I have the same problem over here,
my guess is is that it's related to cubase 5.
I think this because when i installed the new cubase 5.1 version this behaviour started with the setup i always used.
Also my Motif XS VSTI didn't work anymore and gave a Port open error. When browsing the motifator forums someone from yamaha gave the advice to reduce the number of active midi ports in the device settings of cubase. So i've set a lot of those ports to invisible (unused) and the motif xs vst started working again.
the strange part with the audiodriver failed error is that when i restart cubase the virus ti works again. Also the number of times this message occur seems kind a random.
I never have this message when i start a new project. However, if i load this new fresh project again where i used the virus ti, then about 2 out of 5 times it starts up wrong with the audio driver failed message.
There are more people that have this problem in cubase 5, it's also discussed on a dutch forum where more people have this issue in cubase 5.
my setup:
virus TI os 3.1.0
cubase 5.1
vista 32
3 gig memory
motu 828mk iii
hope this helps to determine the cause of the problem.