We moved your post to the "Legacy Yamaha Synths" Forum heading as the Motif XS qualifies as legacy synth from this century.

You mention you have a Mac running 10.5.6 but nothing else. In particular we would need to know which Driver you are using. The Motif XS (2007) could use any of several legacy Drivers, or since it was a transition product, it could also use the current Drivers. Without a clue which one you are using, sorry, we cannot be of much help.

What we need to know from you is which Driver you are attempting to use. We need the version number. Thanks.
Also helpful, again because the XS transitioned between systems is your "mLAN card" an mLAN16e2 or is it an FW16e or do you own an XS8 (where it is built-in)? You mentioned you update the firmware, but of which expansion board model?

Let us know.

Hi Phil,

The mac is a mac pro running 10.5.8. The firewire driver is version 1.1.0. I have a Motif XS6. I was successful in downloading the firmware update for the mLan6e2 and updating it to version 1.7. I actually deleted the firewire driver, reinstalled it, repaired permissions and rebooted. The mac is not giving the firewire output as an option. In the past this was the default way it came up. Please let me know what else I can try to get back to normal.

thanks,

Allen Rumbaugh

There is no firewire driver 1.1.0 sorry.
We assume you mean mLAN16e2 firmware 1.07 (again there is no 1.7)

Sorry, here's what I need (and where to find it), sorry I should have included that initially. Please look here for the name and version:

With your Motif XS6 powered on and connected to your computer via FireWire...
On your Mac
Go to "SYSTEM PREFERENCES"
Find the icon for the Driver you have installed... Look under "Y" for Yamaha (usually near the bottom)

For example you might see "Yamaha Steinberg FW"; (or you might see an icon for "mLAN") whichever you installed it will have placed a control panel item here in your System Preferences.

double click that icon to launch the control panel
Doing so while connected to the XS will reveal three tabs: "General", "Motif XS6", "About"
If your computer does not see the Motif XS6 connected, the center panel will not appear.

Please report what you see in each one of the tabs, especially the one labeled "About" - that will show your FW driver name and version number.
The center tab will reveal the firmware version for your mLAN16e2... Which we assume is reported as 1.07

Let us know.

Hello,

I do not have a "Motif XS6" tab. I have "General" which all fields are blank in, and "About" which says I have FW driver 1.6.0

Okay, your issue may be simply some of your gear is in need of some updating.
The Yamaha Steinberg FW Driver 1.6.0 seems to be right for Mac running 10.5.6 or 10.5.8(?)
You are running an older Macintosh operating system, therefore you must be careful not to jump ahead to the"latest" driver, which is not designated for your computer. According to the download site version 1.6.0 of the YSFW driver is good for Macs running 10.4.x thru 10.6.x. So you're fine with this driver.

On your Motif XS6
Press [UTILITY]
Press [F1] GENERAL
Press [SF4] AUTO LOAD
make sure the IEEE1394 Driver = FW (not mLAN)

If you have to make this change, press [STORE] to write this to your XS's Flash ROM and reboot your XS.
If you cannot change this setting to "FW", please let us know.

This will "teach" your XS to power on set to use the FW driver, not the ancient mLAN driver.
If you do not have this option, it is because your XS firmware is out of date

Let's check the firmware of the Motif XS itself. To do so:
Press [UTILITY] to enter Utility mode
While in Utility mode hold the following three front panel buttons simultaneously:
[UTILITY] + [UP CURSOR] + [F1]

The XS will report its firmware version. Current firmware is 1.60.x

Hang in there, we're almost there...

THANKS BAD MISTER!

That was it...... I have no idea how that got changed! Everything is normal. I really appreciate your help. I guess now I can make it to next century......lol

Allen wrote:

THANKS BAD MISTER!

That was it...... I have no idea how that got changed! Everything is normal. I really appreciate your help. I guess now I can make it to next century......lol

The way it can get changed is by loading an ALL data file (.X0A) that has this setting Stored set to Auto Load the IEEE1394 = mLAN. This setting is stored to Utility mode as a part of your personal system setup preferences.

You should endeavor to make sure all of your personal ALL data files are set to restore the "FW" setting.
And anytime you load someone else's ALL data file use the LOAD option "all without system". This will prevent loading the data from changing your personal UTILITY mode (system) settings.

You can update your older files with your current SYSTEM settings by loading the older file using LOAD TYPE = "all without system... Then immediately SAVE the file back to itself (using the same exact name) OVERWRITING the old file - which will now include your current System settings.

Hope that helps.

Extra Credit: when you press STORE in Utility mode all of your current settings in this mode are written to the internal 'system' memory. Along with the 32 Mix Templates, and Sequencer Setup settings, the Utility settings are automatically backed up when you SAVE an "ALL" data file. They are restored when you load an ALL data file into your instrument.