Presonus Firebox & Garageband Setup Options

[ggrastat]

I'm pretty new to DAWs, Apple, and this web community; no hazing please. ; )

I've spent a few hours trying find anwers on these, but no luck so far, so I'll post the issues I'm having trying to get up and running in GarageBand. I'm using a G4 1.33GHz iBook (has one firewire 400 port) and the Firebox. So far I've recorded a few vocal tracks and guitar.

1) Very slow performance in GaragBand with external LaCie 7200rpm firewire drive. No lag when I use the internal drive. The LaCie was plugged into the Firebox and the Firebox into my iBook, as I'd seen recommend. (I did have the Firebox mixer and control on the external drive, not sure if that was ok or if I was just supposed to use the external drive for tracks).

2) Audio only in left ear except for a wicked echo in right ear on vocal tracks. From what I read, this might be because I only record into one input (vocal then guitar), but if so, why do I get a the echo in the right ear on vocals? All pans are centered, inputs set to ch1&2 (stereo). ShureSM57 mic. Headphones and adaptor are not the issue, I've checked those out and they work fine.

3) Low signal from mic. I can't record much of a signal on the mic unless I sing very loudly even with the gain on the firebox and garageband way up. I have phantom power activated on the box and added the +12db option in the Firebox control, but it's not enough to record soft vocals without hearing a lot of hiss on playback. Side issue: is the hiss normal? Sounds like my old 4-track. : )

Thanks for everyones posts so far regarding the FireBox and Mac recording in general. I've found a lot of great info on this site and it was a big influence in my purchase of an iBook and the FireBox.