[HOW_TO_FIX] Firewire Sound Cards

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[PURPOSE] help people who work with proaudio and use firewire gear.

[REASON]  It's not so much info on internet,
Problems with this type of cards are very popular!

[SYMPTHOMS] Pops, clicks, drop-outs, disconnection, even BSOD.

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Drop-outs diagnostic: DPC Latency Checker
[http://www.thesycon.de/deu/latency_check.shtml]

Latency diagnostic for real-time audio: LatencyMon
[http://www.resplendence.com/latencymon]

Stress-test tool for high load simulation: HeavyLoad
http://www.jam-software.com/heavyload/

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1. Reinstall/Update driver

2. Check/Replace cable (recommendation: Quad/Triple-Shielded)
[Very popular issue!]

3. Check/Replace power adapter

4. Check Device settings

5. Use Firewire controller on TI(Texas Instruments) chip!
[Highly recommend!]

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CPU Problem Makers

You can modify this parameters in BIOS/UEFI

[Hyper-Threading]
There has been controversy over hyperthreading as it relates to music production,
because the nature of hyperthreading is such that it's theoretically possible
to have a perfect storm of simultaneous threads contending for the same physical CPU
resources that results in hyperthreading actually introducing a bottleneck and
slightly hurting rather than helping overall performance.

Note that application developers have the ability to restrict their software to only
use physical cores. For example, Ableton Live only launches threads on a per-core
basis, not per-logical-processor basis. But even in these cases, HT can still
be helpful, because your OS has dozens of background processes running anyway,
and these can all take advantage of the unused processing power, as needed,
which can have a side-effect of boosting your overall DAW performance.

Recommends to disable, but test it.
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[Intel Turbo Boost]
One core is overclocked while another core isn't fully utilized.
Designed for non-multicore-optimized processes.
Sometimes cause problems.

Recommends to disable, but test it.
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[Intel SpeedStep/Enhanced Intel SpeedStep (EIST)]
!HERE COMES THE PAIN!
Advanced power-saving and dynamic performance options for CPU.
This features cause many stability and performance issues(especially on Windows)!

Disable this ****!
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[AMD Cool 'n' Quiet]
Another power-saving feature.
May cause problems.

Recommends to disable, but test it.
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[AMD Turbo CORE]
AMD Turbo feature is designed to allow the CPU to run at a much higher multiplier
as thermal limits allow. Turning off turbo will mean the CPU will run
at it's default clock speed.
Sometimes cause problems.

Recommends to disable, but test it.
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[C-States]
C-States allow your CPU to sleep when idle, which may interfere with real-time
applications such as audio. This option is often called
"Disable CPU Idle State for Power Saving" in the BIOS/UEFI.
Sometimes cause problems.

Recommends to disable.
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Windows-only tweaks


[Power plan settings]

Set windows power plan(scheme) to High performance.
[Start>Control Panel>System and Maintenance>Power Options>Show additional plans]

Set "Turn off hard disk after" option in advanced power setting to "Never"(0)

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[Data corruption issue using 1394 connection]

Corrupted data owhen using the IEEE 1394 port can be caused by too much latency
in the C3 power state transition which causes buffer underruns. In other words,
the interrupts associated with the processor's ability to dynamically change speeds
conflict with the high demand on the processor that is needed when streaming audio
or data across the IEEE 1394 port.


To change the C3 latency setting in the Windows registry,
perform the following steps:

    Click the Start button, and then click Run.
    In the Open box, type regedit, and then click OK.
    In Registry Editor, locate and click to select the following key:

    HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE
    SYSTEM
    CurrentControlSet
    Control
    Processor

    NOTE:

    The Processor key may not exist. If it does not exist,
    it will need to be created. To create the key, perform the following steps:

        Right-click the Contol key, and then left-click New.
        Click Key, and then type Processor.
        Press the <Enter> key.

    On the Edit menu, click New, and then click DWORD Value.
    Change the name to CStateFlags.
    Right-click CStateFlags, and then left-click Modify.
    Change the Value data to 8.
    Exit the Registry Editor.
    Restart the computer for the changes to take effect.

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