6809 Firewire Problem

I've had my M6809 for about two months now and have been experiencinga ll of the same problems you guys are [800Mhz on battery, two cracked hinges after one month usage] but I have recently come across a new flaw that just blows my mind. Wondering if anyone else is experiencing this. I use my notebook mostly for Pro Audio [audio production, mixing, etc.] so I use an MAudio Firewire 410 audio interface with it. This interface works fine with my desktop setup, and with many other laptops that I've tested [Toshiba, Sony Vaio], but when I plug it into the 6809 and plug the output to speakers or an amplifier, I get the most horrible digital / AC noise I have ever heard. I've tested this up and down to make sure it's not a grounding issue or a problem with my amp or wiring. I tested this with different amps, different audio interfaces [MOTU Firewire 828] and different laptops mentioned above. It comes down to one simple fact... when plugged into the AC adaptor, the 6809 makes this horrid noise through the Firewire Bus and into my amp... when you unplug the AC and run off battery, it's clean. I also tested this with my friend's 6805 and the same phenomenon occurs, so this is not just my firewire card or AC adaptor going bad. This is blowing my mind. I contacted eMachines about this problem and spent 50 minutes on the phone with a tech rep who would only say they will not support third party hardware... but wouldn't you say that when their computer produces that sound through any firewire audio interface I can find, that it's a little more than just a compatibility issue? I finally got the rep to admit that the problem probably lies in the AC converter card in the notebook, but they were unwilling to do anything about it except RMA the machine and check to make sure everything worked the way it left the factory. So, guess what I want to know is, anybody else have a problem like this? I know this exists for at least two notebooks... one 6809 and one 6805. If it's just these two, great, i'll return it and get a new one... but if not, WOW, what an enormously major hardware flaw. Please reply!

Good idea about Arima. Any idea what their contact info is? I'll google it here. Didn't know about the reported speed issues. As for the AC Brick, already tried it. I've run both the Audio Interface [which has it's own sepereate power supply] and the Notebook power supply through $400 power conditioners and different AC bricks and it didn't seem to make a difference. Also tried using a PCMIA card with 6pin firewire out on it and the same noise occured. It seems to be a bus problem throughout the machine. I'll check up with Arima and see what I can find.

Sent an e-mail to Arima detailing the problem. Wasn't exactly easy to find a way to contact them, so I used the only address I could find which was nb@arima.com.tw . Now gotta wait to see if they ever respond.

Possible Fix to the Firewire problem. I read through a ProTools forum earlier today with a post that had the same firewire problem I had except with a protools setup. They had lifted the ground of the AC brick on the laptop AND used balanced cables whenever connecting to the outputs of the audio interface and this worked for them. I checked with my setup and this seems to work as well. Guess part of it then does have to do with a ground loop issue. But balanced cables needed for an unbalanced ouput? Who would've thought? Oh well, it works now, so I'm happy.

Hey Gauge,

I've tested this and it does work with my laptop. To do it, just go out to Radio Shack and by a cheap little three prong to two prong adaptor to put on the plug of the AC brick for the laptop. The third prong is for grounding but also creates this problem if the grounding is not done right inside the laptop [gotta love e-machines]. This isn't the safest way to do it, however, since it can damage your hardware if there are dangerous AC levels or spikes. I'm told you can get rid of this noise as well if you connect your audio outputs with Balanced cables instead of regular unbalanced cables. XLR cables are balanced already, and you can get regular 1/4 inch cables [TRS] that are balanced as well. Again, I haven't tried this yet, but will in next couple days as it would be a much safer solution than lifting the ground. Hope that helps.