Some old Focusrite interfaces are not supported anymore for drivers.

[miyaru]

Yesterday after an update from Windows 10 pro, my Focusrite Saffire Pro 40 stopt working decently. It is an old firewire based interface which worked perfectly for me. Now it changes samplerate every second or does not lock at all, sometimes it does at 32 bit/96 Khz and then unlocks again.......

Some googling learned me, it is not supported anymore as are some other older interfaces. So if you have an older Focusrite interface going crazy, first check if it is still supported before you get yourself into a lot of faultfinding and checking things!

I was lucky in a way, support stopped at Win 10 -1903 and it kept working way into 1909 updates, but now it's gone.

I have now ordered a new Focusrite: a Scarlett 18i20 3rd gen USB-C interface, so I can use it for several years to come. But still it is kind of a waiste that my old interface is fine but stops working for this software reasons........

Just to let you know......

 

[pcrecord]

That's weird.. a few weeks ago I used a 8i8 first gen on Win10 pro X64..
It was ok.. Also I did tests with my old Liquid saffire 56 and it was ok too..

Humm The Saffire pro didn't support 32bit ? Does it ?

 

[miyaru]

No not afaik, but it keeps saying it is in that mode.......

Some interfaces seem to work, others don't, there is alot of confusion about it......

I don't want to spend my days trying to get it to work again, so I ordered the newest Scarlett 18i20 3rd gen. If everyything goes right, I will get it tommorow.

 

[pcrecord]

I hear you.. When we need it to work it's right now !
I chose RME for this reason, they are very good with drivers.

Gen 3 premps and converter ares said to be better, may be you can assess that after you work with it for a while..
Sad for the old unit, If you figure it out, the old one could be a backup unit.. Or you can sell it

 

[miyaru]

For backup and sale it is to unreliable........ Don't know yet what to do with it.......

 

[Kurt Foster]

For backup and sale it is to unreliable........ Don't know yet what to do with it.......

batting practice? ....... doorstop .......

 

[kmetal]

This is really annnoying. You could always roll back to the earlier w10 version. Its possible the interface has a standalone mode, so you could use it for its i/o connected to the new inteface. Might be good use for the digital connections. You could also try asio4all universal driver, which doesn't have great latency spec but might work well enough.

Maybe if people make enough noise about this focusrite will add support.

 

[Kurt Foster]

there ought to be a law.

 

[Kurt Foster]

I have now ordered a new Focusrite: a Scarlett 18i20 3rd gen USB-C interface, so I can use it for several years to come. But still it is kind of a waiste that my old interface is fine but stops working for this software reasons........

as long as you depend on a computer to record audio you will be forced to go through the same cycle. it reminds me of the definition of insanity. there has to be a better way.

 

[kmetal]

as long as you depend on a computer to record audio you will be forced to go through the same cycle. it reminds me of the definition of insanity. there has to be a better way.

I agree there has to be a better way. Its important to note tho that this was the result of an OS update. I think they can do a better job with legacy support, but the update is optional for w10 pro (generally speaking). There's still a lot of computer systems running Windows xp in the buisness world. So a computer system can last nearly 2 decades. My power supplies were around 100 bucks, and have a 10 year warranty, my Ram, lifetime warranty.

Again i hate the obsolescence thing, but given its our world right now, we really have to be more responsible as equipment owners to backup our data, and dilligently save OS install versions, and especially drivers, so we can keep legacy systems running. Most of the issues are on the software side, not the actual computer hardware. This is infuriating on one hand since its just code, on the other hand if your software is backed up and organized, its good that hardware will run it for a long while, at least up to this point.

Ive incorporated a basic laptop as a buffer for software updates so i can evaluate them before updating the main system.

The software subscription model is awful imho, and the exact opposite of what audio engineer's need, which is a set and forget system. Incremental upgrades are asking for problems. Especially in the OS, which rarely makes any audio centric improvements. Its mostly security updates relavant for general use. Windows is however currently setting the framework for midi 2.0, which is amazing, since midi 1 has been relavant since what 1980?

 

[Kurt Foster]

Its important to note tho that this was the result of an OS update

exactly. and there's no way to avoid it. even if you can control automatic up dates, there still comes a point where you get stuck. if you want the new bells and whistles to stay current you have to update the OS at some point. professional applications like making records have become tied to consumer products that are designed to become obsolete.

 

[miyaru]

I am going to write an Email to Focusrite. It is not normal to scrap good working devices. We have to think about the enviroment too, about nature and resources...... It is not only making money!!!!

 

[pcrecord]

as long as you depend on a computer to record audio you will be forced to go through the same cycle. it reminds me of the definition of insanity. there has to be a better way.

That's sad, but true..

That's why I chose RME, my Fireface 800 is still rock solid while being made in 2004. RME drivers are the best !!

 

[kmetal]

Gs has i long running Windows 10 thread which i have been following for a while. I posted miyaru's situation to alert people. I got a response from Pete, who is involved with Microsoft.

I included my post and his response. Hopefully this helps.


---Quote (Originally by Kyle P. Gushue)---
A word of caution, the latest update of w10 pro, has caused an incompatibility issue with focusrite saffire 40 firewire interface drivers on a buddy's system, rendering it unusable. Not sure if Win of Focusrite has any plans to address it, but figured i would air out the information in case its relavant to anyone here.
---End Quote---
Are they using the legacy firewire driver? If so, it may have been replaced by the newer driver, which is better for everything other than audio.

Also, reinstall the Focusrite drivers.

Pete

 

[kmetal]

The OP on the thread seems to have found at least a tempory solution. Here is their post.


__________
Hi Pete,

thanks, that's a lot! Knowing you are aware of this sometimes happening is quite reassuring. I will post as much details as I can later tomorrow, I have to compile them down in a reasonably formatted e-mail. Being a software engineer myself, I hope to be able to provide some valid information to help track this down.

Meanwhile, I got the issue... I won't say resolved, but surprisingly mitigated, after many trials and errors. Let's see for how long!

I did use legacy 1394 driver before with little success, as my Saffire when powered on with the legacy driver were outputting some weird and disconcerting noise I didn't want to experience. After that, my system was always running on Texas Instruments 1394 OHCI Compliant 10.0.18362.1 - before updating to 1909, and afterwards.

But! According to your recommendation, I tried installing the legacy one again. I did so, removed Focusrite drivers, and did a clean install of Firewire drivers and most up-to-date Focusrite drivers. What happened was the good old noise in the speakers, so I was bummed. Then, I re-did the procedure, but with Texas Instruments driver for the Firewire controller, again re-installing Focusrite drivers as well.

And... the issue is not happening, at least for now! So, basically, I went to Legacy driver and then back to the "normal" up to date one, alleviating the problem.

@ Kyle P. Gushue - maybe this is something that might help your friend too?

I'll keep you posted if the fix will be stable and persistent or is it a stroke of luck for now. Let's see what happens after 2004.

Meanwhile, I'll compile what I know for Pete.


Thanks everyone,
M.

 

[miyaru]

Also tried the legacy trick, but no succes. I want to make music, and not be in fear when my interface will give me trouble. I replaced it yesterday, and the new one does it better!!!!

Thanx for thinking with me!!!! I really apriciate it guys!!!!!

 

[Andreaux]

I just would like to join the bandwagon... My Saffire 24 Pro is dead if I let windows update to 20H2. Focusrite says it will not be supported anymore... which is BS since they don't offer any decent alternative in this price range. I need an interface with 6 TRS line outputs, which the Saffire 24 Pro offers and no other device from Focusrite in this product class offers (( This is a shame.
Any suggestion guys on what interface to go for that would offer at least 6 balanced TRS line outputs?

 

[Andreaux]

Also, if anyone has any clue on what is causing this in the new update, maybe we can think of a workaround... Has anyone run into any log entry that could shed some light? I honestly have no clue