Insane Frustration With 2023 Versions

[AndreBlaze]

I'm having a whole litany of issues with what seems to be every version that's come out in 2023 and I'm exhausted by the frustration these issues have caused me.

I've mentioned in another thread elsewhere that not once in the last year and a half have I been able to close Pro Tools without it hanging and requiring a force quit to terminate the program.

That wouldn't be a problem were it for this strange issue that started plaguing me in the last month or two: after an indeterminate amount of time and with no discernible pattern whatsoever, Pro Tools will randomly just stop its ability to play back. I'm able to click around the program but it will absolutely refuse to play back (transport will simply flash when I hit space bar). No it's not Count-Off or anything like that - the program will randomly do this right in the middle of playback where transport will suddenly stop.

To add to this frustration, literally every business practice of Avid's just makes me despise them as a company. I love the software and it's functionality but man oh man are they terrible. Every aspect of every single thing they do is just mind-bogglingly inane and moronic to say the least.

Even the little things like Avid Link's insistence to show an "Update" button for a version I can't actually use (2023.12 the support for my perpetual license ended in November), to Avid's insistence to be obscurantists at every turn when it comes to being able to manually install older versions, or the fact that none of those older versions seem to work (at least for me).

Other aspects of the program continue to blow me away too - here we are in 2024 and I suspect that Pro Tools may well be the only DAW that doesn't allow you to switch Playback Engine mid-session without a full restart of Pro Tools (which as I've mentioned, invariably results in Pro Tools hanging and having to be forced to quit). On top of that you have comments that you can't see while typing and all sorts of other strange bugs... This is a long rambling post but man... I just want to use my software with a minimum of headaches.

I tried reinstalling 2023.6 which results in a "missing PTW.dll" error, and 2023.9 just gives me an error with an extremely long alphanumeric string that ends with a "BUI.dll" error.

Need support? Absolutely not without paying! This is Avid! The greediest piece-of-crap company in the Audio industry lol... what a trainwreck honestly. Meanwhile every other audio software company will continue to support their products (as they should). I run DaVinci Resolve Studio (which has its issues) and Reason 12 (ditto) - both will support you without question. Nope... not Avid though.

I'm sorry for the sour grapes guys, but I can't be the only person to love the software, while simultaneously DESPISING Avid?

Get wrecked Avid, I hope you guys get bought out by the Reaper. (lol, yeah right I wish)

In all seriousness though, Avid needs to:

- Not be so F!@#$ing greedy and petty and support their garbage coding
- Improve Avid Link to allow me to download old versions of Pro Tools so I can bypass all this nonsense.
- Remove any "updates" from Avid Link that I don't have a license for (or at least allow me to hid it or something).
- Allow me to remove Pro Tools Intro and Ultimate (wish I never demo'd it) from my account so that they aren't even an option in my Avid account.
- Improve the website's design to not be so intentionally and infuriatingly obfuscating/obtuse.

[midnightrambler]

Originally Posted by AndreBlaze

Pro Tools will randomly just stop its ability to play back

Not sure if this pertains to your case but I've had this on and off over the past 20 years(!) and it's almost always a plug-in that's out of date. I think the last time this happened for me was Loom or Transfuser or one of those plugs that they just stop supporting without any announcements but kind of just hangs around in your plug-in folder like a bad smell.

Anyway like I say that might not be your problem in this instance but it might worth a (long and tedious) check.

[its2loud]

Prior to this rant, what steps were done to troubleshoot these issues and what are your system specs?you list both Mac and Windows in your profile.

[AndreBlaze]

Originally Posted by midnightrambler

Not sure if this pertains to your case but I've had this on and off over the past 20 years(!) and it's almost always a plug-in that's out of date. I think the last time this happened for me was Loom or Transfuser or one of those plugs that they just stop supporting without any announcements but kind of just hangs around in your plug-in folder like a bad smell.

Anyway like I say that might not be your problem in this instance but it might worth a (long and tedious) check.

I appreciate the insight since it's definitely not something I would have even thought of! Is there a process you've established to try and narrow down a culprit?

I just finished restoring my machine (thankfully I regularly create restore points) but of the course problem persists. The artists I was working just gave up and went home (frustrating and embarrassing - it's now 7:27 am here and I have yet to sleep and I have two deadlines I need to stay up to meet ).

After getting the session back open and doing a few quick things before rendering to upload for them, I got all of ten minutes of work done before Pro Tools stopped mid-playback. I'm honestly baffled.

Reeling myself back in from my tangent, would moving everything over to the "unused plugins" folder maybe fix it? I could just bring in plugins I use regularly and forget the rest until I need it.

Again, I appreciate the response!

[midnightrambler]

Originally Posted by AndreBlaze

would moving everything over to the "unused plugins" folder maybe fix it? I could just bring in plugins I use regularly and forget the rest until I need it.

Someone may chime in with a better way, but when Tools "gets ill" (and not in the cool sense) I've taken to:

1. Delete Pro Tools prefs (under Users->(your name)->Library->Preferences->Avid, delete the "Pro Tools" folder)

2. Rename your "Plug-Ins" folder to something else (my current one is called "PreCrash Plugs Check"). Tools creates a fresh "Plug-Ins" folder when it next starts

3. Restart comp, start protools, check it's running okay, close; and then move over plugs as required from the other plugs folder as needed and/or download the most up-to-date versions from the vendors' websites

Like I say, it's f'ing tedious, and probably not the sort of thing you should try and do when you've had no sleep and are at your wits' end, but I also know sometimes "needs must". FWIW I feel your pain. Good luck..!

[AndreBlaze]

Originally Posted by its2loud

Prior to this rant, what steps were done to troubleshoot these issues and what are your system specs?you list both Mac and Windows in your profile.

It was quite a rant wasn't it? yeah, I'm sorry about that (my hope is somebody at Avid will read it and continue to not care, lol)

Jokes/cynicism aside:

Windows machine (which is what I'm using most frequently):

CPU: Ryzen 9 5900x 12-core @ 3.7GHz (AIO cooler)
RAM: 64gb @ 3600mt/s
GPU: Zotac RTX 2060 12gb GDDR6
Chipset: B550 (ROG STRIX B550-F GAMING WIFI II)

16" MacBook Pro 2019 i9 w/ 64gb RAM

Troubleshooting steps

• Tried rebooting machine

• Tried uninstalling/reinstalling Focusrite drivers (I'm using a first gen 8i6)

• Am currently following Avid's optimization guidelines (pretty much all were in place except for drive indexing)

• After my system is done disabling indexing on all my drives (15TB across 5 drives) I'm going into BIOS and will check to make sure HyperThreading is indeed enabled (I'm positive it is, but I did a complete system wipe back in September)

• All my obvious drivers (i.e. graphics, audio, etc.) are up to date but I will also double-check my network adapter, chipset and other drivers to make sure they are indeed the latest.

As I mentioned, I did try to uninstall/re-install Pro Tools to both 2023.6 and 2023.9 but was ultimately forced to use a Restore Point to revert back to my latest system config (February 4th) in order to get Pro Tools back onto my machine since missing .DLL errors prevented me from launching either. I was tempted to manually place the .DLL's but I'm weary of mucking around in my Registry *nervous laughs*.

[AndreBlaze]

Originally Posted by midnightrambler

Someone may chime in with a better way, but when Tools "gets ill" (and not in the cool sense) I've taken to:

1. Delete Pro Tools prefs (under Users->(your name)->Library->Preferences->Avid, delete the "Pro Tools" folder)

2. Rename your "Plug-Ins" folder to something else (my current one is called "PreCrash Plugs Check"). Tools creates a fresh "Plug-Ins" folder when it next starts

3. Restart comp, start protools, check it's running okay, close; and then move over plugs as required from the other plugs folder as needed and/or download the most up-to-date versions from the vendors' websites

Like I say, it's f'ing tedious, and probably not the sort of thing you should try and do when you've had no sleep and are at your wits' end, but I also know sometimes "needs must". FWIW I feel your pain. Good luck..!

Thank you very much! I'm definitely going to give this a try! I'm pretty OCD about keeping things up to date but surely there is some bloat in there that could stand to be purged (especially some of the unmaintained free stuff).

I will leave it for now since my deadlines have to be done in Resolve (yay lol - Fairlight sucks compared to Pro Tools btw). And hey... if I had the patience/gall to write the mind-melting rant I just wrote, I better hope I have the patience to follow the steps you've outlined

[smurfyou]

Default answer would be that AMD is unsupported. Now from what I hear people are generally running just fine with them but that is Avid's stance.

Does the same behavior exist on the MacBook? If I were you I'd have that set up identically to your PC with the same plugs etc so you can switch to it and test the same session. PT more often runs on Macs without so much faffing about - this is not to start a platform argument, it's just an observation over the last couple of decades. And not to say you should switch; just to have a better idea if it's the system or the session.

Also can we assume you've checked to make sure Transport isn't online?

Is Video Engine enabled?

[sw rec]

Off the top of my head:
Forget Avid Link. Known to be problematic. Just go to your account and download your products there.
Go to a qualified retailer…I use Sweetwater, NEVER buy direct from Avid. Sweetwater tech support is fantastic. My only attempt at using Avid’s tech support had me waiting all day for a pre-scheduled “support” call that came SIX HOURS LATE, because the guy’s flimsy excuse was “he had some things to take care of.” 100% not acceptable.
I do have to say, though, I’ve run 3 of the 4 2023 versions on both PC and MAC (MAC Ventura is the main machine in here) and it always performs flawlessly. Sounds like a hardware issue or 3 to work out.

[MDGenerato]

Originally Posted by AndreBlaze

I'm having a whole litany of issues with what seems to be every version that's come out in 2023 and I'm exhausted by the frustration these issues have caused me.

I've mentioned in another thread elsewhere that not once in the last year and a half have I been able to close Pro Tools without it hanging and requiring a force quit to terminate the program.

That wouldn't be a problem were it for this strange issue that started plaguing me in the last month or two: after an indeterminate amount of time and with no discernible pattern whatsoever, Pro Tools will randomly just stop its ability to play back. I'm able to click around the program but it will absolutely refuse to play back (transport will simply flash when I hit space bar). No it's not Count-Off or anything like that - the program will randomly do this right in the middle of playback where transport will suddenly stop.

To add to this frustration, literally every business practice of Avid's just makes me despise them as a company. I love the software and it's functionality but man oh man are they terrible. Every aspect of every single thing they do is just mind-bogglingly inane and moronic to say the least.

Even the little things like Avid Link's insistence to show an "Update" button for a version I can't actually use (2023.12 the support for my perpetual license ended in November), to Avid's insistence to be obscurantists at every turn when it comes to being able to manually install older versions, or the fact that none of those older versions seem to work (at least for me).

Other aspects of the program continue to blow me away too - here we are in 2024 and I suspect that Pro Tools may well be the only DAW that doesn't allow you to switch Playback Engine mid-session without a full restart of Pro Tools (which as I've mentioned, invariably results in Pro Tools hanging and having to be forced to quit). On top of that you have comments that you can't see while typing and all sorts of other strange bugs... This is a long rambling post but man... I just want to use my software with a minimum of headaches.

I tried reinstalling 2023.6 which results in a "missing PTW.dll" error, and 2023.9 just gives me an error with an extremely long alphanumeric string that ends with a "BUI.dll" error.

Need support? Absolutely not without paying! This is Avid! The greediest piece-of-crap company in the Audio industry lol... what a trainwreck honestly. Meanwhile every other audio software company will continue to support their products (as they should). I run DaVinci Resolve Studio (which has its issues) and Reason 12 (ditto) - both will support you without question. Nope... not Avid though.

I'm sorry for the sour grapes guys, but I can't be the only person to love the software, while simultaneously DESPISING Avid and everybody who works there?

Get wrecked Avid, I hope you guys get bought out by the Reaper. (lol, yeah right I wish)

In all seriousness though, Avid needs to:

- Not be so F!@#$ing greedy and petty and support their garbage coding
- Improve Avid Link to allow me to download old versions of Pro Tools so I can bypass all this nonsense.
- Remove any "updates" from Avid Link that I don't have a license for (or at least allow me to hid it or something).
- Allow me to remove Pro Tools Intro and Ultimate (wish I never demo'd it) from my account so that they aren't even an option in my Avid account.
- Improve the website's design to not be so intentionally and infuriatingly obfuscating/obtuse.

Hi! David here from the Avid Community. Can you send me a message along with your Avid account email address so we can assist you? We're sorry about your negative experience.