# Focusrite Liquid Mix on Windows 10 - anyone?



## Bunford (Aug 16, 2016)

I have one of these and currently struggling to get it working nicely with Windows 10. It's a bit of a pain as I love it, sounds great and way cheaper DSP method that UAD etc.

I load first plugin and it works flawlessly with perfect sync between the plugin and hardware. However, when i open a second instance on any track i get an error saying the hardware cannot be detected and is disconnected and will need to be reset. I then get glitching and need to delete the second instance, then if i unplug and re-plug the firewire cable or hard reset holding load, save and back for a second or two it resets the hardware and it works again, but only on the first plugin again. Again, if i try to open a second it goes around in circles.

Opening the second plugin instance brings up a warning that says:

"WARNING: No Liquid Mix Hardware has been detected. Please check that Liquid Mix is connected to the Computer and try again"

When i click OK (only option) it then resets the plugin before saying:

"LM Hardware has been disconnected or a bus reset has occurred. Please check your connection and allow Liquid Mix to restart. If the hardware fails to reconnect automatically you may want to force another reset by holding 'Save' + 'Load' + 'Go Back' on the hardware. If problems persist, please close and reopen your Liquid Mix session."

I then click "OK" (only option again) but have two plugins, both called "Plugin Number 01" with the first plugin initiated the only one reacting to anything and second plugin window just sits there with no signal going through it.

I have a firewire card in my desktop dedicated to the Liquid Mix, and tried a VIA and Texas Instruments (TI) chipset. The TI is what is currently in my machine.

The Liquid Mix was discontinued in 2011 and Focusrite have told me they provide support for 2 years after discontinuations, meaning they stopped supporting in 2013 some time. There was obviously Windows 8 then, which has largely the same architecture as Windows 10, and it works on Windows 8 and 8.1 using the legacy drivers. It also works on Windows 10, but only for one instance. Each new instance seems to reset the firewire connection for some reason, which is what i'm trying to work out. Focusrite support provided me with the below, which leads to me to be inclined that some people are using it successfully using this process on Windows 10:

"_The Liquid Mix was discontinued in 2011 and company policy is to continue supporting products until they have been discontinued for two years. As Windows 10 was released 4 years after the Liquid Mix was discontinued we have not tested the hardware or software with Windows 10 at all, and there will be no further development of the Liquid Mix drivers or software.

The reason that the Liquid Mix will not work with Windows 10 is that requires the Windows legacy firewire driver which is not part of the Windows 10 architecture. You can download a Legacy firewire driver for Windows 8, and though there is no specific Windows 10 version available you can try downloading the Legacy driver for Windows 8 onto your Windows 10 system.

If you are able to successfully install the Legacy firewire driver then you'll need to ensure that you are running a 32bit DAW or use a bridging app such as jBridge to wrap the Liquid Mix software so it appears as a 64bit plug in within a 64bit DAW.

Obviously this has not been tested at all so I cannot guarantee that this will work, but I hope this is an adequate explanation as to why the Liquid Mix doesn't work immediately with Windows 10 and some useful guidelines for getting it to work should you choose to attempt to.

Let me know if I can be of any further assistance._"

Then, once tried and it failed i got:

"_Unfortunately this set up is completely untested as the Liquid Mix is not supported on Windows 10 at all, so I am unable offer any further suggestions to get this to work better. It is interesting to hear that you have been able to get the Liquid Mix software to open at all!

Apologies for the inconvenience, please let me know if you ever require any other assistance._"

Now, does anybody have any ideas that could help at all?


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## Bunford (Aug 20, 2016)

Anyone got any ideas?!?!


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## GonzoFB (Aug 21, 2016)

Bunford said:


> Anyone got any ideas?!?!


I fear I shall be of no help but can jbridge itself be run in a compatibility mode?

I'm guessing you've already read this post http://forum.cakewalk.com/m/tm.aspx?m=3323266&p=1


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## GonzoFB (Aug 21, 2016)

Perhaps something here may lead to some clues? http://www.thewindowsclub.com/uninstall-disable-roll-back-update-drivers-windows
Maybe it will have to be used in a different way from now on. Just on the master or a bus? Can tracks be frozen allowing it to be used on the next track and so on? Wish I could help, l hate when things like this happen.


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## Bunford (Aug 21, 2016)

Never thought about running jBridge in compatible mode, but unfortunately that doesn't make a difference.

I'm not sure what is actually causing it, but it seems tobe something related to the resetting of the firewire bus whenever a new instance of the plugin is initiated. Not sure why it would be doing this under Windows 10 but not 8.1, 8 nor 7 though as they all mostly have the same architecture, and often same drivers?!?!


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## GonzoFB (Aug 21, 2016)

Bunford said:


> Never thought about running jBridge in compatible mode, but unfortunately that doesn't make a difference.
> 
> I'm not sure what is actually causing it, but it seems tobe something related to the resetting of the firewire bus whenever a new instance of the plugin is initiated. Not sure why it would be doing this under Windows 10 but not 8.1, 8 nor 7 though as they all mostly have the same architecture, and often same drivers?!?!


 Maybe there is someone you can contact at Microsoft. I remember them being quite vocal on how Windows 10 would be great for musicians due the outpouring of concern from producers. Perhaps you might be able to get through to someone who is in a position to look into this for you. I'm sure you can't be alone in this and the same overlooking of the necessary code could be causing issues for others with different equipment.


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## Bunford (Aug 22, 2016)

That's an idea. I might try that route as it seems like it is something straightforward causing it and like it just need to stop resetting the firewire connection whenever the plugin is loaded.


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## Bunford (Aug 24, 2016)

I have re-contacted Focusrite and they also suggest it is something on Microsoft's end causing it to not work. They state that as it works on Windows 7, 8 and 8.1 (some OS' using legacy firewire drivers), then it is something within Windows 10 that's preventing it from working.

Any ideas?!?! Am about to contact Microsoft to try and work to a resolution as this hugely popular device needs to work on Windows 10!


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