Pro Tools 10 CPU and 9128 error

[jemanike]

Okay, this is getting frustrating.

I'm running Windows 7 with a Intel Pentium 4 CPU 3.00GHz 2.99GHz with 8 Gigs of RAM on a 64-bit operating system and EVERYTIME I try to mixdown and record, I get a CPU usage warning - 9128 (even though the meter is only reading 40 or 50%) and the computer stalls out.

I've bypassed all plugins, I've switched settings in Playback Engine, the only buffer setting available is 512. I can only change the processor settings from 1 to 2. I've checked and unchecked ignore error messages. Ive disabled latency. I've turned off my antivirus programs. Other forums mention changing the core and thread settings, but I have NO idea where to find those. PLEASE HELP ME! I HAVE 5 SONGS THAT NEED TO BE MIXED AND MASTERED BY TUESDAY!

[Darryl Ramm]

Originally Posted by jemanike

Okay, this is getting frustrating.

I'm running Windows 7 with a Intel Pentium 4 CPU 3.00GHz 2.99GHz with 8 Gigs of RAM on a 64-bit operating system and EVERYTIME I try to mixdown and record, I get a CPU usage warning - 9128 (even though the meter is only reading 40 or 50%) and the computer stalls out.

I've bypassed all plugins, I've switched settings in Playback Engine, the only buffer setting available is 512. I can only change the processor settings from 1 to 2. I've checked and unchecked ignore error messages. Ive disabled latency. I've turned off my antivirus programs. Other forums mention changing the core and thread settings, but I have NO idea where to find those. PLEASE HELP ME! I HAVE 5 SONGS THAT NEED TO BE MIXED AND MASTERED BY TUESDAY!

We need much more information.

Sandra report time... (see the "Help us help you..." link above if you don't know how to do that). Have all your disk drives and other peripherals connected when you run the Sandra report.

What exact Pro Tools version?

And what is your interface being used and driver versions - please list all the settings in the Playback Engine dialog panel.

Of all the computer optimization steps run down the whole list and tell us which ones you have done.

Darryl

[albee1952]

Yes, please post a Sandra report. I have a bad feeling that the old P4 is simply not up to the task(but the Sandra may point out some other hardware issues).

[jemanike]

Thanks for the quick reply. I'm running Pro Tools 10 student edition...and using the Tascam US-1800. I've also downloaded the free ASIO
4ALL. I've successfully recorded and mixed projects using this setup before, but it's been acting up lately.

Thanks in advance!
Here is the Sandra Report:

SiSoftware Sandra

ID
Host Name : Dredneck-PC
Workgroup : WORKGROUP

Computer
Model : Dell DXG051
Serial Number : 4JM****
Chassis : Dell Tower
Mainboard : Dell 0XH241
Serial Number : ..CN1374*********
BIOS : Dell A11 09/27/2006
Total Memory : 8GB DIMM DDR

Processors
Processor : Intel(R) Pentium(R) 4 CPU 3.00GHz (2T 3GHz, 2MB L2)
Socket/Slot : FC LGA775

Chipset
Memory Controller : nVidia nForce4 Intel Edition CPU to PCI Bridge 4x 200MHz (800MHz)
Memory Controller : Dell nForce4 Memory Controller 2x 800MHz (1.6GHz), 8GB DIMM DDR 666MHz

Memory Module(s)
Memory Module : Samsung M3 78T5663EH3-CF7 2GB DIMM DDR2 PC2-6400U DDR2-800 (5-6-6-18 3-24-6-3)
Memory Module : Samsung M3 78T5663EH3-CF7 2GB DIMM DDR2 PC2-6400U DDR2-800 (5-6-6-18 3-24-6-3)
Memory Module : Samsung M3 78T5663EH3-CF7 2GB DIMM DDR2 PC2-6400U DDR2-800 (5-6-6-18 3-24-6-3)
Memory Module : Samsung M3 78T5663EH3-CF7 2GB DIMM DDR2 PC2-6400U DDR2-800 (5-6-6-18 3-24-6-3)

Video System
Monitor/Panel : Dell Computer DELL E170S
(1600x1200, 17.1")
Monitor/Panel : Dell Computer DELL E170S
(1600x1200, 17.1")
Video Adapter : NVIDIA GeForce 8600 GTS (32 SM4.0 1.57GHz/1.35GHz 16% OC, 256MB DDR3 2.1GHz 5% OC 128-bit, PCIe 1.00 x16)
Video Adapter : NVIDIA GeForce 8600 GTS (32 SM4.0 1.57GHz/1.35GHz 16% OC, 256MB DDR3 2.1GHz 5% OC 128-bit, PCIe 1.00 x16)

Graphics Processor
OpenCL GP Processor : NVIDIA GeForce 8600 GTS (32SP 4C 1.57GHz/1.35GHz 16% OC, 256MB DDR3 2.1GHz 5% OC 128-bit)
Compute Shader Processor : NVIDIA GeForce 8600 GTS (32SP 1.57GHz/1.35GHz 16% OC, 256MB DDR3 2.1GHz 5% OC 128-bit)
CUDA GP Processor : NVIDIA GeForce 8600 GTS (32SP 4C 1.57GHz/1.35GHz 16% OC, 256MB DDR3 2.1GHz 5% OC 128-bit)

Storage Devices
Seagate ST3160812AS (160GB, SATA300, 3.5", 8MB Cache) : 149GB (D:)
WDC WD3200KS-00PFB0 (320.1GB, SATA300, 3.5", 7200rpm, 16MB Cache) : 298GB (E:)
Seagate ST500DM002-1BD142 (500.1GB, SATA600, 7200rpm, 16MB Cache) : 466GB (C:)
FLASH Drive SM_USB20 (8GB, USB2) : 7GB (H:)
TSSTcorpDVD-ROM TS-H352C (ATA33, DVD+-R, CD-R, 256kB Cache) : N/A (F:)
HL-DT-ST DVD+/-RW GWA4164B (ATA33, DVD+-RW, CD-RW, 2MB Cache) : N/A (G:)

Logical Storage Devices
Hard Disk (D:) : 149GB (NTFS) @ Seagate ST3160812AS (160GB, SATA300, 3.5", 8MB Cache)
Hard Disk (E:) : 298GB (NTFS) @ WDC WD3200KS-00PFB0 (320.1GB, SATA300, 3.5", 7200rpm, 16MB Cache)
Hard Disk (C:) : 466GB (NTFS) @ Seagate ST500DM002-1BD142 (500.1GB, SATA600, 7200rpm, 16MB Cache)
Removable Drive (H:) : 7GB (NTFS) @ FLASH Drive SM_USB20 (8GB, USB2)
Floppy Disk (A:) : N/A
Optical Drive (F:) : N/A @ TSSTcorpDVD-ROM TS-H352C (ATA33, DVD+-R, CD-R, 256kB Cache)
Optical Drive (G:) : N/A @ HL-DT-ST DVD+/-RW GWA4164B (ATA33, DVD+-RW, CD-RW, 2MB Cache)

Peripherals
LPC Hub Controller 1 : Dell nForce4 PCI to ISA Bridge
LPC Legacy Controller 1 : SMSC SCH5504-NS
Audio Device : Dell nForce4 AC'97 Audio Controller
Audio Device : Creative Labs Sound Blaster X-Fi XtremeMusic
Serial Port(s) : 1
Disk Controller : nVidia nForce4 Intel Edition Memory Registers
Disk Controller : nVidia nForce4 Intel Edition Memory Registers
Disk Controller : nVidia nForce4 Intel Edition Memory Registers
Disk Controller : nVidia nForce4 Intel Edition Memory Registers
Disk Controller : nVidia nForce4 Intel Edition Memory Registers
Disk Controller : nVidia nForce4 Intel Edition Memory Registers
Disk Controller : nVidia nForce4 Intel Edition Memory Registers
Disk Controller : nVidia nForce4 Intel Edition Memory Registers
Disk Controller : nVidia nForce4 Intel Edition Memory Registers
Disk Controller : nVidia nForce4 Intel Edition Memory Registers
Disk Controller : nVidia nForce4 Intel Edition Memory Registers
Disk Controller : Dell nForce4 Memory Controller
Disk Controller : nVidia nForce4 Parallel ATA Controller
Disk Controller : Dell nForce4 Serial ATA Controller
Disk Controller : Dell nForce4 Serial ATA Controller
USB Controller 1 : Dell nForce4 USB Controller
USB Controller 2 : Dell nForce4 USB 2.0 Controller
FireWire/1394 Controller 1 : Dell TSB43AB22 1394a-2000 OHCI PHY/Link-Layer Controller
SMBus/i2c Controller 1 : nVidia MCP2 SMBus 1
SMBus/i2c Controller 2 : nVidia MCP2 SMBus 2

Printers and Faxes
Printer : Microsoft XPS Document Writer (600x600, Colour)
Fax : Microsoft Shared Fax Driver (200x200)

Peripherals
Media Player : FLASH Drive SM_USB20 (7.47GB)

Network Services
Network Adapter : NVIDIA nForce Networking Controller (Ethernet)

Operating System
Windows System : Microsoft Windows 7 Home 6.01.7600
Platform Compliance : x64

Windows Experience Index
Current System : 3.8

[jemanike]

As far as computer optimization: I've downloaded ASIO4ALL, and I've disabled my virus protection. I've unchecked and checked low latency settings. I've adjusted virtually everything I could think to adjust. My Playback engine settings are Buffer: 512 (the only option) Processors (I've tried 1 and 2 - the only options). CPU usage is at 90% (but I've tried every option from 60% to 99%). I've also checked and unchecked ignore error messages.

[Darryl Ramm]

These errors may well be due to your old Pentium 4, but these errors are also often caused by failure to properly optimize the computer. And this will get more critical with a relatively old Pentium 4 processor. For example just simple thing like failure to disable WiFi can cause this. You need to carefully go though the documentation and do every last one of the computer optimizations listed. Go though the list carefully and do every last single optimization.

If I've got it right this is a single core Pentium 4 with hyper-threading, so a pretty old CPU. I woudl start with # CPU = 1 and to just pull a number out of he air for % CPU. Say 80 % or so. With hyper-threading the effectiveness of he extra virtual CPU is very dependent on the plugins in use and the workload. So be prepared to experiment. You may want to list the plugins you are trying to use here and how many instances, and other user might have advice if this is plausible. You certainly want to watch using heavy plugins, use busing to minimize the number of plugins instances, print tracks when needed etc.

Darryl

[jemanike]

Thank you. I'll try the optimization steps first. What processor would you suggest?

[Darryl Ramm]

What Audio interface are you using?

If you are using the internal Sound Blaster card I am confused why you need ASIO4ALL, don't the drivers for this card have ASIO support? Did you install the latest drivers for that card?

I already addressed the RTAS CPU settings so I am not sure what you are asking about processors.

As well as other things you should do the usual debug steps including trashing preferences. Double check that all your plugins are up to date and also try running Pro Tools with all plugins disabled (eg Move the plugin folder before you start pro tools-this is different than disabling a plugin inside Pro Tools).

Darryl

[jemanike]

I wrote earlier that I have a
TASCAM 1800 audio interface. You said my processor may be too weak so I was asking which processor would work better.

[Darryl Ramm]

Any current PC processor will "work better" but the question is what do you need/can you afford?

There is likely a sweet spot in price/performance around a single chip 4 or 6 core i7 based systems nowadays. Fill all the DIMM slots for improved memory bandwidth and do not skimp on IO, fast disks and flash SSD for system drive, use a good graphics card not built in graphics etc. There are lots of posts here about building/spec'ing a PC or about different Macs.

Darryl