H8000FW and OSX Lion support?

[robert]

Hi all, first post here.

Just got my shiny new harmonizer and love it of course. Just wanted to know about Lion support for the firewire driver on OSX. Is Eventide working on an update, and if so, care to share a due date? 😉

Thanks,
Robert

[nickrose]

There will be Lion support. No due date at present.

We would suggest you don't rush to update your Mac, for this and other reasons.

[robert]

Good to see that Lion support is at least on the list.

Not in a hurry with Lion, thanks for the advice. 

Robert

[mjmundy]

any update on lion support for H8000FW driver and the routing utility?

cheers,

-mike

[nickrose]

Look for a Lion announcement in the next few weeks.

What changes does the routing utility need (apart from more perfection) ?

[teddy]

the routing utility is just a perfect tool in a perfect world ! 

[robert]

Change requests for Routing Utility (on OSX):

1. Browsing/reading/selection of routing presets actually stored on the machine, instead of a static list of factory presets.
2. Option to store a routing preset on the machine, in a given slot, with a given name.
3. Option to rename an existing routing preset on the machine.
4. Option to remove/rename locally stored routing presets.
5. Obvious indicator on screen for Offline mode.
6. Proper response to clicking icon in OSX dock when RU app is already open. The app does not respond, will not get selected.
7. Fixing the problem when saving current routing preset locally. Something weird happens when typing the name, and for some reason an existing locally stored preset gets selected, wiping my changes.
8. Support for faster communication between app and machine (on OSX). The midi link is doable but rather slow.

Looking forward to the Lion update. Thanks for that one.

Robert

[Siem]

I just downloaded the beta Mac driver (version 3.2.0). It doesn't seem to support Lion and it seems to date from 2008.

Has the wrong driver been uploaded into the beta section or is this still an older beta driver that just sits there until the Lion driver is uploaded?

[nickrose]

We've updated it – should be there later on today. Possible confusion with file names – it should be version 3.5.6. Sorry ..

[robert]

Installed the new 3.5.6 beta OS on Harmonizer, and new firewire driver on my desktop Mac running Lion. This was my first ever OS update on the Harmonizer, but it turned out to a smooth process. I smiled when the machine thanked me for releasing the #2 key. 

Although I only have it up and running an hour now, all seems to work fine!  My routings were still on the harmonizer and work as expected. I'll update here if I find anything unexpected.

Thanks for the update, Eventide. This means I can continue to work on my plan to go live with new macbook pro (with Lion pre-installed) + Harmonizer.

Robert

[robert]

I seem to have forgotten how to enable the associated MIDI port provided by the Dice firewire driver on OSX. Or maybe it isn't available yet in the beta?

I it shown in OSX 'Audio MIDI Setup' but shown disabled.

Robert

[robert]

Okay, still no success getting the Dice MIDI port activated.

Uninstalled the Dice 3.5.6 firewire driver with the deinstaller that came with the package. Then installed it again, followed by a restart. Firewire is fine, but no MIDI port.

Scanned through the Harmonizer Setup menu pages, but can't find anything that looks relevant. I think the original 3.5.5 Dice driver simply came with the MIDI port enabled, no options.

This OSX system was originally an OSX 10.6 Snow Leopard installation when I installed the original 3.5.5 Dice driver. Then installed Lion on top of that (without uninstalling anything). Then installed the beta 3.5.6 Dice driver on top of that. Pretty standard sequence of things I guess.

Running out of ideas. Maybe it's simply a bug in the beta Dice.

Robert

[mjmundy]

hi nick,

yes i want lots *more* perfection!

the routing utility is a nifty tool, but for awhile i thought my system was broken.  nonetheless, it helped me quite a bit with getting a handle on routing and how the front panel setup indicates it.

anyway, i did run into some problems with the routing utility.

here's what i found when setting up SP/DIF 3&4 inputs.  please let me know if i'm missing something or if this is known behavior.  i did search the forum archive for awhile.

using routing utility to create a new routing configuration to use SP/DIF inputs 3&4.

routing utility fails to connect input SP/DIF 3&4 to any target port.  the H8000FW front panel setup indicates that AES 17&18 are connected instead.

the routing must be changed to SP/DIF 3&4 via setup on the front panel.  then, after "refresh" is selected in routing utility, the connections in routing utility move to AES 13&14, with no change indicated on the front panel (good, they're still on SP/DIF 3&4.)   if this routing is then saved as a user preset in routing utility, and then the preset is reselected, all appears OK (the routing utility now shows SP/DIF 3&4 connected.)  subsequent selection of the preset appears fine.

the "initial" routing presented by routing utility after relaunching the app again indicates AES 13&14, while the front panel indicates SP/DIF 3&4.  selecting the preset "fixes" the routing that is displayed by the app.

cheers!

-mike

[nickrose]

robert:

Okay, still no success getting the Dice MIDI port activated.

In what way is it not working ? Sounds obvious, but:

1) What do you do ?

2) What do you see ?

3) What do you expect to see ?

Also, is the audio working ?

[robert]

Hi Nick.

The MIDI port that is make available by the Dice firewire driver isn't working, while it used to work in the previous version. It was the only MIDI link I used between my DAW and the Harmonizer for getting MIDI clock into the H.

1) Computer already switched on. Next H. is switched on. Harmonizer is set to custom routing involving FIREWIRE1 bus used to connect Mac and Harmonizer. This routing worked like a charm on previous version, it was stored on the machine in internal memory. 

2) Eventide Dice control panel on Mac sees H8000FW device. Clock is locked at 48k. Normal operation mode. Harmonizer says FIREWIRE1 is locked and FIREWIRE2 is unlocked.

Apple Audio MIDI Setup tool in audio panel sees Event Dice 16 in/16 out.  My DAW (Ableton Live) sees it too and it works. I get audio in and out.

Apple Audio MIDI setup tool in MIDI panel shows Eventide Dice midi device greyed out, indicating it is inactive. My DAW confirms this, the Dice midi port is not shown anywhere in the lists of MIDI inputs or outputs.

3) I expect the Dice MIDI port to be active and available for use in the DAW.

WAIT! I may just have fixed the problem. While working down your questions I decided to do click the 'Rescan MIDI' button in the toolbar of the MIDI pane of the Apple Audio MIDI Setup tool. And presto, the Eventide Dice device icon suddenly showed up solid, indicating it's available now. A quick check in my DAW confirms this, it is now shown in the list of MIDI inputs and outputs, while it certainly wasn't before.

I still have to test the Dice MIDI port, but the problem seems to be that the Mac must told to rescan the MIDI devices by the Dice installer?

Another update tomorrow. 9:20 pm and haven't eaten yet. 😉

[robert]

Sorry for the late followup update, but here it is.

The problem with the Dice MIDI port made available through the firewire driver is that it disabled by default. When switching on the Harmonizer the audio over firewire works, but the Dice MIDI port is dead. On OSX, in the Audio MIDI Setup app, the Event Dice icon in the MIDI window shows grayed out. 

Now a 'Rescan MIDI' command in that same MIDI window fixes the problem temporarily, the icon lights up and the Dice MIDI port becomes available in my DAW software. And it works too.

However, the moment I power cycle the Harmonizer the MIDI port is disabled again, and everything repeats.

Robert

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