Symphony I/O: Troubleshooting

Symptom: Symphony I/O does not show up in Maestro or properly function when connected to Symphony 64 | ThunderBridge Solution: There are a number of logical and easily correctable causes for this.  Please examine the following steps:

1. Confirm that you have both the latest firmware and software installed.
2. Verify that the PC-32 cable is properly connected from the main port on the back of Symphony I/O to the first port on Symphony 64 | ThunderBridge.
3. Confirm that the Symphony I/O is set to "Symphony" AIM mode.  To verify, push in and hold on the right-side front-panel encoder. This will bring you to the AIM selection menu. If its not already selected, scroll to Symphony and then push in on the right-side encoder to select and the unit will restart.
4. Make sure you have selected the correct “Source” setting in Audio MIDI Setup.
1. Open “Audio MIDI Setup” (Applications > Utilities > Audio MIDI Setup) and select Symphony64 on the left-side device column.
2. Go to the “Source” drop-down menu in the main part of the Audio MIDI Setup window and set it for the appropriate port selection. If you’re using only 1 Symphony I/O, set it for “PCI Card 1, Port 1 (Chs 1-32)”. If you’re using 2 SymI/O’s, set it for “PCI Card 1, Port 1-2 (Chs 1-64)”. After changing Source selection, quit Audio MIDI Setup and restart the computer.

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• Open Maestro 2 (found in your Mac's application folder) and click on the “Apogee Maestro 2″ menu in the upper left-hand corner of the desktop menu bar
• select “About Maestro 2″. This will bring up a window showing you which version you have installed (see example below)

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Overview This Tech Bulletin shows you how to replace Symphony I/O’s Main board or power supply after you’ve determined that they’re faulty.  

Remove/Replace the Power Supply

Even if you’re replacing the Main board, you should remove the power supply in order to more easily maneuver the Main board.

• Disconnect the following cables (indicated in yellow in figure 1) from the power supply:
• The cable between the rear panel AC inlet and the power supply
• The yellow and black cable to the Main board
• The red and black cable to the Main board.
• Disconnect the Main to Display cable at both ends and remove - it makes removal of the power supply much easier.
• Unscrew the four screws at each corner of the power supply (indicated in red in figure 1) and set them aside.
• Gently lift the power supply out of the Symphony I/O chassis.

Figure 1   If you’re replacing the power supply, continue with these steps; if you’re replacing the Main board, skip to Replacing the Main board

• Drop in the replacement power supply so that its four mounting hole line up with the four PEM nuts in the Symphony IO chassis bottom.
• Re-install the four roundhead screws.
• Re-connect the AC inlet cable, the 2 Main board cables, the Main to headphone cable and the Main to Display cable.

   

Replacing the Main board

  Before Starting Note that the Main board and the rear panel fan insert are connected as one unit. We suggest that you remove the Main board and rear panel insert together, then connect the new Main board to the original rear panel insert.   Steps

• Remove the power supply as described on page 1.
• Disconnect 64-pin ribbon cables to the IO Module(s). Disconnect the headphone cable. Cables are indicated in yellow in Figure 2.
• Unscrew the 8 roundhead screws indicated in red in Figure 2.

  Figure 2

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Symptom: Error on launch of Pro Tools 9: ''Pro Tools could not initialize the current playback device. Please make sure that the device has been configured correctly.'' [381131] Resolution: This could be an issue with the Current Engine setting in the Pro Tools Playback Engine. This has been resolved in some scenarios by picking a different Playback Engine:

• Launch Pro Tools 9
• When the splash screen appears on the screen, hold down the "n" key on your keyboard, which will eventually open the Playback Engine dialog for Pro Tools.
• At the top of this window, you will see the 'Current Engine' drop-down menu.
• Choose a different Engine (such as Pro Tools Aggregate I/O)
• Click OK.
• This should allow Pro Tools to launch.

If the solution above fails, you can try deleting the "com.apple.audio.AggregateDevices.plist" preference on Mac OS X. You can find this preference file in the following location: Macintosh HD > Library > Preferences

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Overview This Tech Bulletin shows you how to resolve issues when Symphony I/O doesn't appear to power on. Reported Symptoms Reported symptoms include:

• When the AC cable is connected to Symphony I/O, the front panel "A" logo doesn't light up.
• When the AC cable is connected to Symphony I/O, the front panel "A" logo lights up, but pressing the power switch doesn't power on the unit. Also, the front panel OLED may be blank or display Firmware Update Mode.

  Resolving Power On Issues Power on issues can usually be resolved by checking for these four conditions:

• Unfinished firmware update
• Improperly seated cables
• Faulty power supply
• Shorted circuit board

  Use the Front Panel “A” to Troubleshoot When the Symphony I/O is working properly, the front panel “A” logo will light as soon as AC is connected to the rear panel AC inlet - it’s not necessary to power on the unit. If AC is connected and the “A” logo doesn’t light, this provides important clues for troubleshooting, described below.  

Unfinished Firmware Update

If, during a firmware update, Symphony I/O loses power or the USB connection is interrupted, the unit will power on directly in firmware update mode. In this case, the “A” logo lights and Firmware Update Mode may be displayed on the front panel OLED, or the OLED may be blank. This issue may be simply resolved by connecting Symphony I/O to the Mac and using the firmware updater to re-load the firmware. Please see Updating Symphony I/O Software, included in the Symphony I/O Release 4.2 download.

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Overview This Tech Bulletin shows you how to resolve issues that may occur due to an improperly installed or faulty internal 64-pin I/O Module ribbon cable.   Reported Symptoms When an I/O Module ribbon cable has become defective, users report one or more of the following symptoms:

• Random “spikes” observed on the front panel meters or on Maestro Input meters.
• Clicks, pops or distortion present in the audio signal even when the audio software buffer is set high.
• The audio signal becomes distorted over time.

Testing the IO Module Ribbon Cable To test the IO Module ribbon cable, follow these steps. DO NOT PERFORM THIS TEST with A 16 x 16 Analog Input/Analog Output module, damage to the I/O Module may result.

1. Unplug the AC cable and remove Symphony I/O’s top panel.
2. Re-seat both ends of the 64-pin ribbon cable (location shown below).
3. Re-connect the AC cable, then connect Symphony I/O’s USB port to a Mac. Power the unit on.
4. Press and hold the right encoder to set Symphony I/O to USB audio interface mode. Open Maestro,click on the Input tab and adjust the window to see all meters.
5. Lightly manipulate the 64-pin ribbon cable that connects the I/O Module to the Main board, looking for spurious meter spikes on the front panel and in Maestro. If two I/O Modules are installed, test each cable.
6. If any spurious signals are observed, replace the ribbon cable with an Apogee-approved cable.
7. Please see the Apogee Tech Bulletin video entitled “Symphony I/O Ribbon Cable Troubleshooting” for an example of a faulty ribbon cable.

     

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Symptom: Optical I/O does not work with Symphony I/O Solution: There are a number of logical and easily correctable causes for this.  Please examine the following steps -

• Open Maestro and go to the "Device Settings" tab and confirm that the "Optical Format" drop-down menu is set to the correct format.
• Make sure that both SymphonyI/O and any digital device are set to the same sample-rate and that one is clocked to the other.
• Toggle sample-rate back & forth
• Reload audio driver in software (for example- in Logic, go to audio preferences, make a change and click "Apply Changes").
• wiggle optical cables and try different optical cables

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Symptom: Symphony I/O does not show up in Maestro 2 Solution: There are a number of logical and easily correctable causes for this.  Please examine the following steps -

• Confirm that you have both the latest firmware and software installed.
• Quit Maestro. Confirm that you have everything plugged in properly- plug in the Apogee USB cable directly to your computer (don't use a hub). If you're using the unit in Symphony AIM (with a Sym64 or Mobile card), make sure you have a PC-32 cable going from the main port on the back of the unit to the appropriate port on the PCIe card. If you're using the unit in ProTools HD AIM (with a ProTools HD Core, Accel, HDX, or HD-Native card), make sure you have a PC-32 ("Digilink") cable going from the main port on the back of the unit to the appropriate port on the PCIe card.
• Confirm that the SymphonyI/O is in the correct AIM and configured properly. Make sure that you've quit all audio apps and that the SymI/O is powered up. Push in and hold on the right-side front-panel encoder. This will bring you to the AIM selection menu. Scroll to whichever AIM you're trying to use and then push in on the right-side encoder to select the AIM and the SymI/O will powercycle itself and restart in the chosen AIM.
• If you're in Symphony AIM, make sure you have selected the correct "Source" setting in Audio MIDI Setup- Open "Audio MIDI Setup" (Applications > Utilities > Audio MIDI Setup) and select Symphony64 on the left-side device column. Make sure that "Symphony64" is set for your computer's default input/output- do this by clicking on the drop-down menu with the "gear" icon on the bottom of the device column and select both "Use this device for sound input" and "Use this device for sound output"… once they're selected, you should see the "speaker" and "microphone" icons next to "Symphony64" in the device column. Now, go to the "Source" drop-down menu in the main part of the Audio MIDI Setup window and set it for the appropriate port selection. If you're using only 1 SymI/O, set it for "PCI Card 1, Port 1 (Chs 1-32)". If you're using 2 SymI/O's, set it for "PCI Card 1, Port 1-2 (Chs 1-64)". After changing Source selection, quit Audio MIDI Setup and restart the computer.
• try hotplugging the USB cable and using a different USB port
• restart the computer

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Symptom: Symphony I/O is not showing up as a USB Audio Device Solution: There are a number of logical and easily correctable causes for this.  Please examine the following steps -

• Are you in the correct AIM (Audio Interface Mode)? Confirm that the SymphonyI/O is in USB AIM and configured properly. Make sure that you've quit all audio apps and that the SymI/O is powered up. Push in and hold on the right-side front-panel encoder. This will bring you to the AIM selection menu. Scroll to whichever AIM you're trying to use and then push in on the right-side encoder to select the AIM and the SymI/O will powecycle itself and restart in the chosen AIM.
• Make sure the SymphonyI/O is plugged directly into a USB port of your computer using the Apogee USB cable. If it already is, try unplugging the cable and plugging it in to another port. Wait for the exclamation mark (!) icon to disappear from the front-panel (this means the unit is configured properly). If the "!" icon doesn't go away, make sure you have the current firmware versions on the unit. Launch the firmware updater and see if you need to update. Make sure you have the current software (from the same release as the firmware you have) installed as well. If you're unsure, go ahead and run the software installer again. Restart the computer.
• Try quitting whatever audio app you're using and then unplugging/replugging the Apogee USB cable. Wait for the exclamation mark (!) icon to disappear from the front-panel (this means the unit is configured properly) and then relaunch your audio app and confirm SymphonyI/O shows up as a USB audio device.
• Restart the computer.

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Symptom: No analog input on Symphony I/O Solution: There are a number of logical and easily correctable causes for this.  Please examine the following steps -

• Make sure the SymphonyI/O is configured correctly and open Maestro. Go to the "Device Settings" tab and set the front-panel meters to display the channel(s) you are expecting to see input on. Do you see the input on the front-panel? If so, make sure the SymphonyI/O is selected in your application's audio preferences. For "Symphony AIM", it will show up as "Symphony64", for "USB AIM", it will show up as "SymphonyI/O: USB", and for "ProTools HD AIM", it will show up as an Avid HD I/O.
• If you're not seeing input on the front-panel, try quitting all the audio apps and power-cycling the SymI/O.
• If you've already power-cycled the SymI/O a few times and you're still not seeing input on the front-panel or in Maestro's input tab, make sure the SymI/O is plugged in to your computer using the Apogee USB cable and launch the SymphonyI/O firmware updater. Does the updater display all the correct versions? Is it displaying "N.A." of "ff" where you would expect it to show an i/o module's firmware version? If so, this could mean that the i/o module isn't powering up properly. You may have a bad ribbon cable that's connecting the i/o module to the main board. You may also need to run the firmware updater. Quit any audio apps and the updater if it's open… power-cycle the SymI/O. Launch the updater again and update the firmware. If it says the firmware's up to date, try doing a force-update.
• Try different analog input cables.
•  Make sure the SymI/O is receiving enough input level- you may need to change the "Analog Reference Level" for the inputs, depending on what you're trying to send to it… It's default is to accept +4dBu "line level".

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