Unable to communicate with SYNC HD (24.3)

[Nico Berthold]

Seems like Karma is hitting back

I just had the first "unable to establish communication with Sync HD" Error message for a long time.

[Frank Kruse]

I haven't had it for 3 days now. Before it was more or less daily. Seems like it has settled down without me changing anything. Maybe now it goes back to 2-3 times a month like under 23.12. Will see...

I can't roll back at the moment as I'm mid-project.

[Frank Kruse]

I think I might have found a pattern but I'll have to keep an eye on in case it's coincidence.
The frame rate mismatch error seems to come up in the morning after starting the machine, launching PT but then wait for 30-40 minutes before actually opening a session.
It seems like letting the rig sit there for a while causes the error and I have to restart the machine and open my session immediately.

Frank

[johnmichaelcaldwell]

Originally Posted by MCorbin

Hey all

For what it is worth, we have not updated code relating to Sync HD or Sync X in Pro Tools or the HD Driver in several releases.

It might be worth rolling back or doing a co-install of Pro Tools versions (just rename the current one installed and install the older one) to see if you continue to see the issue on the older version of PT.

If you do not see an improvement, please get a case opened up with us so we can take a look at the logs.

Thanks!

m

Hey MCorbin, does Avid still support the Sync HD? Or is it being phased out by the Sync X? Would love to see an update for this if support is still available. I've been having the same issues.

[MCorbin]

So Sync HD is still supported/tested for another few years.

https://avidtech.my.salesforce-sites...-support-dates

Even once this passes we won't necessarily do anything to actively stop Sync HD from functioning, we just won't test it any longer.

Outside of a unit just getting older and failing, I do not see any reason for a Sync HD not to last quite some time.

m

[johnmichaelcaldwell]

Hi all, coming back to this after yesterday's post and thinking that this issue doesn't actually have anything to do with the physical Sync HD... The reasons I believe this are because my issue seems to point more towards the software or computer since Pro Tools app not being the frontmost active app seems to do something to trigger this (for me at least...). Second reason is that I've tried multiple Sync HD's on two different systems that this is happening on and the problem has persisted...

Would a new Sync X solve this? Idk. I haven't tried downgrading yet but also this seems irrelative as a workaround since I'm paying for Pro Tools Ultimate subscriptions and at no point was I notified that the Sync HD would not work appropriately on newer versions...

[johnmichaelcaldwell]

Just posting a quick update here since I just updated my thread which is a very similar thread to this one. If anyone has overcome this error I'd love to know what you did. Here's some testing we've been doing at the studio recently...

We've done quite a bit of testing on this at the studio (2 different 2019 Intel Mac Pros are sharing this issue). Posting to see if anyone may have anymore ideas about all of this.

1. Tested the network as a possible culprit: ended up entirely disconnecting the computer from all network devices by unplugging any cables and devices (including S6) and the problem persisted.

2. Deleted Pro Tools preferences and cache: this was able to "suppress" the error dialog for about 30 mins and then it was back to "normal." Problem persists.

3. Changing physical Vid Ref and Word Clock cables: normally we're doing parallel runs from Vid Ref and Clock generators but to test this we tried running these in serial from one device to another and terminating at the end. Problem persists.

4. HDX cards: We took out all 3 HDX cards and moved a different one into the first space and left the other 2 out. Still broken.

5. Sync HD sync source: We tried changing the Sync Source for the Sync HD to Word Clock instead of Vid Ref. Still broken.

6. Vid Ref Source: We also tried changed the source for Vid Ref to see if the Antelope Trinity that's providing the signal for this was broken but a new source provided the same fault.

The only thing that actually gets rid of the dialog is to uncheck "Sync HD Enabled" in Preferences or just physically unhook it. And as I've mentioned in other posts this is happening on 4 different Sync HDs with the same firmware across 2 different 2019 Intel Mac Pros.