Model 24 acting strange using Linux. Made some changes and it's working a little bit better. (Running Linux)

[MarsDrums]

As the title states, my Model 24 started acting strange earlier Sunday. I was no longer able to record because the mixer was not picking up any audio even though I could hear everything. But it was working fine the other day before I updated the software on the computer it's connected to and shut it off when I was done with it. Also, when I would do a lsusb at a command terminal, I wasn't seeing the normal TASCAM Model 24 like I usually saw. I was seeing TEAC Corp. Model 24. But I wasn't able to record with it and occasionally, the audio would just go silent for no reason right during a song. It did that to me a couple times. Once shortly after starting a song and another time in the middle of one.

I was running Arch until about 11PM Sunday. I had switched to Linux Mint Cinnamon Edition. Now that I've switched, I'm able to record with it now but it still shows up as TEAC ... in he terminal. But at least I can record with it for now.

I posted this on Reddit and someone mentioned that if there's an SD card in it, it may be dying on me (the SD Card, not the unit itself). I was out at the time I read that but when I got home, I double checked and made sure there wasn't an SD Card in the SD Slot. There wasn't. I don't record to an SD card. I record direct to a computer.

I've swapped USB cables and with the old OS it didn't do anything. I still wasn't getting audio to the computer using OBS. Something wasn't right.

So, I did a quick test with a laptop that was running Linux Mint on it. I plugged the mixer in there, opened OBS and it was working. lsusb was still showing TEAC even on the laptop but at least it was working again.

So, that's when I decided to just put Linux Mint Cinnamon on the recording PC. And it's running the same way as the Laptop was. I still see TEAC... when I type lsusb. So, I don't know if something in Arch changed the internals of the unit itself. I doubt it but I suppose it is possible. I'm wondering if there's a way to do a factory reset on this thing. I'll look through the manual and see if I can reset the device and hope that it shows TASCAM Model 24 when I do a lsusb. I'll probably try that in the morning but I'm just happy it's back up and operational again t some extent.

 

[Mark Richards]

Is Linux a supported OS for the Model 24/16/12 mixers?

 

[Max Relic]

 

[MarsDrums]

I don't think it is but up until yesterday, it was working perfectly.

I did make some adjustments today and it appears to be working fine again with this setup now with the exception of the TEAC Identification in the USB devices.

I've thought about putting Windows 7 on that machine. I refuse to use Windows 10. Windows 10 is not an OS I desire to use. I'd much rather make Windows 7 work and leave it at that. I wouldn't even need to do an update on it if all I'm doing is recording with it. Now, streaming might be a different thing. Going out online with it probably isn't a great idea but with everything I have already, if I needed to, I could just reinstall everything from scratch. Kind of a PITA but this is how much I DON'T want to use Windows 10. I have it, but I refuse to use it on any of my computers now. It was a waste of money back then and to me it just seems like a waste now after hearing all the bad things about it. Heh, I REALLY don't want to use it on an everyday computer!

 

[Max Relic]

Agree about the Windows lineage, I still have a virtual machine with Windows XP on my iMac because of the many little applications unavailable on other OS' but I run it rarely and only for a few minutes. That said, Tascam Models are Class Compliant audio interfaces so they should be recognized and handled by most OS' without installing dedicated drivers. What I often read from Windows users is that ASIO driver is warmly advised/required when latency is noticeable, but I can't speak out of personal experience on this.
@Mark Richards I guess the Model 24 would work on a Linux system because of USB Class compliance even it is not listed among officially supported OS (i.e. Tascam didn't release Linux dedicated drivers).

 

[-mjk-]

it just seems like a waste now after hearing all the bad things about it

Hearing bad things about it? Did you experience bad things using it? I'm not a fan of Win 11 by any means. My studio PC runs 10 and it's very stable. I use a tweaker to turn off the telemetry and I've made adjustments as suggested in this document. Works well for heavy DAW processing and also DaVinci Resolve Studio.

 

[MarsDrums]

Did you experience bad things using it?

I had a terrible experience trying to install Windows 10 on an older machine (around 8 years old at the time) that ran Windows 7 quite well in fact. It was at that point that I got sick and tired of having to spend money on building a new computer after every other Windows update. It just seemed silly to me. So I put Linux on it and it ran for 4 more years flawlessly. It was pretty nice actually using a computer until it couldn't be used because of hardware failure and not because a newer OS wouldn't run on it. I believe that was the first PC I ran until it died. It outlived Windows 7... And XP for that matter. I think I built it specifically for XP and when I put Windows 7 on it, I think all I did was buy a bigger hard drive and doubled the RAM on it.

But regardless, The stuff I've been hearing about Windows 10 and it's AI BS... I'm glad I never used it.

Saying all this, I am putting Windows 7 on a laptop so I can truly see if it's a Linux thing or not. If it works fine under Windows, I may just put Windows 7 on that computer in there that's SUPPOSED to connect to the TASCAM. I hate to do that but it is what it is. I'm hoping it's just a temporary glitch. As I said, it ran fine up until this weekend.

Well, after installing Windows 7 on that laptop, I found that the software I'm trying to use for recording, does not work on Windows 7... I don't experience these issues with Linux. In fact, this is the first time I've experienced this with any software. But I know, it's an old OS. So I guess I'll try and put Windows 10 on it later.

 

[-mjk-]

Thank you for the detailed reply. There are users on this forum who are running versions of XP with old drivers and never updated them. It depends on your hardware, really. Whatever works. I used to run Linux more than 15 years ago. Even setting up an external drive was a thrash. I'm sure it's better now but things are running perfectly for me with Win10 on my studio computer. But I will say this: I updated my Surface Pro to Win11 and it was a huge mistake. I absolutely hate Windows 11.

 

[MarsDrums]

But I will say this: I updated my Surface Pro to Win11 and it was a huge mistake. I absolutely hate Windows 11.

My biggest fear is that it'll run like a charm on Windows 10.

I've thought about putting an old 1TB SSD in that computer and seeing if it'll actually work with Windows 10...

If it does, I hope this glitch with Linux is just a short term issue and not permanent. Because if it works flawlessly with Windows 10, it's got to be a Linux glitch.

 

[-mjk-]

My biggest fear is that it'll run like a charm on Windows 10.

Having an ASIO driver for Windows means it was designed to work with Windows. I would expect them all to work with Windows.

 

[MarsDrums]

Having an ASIO driver for Windows means it was designed to work with Windows. I would expect them all to work with Windows.

Well, I connected that Windows machine up to it yesterday and it wasn't working. So, all that moving around of computers (had to disconnect everything, pull it out, disconnect my daughters Windows PC and pull it out and connect all my stuff to it in a different room... kind of a PITB). I essentially had the same exact thing happening with the Windows machine as I had with the Linux machine. I could hear everything perfectly fine through the mixers headphone jack. I heard the music I was playing along with and my drums. I heard them perfectly! But OBS just couldn't pick up the mics.

So, this morning, I setup my computer again and I was just thinking about what else I could try before letting Sweetwater know that I've done EVERYTHING I POSSIBLY COULD to get OBS to work. Then, one last idea hit me. I'll try one of my little 2 port Behringer interfaces with a single mic. So I dug up my UMC202 and I connected the USB cable from the mixer to the Behringer. Then I set the audio to go to the Behringer and I plugged my in-ears into it and I could hear everything fine. I had Spotify going and I could hear myself tapping on the mic that was connected to it perfectly fine. Same with the TASCAM. All of that worked. Then I opened OBS, adjusted the settings to listen to the Behringer and lo and behold, I was seeing the mic levels moving in OBS for the mic AND from Spotify! So, I'm now 100% sure that mixer is toast. After only 8 months! Such a shame!

I was kinda looking at their Behringer stuff and they have a 16 port mixer for $289. I'm wondering if they'd take back that TASCAM and give me the Behringer plus the remainder of the money from the TASCAM. That would be like $1,200! I could actually use that right about now! But, I'm thinking, I'll give the TASCAM Model 24 one more try with a new replacement and if that fails, I may tell them I want something different.

But yeah, I've figured it out. It's the mixer. Nothing else. Linux should still be able to use it.

I figured when the lsusb went from listing it as a 'TASCAM Model 24' to a 'TEAC Comp. Model 24' ...there had to be an issue somewhere. Makes sense especially if a chip went bad in there. The identification part has failed and looks like some other things went with it.

But now, I'm just waiting to hear back from the salesman I deal with. He'd probably bend over backwards to help me out.

 

[-mjk-]

Holy cow what a pain in the neck! Sorry that you had to jump through those hoops but it's good that you finally have the answer.

 

[MarsDrums]

Holy cow what a pain in the neck! Sorry that you had to jump through those hoops but it's good that you finally have the answer.

So, they want to check the driver. I'm on hold waiting to talk to someone from their tech support department. They want to make sure the device is broken before they replace it. So, I get that they want to do a CYOA on it. As far as jumping through hoops, as long as they either fix it or get the ball rolling to replace it today, I'm fine with that. Really...

 

[MarsDrums]

Holy cow what a pain in the neck! Sorry that you had to jump through those hoops but it's good that you finally have the answer.

Part 2:
Okay, So, I was talking to the technician last night and he was having me look at some things because he didn't want to get onto my computer because he doesn't know Linux. This was AFTER I switched Distros because the other technician needed me to install their remote program so HE could get onto my machine. The guy I contacted the second time AFTER I installed a more suitable distro AND the software they needed to get onto my machine remotely and he didn't know Linux.

Turns out that was a good thing. They didn't need to get onto my computer because it was a setting in the mixer...

So, I go into the menu system on the mixer and we're checking the firmware version and USB Audio. As I said, Firmware is up to date. We look at USB Audio and it's set on Multi Input and he says that looks good. Then we checked one or two more things and he says, "Well, I think we pretty much covered everything. Everything looks good". Then he asks, "Have I answered all your questions"? I was looking at OBS and my mics still weren't registering in it so, I was kinda like... NO!?!?

He was ready to dump me off which I was a little off put by that to be honest. I asked him if they were going to exchange it or do I need to ship it in for repairs or something... He said, 'Well I really don't know what else I can do'. And I could hear him shuffling around for something and he says, "I really don't know what else to do". Then he tells me to go back into the USB Audio section of the System menu so I was trying to remember how to do that (You better bet that I can do it in my sleep now). Then he tells me to switch it from Multi Input to Stereo Mix. Low and behold, I was seeing the meters move in OBS where my mics needed to show up. It was fixed!

I was generally pretty thankful to him for taking that extra few seconds to go back and have me change something. I was actually relieved he didn't just end the call because he WAS pretty much done. I don't know if he looked through a manual or cheat sheets or something and a bell went off... but yeah, I am pretty happy he didn't leave me hanging on that one little thing.

Why was that switched? I have no clue. Maybe when I initialized it, it went back to Multi Input. But going through the paper manual that came with the unit, I didn't see any mention of that USB Audio section. I might have googled it 8 months ago to get it to work. Who knows? But it's working now!

So, from about noon to 2PM today, I tweaked things and I have the audio levels close. I still need to tweak a couple audio levels here and it should be fine. I'm close.

But yeah... It's working great now. Just that ONE LITTLE THING is what was messing it up completely.

 

[-mjk-]

Wow. Glad it's running now.

That setting toggles the USB interface from multi channel to stereo?

 

[Max Relic]

[...]
Why was that switched? I have no clue.

USB AUDIO > PC ← Multi is needed to send multiple individual channels/tracks to a DAW, i.e. for multitrack recording. Glad to know you solved the puzzle.