mine gets disconnect messages too. I wonder if it is because SONAR is the only DAW to start and stop ASIO processing.

...so bizarre.  Is this a RME thing then?  I just tried a demo install of PreSonus StudioOne 2.6 and it hung up too...no pop-up error message but kinda the same thing that it was doing in Sonar.  
 
RME's drivers have been so bullet proof - what is gong on here?  So annoying.
 
I just put a project I've been working on a 10 second loop or so and it only made it about 5 minutes before hanging up and popping the error message after a fresh reboot.  This is ridiculous.  I was working on something last night and this ruined about 4 takes I was doing because it would hang right in the middle of one and I'd have to start over.
 
I've tried clicking all kinds of different options, changing clock back to the RME, changing sample sizes, I'm out of ideas...
 
But this is unacceptable.  Maybe I'll call RME tomorrow...

Usb devices have a power saving setting that needs to be disabled. I think under advanced power options you can find a usb item. Choosing the highest power setting usually does the trick.

Do you know what I'm talking about? I can give you click by click inductions in you don't.

The Band19
Well this is scary. I have a FF800 and have been looking to upgrade to X? This makes me think twice.

I don't think this is an "X" thing - I had weird problems when using another DAW software tonight too.  Not sure what permutation of stuff I have going on that is causing this but to say it's f'ing annoying is an understatement.

> I wonder if it is because SONAR is the only DAW to start and stop ASIO processing.
 
Nope because other peoples interfaces are working perfectly fine.. Seems to be yet another RME issue... call me Sherlock but a pattern seems to be forming here. But maintaining an open mind right now (trying really really hard!)
 
> The RME drivers are up to date (new version posted just last week).

How about uninstalling the drivers, rebooting and reinstalling the drivers.
Also if you roll back to the previous driver will the problem persist?
Also try Preferences -> Project -> Record -> Allow Arm Changes During Playback/Record = Untick.
Also please make sure Windows update is up to date (run it several times).
And is your power management on "High performance"?
What is your windows firewire driver? (and chipset).
 
RME users please post your driver versions whether it's working or not so we can compare!
 
 
Thanks...

Hi,
I have an RME UFX and used to get this exact message a while back with an older RME driver and Sonar X1.  In my situation, the symptom would occur in 3 situations:
1. When switching from one ASIO application to another.  For example, if I was using BFD2 or any other ASIO application in standalone mode, then closed that out and started up another ASIO application, such as Waves GTR in standaloe mode or Sonar.  It would occur whether the two apps had the same or different default sample rates configured.
2. When the sample rate of the project didn't match my default sample rates in Sonar.
3. When changing sample rates in a program or within a project within Sonar.
 
After speaking with both Cake and RME about the issue - they informed me it was the result of the driver not being 'released' properly when a program was closing (so another program opened afterward couldn't open the driver properly, as  in #1 above), or when sample rates were being reset (as experienced in #2 and 3 above). 
 
Assuming your sample rates are set the same in Sonar and the RME Driver interface sofware - it may be the RME driver issue.  If nobody else is having similar issues with the same version you're running, maybe try reinstalling it - or downgrading to a previous version.  I'm not home right now - so can't tell you what version I'm running - but I last upgraded my RME driver about 2-3 months ago and it's been running perfectly stable, so maybe just downgrading to the previous version will help you.  I shoudl also mention I'm currently running my UFX via USB2, but was running it via Firewire previously when experiencing the issue.  I don't believe I've ever experienced the issue when running via USB, but can't be sure, as it was a long time ago.  I switched to USB at RME's recommendation. 
 
Hope that helps.
Russ
 

...yeah I'm not sure what to do at this point.  I didn't have any problems with X1 although I was on Windows 7 then but I don't think Windows 8 is the problem.  Basically, similar setup just a faster CPU with more RAM - same TI chipped PCI Firewire card I've been using since I bought the FF800 and never had a single driver hiccup until now.
 
I thought about maybe going back to Win7 but I see someone else on the thread having the same problem but he's running on Win7.  I'm using X3d, the very latest RME driver (it was doing it already with the previous version which is what prompted me to go out and look for a newer driver and found the one from the last week in Feb).
 
I guess when I get a few minutes I'll try and call RME and see what they say.  I really don't want to switch to USB (not even sure I can with the FF800) - seems completely senseless to do something like that.  I'm at a loss - I'll try the allow/arm changes checkbox and see if that works...
 
I am not trying to switch between other apps/programs that use the ASIO interface.  Sonar is the only thing I'm using there so I can't see how that could be the issue either.
 
Pretty damn frustrating to be sitting on over $15k worth of hardware/software and have some weird anomoly issue like this popping up after running Sonar/RME for over 6 years on 3 different hardware platforms without a glitch.

I posted this issue on the RME forum last night. Feel free to logon there and chime in. I seriously doubt that it is a firewire vs. USB issue since it happens on both types of protocols.

fwiw - I used to have a FF800 w/FW and started getting these messages in the X series of SONAR. Never seen them in 8.5 or I don't remember seeing them.

OK, went through this myself a year ago. I tried everything. Finally I gave up and bought an Octacapture to replace it. THEN when I pulled out the firewire cable I heard something fall off inside the computer. When I looked inside, I noticed that the connector had fallen off of the Firewire board! All along, this was caused by a bad connection! There were two connectors on the back, so I used the other one and haven't had a problem since.

choinga
I checked the TI Chipset driver and it just shows the standard Windows Driver (never seen an update for this available as even an optional update on WU) from 6/21/2006.  Version is 6.3.9600.16384.  I tried using the 'update driver' from the device manager and letting is search WU and it came back with "you have the latest driver...".  So, not sure that there's anything new on that front.
 
My TI Firewire card is a PCI variant that I bought a few years back with my RME FF800 after doing the research.  I've been using it for years now and this is my 3rd PC/hardware upgrade and the first time I've had any problem like this.  Never can say it's definitely NOT something...but have a hard time believing it's the Firewire card...

Still worth checking if there may be a firmware update, and the same with your motherboards bios and chipset drivers I suggest.
Do you know what the specific make/model your card and motherboard is and what the BIOS/firmware version are etc?
I do this from the point of view of completeness, i.e. you need to rule everything out.
 
Also please make sure Windows update is up to date (run it several times).
And is your windows power management on "High performance" (or off).
 
Ta

it was all jacked up - didn't even show up in the device manager to do anything with it.  Yet, showed up in add/remove and was unable to remove and reinstalling didn't actual install anything.
 
Luckily my PC is fast and 8.1 installs fast too - going to start over and see if that fixes it...although I'm thinking probably not.

well, as I expected after a complete rebuild (including updating my MSI M/B BIOS in the process), full windows update, Sonar X3 install + all updates to X3d...still get the audio dropout.
 
Only difference now is that I get the green Sonar error (kinda looks like when it's doing the VST scan) but it says AUDIO DROPOUT error.  After I clear that then the message I detailed in my original post shows up.  Clicking NO lags it for a bit then the transport comes back and I'm able to record/play again.
 
For what it's worth the message that comes up is exactly the same message that pops up if I intentionally disconnect the FW cable from the FF800 or the PC.  So, it seems something is happening somewhere.  The fact that several of us seem to be experiencing this leads me to believe that we probably all don't have faulty FW cables or cards. :)
 
ARGH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I have gotten that error with my RME FF800 using FW and with my RME UFX using USB. I think Cakewalk needs to get with RME again and see if they can hash this thing out.

mudgel
Do any of you experiencing this problem have Windows set to use your RME device? I explicitly have my onboard audio set for Windows use exclusively, a decoy if you will. That way Windows will never grab the RME driver and trigger sample rate mismatches or audio dropouts.
 
Also do you have Sonar set to "share drivers with other programs"?

same here - have a on-board audio that handles 'windows' stuff.  And yes, I have SONAR set to not share so that's what strange about hearing folks hypothesize about something else grabbing the RME while the SONAR transport is running.