Official Mackie Resource Guide
no .1
©2005 LOUD Technologies Inc. “Mackie.” and the “Running Man” are trademarks or registered trademarks of LOUD Technologies Inc. All Rights Reserved. Thanks Scotty, now can you beam my clothes down?
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9. Using Onyx or Digital X Bus with other FireWire Devices
If you plan on using Onyx or Digital X Bus with other host-based FireWire devices such as a
FireWire hard drive, it is very important that additional FireWire devices are connected to a
second FireWire card and not connected to the FireWire card being used by Onyx or DXB. Be
sure to check your Device Manager for IRQ conflicts when adding a second FireWire card. When using the
computers built-in FireWire, an additional FireWire card is still needed. Remember, Onyx or DXB should not
share its host FireWire card with other FireWire devices.
10. Using Spike or Link.USB with other USB Devices
If you are using Spike or LinkUSB (or other) with other USB devices such as a USB hard drive,
it is very important that the second USB device is connected to its own USB card and not
connected to the USB card being used by Spike or Link.USB. Be sure to check your Device
Manager for IRQ conflicts when adding a second USB card. When using the computers built-in USB – an
additional USB card is still needed. Remember, Spike or Link.USB should not share its host USB card with
other USB devices.
11. FireWire / USB Combo Cards
It is possible to run both firewire and USB together on a Combo card. However, due to resource
issues related to sharing, we do not recommend firewire/USB combo cards. If you need access
to both USB and firewire, and if your motherboard does not have any built-in options - simply
add a second dedicated card. As always, be sure to check for IRQ sharing when adding addi-
tional cards. Most USB/FireWire card manufacturers work fine though we do recommend
Adaptec as they are among the most experienced.
12. High Speed FireWire
There are currently two firewire specifications, FireWire-A (IEEE-1394a) – commonly known as
“FireWire-400” and the higher speed FireWire-B (IEEE-1394b) - “FireWire-800”. The IEEE-
1394b spec is relatively new and not widely used in the industry. Many, if not all FireWire-800
cards are backwards compatible with FireWire-400. However, because Onyx and DXB are currently supporting
the IEEE-1394a spec, and because some early FireWire-800 cards have had issues regarding backwards
compatibility – we recommend using only the FireWire-A (IEEE-1394a) - “FireWire-400” type card. If given the
choice, use Adaptec FireWire cards.
See page 10 for more on 1394a/1394b and Windows Service Pack 2.