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I recently upgraded from my MacBook Pro and Mackie Onyx 1620i FireWire mixer to the long sought after Mackie Onyx 1640i FireWire mixer. Everything is exactly the same, except the new Mackie has 16 channels of FireWire in and out. The old had 16 in but only a stereo return to the mixer via FireWire.

I connected the new mixer to my MacBook Pro via the FireWire port, continuing from the mixer’s 2nd FireWire port to Glyph Ext HD #1 and then bouncing into Glyph Ext HD #2. It was flawless and sounded/performed great.

Then I disconnected everything and moved it to a new location. When I plugged everything back in it seems nothing works.

I can get to my hard disk drives via USB, but the FireWire port doesn’t seem to be doing anything, it can’t see my mixer and hard disk drives, it can't see just the hard disk drives when I take the mixer, well, out of the mix.

I hope I’ve made sense. I rely on my studio gear to record as a songwriter, so I’m freaking out. Can anyone offer me any advice? And my million dollar question, is FireWire a dinosaur? Should I return the brand new, just out of the box FireWire Mackie mixer for a different format? I don't need a $5,000 boat anchor.

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  • Did you ever figure this out? The exact thing happened to me with my 820i. Just unplugged to rearrange on the desk and now it doesn't connect. Jun 10, 2016 at 2:32
  • System Report doesn't show the device connected under Firewire. I'm awaiting a replacement Thunderbolt -> Firewire adapter to see if that is the cause. Jun 10, 2016 at 2:33
  • Got it working, posted my answer below. Jun 10, 2016 at 18:20

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I had this problem as well with an 820i and an iMac running 10.11.5 (El Capitan). I got it working again by doing an SMC Reset & PRAM Reset.

To do that, I followed these instructions:

SMC RESET

Shut down the computer. Unplug the computer's power cord from both the wall and computer. Wait 15 seconds. Attach the computers power cable. Wait another 5 seconds and press the power button to turn on the computer.

PRAM RESET

Shut down the computer. Locate the following keys on the keyboard: Command, Option, P, and R. You will need to hold these keys down simultaneously in step 4. Turn on the computer. Press and hold the Command-Option-P-R keys. You must press this key combination before the gray screen appears. Hold the keys down until the computer restarts and you hear the startup sound for the second time. Release the keys.

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