by Y-my-R » Wed Jul 03, 2024 7:44 pm
If it still freezes while there's no MIDI cable going back to the HD24 (...and no other devices are part of the MIDI setup, that could be routed in a loop), then this isn't the problem. Good to rule that out, though.
When you said that there's a DIO8 card, but it's not in use... you mean that it's is not installed in the desk, right? If it IS installed, I'd remove that card first, and try again - just in case it has the old firmware on it (even if it is installed in a slot you're not currently using... like the Alt-I/O slot).
Other than that, yeah, trying to figure out if one of the OPT8 cards is bad or a card slot in the D8B is causing the problem, is a logical thing to try.
I'd do that, and then try to replace that one cable you got from me, since that appeared to have been the cause of prior freezes. I mean, you said you pushed the cables into the connector really hard with a screwdriver (or something along those lines)... doesn't necessarily sound like a permanent fix... so, since you went this far, I'd replace that one cable (after eliminating one of the OPT8 cards to be the cause... and removing the DIO8 card if it was in the D8B), and would probably give up, after that.
I mean... one of the first things I had posted when your journey with that "to be donated" desk had just started, was to ask you if you're sure you want to do this, b/c the D8B isn't exactly the most reliable desk, and IMO, needs ongoing maintenance. And added something along the lines of, if you are someone who's good with these old "computers" etc., then maybe it makes sense, but if you're not really into this, then I'd probably avoid rolling a D8B out to a place where it would need to work all the time. (As opposed to a home-studio situation, where it's not the end of the world if the desk is down for a few days).
This is still my opinion. I also have a pretty negative opinion of that Behringer desk, though (had an MX8000 myself, unfortunately, and usually just "unaffectionally" referred to it as "the noise generator"). But in terms of it powering up and doing it's job every day, and being easy to operate, I do think it would make more sense than the D8B.
(I think you mostly were thinking to add the D8B b/c of the built-in FX, since there isn't a lot of outboard gear at the Centre... makes sense, but for the money spent, I guess you could have added some digital rack units from the same era (late 90s) for less than what you meanwhile invested into the D8B... like, a Lexicon ALEX for $50 and a couple DBX266 compressors that usually go for less than $80 each, used, etc.).
Of course it is difficult to let go, after so much time, and probably literally blood (scratches), sweat and tears... but at some point, IMO, when the balance between expected benefit and invested money/effort are THIS FAR out of whack, it's time to step away.
As mentioned above, the last things I'd do would be to systematically figure out if any of those I/O cards has a problem... then maybe also try a completely different song, or a new song... maybe one of those songs (or both), are somehow causing this havoc, and it wouldn't happen with a brand new recording... I mean, you could just record silence for an hour on all tracks and see what happens, when you try to play that back.
Then as the last-last thing, if the desk still freezes, I'd replace that cable with the spare you got from me...
...and if it's not that, I'd call it quits at that point, and treat the desk as a parts-spare, for your desk at home.
I don't really think that you can expect that you'd eventually roll out the D8B, and it would just work happily and outlive you, without further maintenance. Someone will need to always be available who understands that thing, and can fix the various issues that might come up (even something like setting the clock back to external on the HD24, is something I'd expect students, or people who are inexperienced with digital audio, not to be able to figure out... and then end up with pops and clicks on the recording, or random freezes, etc.). An all analog recording chain (or a digital recorder that only uses the analog I/O and runs on it's own clock) would be more "foolproof" for use in a shared studio space.
Sorry again, that this thing is still giving you trouble! Luckily, you don't have any other hobbies, right? (I'm kidding, of course... I know your other hobby is involuntary gardening... mine is, too, haha).