Hello,
I've copies of Cubase SE (my needs are simple) and it works properly on my
desktop, which has either a NEC or VIA 1394 chip (as displayed in the device
properties). I'm using an M-Audio Firewire 410. XP is SP1, I can't
install SP2 as it breaks the M-Audio drivers.

On my laptop, which is where I intend to use Cubase, Cubase runs *only* with
a PCMCIA card that has a brand identifier in front of the chipset.

That is, if the Device Manager reads
"OHCI compatible 1394 adapter", (this is a LaCie PCMCIA adapter)

audio works for perhaps a few seconds, then Cubase hangs so thoroughly that
I can only do a power-off restart to get rid of it. Other Windows apps will
work, but there will be no sound. Spider Solitaire will also lose audio
after a few seconds even if Cubase has not run.

However, if the Device Manager reads:
"NEC OHCI compatible 1394 adapter", (which is an Adaptec PCMCIA adapter),

Cubase and Spider Solitaire work perfectly and terminates correctly, and all
Windows apps have audio.

Now, as I have found that the audio is also unstable within Spider Solitaire
(that
is, just within Windows) when using the un-branded OHCI 1394 adapter, so
Cubase's problem is likely limited to its inability to recover (or
terminate).

Any ideas as to why this would be?

While I can get by with the Adaptec card, it is only a Firewire card. The
LaCie is a combo card with USB 2 ports, and so I'd rather just carry that
one around.

Thanks!
Patrick Keenan