Mac with a Phonic HelixBoard24FireWire MKII Mixer - Software trouble

[crypyra]

Hello all. This is my first post here, but it's a doozey! This one I have looked up everywhere and I am stumped...

My church has a Mac Mini ... OS X v10.6 (I believe)
Then we have a Phonic Helix Board 24 FireWire MKII Mixer

Apparently, the software supports Mac and PC (sounds wonderful)

Now, I put the installation disk into the MacMini and when I looked at the screen, voila! EXE files! Well, Mac doesn't read EXE files, so I downloaded WineBottle and tried that. I get an error message everytime... something about the pre-install didn't work and to restart the installation. I tried this sereral times to no avail.

The 2nd option was to download a trial version of CrossOver... which still did not help the matter. I got the same error messages.

I then went to Phonic's website to find a driver meant for a Mac, and what do you know... NONE! haha For software that is supposed to support a Mac, I can not find anything anywhere!!! I'm gonna try to call the tech Hotline tomorrow, but I was curious if you all had any thoughts?

Thanks!

Dustin

[zactommo]

The first question is this. Does it need drivers in the first place.
Generally speaking, a lot less mac devices need drivers than windows.

So.....go into your applications folder, then into utilites, and open Audio/MIDI Setup. If your mac has picked up the audio card using core audio drivers, then it will appear down the list on the side (if your on 10.6) or you will be able to select it in the drop down menu near the top in 10.5 backwards.

The other way to check is to go into the apple menu, hit about this mac, then more info. Then click on firewire in the list down the side, and if the correct name shows up in there, then it means the computer has picked it up. If it shows unknown device or something, or it locks up or something weird, then the computer is having driver issues.

The problem you may have run into, is that the free software that was bundled with the hardware isn't mac compatible. So the hardware and drivers work with mac, but the free software doesn't. Just an idea. What software program did it come with?

[crypyra]

[quote=zactommo;280715]Does it need drivers in the first place.
Generally speaking, a lot less mac devices need drivers than windows.

So.....go into your applications folder, then into utilites, and open Audio/MIDI Setup. If your mac has picked up the audio card using core audio drivers, then it will appear down the list on the side (if your on 10.6) or you will be able to select it in the drop down menu near the top in 10.5 backwards.

The other way to check is to go into the apple menu, hit about this mac, then more info. Then click on firewire in the list down the side, and if the correct name shows up in there, then it means the computer has picked it up. If it shows unknown device or something, or it locks up or something weird, then the computer is having driver issues.

The problem you may have run into, is that the free software that was bundled with the hardware isn't mac compatible. So the hardware and drivers work with mac, but the free software doesn't. Just an idea. What software program did it come with?[/quote]

If I go into Audio/MIDI setup, the device isn't in the list.

The software that came with it was, from what I could tell, a couple of exe files and some image files... mainly, it's a mixer program that enables you to adjust accordingly in the console view on GarageBand, ProTools, or Sonar(among other things). We were for the time being just using an 8th out into the input on the mac mini (since we were waiting on a FW hub for more port space)... Now that we have the hub, I want to use the mixer the way it was intended. I want to be able to use this thing at its full potential.

I'm actually a little honked to be honest w/you. It shouldn't be this difficult by far, and the reason we even bought the MiniStack was to use this board.

[cmchamp]

You may find, as is the case with other FW based audio devices, that it prefers not to function with a FW Hub. Did you try it without the FW hub? Is the Helix on and FW cables plugged in before the Mac is booted? Have you tried hot plugging the Helix - both Helix and Mac on while plugging in the FW cable?
C.

[mswebb]

Every Mac compatible audio device I've ever plugged in has worked 100% flawlessly without drivers. The list of software downloads on the manufacturer site doesn't include any Mac drivers for this product. That would seem to indicated that no software is necessary to use this.

Where did you buy the board? Can you get some support from that outlet? Take the mini to them and have them show you how to set it up or see if they will come to you.

Good luck.

[crypyra]

Originally Posted by cmchamp

You may find, as is the case with other FW based audio devices, that it prefers not to function with a FW Hub. Did you try it without the FW hub? Is the Helix on and FW cables plugged in before the Mac is booted? Have you tried hot plugging the Helix - both Helix and Mac on while plugging in the FW cable?
C.

The MacMini only has 1 FW800 port... the mixer has (2) FW400 outs... so even if I only hook one into the Mini, I'm only gonna get 16 channels of the 24. That's the first issue. The MiniStack gave me 3 FW400 ports... plus we can add more hard drive space if need be later.

Tried plugging in the FW cables while the machines were on...

haha And btw, the power to all devices are on as well... hehe the common answer to everything, "if all else fails, turn the power on."

I am still awaiting a reply from Phonic after 2 days....

[crypyra]

Went to the Mac store today and asked a few questions...

They suggested only using one of the FW400 ports on the back of the mixer since one is for the initial hookup; the other is apparently for daisy chaining...

Well... I have only used one cable and my audio midi setup still will not recognize the device. Hmmmm...

I have kept both machines on and tried unplugging and then plugging in the cables...

The FireWire light is now ON on the mixer. Is there a place on here to look at the hardware attached to the mac? Hmmm...

I know when I hooked up this new magic Mouse today, I had to go and set it up first before i could use it.... IT did not need a driver.

[crypyra]

Apparently, the drive for the mixer IS installed on the system...?!?!??!

Where do I locate the "drivers" on the Mac?

Each time I go to install the installation disk, I get this error, "Failed to Preinstall c:blahblahblah. Please run Setup again." Of course once again, I am using Crossover (it was WINE) to install the program.

So if the driver is indeed installed... and the FireWire light on the mixer shows ON, and the other ports on the NewerTech MiniStack work, why on earth does it STILL give me fits?? bah! haha

Hmmm.... *thinking*

[cmchamp]

You should not need a driver. If you happened to try to use both FW ports of the Helix, you may have damadeg it's FW interface or the FW hub you were using.

[zactommo]

Habe you looked in system profiler now that the firewire LED lights up? Any results with that?

I'm guessing your using a FW800-FW400 converter cable? Have you tried it with a known good device. I purchased a cheap one of those once, and it reeked havoc on my system; just a thought.

I wouldn't worry about drivers or anything like that. All I would worry about it getting the device to show up in system profiler. Once you get that sorted, go from there.

[crypyra]

Originally Posted by zactommo

Habe you looked in system profiler now that the firewire LED lights up? Any results with that?

Originally Posted by zactommo

I'm guessing your using a FW800-FW400 converter cable? Have you tried it with a known good device. I purchased a cheap one of those once, and it reeked havoc on my system; just a thought.

I wouldn't worry about drivers or anything like that. All I would worry about it getting the device to show up in system profiler. Once you get that sorted, go from there.

System profiler... yea, I checked that. Under FireWire, it just says that there's a port on the Mini. I know the hub is working because I plugged in other USB devices and they work... As far as plugging in another FW, I don't have another device that uses FW.

Nah, I haven't used the cable. Apple sells a good cable for around $30... no one else has one around here.

I hate to keep buying things that don't work. Especially when it's not like I'm spending 2 or 3 bucks. I wish the Phonic people would write back. I still can't get them on the horn, either.

*sigh*

[crypyra]

Originally Posted by cmchamp

You should not need a driver. If you happened to try to use both FW ports of the Helix, you may have damadeg it's FW interface or the FW hub you were using.

Gosh, I hope not!

When the Helix was plugged into the PC for a couple of years, both ports were used on both the PC and the mixer, and it worked just fine. heh, I guess that's another downside to PCs... it lets you make mistakes. lol