Re: UFX / UC + USB C / Macbook Pro 2016

MC wrote:

We have a firmware update which should solve the USB 2 detection/recognition problems of Babyface, Fireface UC, UCX, UFX, UFX II and 802 with the latest Apple MacBooks. Please download here and try:

.../download/fut_usb_mac_142.zip

or

.../download/fut_ma … ac_142.zip

Note: this update ONLY addresses the problem that the interface is not recognized when the USB-C adapter is plugged into the MacBook while the interface is already connected to said adapter. It might also solve recognition issues after sleep, as they might have the same root cause, or when powering up with the adapter already plugged in.

Hi,

Here with macbook pro 2017 15" 2.9ghz radeom 560 + babyface(not the pro) with latest drivers(v3.03) firmware(v225) + Sierra 10.12.6 + CharJenPro USB-C 3.1 HUB/ADAPTER: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01MX … &psc=1

Still having issues when desconecting the usb 3.1 hub with babyface plugged. Same effect as reported earlier(Have to turn reboot by press touch button, touchbar doesn't work).

In order to make the HUB/babyface work I have to follow some steps.
- Hub has to be connected to power to mac power cable.
- Then i have to connect the hub(without the babyface) to computer first.
- Plug the babyface and it is recognized.

If I disconnect the babyface from the hub first and then the hub, the issue doesn't happen. But if the babyface is connected to the hub and I disconect the hub, the issue happens(touchbar stops working, etc).

Hope there is a fix soon either from apple or RME if required.

Will the same issue happen if I buy a cable usb 2.0 to 3.1?

Considering if the hub is making my workflow a lot harder than pluggin directly to macbook pro.

Thanks!
best,
PJ

52

Re: UFX / UC + USB C / Macbook Pro 2016

I clearly wrote that the fix is not about disconnecting. That kind of fix can only be coming from Apple via High Sierra updates.

Regards
Matthias Carstens
RME

Re: UFX / UC + USB C / Macbook Pro 2016

Hey,
I've got the same problem as pjimcal. If I have my Fireface UC connected to my MacBook Pro 2016 15 inch, and I turn it off, while it is working or I unplug the cable, while the interface is still one, my Touch Bar crashes and I have to do a hard reset of my Mac.

I'm running current Mac OSX and also the posted firmware on my rme device.

Does somebody know if there is a update from apple already which should help?

And: I also set up a clean installation on an external usb drive, to verify if the problem occurs there too. In fact if you use the system like this the interface won't be detected at all. The interface itself signals no red but also no green light regarding host.

After Christmas if there is time I will try a clean install on my Mac as well, but I think that won't help. I'm a little bit concerned how to solve this problems, because MC I think also wrote, that this doesn't happen with the Macs at rme headquarter.

Best Regards
Michael

54 (edited by Timur Born 2017-12-09 23:51:40)

Re: UFX / UC + USB C / Macbook Pro 2016

If the Touch Bar crashes from something as simple as unplugging a cable then I would point to Apple for having to take a look. It sounds like either a deeply rooted (Mac) OS problem or a firmware (EFI) issue. In the past I could make Macbooks freeze by simply touching them with an USB cable connected to a power-plugged device (aka anything that comes with its own power-supply). So it's not as if Macbooks are immune to such shenanigans.

That being said, the last High Sierra 10.13.2 update promises to "Improve(s) compatibility with certain third-party USB audio devices ". So if you did not try that one yet, it might be worth giving it a shot for your Touch Bar issue.

55 (edited by obsidianx 2017-12-15 06:24:14)

Re: UFX / UC + USB C / Macbook Pro 2016

Hey RME users.
Using 2016 MacBook Pro with touchbar (OS - 10.12.6) and USB-C. I have the issue of the touchbar failing when unplugging the Babyface Pro. Also, when I plug the BFPro back in it won’t show up. I must reboot the laptop to restore the touchbar and see the BFPro as connected. I’ve used other audio interface brands successfully without this issue. I will try installing OS 10.13, but hopefully all my music software is compatible with the upgrade.


UPDATE - It happens when I’m playing music through the BFPro, i.e. using it as the system audio route when playing iTunes, or audio interface in Ableton Live. If however I was just plugging in or unplugging whilst not in use it had no effect to the touchbar etc. Could it be the RME USB driver?

I read somebody else tried 10.13.2 with no success.

56

Re: UFX / UC + USB C / Macbook Pro 2016

No, it is not the RME driver.

Regards
Matthias Carstens
RME

57 (edited by obsidianx 2017-12-15 11:04:33)

Re: UFX / UC + USB C / Macbook Pro 2016

That is strange because I tested an Audient ID14 and Apogee One - whilst playing music through it, unplugged it, touchbar unaffected, reconnected the audio interface, and it shows in the Audio Midi setup panel as normal. Whereas when I do the same thing with the BFPro I encountered issues aforementioned.

MacBook Pro: 15" 2.9ghz i7, MacBookPro13,3
16GB RAM
Sierra 10.12.6

58 (edited by c0ff 2017-12-30 15:54:52)

Re: UFX / UC + USB C / Macbook Pro 2016

I also suffered from this and can report that High Sierra 10.13.2 fixes the issue.
My Fireface UC is now recognised after being replugged and after waking the MBP up.

MacBook Pro (15-inch, 2016) w/TouchBar

EDIT: Still crashes the TouchBar on disconnect sometimes. Attempt to reboot says Safari is not answering, Force Quit helps but the system freezes afterwards anyway.

Re: UFX / UC + USB C / Macbook Pro 2016

Hello,

I am a guest in the fabulous RME world, but have the same problem.

When unplugging my PioneerDJ DJM-900NXS2 mixer with its audio card from my 2016 Macbook Pro the Touch Bar crashes. When I use a Apogee Duet and unplug it, nothing happens.

I connect the DJM through a stock USB-B to USB-A cable and the Apple USB-A to USB-C adapter.

MacOS is 10.13.4.

Have you found a solution or the cause of the problem?

Re: UFX / UC + USB C / Macbook Pro 2016

Good news. The lates MacOS update (Sierra 10.13.3) solved the problem in my case. No more Touchbar crashes when disconnecting. I am still running RME USB driver v3.03 and Firmware v11

61

Re: UFX / UC + USB C / Macbook Pro 2016

The 'latest' version is 10.13.5. And we see zero change in the behaviour. I wonder if you have changed your setup to use the official workaround: insert a hub and remove the audio interface from said hub, or switching it off with hub in-between. Unplugging the hub with the audio interface connected will cause the same crash as with direct connection of the audio interface.

Regards
Matthias Carstens
RME

Re: UFX / UC + USB C / Macbook Pro 2016

That is interesting. No, I don't use this workaround. My Digiface is connected via a Apple USB-C Digital AV Multiport Adapter. Touchbar used to crash every single time unplugged the whole adapter incl. Digiface. Now it's not crashing any more.

I am not sure if this is related but I recently installed a bunch of virtual audio in/out applications such as Soundflower, Ace and Loopback. Could this have anything to do with it?

Re: UFX / UC + USB C / Macbook Pro 2016

Glad to see this thread, official workaround works for me (Post #61).

On 10.13.5, if I don't use the hub, switching off or disconnecting the RME from usb-c (via Apple USB-C adapter) causes the Touch Bar to crash and often disconnects a hard drive that was connected to the laptop on a separate USB-C.

Macbook Pro 15" 2017, High Sierra, RME UCX

64

Re: UFX / UC + USB C / Macbook Pro 2016

Plsmk wrote:

That is interesting. No, I don't use this workaround. My Digiface is connected via a Apple USB-C Digital AV Multiport Adapter. Touchbar used to crash every single time unplugged the whole adapter incl. Digiface. Now it's not crashing any more.

I am not sure if this is related but I recently installed a bunch of virtual audio in/out applications such as Soundflower, Ace and Loopback. Could this have anything to do with it?

Please note that the second reason (or requirement) for the crash is running audio. If you carefully stop all audio before unplugging there will be no crash of the Touchbar.

Regards
Matthias Carstens
RME

Re: UFX / UC + USB C / Macbook Pro 2016

MC wrote:

Please note that the second reason (or requirement) for the crash is running audio. If you carefully stop all audio before unplugging there will be no crash of the Touchbar.

In my case the behaviour is different. Touchbar used to crash when disconnecting USB C even if no audio was playing.

Now Touchbar does not crash any more when disconnecting USB C even if audio is playing. I just double checked again.

Re: UFX / UC + USB C / Macbook Pro 2016

I'm having the same issues as others in this thread and incredibly disappointed.  I've just purchased the Fireface UC after extensive research and reports that RME were supposedly solid with their Mac drivers.

I'm getting these freezing crashes nearly always when disconnecting the UC. No matter wether there is audio playing through the interface or not. I'm on the latest version of High Sierra to date, 10.13.6 (17G3025), and  my Fireface UC is connected to a 2017 Macbook Pro 15" via USB-B to USB-C cable,  running firmware v136 and driver v3.10

It's easily reproducible, and nothing I experience at any other time with the computer or with any other audio interface from Focusrite or others.   When I disconnect the UC, the Touch Bar immediately crashes and the machine becomes unstable. Many actions start to hang, and attempting to shut down the machine is impossible as it stops at a black screen with a cursor.  I have to hard reboot the machine. 

Here's a few lines from my Console at the moment of the disconnect: https://cl.ly/e487ee223d2e

I'm thinking I'm going to have to return this hardware, as much as I love it when it works. This is entirely unworkable and no audio interface should freeze up the computer it's connected to under any circumstance.

Re: UFX / UC + USB C / Macbook Pro 2016

Been doing some further testing:

1. Switching the Mac's Output Device back to Internal Speakers before disconnecting avoids the issue.
2. Putting a USB hub between the Mac and the UC, and disconnecting the UC from the hub (without disconnecting the hub from the Mac), also avoids the issue.

Reading back in the thread helped me discover these workarounds, but it's still disappointing that hot disconnects when directly connected to the UC are not possible, as this is a solved issue with Focusrite hardware.  Simply blaming Apple for the issue feels incorrect and misguided. If you're writing low level kexts to my machine, they better be well written and cover all scenarios.

68

Re: UFX / UC + USB C / Macbook Pro 2016

AFAIK all Focusrite interfaces use Class Compliant drivers, which - as reported here - does not show that issue. Because Apple has a different internal access to the OS than we have with our drivers.

> as this is a solved issue with Focusrite hardware

I would like to know when this was a problem with Focusrite devices and when and how it got solved.

Regards
Matthias Carstens
RME

Re: UFX / UC + USB C / Macbook Pro 2016

I've been reading more about this and seeing reports of this issue across many hardware providers. 

Can you help me understand why RME cannot use or supply Class Compliant drivers for their hardware?

70

Re: UFX / UC + USB C / Macbook Pro 2016

No one supplies such drivers - they are part of the OS. One needs to make the hardware CC compatible, which is the case (now) with many RME products, but not the UC. Also note that CC always means higher latency, and therefore usually is not the sound engineers wet dream...

Regards
Matthias Carstens
RME