How Can I Troubleshoot FireWire Problems?

Owned by Corey Boyles
Last updated: Aug 06, 2024 by Eric Rojas (Unlicensed)
3 min read

If you're experiencing noise in a Firewire system or it seems to drop-out intermittently the following troubleshooting points need to be done to pinpoint what the issue may be. Please read the entirety of the guide.

If the LED on the Firewire card is a flashing Amber LED, or if the color is not in the manual's list, it usually means the card is off in the weeds. A flashing amber LED MAY mean that the Buss is continually resetting, and could be noise or one's own configuration stuck in a loop.

  1. First make sure that the FireWire cards are powered correctly.

    • The IEEE1394 bus requires a separate, floating 24 Vdc (12-24 Vdc) supply connected to Connector X42

    • NOT connected to the same 24Vdc supply that is connected to X13

In a good operating system, once the Firewire powers up and gets done handshaking with all of the modules, the parameters BUSS RESETS, MY BUSS RESETS and the BAD MESSAGE should not be increasing on the FIREWIRE function block. There will be numbers for these parameters, but once they get done handshaking they should stabilize and not increase over the monitoring period (monitor for 20 or more minutes in the below steps). If there are a lot of BUSS RESETS and MY BUSS RESETS on all the drives, that is not good and indicates an issue somewhere. There should be no more than a couple hundred on each parameter at most.

  1. To see where the problem may be coming from monitor the BUSS RESETS, MY BUSS RESETS and the BAD MESSAGE parameter on the FIREWIRE block for 20 or more minutes on each drive. 

  2. Monitor these at each drive while the drive is powered up for 20 or more minutes, but not in the RUN mode. When the IGBT's are not firing and generating noise.

    • If the MY BUSS RESETS is increasing, there is noise on the Firewire from some outside source.

    • If the BUSS RESETS & BAD MESSAGE are increasing it could be a bad Firewire card or Firewire cable.

      • Check the plastic connectors for physical damage

      • Check the cable for fraying. Replace the cable to see if the issue is fixed.

    • If the parameter numbers are not increasing, it would appear that the hardware is good

  3. Now RUN the drive and the motor. When the IGBT's are firing and power will be going to the motor and the motor leads.

    • Monitor BUSS RESETS & MY BUSS RESETS for 20 or more minutes.  Are they increasing even slightly? If so noise from the IGBT's are getting into the Firewire.

      1. Maybe from the motor leads not being wired or grounded properly?

      2. Is the motor cable shielded? On both ends? Is it loose?

  4. RUN one (1) drive at a time and repeat step 3 to see if the noise or problematic drive can be isolated.

 

Important questions to ask:

  • How old is the system?

  • How frequently are issues occurring? If over the course of months, monitor the drives for upwards of an hour to notice if parameters are increasing. If occurring daily, parameters may be increasing more noticeably.

  • When was it started up?

  • Has it ever worked correctly?

  • When did the Firewire issues start occurring?

  • What changes were made recently?

 

[QuickLink for the 890 on Parker.com] - Manual, QuickStarts, Product Support, etc

[QuickLink for the 890PX on Parker.com] - Manual, QuickStarts, Product Support, etc

 

LS MAR19

Updated/Formatted JD 14MAY19