need help with w2k / XP / MOTU / firewire

[Jamie101]

I'm running Windows 2000 using a pair of MOTU 828s and Texas Ins. firewire 400 card. With my 10,000 rpm Seagate and adequate CPU and RAM, I'm pretty happy with performance. When recording 16 tracks, I can almost see smoke coming off my motherboard but I never had a glitch yet.

Obviously the W2k is really showing its age by keeping me from new plugins and Cubase updates. I keep the PC maintained well - the BIOS are current and all that...

I bought XP pro but it was a disaster - my 828s couldn't keep tracks in sync and quality took a nose dive. Playback was also painful. I tried just one 828 and had similar issues with only 4 tracks. I talked to tech support at MOTU and they felt the XP/firewire combo was the culprit. Although my RAM and CPU were never overloaded, I tried a few PC tweaks but eventually I rolled back to my trouble-free Window 2000 configuration.

I'd love to get XP running smooth as my first option - that would at least allow software updates. Off topic - I don't understand why XP is a requirement for some packages.

Cash is tight so I need to upgrade wisely and I do need help! My panic button is to go to the Apple store (yikes) but I'm not even sure that's the solution - there has to be more options!

Here's some PC specs that might be of interest - I built and rebuilt the PC 5 times so I'm not opposed to any suggested hardware upgrades.

motherboard: K8M800-8237 /200mHz bus /Phoenix BIOS 10/04/2007 /RAM 1 GB / AMD 1.80 gHz Athlon 64

Running Windows 2000 SP4 / Cubase 2.2 /
When on XP pro, I tried a demo version of Cubase 3 with updated ASIO drivers - I tried to minimize running all other apps.

I could think of worst scenarios but am I doomed to W2k for the rest of my life?


Jamie

[brandondrury]

When recording 16 tracks, I can almost see smoke coming off my motherboard but I never had a glitch yet.

This is a joke,right?

If it were me, I'd take a second look at XP Pro especially if any new drivers have came out. It seems very odd that your 828 wouldn't work in XP because I know people personally who used the 828 in XP. I'd check the chipset requirements for the 828 and see if that's a factor.

If you are happy with your system, there doesnt' seem to be much reason to change it. So what are you hoping to achieve with this hardware upgrade? Just curious.

Brandon

[Jamie101]

yes, it's a joke - there's no smoke!

It's good to know other people have MOTU and XP working... do you know of anyone running 16 inputs with 2 828s on XP?

It's an OS upgrade I need - it seems that I'm dead-ended on W2k which is limiting my software upgrades. I'm hoping not to upgrade any computer hardware - I'd rather buy a good mic.

I'll try again with XP and be more specific about the problems

thanks

[brandondrury]

do you know of anyone running 16 inputs with 2 828s on XP?

Not off hand, but I have a feeling it's quite doable. I ran 2 Delta 1010s in XP for years with no problems.

Brandon