No More Firewire Support (mac Users)
Todd Simpson
Jan 12 2016, 09:35 PM
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APPLE has decided to phase out support for audio using firewire, as of the EL CAPITAIN release. As a result, folks with firewire connected audio devices on their mac may not want to upgrade to the current operating system. Apple is basically moving to thunderbolt and usb for it's audio.

So if you have a mac laptop or desktop and are using any firewire interface, skip the upgrade IMHO. Here is the release from apple. I just got rid of my firewire interface/mixer a bit back and have been using the Iconnectivity4+ which is USB smile.gif

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Apple began to phase out FireWire connectivity in 2012 on all Mac computers. With significant improvements to USB audio and the introduction of Thunderbolt, the performance and stability offered with FireWire audio interfaces has been surpassed. As a result, Apple has discontinued development and maintenance of their FireWire Core Audio driver for the new Mac OS X El Capitan. For this reason, we simply cannot ensure a stable/reliable experience for users of our FireWire audio interfaces who choose to upgrade to this new Mac OS release.
Due to the fact that Apple is no longer developing their FireWire Core Audio Driver, Apogee’s Duet FireWire and Ensemble FireWire will not be officially supported on OS X 10.11 El Capitan or any future Mac OS X release. While these products may work normally for some users, Apogee will not be able to provide technical support, troubleshooting or bug fixes for any software related issues you experience on OS X 10.11 El Capitan or higher. Please note, Apogee will continue to fully support our FireWire users who remain on Mac OS X 10.10 or below, just as we have done since the products were first introduce in 2006. In addition, we will continue to provide repair services for the hardware components as long as parts continue to be available.”




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Rammikin
Jan 13 2016, 01:13 AM
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fyi, that release is from Apogee, not from Apple. And, I recall some confusion when Apogee released that statement a few months ago. It's not clear if the fault lies with Apple or Apogee. AFAIK, no other audio interface makers have reported any firewire compatibility problems with El Capitan. I suspect you would get a very different story on this matter if you asked Apple about it smile.gif.

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Todd Simpson
Jan 14 2016, 07:47 AM
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Not trying to lay blame, just heads up for folks trying to use firewire on mac systems for audio. Apple is very big on proprietary stuff so thunderbolt and thunderbolt 2 are getting full support in EL CAPITAIN and USB is getting better support than ever. However, when folks plugged in their firewire audio Devices, many just stopped working. So it's worth considering if you are a mac guy and use firewire audio bits. Apple has not shown a bit drive to keep firewire audio going. Quite the contrary it seems. sad.gif

Here is a thread talking about the various problems on the mac forum. In short, make SURE your devices are supported BEFORE you upgrade to ANY operating system. Newer doesn't always mean better smile.gif I"ve seen many home studios get in to the upgrade quagmire.

https://discussions.apple.com/docs/DOC-8801

QUOTE (Rammikin @ Jan 12 2016, 07:13 PM) *
fyi, that release is from Apogee, not from Apple. And, I recall some confusion when Apogee released that statement a few months ago. It's not clear if the fault lies with Apple or Apogee. AFAIK, no other audio interface makers have reported any firewire compatibility problems with El Capitan. I suspect you would get a very different story on this matter if you asked Apple about it smile.gif.

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This post has been edited by Todd Simpson: Jan 14 2016, 07:53 AM
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Rammikin
Jan 14 2016, 11:24 PM
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I see, I think this is a simple misunderstanding. Aside from the core audio driver (which nobody except Apogee uses, and which works fine on 10.11 anyway), Apple has never been involved in firewire audio. In other words, "Apple is no longer actively developing the firewire core audio driver" should not be taken to mean firewire audio is no longer supported or is being phased out in OSX 10.11.

But, of course, your advice about exercising caution whenever contemplating an OS upgrade should be printed out and pasted on the walls of all studios smile.gif.

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Todd Simpson
Jan 15 2016, 11:17 AM
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There was a bit of a stumble as vendors tried to get their drivers certified this time and firewire users seemed the most impacted sad.gif Thankfully, many vendors are working on getting signed drivers as folks have wads invested in firewire based audio bits.

Longer term though I really do think able will eventually nix the firewire port entirely in favor of the proprietary thunderbolt 2 and upcoming 3 and usb. After Firewire800, development of the platform kind of just stopped. They kept going on thunderbolt though. So going forward, I'd suggest anyone thinking of a mac interface look to usb or thunderbolt over firewire IMHO, but time will tell smile.gif


QUOTE (Rammikin @ Jan 14 2016, 05:24 PM) *
I see, I think this is a simple misunderstanding. Aside from the core audio driver (which nobody except Apogee uses, and which works fine on 10.11 anyway), Apple has never been involved in firewire audio. In other words, "Apple is no longer actively developing the firewire core audio driver" should not be taken to mean firewire audio is no longer supported or is being phased out in OSX 10.11.

But, of course, your advice about exercising caution whenever contemplating an OS upgrade should be printed out and pasted on the walls of all studios smile.gif .

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This post has been edited by Todd Simpson: Jan 15 2016, 11:19 AM
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