Apogee Ensemble FW problem

[Rybow]

Hello DIY'ers! Been awhile since I posted here. Been settling in to my new life in New Zealand, so haven't had much time for DIY. However, today I got thrown a curve ball. I got my Ensemble used from long and mcquade a couple of years ago. It was the find of my life! Now it won't connect to my iMac. The status light on the front panel flashes green which indicates that no firewire connection is present, and the unit is operating in standalone mode. When I bought the unit, I discovered that one of the firewire ports wasn't funtional. I didn't think much of it though, and I am now kicking myself for not taking it in earlier.

I have tried different firewire cables, hooking it up to different computers, restoring factory settings, trashing preference files, powering up ensemble then computer and vice versa, and looking in Audio/MIDI setup and system profiler. Nothing. I believe that the firewire on my ensemble is rightly screwed.

The warranty is long over, and I am not sure if Apogee has a licensed repair shop here in NZ. We shall see what they say once they have read my support request. Anyone have any experience in this area? Would love to just get in there and get it done myself if it's at all feasible.

Thanks in advance!

Ryan

 

[12afael]

you should take a look at the FW chip, the problem with FW conector is that you can burn your device if you don`t plug the conector in the right angle.
I have changed a couple of Texas instrument FW port chips with some grade of success.

 

[Rybow]

Hey! Thanks for the reply.

I'll crack the top on it tomorrow and see what part I need. Hopefully I can find it down at Jaycar.

And yes, heavy metal is the law!

 

[Rybow]

As I feared, all SMD on one circuit board. Beyond my capabilities I'm afraid. If it is the firewire chip, which is most likely, would anyone have any ideas about repair costs? If it comes in under $200 I'll be happy. Any more than that though and I am going shopping.

Update: I have no idea what to say here. I got an email back from Apogee tech support with a firmware update attached. I connected my ensemble via the firewire port that has never worked in the 2 years I have owned it. I turned on the ensemble, flashing green light, no connection, ran the updater which did nothing as there was no ensemble connected, restarted, and it was back! I am looking at a connected interface with that beautiful solid blue light. I ran the firmware updater again, and this time I was actually able to update the ensembles firmware. I have to admit that updating firmware is not a comfortable experience.

Must have been a ghost in the machine. Very strange, but I am happy to see everything back up and running.