• Registered: 2009-02-10
  • Posts: 8

Topic: Will firmware upgrade trash my 1.4 HDSP hardware? W7-64 bit compatible

Have an old multiface + HDSP / PCI hardware V1.4 and driver 2.94.

I was about to upgrade to latest V405 driver + new firmware when I noticed this ominous tidbit below.  Is this still as dangerous as it sounds?   

But I guess the first question should be , will this card  w/ 2.94 be  compatible on my new Win7 64 bit machine? 
I have 1 PCI slot in it and obviously prefer to avoid the high cost of the PCIe upgrade

----------
"Note for HDSP PCI Rev. < 1.8

!!! When the update fails (status: failure)
the flash process should be repeated several times, until no error message occurs anymore. If the failure message is
displayed nonetheless, the interface will most probably no longer work when the computer is switched off and on again.


The interface then has to be re-programmed at the factory !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

We have invested a lot of work to prevent the system from getting in this state. If it happens despite our efforts, the
best advice we can give is to not switch off the computer! As long as it is not switched off the old programming of the
PCI/CardBus interface will stay active, and you can continue to work with the system using the old drivers "

  • From: Germany
  • Registered: 2007-04-10
  • Posts: 9,547

Re: Will firmware upgrade trash my 1.4 HDSP hardware? W7-64 bit compatible

That "when" should be an "if"... Chances are small, but unfortunately, there is no way to determine whether or not a failure might occur.


Regards
Daniel Fuchs
RME

Regards
Daniel Fuchs
RME

RME Support's Website

  • Registered: 2009-02-10
  • Posts: 8

Re: Will firmware upgrade trash my 1.4 HDSP hardware? W7-64 bit compatible

Thanks for the very quick  response!  That's a little more reassuring..

If the problem did occur, is it pretty much assured that it can be reprogrammed at the factory ?
Where is the factory ?
Is there a fee, aside from shipping costs?


More importantly, will this card be compatible if I move it to the new WIN7 / 64 bit machine?  If the answer's no, then I will just leave it, as is, in the old machine for secondary use.  Its been good enough for quite a while.


Thanks again.

4 Reply by MC

  • MC
  • MC
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  • From: Germany/Thailand
  • Registered: 2007-04-06
  • Posts: 24,818

Re: Will firmware upgrade trash my 1.4 HDSP hardware? W7-64 bit compatible

The question is: where are you? Some of our distributors can even reprogram such cards themself. The bigger problem is the ExpressCard, which can not be reprogrammed without opening (and that means destroying) the case.

The point is not whether the card is compatible to Win7, of course it is, even to Win 8. But we don't know your computer hardware and therefore can not guarantee that it will work with it.

Also as you consider a new PCIe card 'high cost': be warned that the reprogramming is not for free, plus shipping costs...I have no number but it is not zero.

Regards
Matthias Carstens
RME

MC's Website

5 Reply by jeff_free69 (edited by jeff_free69 2015-02-03 02:17:23)

  • Registered: 2009-02-10
  • Posts: 8

Re: Will firmware upgrade trash my 1.4 HDSP hardware? W7-64 bit compatible

MC wrote:

The question is: where are you? Some of our distributors can even reprogram such cards themself. The bigger problem is the ExpressCard, which can not be reprogrammed without opening (and that means destroying) the case.

The point is not whether the card is compatible to Win7, of course it is, even to Win 8. But we don't know your computer hardware and therefore can not guarantee that it will work with it.

Also as you consider a new PCIe card 'high cost': be warned that the reprogramming is not for free, plus shipping costs...I have no number but it is not zero.


I am in US (NewYork).
My new Win7/64 system is Gigabyte Z87 UD4h / intel

Just figuring out the most viable options...

Is it accurate to say that at it's current state (2.94 ) the PCI card is not supported on win7 64 bit ? ( the download site has this under Windows 200/XP (32 Bit) , so that suggests is not..)


Also, I found yet another option for Version 3.085 , 05/09/2011 on the download site under Windows XP, XP64, Windows 7 32/64.      Obviously this is 64 bit compatible.   AND  it does not seem to contain the ominous FUT warning.   Does that mean it is really not an issue here / is it safer ?


Currently the PCIe card is $550 US.  I have to admit I got my money out of the initial investment.   But chances are if i upgrade that I'll also want to go for a MultiFaceII converter box for a total around $1400.  Unfortunately its not a no-brainer.

Thanks for your assistance!

6 Reply by MC

  • MC
  • MC
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  • From: Germany/Thailand
  • Registered: 2007-04-06
  • Posts: 24,818

Re: Will firmware upgrade trash my 1.4 HDSP hardware? W7-64 bit compatible

Drivers > 3.0 require a 'new' firmware (that change was in 2006 already) which enables a W7 mode in hardware. For more questions simply contact your local distributor, Synthax US.

Regards
Matthias Carstens
RME

MC's Website

7 Reply by omaudio (edited by omaudio 2015-02-14 21:26:54)

  • Registered: 2008-03-20
  • Posts: 6

Re: Will firmware upgrade trash my 1.4 HDSP hardware? W7-64 bit compatible

Mine works great- had to run fw updater a bunch of times which was odd- got further each time until it had a completed run.
http://www.rme-audio.de/forum/viewtopic … 29#p103729
C