Why won’t my M-Audio Firewire audio interface work with my Windows XP computer? The drivers load fine but the device either does not show up or has a yellow ! in device manager.

Check to see what type of Firewire chipset you have on your motherboard or Firewire PCI card. The M-Audio firewire audio interfaces are incompatible with NEC Firewire chipsets. Recommended chipsets are TI and VIA. To check this:

1. Right-click on My Computer
2. Go to Properties
3. Click the Hardware tab
4. Click Device Manager
5. Open up the IEEE 1394 Bus Host Controllers sub-menu
6. Listed should be the brand of your Firewire interface:

TI OHCI Compliant IEEE 1394 Host Controller
or
VIA OHCI Compliant IEEE 1394 Host Controller
or
NEC OHCI Compliant IEEE 1394 Host Controller

If you see just

OHCI Compliant IEEE 1394 Host Controller

then you will need to contact the PCI card manufacturer or computer manufacturer to find out what brand of FW chipset you have.

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