White Noise bursts (and clicks and pops) with Pro Tools M-Powered Essential 8

[Mr.BC]

Hi Fella's,
This is my 1st post. Why am I posting? Because like most of you, I'm frustrated, and mad as hell. In fact, I couldn't help but lol when I read some of the posts, because I know EXACTLY how some of you feel. I have to admit, I thought I was smarter than most of you. That's why I was laughing. But I've offcially joined the club, now we're all in the same boat. You see, I'm a computer tech by trade. I earn my living as a systems analyst / network engineer, and I've been doing it for 15 years. I'm also a songwriter/musician, and have had a home studio almost all my life. So I KNEW BETTER than to introduce computer technology into my studio. I WORK ON COMPUTERS. I know the headaches and frustration a simple change or update can cause. I KNOW about compatibility issues. And I wanted NO PARTS of that mess in the studio. BUT... it's 2010. And I felt like it was time to "get up to speed" with technology. I had avoided it as long as I could, but it was time to "take the plunge"; sooo...I went out and bought Pro Tools M-Powered Essential 8! WELL... I've been frustrated and MAD eversince.

I 1st installed PT/MPE8 on my laptop, heard the clicks and pops, but worst of all; that AWFUL, RANDOM BURST OF WHITE NOISE, and figured I need a PC that met the system requirements. Mine didn't. So I went out and bought a new/used PC to compliment the software. Guess what! ...I STILL have the clicks and pops, but worst of all; that AWFUL BURST OF WHITE NOISE!
I've had PT/ME8 all of 3 weeks, and I can't even get a damn demo song to play without the clicks and pops, but worst of all; that AWFUL, RANDOM BURST OF WHITE NOISE. This is EXACTLY the type of $h!t I wanted to avoid!

Apparently Avid is aware of this issue (and the potential for ear and equipment damage), as they've published patches to correct it with Pro Tools HD, SE, and LE I've learned. I don't know that the patches work, considering all the posts Im still seeing for the problem. However, (and this just adds "insult to injury"); I have NOT seen a thread, NOR has Avid created a patch for PT/MPE8 users. Am I the only user with PT/MPE8 who is having this issue?? There seems to be plenty of people with HD and LE having this problem. I've read through this forum as if my life depended on it, and I haven't seen a successful fix anywhere. At least not for PT/MPE8 users.

I feel like Avid ripped me off. If this many people are having an issue with random bursts of white noise, then obviously the product is defective. They've made patches for HD and LE, but what about me? I'm stuck with something that doesn't work? After I paid my money? The only thing I can say is that I'm EXTREMELY glad that I didn't splurge, and opt for a costlier Pro Tools package. I wish I had read through this, and various other forums for a period before buying. But I will in the future, before I spend another freakin DIME on Pro Tools anything! Thanks for letting me vent. ...and if you know something that I don't know, please share it and help a fella out. Thanks again!

BTW, this is my platform;
Dell Optiplex 280, 40gb HDD, 1.49gb RAM, Intel Pentium (4) 2.80ghz - Windows XP/sp3 (2002 version) - Pro Tools M-Powered Essential 8, M-Audio FastTrack USB interface (XP optimization per Avid Audio guidelines, Adobe Quicktime 7.6.8) No other known conflicting hardware or software, no external drives.

[DigiTechSupt]

If you can provide a Sandra report, per the instructions in the Help Us Help You thread, we can try to help.

[Mr.BC]

I'm surprised! Thank you tremendously.
Description of problem: Random bursts of LOUD white noise, and random occasional pops and clicks when trying to play any demo song from the Pro Tools demo session folder.

Observations: I've noted that I can't produce the problem, i.e.; I can't do any known functions to MAKE it happen, it's totally random. It doesn't seem to be associated with any particular track or demo song. And the duration of the white noise and it's intensity vary. Also, it's sporadic. Sometimes a whole song will play without the bursts, next time there may be 1 or 2 short, comparitively low level burst, play the song again, and this time the bursts are exteremly loud but quick, anothe play of the song and the bursts may last through an entire verse of the song, or longer. It doesn't seem to be progressive in the sense that it doesn't get necessarily worse over time. But as stated, the bursts duration and intesity vary when they hit. And the frequency of occurences vary, but I cannot play two clean songs in a row without at least a click or pop.

Troubleshooting efforts:
Checked location of the fast track interface, moved it around, tried different settings (even for dormant input switchs) - no difference.
Checked cables and connections - no problems.
I've tried various combinations with buffer cache on the playback engine. Nothing helps, but some settings seem to make it worse. It's hard to tell however, because the bursts vary in number of occurences during playback, and they vary in length and intesity. So how can I know if what I'm doing is having an effect, other than the fact that the bursts keep occuring.

Sandra:
I've read over and over again, on the "Help Us to help you" link, that Pro Tools needs to record and play to/from another HDD other than the one the OS resides on. I have not met with that requirement, and only using one HDD). Could that be it?

Anyway, per your suggestion, here is my sandra report. I certainly hope this helps you to help me, and thanks (sincerely):


SiSoftware Sandra

Computer
Model : Dell OptiPlex GX280
Workgroup : WORKGROUP
Host Name : dell-94dfa85070
User : OWNER

Processor
Model : Intel(R) Pentium(R) 4 CPU 2.80GHz
Speed : 2.8GHz
Cores per Processor : 1 Unit(s)
Threads per Core : 1 Unit(s)
Integrated Data Cache : 2x 16kB, Synchronous, Write-Thru, 8-way, 64 byte line size, 2 lines per sector
L2 On-board Cache : 2x 1MB, ECC, Synchronous, ATC, 8-way, 64 byte line size, 2 lines per sector

Computer
Mainboard : Dell 0G8310
BIOS : Dell A04 02/09/2005
Bus(es) : X-Bus PCI PCIe IMB USB i2c/SMBus
Multi-Processor (MP) Support : No
Multi-Processor Advanced PIC (APIC) : Yes
Total Memory : 1.5GB DIMM DDR2

Chipset
Model : Dell 82915G/GV/GL/P/PL/GL/910GE/GL Grantsdale Host Bridge/DRAM Controller
Front Side Bus Speed : 4x 200MHz (800MHz)
Total Memory : 1.5GB DIMM DDR2
Shared Memory : 8MB
Channels : 2
Memory Bus Speed : 2x 200MHz (400MHz)

Memory Module(s)
Memory Module : Samsung M3 78T3253FG0-CCC 256MB DIMM DDR2 PC2-3200U DDR2-400 (3-3-3-8 2-11-3-2)
Memory Module : Samsung M3 78T3253FG0-CCC 256MB DIMM DDR2 PC2-3200U DDR2-400 (3-3-3-8 2-11-3-2)
Memory Module : Kingston K 1GB DIMM DDR2 PC2-3200U DDR2-400 (3-3-3-8 2-11-3-2)

Video System
Video Adapter : Intel(R) 82915G/GV/910GL Express Chipset Family (8 SP 333MHz, 128MB DDR2, Integrated Graphics)

Graphics Processor

Storage Devices
WDC WD400BD-75LRA0 40GB (SATA300, 2MB Cache) : 37GB (C:)
HL-DT-ST CD-RW/DVD-ROM GCC-4482B (ATA33, DVD+-R, CD-RW, 2MB Cache) : N/A (D:)

Logical Storage Devices
Hard Disk (C:) : 37GB (NTFS) @ WDC WD400BD-75LRA0 40GB (SATA300, 2MB Cache)
Optical Drive (D:) : N/A @ HL-DT-ST CD-RW/DVD-ROM GCC-4482B (ATA33, DVD+-R, CD-RW, 2MB Cache)
3.5" 1.44MB (A:) : N/A

Peripherals
LPC Hub Controller 1 : Intel 82801FB/FR (ICH6/ICH6R) LPC Interface Bridge
LPC Legacy Controller 1 : SMSC LPC47M584-NC
Audio Device : Dell Optiplex GX280
Serial Port(s) : 1
Parallel Port(s) : 1
Disk Controller : Dell 82801FB (ICH6) Ultra ATA Storage Controller
Disk Controller : Dell Optiplex GX280
USB Controller 1 : Dell Optiplex GX280
USB Controller 2 : Dell Optiplex GX280
USB Controller 3 : Dell Optiplex GX280
USB Controller 4 : Dell Optiplex GX280
USB Controller 5 : Dell Optiplex GX280
SMBus/i2c Controller 1 : Intel 801xx/63xx SMBus

Printers and Faxes
Printer : Microsoft XPS Document Writer (600x600, Colour)

Network Services

Power Management
Mains (AC) Line Status : On-Line

Operating System
Windows System : Microsoft Windows XP Professional 5.01.2600 (Service Pack 3)
Platform Compliance : x86

[Dism]

It seems to me like your computer might just be struggling to play the session. 1.5GB of RAM is pretty low for a computer these days and I can see a few other issues:

Originally Posted by Mr.BC

Video System
Video Adapter : Intel(R) 82915G/GV/910GL Express Chipset Family (8 SP 333MHz, 128MB DDR2, Integrated Graphics)

Integrated graphics are not supported. Great at stealing resources, and just generally do not perform well.

Originally Posted by Mr.BC

Storage Devices
WDC WD400BD-75LRA0 40GB (SATA300, 2MB Cache) : 37GB (C:)
HL-DT-ST CD-RW/DVD-ROM GCC-4482B (ATA33, DVD+-R, CD-RW, 2MB Cache) : N/A (D:)

Pro Tools requires a secondary hard drive to run sessions from. Internal is ideal... but if it must be external, it must be FireWire (no USB!). It should also be 7200RPM minimum.

What exact version of Pro Tools are you running? Updating to the latest build may help with some issues, but your computer is most likely the cause of the problems. For someone who is trying to "get up to speed with technology," you are running an awfully old computer!

[Mr.BC]

Thanks a bunch! It'll take me awhile, but I'll see what I can do about the chipset since integrated graphic video cards are not supported. I'll also increase my ram, and get a secondary drive that meets the sys reqs. BTW; that's why I had to read the message about the HDD thats posted on the "Help us to Help You" link several times.

(The system requirements as presented to the general public are somewhat misleading. Nowhere on the box, or even in the installation instructions does it mention the fact that a secondary HDD is required to play & record in P/T).

Question;
So once I get the secondary drive, alternate video card, and increase my ram considerably, I guess I should then un-install Pro Tools from my "C" drive and install it, and run it from the alternate drive, is that correct??

Also; I have Pro Tools M-Powered Essential 8. I'm not aware of how to retrieve specific build details, and I'm not aware of any later builds, or patches being available.

(Thanks in advance!)

[Mr.BC]

(Or should I keep Pro Tools on my "C" drive, and simply move the Pro Tools databases, etc over to the alternate drive?)