kind of support you deserve to include the products that you own, the version software you are using, and what you have installed thus far. Saying you have the “latest” while it maybe true does not help when you are the one attempting to do the support. The actual version number is very important… as drivers, versions, firmware do change.

It is also fine to complain. You are not alone, but try and place those in the appropriate forum in a separate post. For support to be efficient it helps to deal with the facts and not the emotions. Thanks.

thanx Bad_Mister for the in-depht explanation.

I have the motif xs8 so I hope Im in the right forum :-)

I have installed xp now and all seem to work fine so far,me happy man now:-)

is it a known fact (for some) that win xp is the better choice when it comes to daw use ?

all the best
helge

Thank Bad Mister.You always are there for us,much appreciated.Sorry I will post in the correct forums next time.

Im back and more confused and desperate than ever.
When I wrote I got it right with xp.....I was not to be so lucky it only “kind” of worked for a couple of hours.
The problem is as described in my first post but also in the vst editor,playing trough the Yamaha motif xs editor vst is imposible to get stable,continous dropouts.

I have tried 3 different mainboards 2 sets of ram 4 hdd`s it is the same problem on all setups.

This MUST ? be a driver problem since the unit seem to work not connected to a pc.

I would love to know what setup yamaha/steinberg used when they developed this driver,and if they have had it run stable for more then two minutes.

This is NOT my way of making music,wasting my time on drivers that no mather what I seem to do wont work.

I am really disapointed at the development of this unit,it is acting like a beta/pre product.

I am giving it one more try when you release the new driver set (this week ? ) if I do not get it to work then,well,bye bye to the whole MR816 then it`s back to edirol.

All the best.
Helge.

Re The problem is as described in my first post but also in the vst editor,playing trough the Yamaha motif xs editor vst is imposible to get stable,continous dropouts.

Sorry but this sentence is unintelligible.

We have this setup working very nicely on one machine with XP (32bit). We are using a Mac Pro (booted into Windows obviously).

Since (as you point out), all the hardware works independantly of the PC, why might it (the problem that is) not simply be that this is home-made PC and that one of the many cables/components you have bought is just not up to scratch?

• Have you checked for example whether the 1394 interface is compatible with mLan?
• Have you looked at the IRQ assigned to the 1394 interface - is it being shared?
• Have you tried different 1394 cables?
• Have you applied the 1394 fix required of any post SP2/3 XP PC?
• Have you looked in the event viewer for error/debug messages?
• Have you used the task manger to monitor processes in real time as the error occurs?
• Have you set the machine to give priority to background processes?
• Have you tried a PC which you did not build?

Re “This is NOT my way of making music,wasting my time on drivers”
Really? Might one enquire as to your usual modus-operandi then?

Also, you might wish to gather some of the soft toys you have recently ejected from the pram (baby carriage). It would simply not do for you to trip on Pooh Bear when trying to build your 4th PC of the week :))__

Best of luck,

B