[G4] FW problem

[Eric Wood]

Am Aug 24, 2008 um 4:27 PM schrieb Roxylee:

> Hello, smart people. I'm having major FW issues and wonder if  
> anyone in here has encountered the same problems, and if so, what  
> they did to fix it. My computer is a Quicksilver 2002, pumped up  
> RAM, running under Leopard. Less than a year ago I bough a FW audio  
> interface (Saffire) and after 10 months, it started shutting down  
> the computer before it could fully boot up. After trying a few  
> times, it was fried altogether and the built in FW port seems to be  
> fried, too- at least it's not working.. I bought another card and  
> the company sent me a replacement unit. That interface also fried   
> but the new card still worked when the iSight cam was plugged in.  
> The company sent me *another* unit, and after using it for 3 weeks,  
> it, too, fried. Now neither FW card works, or maybe the iSight is  
> fried? When I plug it in, the green light goes on and it makes a  
> sound like it's on, then after a few seconds, the light goes back  
> off. All FW ports on my machine are not working. When I went to  
> Network prefs, it says: PCI Firewire slot 2 not connected, and  
> Built in Firewire inactive.
>
> I unplugged everything but the usb keyboard and mouse, unplugged  
> everything, waited 10 minutes, and rebooted. Same status.
>
> All software and drivers are up to date, and the units are  
> definitely fried- the first one was sent to a repair place and they  
> said it would cost more to fix it than to replace it. The FW ports  
> on the back of the last one had a definite ozone smell. The units.  
> according to the phone tech, are hot plug-able, although I hadn't  
> touched the plugs on the last one, just left them plugged in  
> whenever the computer was on. I was only using the unit for an XLR  
> condenser mic and headphones. I tried it with a new cable, too.
>
> They are replacing the unit again, but I'm afraid to plug it in  
> once I buy yet another card. I don't want to replace the whole  
> logic board if it's not necessary. Does anyone know what could be  
> causing this and what I can do to fix it?  Everything else seems to  
> be working. Disk Utility isn't reporting any problem, and I don't  
> have another utility to check it. I'd appreciate any help, in  
> simple non-tech talk.:-)
>
> Thanks,
>
> Roxy

My thoughts are: Test those devices on another system and test other  
firewire devices with the Mac in question. Maybe see about resetting  
all of the firmware settings on the system to see if it clears  
anything up.

Eric W.