Mounting a new Fw PCB on FW 1884

[Ben K]

Hi. My FW-1884 no longer syncs with my PC. It seems after looking into it for a while that the fw pcb may have simply died. I have found a company in Germany who stills sells the part (PCB ASSy, MAIN FW part no E95162800B°... a few questions, has anyone ever replaced this part and found it "useful" ? Iq it difficult to mount ? Does anyone know what the problem may be when both the firewire light and the Stop button blink on/off ? thanks for the help.

PS: I've had my FW for years now (serial number 0120012), have always had a few sync issues but nothing too bad. It has always been hooked to the same PC running XP SP2. Just in case i changed the FW card on the PC and changed the cable... but still have lights blinking on/off

 

[DeeringAmps]

Ben,
If you are looking for the TASCAM U9 PDI1394P23B FIREWIRE CHIP, I have them.
Replacing the U9 chip is NOT a project for the "amateur".
Wish I could say definitely that the blinking "stop and firewire" leds indicates a
damaged U9 chip. I have never been able to find a FW1884 shop manual.
Here's the link to my website: http://deeringamps.com/fw1884/u9.htm
Tom

 

[Ben K]

Thanks for the answer Tom.
I'm no good at soldering hence why I was looking for the full PCB... it seems easier to replace than just the U 9 component. In regards to the manual I managed to find the service manual with all of the block diagrams and exploded views... if that's what your after.
I'll be ordering the board this week and hopefully replacing it within the FW 1884 won't be too much of a hassle.

 

[DeeringAmps]

Ben,
I hope the repair goes well for you.
What did you have to pay for the PCB?
Could you share a link to the PCB?
I have the schematics on my site, but there is no data explaining the error codes.
T

 

[Ben K]

Thanks tom.
I have just passed the order. I should receive the PCB in the next few weeks hopefully.
The company I ordered from is : www.triplex-service.de/
The cost of the PCB exc. tax and delivery is 186.00 Euros.
It's a bit expensive but in the end much less than buying new gear.
I'll post again once I have the PCB and made the switch in the FW 1884.

 

[Steve Fogal]

With my Tascams FW-1884 & FW-1082, I've had an occasional issue with not connecting to the PC, or more so that the firewire light wasn't coming on.
I've discovered something new just recently. That if I open the Soft_LCD display applet FIRST (the one that came with the driver I downloaded from the Tascam site version 1.8) , then my Tascams firewire light comes on every time now.

I used to power up the Tascam 1st, then the PC and the firewire LED would come on. But hasn't been lately.

NOW, I power up PC 1st, open the Soft_LCD display, THEN power on Tascam & VIOLA, firewire light comes on. I had been wondering if my firewire connection somewhere was going bad, but if the Soft_LCD make/forces the LED to come on, it's GOT to be a more of a software thing.

 

[Ben K]

Finally !! after weeks of not having any time to change the FW card... I can finally say it is done and.... WORKING !!! like a charm, even better than when I first bought the unit. Syncs up without pre heating, no cuts, everything is just f****g brilliant !
It was definitely worth the cost and it is easy as to change the FW board inside the FW 1884.

 

[DeeringAmps]

Good to hear Ben!
Can you provide a direct link to the board?
I don't read German and was unable to fine it on their website.
Thanks,
Tom

 

[Cedric]

Ben,
Congrats!
Could you please post the file you sent to the PCB service, in case one of us needs the same sometimes ?

 

[Ben K]

the site is also in English but I had first sent an email to their contact with my request and spare part number. There is no direct link to the part on their site. All in all at the time they still carried the part and delivery was fast. Easy to install in the FW 1884 and no more problems.

 

[DeeringAmps]

Thanks for the update Ben.
I'll try contacting them.

T

 

[PereR]

During the years I collected all the software installers and a lot of documents of the FW-1884. I made those available for download down below for everybody who needs this...
http://www.perevert.com/downloads/FW-1884_Docs&Installers.zip

 

[Nomisllewdor]

Thanks - downloaded and taking a look. I think my old FW1884 has finally given up and gone into all lights on firewire light blinking 3 x then 5. I haven't inserted any firewire connector upside down though - but I was testing it on Windows 11 with a fairly cheap PCI-E 1x card. I may also have foolishly used a 1.80 FW1804 driver on it too its back on windows 10 old pc now with the adaptec pci T1 4300 but I can't get rid of all lights on...unsuprisingly.

I've ordered a new 2024 style 24 track modular DAW controller anyway BUT it niggles me to send the FW1884 to the dump.

I'm told here that all lights on is fried U9 chip but I would love to get hold of the service manual with the error codes. Or is it worth trying a reinstall of the last firmware update maybe version (1.83).

I had the FW for nearly 20 years - it has always been a tempremental beast. Its an old single client asio set up also - so a bit museum now. But still does a few things that even now modern tackle does not.

I had thoughts to just use it as a mackie style control surface but those went out the window last thursday

Any thoughts more than gratefully received from any other preservers of old music tech. Best wishes.

 

[Steve Fogal]

I have a Tascam FW-1884, a FW-1082 & FW-1804, my FW-1804 is far less problematic, actually 'never has any' of the many issues as the others!

Anyway, I've had the all lights blinking a number of times on my Tascam FW-1884. 1st time, thinking is might be 'fried' but then a HARD RESET (or FACTORY INITIALIZE) did the trick & solved that issue ... each time. so try that first, before sending off to Tascam heaven. If you have tried that, try some more.

"Hold down SHIFT, CONTROL, and F8 at the same time when the FW1884 is already turned on (you do NOT need to turn it off and power it up while holding buttons)."

​

https://www.sweetwater.com/sweetcare/articles/hard-reset-factory-initialize-tascam-fw1884-interface/#:~:text=How%20do%20I%20hard%20reset%20%28factory%20initialize%29%20the,off%20and%20power%20it%20up%20while%20holding%20buttons%29.

 

[Nomisllewdor]

Many many thanks for this - not had chance to check it out yet. Never tried the reset keypress during a power up so who knows. Certainly sure I never put the firewire plug in the wrong way round - its difficult to do anyway without forcing it. Still it's an ancient old unit now - but I have quite a collection of older kit that I don't use much but still have sentimental attachment to.

 

[Nomisllewdor]

OK the FW1884 has moved on a lttle from all lights flashing after trying a few power ups with cntrl+shift+F8 key press it now switches on with stop button light contnuously illuminated and master faser having shot up to max

I'm regarding this as a slight inprovement but if anyone has any suggestions about how to move it on from this state that would be great. I'm leaving it in for a while now because of all the advice on this site about keeping it warmed up

Wondered about trying one of the firmware updaters on it - maybe the 1.83 one. But I seem to remember reading we were only ever supposed to do this once - and I'm pretty sure i did apply it years ago.

Many thanks

 

[Bradwt]

Hey all
I've been deep diving these forums for a couple years now and found many a solution. Thank you for that.
Now I have a question I haven't been able to find the answer for so I've joined the community and this seems like the best thread to ask it in. I have both a 1082 and an 1884. Had the 1082 for years. Always wanted the 1884. 1082 makes all kinds of weird noises now (Think its the common issue with the Caps in the power supply/ external power supply...yada yada yada) The 1884 I picked up cheap so I was already emotionally prepared for it to have some sort of issue. When I purchased it I did run it through some basic tests. Inputs were good, Outputs were good. Faders calibrated and moved. Unfortunately I did not have a Laptop with a TI firewire chipset to test it with. You know where this is going. No fire wire light on the 1884. The 1884 Software will not see the 1884 (Waiting for 1884)
So I'll answer the questions I know you want out of the way first. Yes I do have a TI chipset firewire card in the computer in my studio (Win 10). Yes I've loaded the legacy driver for the firewire. Yes I installed all the Tascam software on the studio computer in Win 7 compatibility mode. I've followed the instructions concerning connections and software installs found on this and other threads to the letter (multiple times just incase I missed something or screwed it up by accident). The fire wire connections do not appear to have been bent in accordance with someone forcing a cable in backwards/upside-down.
Not sure if I missed anything there but I am all ears.
HERE is where I am at this point.
I'm pretty sure that the Fire wire portion of the 1884 is euchred. If you think I'm wrong or missing something or there is something else I need to try, I am totally game...lay it on me.
Because of the wisdom of you kind folk here I'm pretty sure that replacing the chip on the Firewire PCB board is a bridge to far for my skill set. The surrounding components that may need replacement I could probably handle (my job requires me to do some soldering from time to time so it's not that I'm completely unable but I am aware of my limits)
Here's the big question. How compatible is the Firewire PCB from the 1082 with the Firewire PCB from the 1884? Is a swap a feasible Idea?
The 1082 Firewire lights on the console and is recognized as connected to the computer.
Please help and if you are this far into my post THANK YOU for taking the time.

Brad

*Time is money, Money is not time. All the money in the world won't buy you another second at the end of THIS race*