System with Magma-correct start routine?

[Phil Buckle]

I've just installed a Magma Chassis and moved up to PT9 on my MacPro 8 core.
I will spare you the dramatic 3 days I've just spent. Let's just say I know how to trouble shoot my rig but have never encountered such problems before.
In the end it was one sentence in the Avid help file that saved me.

"If you've tried everything and nothing works then log into a new account and start again".
Bingo. Fixed all my problems and even made my computer snappier.
Definitely a preference conflict and I'll never know which ones.
Anyway I'm up and running (fingers crossed).

One thing though......because PT9 can use other hardware I wanted to ask what the correct start up procedure is.
So in what order do I switch on the computer, the chassis, the 192 and 96 interfaces?

This morning when I started PT it didn't find my interfaces.
This is a problem I always had with my old G5 PPC and I thought I would be rid of the "restart dance" once and for all.
The problem with PT9 is that it WILL still start and load everything and then tell you that the song you are loading had a different interface and "would you like to use the aggregate device or something"
So then you quit PT and restart the computer.
Then you start PT. Then you load the song. Then PT tells you it has to restart because you are using a different hardware set up.
So this is time consuming.
I'm really hoping that I can solve this by starting things in the correct order.
With the old system I could use that Digi Core Audio Manager to see if my Hardware was found. I can't do this with PT9.
Thanks.

[Phil Buckle]

Actually there is a Digi Core Audio Manager with PT 9. Ok that will help.

[WernerF]

I don't know if it's the same with 9, but with 8.11 and the chassis, the startup order seems to make no difference on my system. It could just be a system specific issue. When I first got my chassis I just hooked it up, installed the cards and everything worked perfectly from the start. I know that other people have had different experiences, but that just points out the fact that each system can have it's own system specific situation. Sorry about not offering a specific fix but just thought it would help for you to know that this stuff does actually work when it sees what it wants to see from the system.

[Fix]

From my understanding, you are supposed to turn the chassis on before the interfaces.

Ref guide states that startup should be: Power conditioners -> Expansion Chassis -> External hard drives -> Worksurfaces -> MIDI interfaces -> A/D converters -> Computer -> and finally Monitors.

I'm not entirely sure if that is the only cause of your issue...PT9's new I/O setup still seems to have a few issues to work out, but hope that helps!

[Phil Buckle]

I'm hoping that this failure to recognize the hardware is just a boot order thing and has nothing to do with my complete nightmare upgrade.
The system is working great now.
And Werner I think you might be right about not needing a slave. The 8 core seems to be able to handle all this without so much as a blink.
It's also nice to have midi recorded as played and be able to drag and drop midi files straight into PT from VEP.
They sure fixed that midi thing in PT9.
My usual routine is to turn on my computer first and then flick one switch and the chassis and the hardware are turned on at the same time.
Perhaps with the chassis it's time to change this order.
It certainly made no difference with the old system as to what order I switched things on. But that was a well known PPC issue (only certain PPC's)

My nightmare upgrade had nothing to do with PT or the Magma. My 8 core was doing some strange things just before the install and it all came undone when I installed PT9 and all the plugs etc.
Before the install I noticed my mouse pointer was wandering around without me touching it. Also Teleport had stopped working properly and I was constantly stopping and starting it.
After the PT install I noticed my computer had slowed down. Windows were opening slowly and icons were taking forever to re draw. Something was badly wrong.
ProTools would crash every 20 secs, No matter how many times I installed it and no matter if I just had the installation plugs in the folder.
And then it would work after a fresh un install (clean) and re install. But it would only work for a couple of minutes and then get stuck in a loop.
I really tried everything. Different engine settings. Not even trying to run VEP. Playing back from different drives. Repairing permissions. No third party plugs.
Usually PT would start and crash as soon as the screen was drawn.......but everything was grayed out and the beach ball was spinning. You couldn't even force quit.
I really thought it was a hardware thing but the cards were passing the test every time.
I reseated everything and watched videos on how to install into a Magma. Everything was correct including the TDM Ribbon cable.
The thing is it DID work when I first set it up. I recorded for a day with it.......no problems. And then it just went bad.
Something happened but I don't know what it was and I probably never will.
Anyway starting a new account solved it.......and solved the sluggish computer issues.
Fingers crossed that it does not come back.
Oh man I just re authed all my non TDM plugs...the only downside of opening a new account.
Not to mention that you lose every other setting you have adjusted over the last couple of years.
But you know..........the fresh start is good. Kind of cleansing.
I was not feeling like that on Sunday, let me assure you!

[Oliver M]

You should definitely turn on the chassis first, then the computer! The reason for this is that the computer has to recognize the extra PCI slots which happens during power up.
I'd recommend: Interfaces, chassis, then computer.


Oliver

[Phil Buckle]

Thanks guys. I'll try it out in the morning.

[mixer]

Here is what we do in all our rooms... first the chasis then the computer so it sees the cards ,then sync and clock followed by interfaces.. works every time Gary

[WernerF]

Hey Phil, I realized that I was being a little too oversimplified in saying that the startup order doesn't matter. What I should have said is that it doesn't seem to matter whether you start the chassis or the interface first, at least on my system. I do, however, always turn both of them on before turning on the computer. The computer does need to see the hardware when it starts up.

Anyway, glad to hear that you're finally up and running and that your VE Pro needs are successfully being handled by the same machine that you have P Tools running on.

[dr sound]

It should be Chassis, 192/sync I/O then Mac.