IF-FW/DMMKII beta drivers for DM3200/DM4800

[snafu]

Maybe do a clean OSX install?

Hm, before going to the ultimate, I'd try to exclude some details before: not saying, a clean OSX install might not solve your issue, but when it fails, you're not only back at zero, but with a clean OSX install at maybe a lot of apps to re-install.

So, OSX 10.8 "very sluggish": you could install the drivers but still the device (you console) was not found? Does it still read 'no cable'?

I might be mistaken, but I think I heard this here before - just can't remember which thread it was... Anyway: if by any means possible (a friend, a colleague) try to get your hands on a Laptop or PC running windows (anything above XP should do): find out if the problem persists - this would clearly point to some serious issue with the card. If not, the problem would be Mac-wise. I am not familiar with the architecture of Macs, but if it's not too far off from Windows machines there should be a way to have a look at your drivers report, to see exactly when what was updated/changed.

Is your IF-driver the latest for Mac?

 

[dommetysk]

@snafu
with the 10.8 laptop it is as you said: No Device found & No Cable on the mixer

Good call with the test on Windows. I guess I'll bring my W10 laptop to work on Monday then.

Have a great weekend y'all
I'm thankful for you guys helping me out

 

[dommetysk]

Joke's on me: My laptop does not have a firewire port. But I tried another 10.13.6 iMac getting the same results.
What caught my attention though is that in System Information -> Firewire, the card does not show up! Can anybody confirm that it should be visible, even without working drivers? If that is the case, then it is definitly an issue with either FW port or cable (that I already both tested to be working), or the card. I'm ready to take the card out of the board and check for any visible damage...

 

[Peter Batah]

@dommetysk Not sure if this will be of any help: With DM On/Off

 

[simspider]

Hi everyone, could anyone possibly link me with the latest drivers for IF-FW/DMMKII, I'm using a DM3200 and have just completed a fresh install of Win 10 which had been working perfectly previously but this time around after I install the drivers from the Tascam website (admittedly only for Win7) I am only getting 2 possible outputs to use and the input levels seem really low, could really do with getting this fixed asap. Thanks for your help

 

[snafu]

@simspider: just started a conversation on your account with the download links.

 

[Magnus]

Hi all
This is the first post in this forum for me, but I've read some of the topics and especially this one since I knew there's a good chance I would end up here.

So, I got myself a Dm4800 last week and would really like to get my hand on those beta drivers. I'm, of course, having some issues. In fact, it's the same problem that @Neil Eckstein had a while ago. Did you solve it by the way? While adding new connections in Cubase, the computer crashes. I managed to add 22 input channels but that's it. So I'm curious if other drivers would solve it. I've already tried the ones on Tascams download center but they don't seem to do the trick

At last I would like to say, pretty fine forum you got going here!

 

[Peter Batah]

@Magnus Welcome aboard Magnus. I think that it might be a good idea to give us all a little more information to work with. Eg. Additional hardware that you may be using, PC / Mac, OS, DM and FW firmware, etc.

For what it is worth, I am running Cubase 11 PRO (WIN10) and a DM-4800. I have not experienced the crashing issue that you mentioned in your original post.

Best of luck!

 

[Magnus]

Yep, that sounds like a good idea @Peter Batah, and thank you.
Like you, I'm running Cubase 11 PRO on a Windows machine with the DM-4800.
But without going deeper into the details, things has worked out for the better. For what it's worth, I guess I can tell you guys about since the question has been brought up earlier in the thread.
First thing I did was to change FW card on the computer and it still showed the same strange behaviour. So, lucky for me, I had an older computer with a third firewire card. Started it up, hooked up the DM-4800, and voila, it worked. So the conclusion of this is that it might be some other hardware faulty on the first computer (?), or mabye the FW card. But since it resulted in the same error I guess it's probably the computer.
Second thing is that when I got the second computer running I only got the input signal but unable to send the signal back from the DAW to the board.
But, lucky for me, I had a forth FW card with a Via chipset (the third one was a NEC). Plugged the FW card with the Via chipset into the computer, and voila, signal out and signal back into the board.
All this, with the same drivers as Tascam is handing out on their site.
Sorry for the long reply.
And by the way, I'm not a horder, I just got stuff.

 

[snafu]

Welcome aboard, Magnus

Glad to hear you had enough back up to get things going. A few mentions though:

Drivers has been a long discussed issue on this board - as this thread demonstratively shows. The last in a long line of drivers is one with the version number 176851, which to my knowledge is a beta driver.

I had my fair share of issues with my DM3200 on Win7 - sometimes my DAWs (plural, yes!) "lost" the DM, and I had to go wild on the transport buttons to regain connection. Like a hickup. Then Win10 came along, and the error persisted - but I switched over to 176851, and voila: heaven opened it's gates! No more trouble!
Did anything else change? No. Same hardware, same PC, other OS, but despite this: just my driver for the DM.

Now, for a long time this was my first and foremost to-go-to-topic when it came to issues with the DM. Time goes by, you're older (a little more weight around the hips...), and you learn a thing or two: back in the day, Tascam themselfes didn't recommend Firewire-cards with TI-chipsets. So, the first FW-card for my PC was one with a Via chipset. All cozy and fine. But in 2019 I had to build a new machine, because my old music pc was already of age (not a problem recording-wise, but my graphics card wasn't supported by Win10, so I got myself a new graphics card, but that wasn't supported by my old mainboard, so...you get the drift...).

To make a long story short: I also got a new PCIe Firewire-card, because my current mainboard has only one PCI-lane. The new Firewire-card has a TI-Chipset. And boy does it deliver!

Remember those "hickups" from earlier? They were gone with the new driver yes, but there were a lot of minor issues, I did not care to count: in fact, I got so much used to them:
- faders would occasionally move forth and back, just a few mm, but (thanks god) not submit to the DAW
- switching from REMOTE back to another layer mid-session while in a DAW could lead to "funny" events: you tried to tweak the panning by moving one of the potis, but instead of tempering with the pan it would be set to eq (workaround: go to the last layer, and press remote again)
- and so on and so forth...

Little squirks that maybe happened once or twice in a month. And unfortunately I did not get rid of them with the "new" driver.

It was only until mid 2020 when I realized this issues have completely vanished. My best guess at the moment would be the firewire card...

So, if you would like to have the 176851 driver - just let me know. Other than that: best be adviced by someone also using the 4800, since I own a 3200.

kind regards
snafu

 

[Magnus]

Thank you @snafu, it's great to be onboard.

You know what @snafu, I guess I will give it a try, thank you.
From what you're telling me, it might work. I guess that if it works, it's a bonus for me.
Plus, one might of learned something useful.

Very interesting to hear your story about the working and not working gear. I mean, it's not that funny while you're trying to solve but hopefully you get something out of it.

 

[snafu]

Hey Magnus,

by the time you are reading this, a conversation should be in you message box with the download locations for the driver. Good luck

 

[Jean-Pierre Pineau]

Hi there! I just had the last Win10 update and this crashed my installation of Cakewalk by BandLab with a BSOD. So, I reverted to the previous W10 version and I can open my old Cakewalk Platinum and I got thru my things this way last week. CBB is still crashing my computer, though. All my other softs seem OK so far. So I am unsure about which driver is in trouble, being my NVidia or Tascam DM4800... Anyone had some experience with this last update? It smells like a fresh install, at this point...

As a second thought, I, also, would like to get the 176851 driver . I made thru the last years with the W7 official one, but that may help my system in some ways.

 

[timothysklugh]

I am suffering the same Windows 10 version update that is causing problems with my Tascam DM-3200. It has also caused ASIO problems with my Kontakt, East/West Players and all the other software audio instrument players. I was glad to see though that there were no MIDI issues. This is ridiculous because, although the Tascam DM-3200 could be a difficult-to-understand beast at times, (aside from the screen going bad that I had to replace with a VGA hack) the rest of the Tascam DM-3200 has been an incredibly reliable DAW. May I please get the 176851 driver as well. I have currently had to switch to ASIO4ALL to get any reliable access to the Tascam DM-3200 but it only gives access to the Firewire IF-FW/DMmkII audio outs and not the 32 channels I used to be able to access all the time. I would really like to try out the 176851 driver and see if it helps my situation.

Also, a long time ago, I made a post in the Tascam Forums about how to make the DM-3200 clock work using the USB connection. Has anyone found a way to make the clock work in sync with the computer using the Firewire IF-FW/DMmkII connection?


Thank you so much for the help!

 

[snafu]

OK, so I provide a link to the driver (176851). Some info though:

- I've been given this driver myself way back at Win7 era. As far as I am aware it's for the DM3200, but if I am not too mistaken also for the 4800; they're basically the same. But take this with a grain of salt.

- Windows 10 did turn away from former MME towards the newer WDM. Now, this is, where in my opinion driver 176851 shines! BUT - B U T --> PLEASE NOTE:
1) you install the 176851 driver
2) then you prepare windows <-- this is a critical point to behold, so please let me explain:

WDM is not a bad protocol. But it isn't exactly good. In fact it's a bit "dumb", but in most cases for the benefit of the user. So here are some basic rules:
a) press windows-key plus r, type 'control' in the appearing textbox -> hit 'return'
b) open 'Hardware and Sound' --> then 'Sound'
c) Look for your Tascam device (must be connected vis USB, Firewire and be running), and select it
d) Click 'configure' at the bottom.

The first dialog to appear is one for your speaker setup. Unless you're using surround, you wanna go for 'stereo'. Now here's the important point to understand:

if you select STEREO, the first two OUTPUTS of your device will be enabled. In terms of the DM3200 --> Output Slot1-1 and Output Slot 1-2 are everything that flows from your PC back into the DM3200 (don't forget to assign channels to it).

These will be the Outputs referred to when opening the IF/FW-DMmkII dialog on your pc! You may assign 32 inputs now, but only two outputs at a time.

You could choose 'quadrophonic' instead, giving you outputs 1-1, 1-2, 1-3, 1-4. The highest though would be 8 eight outputs by choosing '7.1 surround'. The options you have here depend highly on your MAINBOARD! If 5.1 is the highest your mainboard will provide, then you're stuck with a maximum of 6 outputs. As I said: in a studio situation you would opt for stereo anyway, so you are dealing with two outputs.

That being said: here is the link
https://www.mediafire.com/file/u5fqfiqo7m7jetp/IFFWDMmkII_Setup_176851_Release.exe/file

Please note: it's an executable file, so it will work for Win only! I do not have access to any Mac drivers, actualy, I am not even sure, if there was something similar to this driver version. Sorry.

One final word: as gladly as I share this driver, I would vote for a dedicated sticky here, or at least something similar. This link will only work for 14 days, and this thread is reaching a long, long way back in time. Maybe we should split it in another part from, say the Windows 10 era on onwards?

cheers snafu

 

[snafu]

Has anyone found a way to make the clock work in sync with the computer using the Firewire IF-FW/DMmkII connection?

Oh, sorry, I was posting you a pm earlier that day - just forgot to ask you: do you mean 'setting DM3200 as master with clock reference to other devices'?

If so, I didn't have any trouble so far. My DM3200 is currently @ 48kHz communicating with my PC. All my DAWs (Reaper, Samplitude, Reason) get their clock from the DM without complaining.
I also have two Tascam DA8's connected via TDIF, and an Scarlett Octo Pre, connected via ADAT (with the clock set to 44.1 kHz). I encountered no problems so far.
My PC is running Win10 @64 bit / ASUS Strix-ROx Z390-F mainboard. The firewire connection is a firewire card (would have to look into the brand) with TI-chipset (PCIe).

 

[Jean-Pierre Pineau]

I am suffering the same Windows 10 version update that is causing problems with my Tascam DM-3200. It has also caused ASIO problems with my Kontakt, East/West Players and all the other software audio instrument players. I was glad to see though that there were no MIDI issues. This is ridiculous because, although the Tascam DM-3200 could be a difficult-to-understand beast at times, (aside from the screen going bad that I had to replace with a VGA hack) the rest of the Tascam DM-3200 has been an incredibly reliable DAW.

Hi! Did your computer crash or just refuse to give access to the DM? I have nt tried the entire set of softs and plugins I own, because I had a client to set ready. So, after testing a couple of other softs that worked (Vegas Samplitude), I reverted to the previous build and could use the 2015 version of Sonar, but the Cakewalk by Bandlab stayed a BSOD generator at startup.

Also, I have a brand new display on my shelf. This is the clone one made sold in UK thru eBay. I already installed one and am really satisfied.

 

[Jean-Pierre Pineau]

Thank you, Snafu! I'll give it a try ASAP. I am not sure to fully understand your post, though. You seem to say that ASIO has gone and is replaced by WDM with this driver? Also, I may be wrong, and I wish I am, but will I lose 30 i/0's? Currently, the W7 driver allows for 32 i/o's but it is common practice to leave a pair of outs devoted to the compter system for YouTube or Media player stuff. Did i get you wrong?

 

[rmanus]

MAC OS 11 - Big Sur - Any ideas what we can do to get the driver working for OS Big Sur??? I need to find a solution and can't image having to dump a mixer that I like because of a driver not working. So frustrating.

 

[snafu]

You seem to say that ASIO has gone and is replaced by WDM with this driver?

No, don't worry, you just got that wrong ;-)

ASIO is responsible for how your DM "speaks" with dem WDM-interface - so to say. WDM is short for Windows driver model, and it's actually not that new (I guess it was introduced with Win 2000 or even earlier). It's there for all sorts of devices and I/O communication.

ASIO on the other hand is a driver specifically for low-latency audio access.

Now, if you just use your build in audio capability of your PC (the I/Os for audio on your mainb oard) you're basically dealing with WDM. ASIO and WDM are mapped to each other to communicate I/O assignments.

Open up your IF-FW/DMmkII control panel (see image). When you click on ''Assign Outputs" you can see the mapping between WDM and ASIO.

I enclosed an image, so you can understand it better: 'Assign Outputs' (the dialog window at the bottom of the image) you see a group box called 'WDM channel mapping'.
Here's where the PC's WDM is communicating with your TAscam device (by mapping it's ASIO channels).

In my example, I have a ASUS-Mainboard that is at maximum capable of 7.1. surround - that's why I have a max. of 8 channels of WDM available. Only two channels at a time can be assigned though in my case, BECAUSE my settings in windows are set to stereo. So I can effectively assign two channels from the dropboxes to WDM1 and WDM2. What can I assign? My ASIO INPUTS --> so every channel that's available of the 32 firewire channels of the DM's firewire card

Because this not so much straight forward, people often confuse this, or even don't know what WDM is used for.

I may have gone into detail where I shouldn't have :-D It's mind-boggling, but then again nothing your would really need to care about, except for some rare scenarios. Sorry for that confusion!

best regards
snafu

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