Digi 002 Rack questions

well i'm a proud new owner of a 002 rack that i'm running on an athlon 1.8 PC. I just discovered this forum too which is full of all kinds of tasty information i just had a couple questions about my 002 because i know it will be impossible to contact DIGI within the next couple days. 1) Do i want to keep my original soundcard (SB PCI 128) in my computer or remove it? i would like to hear everything from my computer (mp3's, event sounds) come out of my monitors which are plugged into the 002, but i know my cd\dvd drives are plugged into my sound card. will the 002 have any problems with an existing soundcard? 2) The software install went OK, but the firmware download WILL NOT WORK. has anyone had this problem? it keeps saying "check connections and try again". everything is hooked up ok, and i'm using the adaptec 4300 card. not having the firmware updated prevents me from recording audio(error message everytime i hit space bar), but monitor audio is still passing through the 002. 3) any other well known problems with a 002 on windows XP? 4) how hard is it to get in touch with digidesign tech support? thanks in advance for any help you guys can give! Ian

tech support is easy to reach but it costs money. and as far as hearing computer sounds go: go buy a cable that has a 1/8" jack on one side and two RCA cables on the other. Plug the RCA jacks into the ALT SRC location in the back of the rack, then press the ALT SRC TO MON button in the front of your digi 002. if you have this button pressed you wont be able to hear pro tools sound, so unselect it when you start up pro tools. hope this helps.

a) Tech support is free for 90 days for hardware and 1 year for software. b) You shouldn't have a problem with an additional audio card, as long as you don't have an IRQ conflict. (Note - the Sound Blaster Audigy with FireWire has caused conflict issues). c) You should be able to upload the firmware without issue.. and having an older firmware installed shouldn't cause you not to be able to record. d) You can use the WaveDriver 6.1.1 and ASIO Driver 6.1.1 with Pro Tools 6.1.1 for most apps to play audio via your Digi hardware Please list your IRQ assignments as found in Device Manager. Rail

Thaks.. I'm not that up on Sound Blaster technology - I was pretty close tho' Rail

IF You'll see my post below you'll see that I am having the EXACT same issue. Exactly as you describe.