Did MOTU change the name of the I/O's as reported to SONAR? I think that might be what confuses SONAR sometimes... 

jbraner
Hi Rob,
No word from MOTU. They were really good last time when we had those connection issues, but this time there is no word.
This new driver works really well, when it's "working". I'm easily running at lower latencies and there's no crackling etc. It just seems that sometimes SONAR isn't quite happy "introducing itself" to the Ultralite AVB. Once I go to the browser, and change the settings (and then maybe change them back) then it's fine :-\ 

They are still good - just might be a bit busy at times. I had several conversations with them recently via techlinks (e.g. regarding firmware upgrades or problems which were actually cause by another USB device interfering) and they always answered, at least within a few days.
 
BTW, are you on the #1703 Creators update already? Do you have other devices on the same USB root hub? Because that combination (#1703 plus A-PRO MIDI controller on same USB root) caused strange behavior i.e. I could not change the settings on the MOTU webUI (it just would not accept them and always stick to what was there) until I took the A-PRO off and all worked as before. Forcing a reinstall of the A-PRO then fixed it ...

jbraner
Did MOTU change the name of the I/O's as reported to SONAR? I think that might be what confuses SONAR sometimes... 

It has always been like this if you had "use friendly names" unchecked in Sonar.
 
I like that feature a lot as you can rename the audio channel inside the MOTU routing matrix to what is physically connected (e.g. name of pre-amp or mic) and when you start Sonar it will have the name of the device showing in the input/output drop list, which makes Sonar routing much easier in case of 20+ inputs ...
 
It should not confuse Sonar as it seems to remember/address the channels by sequence, so unless you do not disable a bunch on inputs/outputs (e.g. guitar direct in) the routing will be preserved and just the labels change.

Hi Rob,
 
We'll see if they get back to me. I'm not sharing the USB port with anything else, so that's good. Also - yeah, I'm on the creators update now.
 
I was just wondering about the port names. I always use "friendly names" but every once in a while, with the interface up and running, I'll load SONAR (or open a new file in SONAR) and it tells me something like "I can't connect to that device, but I'll connect to this one - OK?" Mreanwhile - the Ultralite AVB is the only device it has ever connected to (in the last couple of years anyway)

Well, I'm in touch with MOTU, so we'll see what happens. It's like SONAR just needs to be "re acquainted" with the interface sometimes (for no good reason).

So I just  got my Ultralite AVB today.  Some observations that could help others with set up.
 
First, the driver that the "Big Blue Driver and Software Download Button" installs is NOT the latest version.  It is the version released in March (even though right below the button it indicates the latest version.)  The latest firmware "almost" works with that driver version.  There is some minor clicking and popping when playing YouTube and very noticeable distortion in Sonar.
 
In trying to fix that problem, I began to encounter other issues.  After loading the new driver and rebooting the computer with the unit on, I encounter a freeze going into Sonar and severe stuttering from Youtube (which actually continued after shutting down Chrome.)  I had to turn the unit off.  The computer also booted very slowly and was sluggish.  I was also having trouble connecting to the unit through the WebUI.  I would have to power the unit off and back on to get it to connect and it even dropped the connection once.  I have the unit connected to a USB PCI card (or PCIe - not sure which) which also had my keyboard controller and MPD18 controller connected through it.  I unplugged those other two devices, but that did not fix the issue.
 
Finally I moved to a different USB port which seemed to fix the issue.  I am not sure if the unit does not like USB -> PCIe cards, or the card is going bad, but this seems to work.
 
So the TL;DR version:
1) Make sure you have the latest driver its 4.0.7.2823.  The file name on the installer will reference 4.0 (782321) in the file name.
2) Power up the unit AFTER powering up the computer
3) Try a USB port that is not routed through PCI or PCIe card.

Hi Dave,
 
It's good to hear from a fellow AVB user ;-)
 

So the TL;DR version:
1) Make sure you have the latest driver its 4.0.7.2823.  The file name on the installer will reference 4.0 (782321) in the file name.

Rob already warned us about this - earlier in the thread.
 

2) Power up the unit AFTER powering up the computer

You shouldn't have to worry about this, once you're up and running (see #3)
 

3) Try a USB port that is not routed through PCI or PCIe card.

Jim Roseberry has warned about this in other threads. Also, on gearslutz there has been some conversation about people having problems (or not) with certain USB3 ports on certain motherboards.
I think it's always safe to say:
- try the mobo Intel USB ports first
- if USB3 ports cause a problem - try USB 2 (there's plenty of bandwidth on a USB2 port)
- try asmedia (mobo) ports next
- try PCI(e) USB ports last. You can always move your keyboard or mouse or printer etc to the PCI ports if you need to free up a mobo one.
 
hth
 

Thanks jbraner. I was trying the obvious things before I went to this thread to troubleshoot.  When I got it working, I just came here to post what I did.  If I had read the thread before I started, it might have saved me some time.  I somehow missed Jim's comments in the other thread about USB -> PCI card issue, but it worked out.
 
I actually am using USB2 ports (in both scenarios.)
 
Oh, and updating the firmware was a breeze.  Although, I was hoping I could do it through the USB connection, it wasn't a big deal to connect it to my network (unplug the cat 5 from my studio computer).  I did have to install the Motu software on a laptop with wifi, though to be able to talk to it.

Well, it's good that there are a few of us on this forum now - to look after each other ;-)

So, you're up and running OK now?

As far as playback is concerned - yes.  I didn't have a chance to record anything or check midi and stuff like that (don't have a midi keyboard that is compatible with General midi that needs midi in.)
 
It also nice that you can access the internal software on the unit through the ASIO panel in Sonar.  I still have to figure out routing and stuff like that, too.  Trying to decide how to route to headphones - do it in Sonar through a patch point or through the Motu mixer.
 
I suspect I will now need to redo my templates, too.  Lots of fun ahead.