FA101 FireWire Audio interface working in 2020

[X-53mph]

I wasn't sure where to put this on the board.

I'm running an old HP laptop with a FireWire input which I use with an ancient Edirol FA101.  The laptop is running Windows 10 Pro, which Edirol don't supply drivers for so I'd been using a hacked driver method which has been well documented on various forums (including the old Cakewalk forum). At least I was until the other day....

For most projects that don't require multiple mic inputs, I tend to use a USB audio interface or USB mic, so it had been a while since I'd plugged in the FireWire device. Imagine my annoyance when I tried and the device wasn't recognised. No worries, I thought, I'll just run through the old method I'd used and reinstall the drivers. However, after multiple attempts, I still couldn't get it to work. I went back to the various YouTube tutorials but nothing worked. Shit, I thought, time to buy a new interface.....but wait....I got them working again, and for anything who has had the same problem, here's what you do. 

Firstly, download the Windows 8 drivers from Edirol/Roland site, extract zip file to your desktop (don't do anything to the drivers). Now, plug in your Edirol FA101 device, open device manager (right click on This PC>Manage), look for FA101 under audio devices. Right click on FA101, choose Update Drivers>browse computer>Let Me Pick Drivers>Next>Have Disk>find the folder with Windows 8 drivers that you downloaded and extracted, choose the INF file. Now your device should work.

Best thing about this is that you don't need to hack anything. Just use the Win 8 drivers.

I've said it before and I'll say it again, I've never been happy with USB audio interfaces. I can never get the latency to work in my favour and I spend far too much time post editing to compensate for audio slippage. My FireWire device has zero latency. I've never had a problem recording multiple tracks. No drop outs, no glitches. No wasted time post editing. I really wish the tech industry hadn't abandoned it. For as long as I can, I will keep using my FA101.. might even but a second hand one on eBay just in case...?

I hope this helps someone.

 

 

Edited October 18, 2020 by Philip G Hunt