I've been hot-plugging the M-Audio Firewire Audiophile, along with the MOTU 828 firewire device, along with firewire disk drives, iPods, etc. for many months. No problems, so far.

all I know is that when a company sends a mass email like that, something is going on

Hi Jammy,
That was a very good paper on possable causes of damage
when using FireWire periferals and Host Computer IEEE 1394 ports etc.

I have always noticed that under certain conditions like when
re-installing a a new driver update for the FW 410 or turing the the computer
on (after it has been been powered down) a loud low-mid frequency
spike would transmit through my powered speakers.
This always seemed inappropriate as I thought it may
blow out a speaker etc. It may have done just that as one speaker
did go bad but I can't for sure say it was the FW 410 device fault.

I never recieved an email about these conditions from M-AUDIO
that I can remember. I just got an email from M-AUDIO telling
me to contact them so we talk about all the scenarios involving the issue.
I will give them the URL to the white paper you sent as it may help them also. Would not USB be prone to the same problems and if not why so?

Thanks a million
Pete Carr

That must be a later manual as I don'ty see that warning in mine.
They just have posted this month text refering to this problem
on the M-AUDIO web site.
Thanks
Pete Carr

Hi Sky,
Well, I too used to do that before I got the
M-AUDIO FW 410 and also my new computer setup
which uses an ABIT KV8 MAX3 AM64 combo.
Maybe the ports in the KV8 may be playing a part also.
I don't know but plan to find out in a while.
Yes. you should and I want to also be able to plug in
a FW device without it blowing ports and devices.
Thanks
Pete Carr

James,
Yes Sir. That is the way it "should" work.
No worries no problems. Just Plug and Play.
I never dreamed. I will try to pull all of this together
when I talk with the M-AUDIO tech in just a little while.
Jammy's URL on the white paper may help
us find out what is going on here at my setup.
Thanks
Pete

Hello Pete,

Just read the paper on that link. Good stuff to be aware of. It makes me wonder if I've been lucky or if there are really certain hardware combinations that are prone to failure. For what it's worth I am currently running an ASUS A7N8X-X MOBO with a 3-port, TI based 1394 PCI card (don't recall the brand), an Addonics DVD/CD-RW and the FW-1884. Sometimes I hang a Maxtor firewire drive off the card too. All my devices have their own power supplies, but I have been using the 6-pin cables just because that's what came with everything. I tend to be on the go alot so things get connected and disconnected frequently. It would be a drag if I had to shut down all the time but that's what I'll do if it means saving gear. Guess I'll double check all the manuals that came with my stuff.

Pete, I noticed that you are running the 410 off the bus power. Is your camera the 4 or 6 pin connection? I'm guessing the smaller style 4-pin version which would seem to indicate it is the data lines that are getting blown on them and absolutely no chance of a reversed polarity situation. Does that sound correct?

just bumping this - Pete, were you ever able to speek to the folks at M-Audio about this?

ORIGINAL: pete carr

I have always noticed that under certain conditions like when
re-installing a a new driver update for the FW 410 or turing the the computer
on (after it has been been powered down) a loud low-mid frequency
spike would transmit through my powered speakers.
This always seemed inappropriate as I thought it may
blow out a speaker etc. It may have done just that as one speaker
did go bad but I can't for sure say it was the FW 410 device fault.

yeah, when I first power up I get a spike, and alll the meters of the 410 clip.. I've learned just to leave the speakers off for a minute after booting.. thankfully I haven't had any problems as of yet..

I didn't get an email either.. I'm glad that I never hotplugged.. it always seemed safer to me to just power down.. I never unhook it unless I'm reformatting anyway...

scary stuff..