MBox 3 Lights flashing

[augster]

My MBox 3 was working fine. Sure, every once in a while ProTools 9 would complain that it could not find the hardware, but a simple reinstall of the MBox drivers would fix that. Recently though, when I connect the MBox, all the lights flash in sequence as though the MBox is constantly being initialized. But it is never recognized by Windows. Reinstalling the MBox drivers doesn't fix this particular issue.

Has anyone else experienced this? Any suggestions for fixing this? (Besides getting a Mac - lol)

Here is my setup:
Samsung Laptop (this laptop is dedicated for ProTools use)
Windows 7, 64 bit
Intel i3 Chipset
500GB Disk
4GB RAM
Pro Tools 9.0.5
MBox 3 (running driver v.1.0.19)

[RTFM]

This sounds to me like a hardware failure.

[Pinball Wizard]

This just happened to me too!

Even the stand-alone control panel won't find the mbox.

It isn't the mbox. The mbox works perfectly fine on two other computers.

Also, I am able to use a mbox pro 3 (firewire) ok on this computer. Looks like something is wrong with the usb.

I'll hack at it awhile & see what I can find out.

[Pinball Wizard]

I've spent two days on this and have made no progress.

The problem machine here is running XP SP3.

The mbox 3 works fine on two other computers. One is running XP home SP3 and the other is running Windows 7 professiona 64 bitl.

A mbox 3 pro works fine on the problem machine.

I have completely uninstalled all drivers & pro tools. I checked the registry to make sure that everything was gone. There were some drivers hiding in the prefetch folder but I got rid of them too. I even uninstalled and reinstalled the USB drivers. No joy.....the light show just keeps going on.
Another thread here suggests getting a card for the USB ports.

http://duc.avid.com/showthread.php?t=308827

I will try that and report back in this thread. That is going to take a few days but I will keep hacking at this. I just don't get it.....this machine used to work ok with the mbox 3. Maybe a Microsoft update has done this.....I don't know.

[augster]

I also tried it on two other laptops and it works fine (both newer Windows 7 64bit). I'm also still hacking away at it - lol

[augster]

I was able to finally get the MBox working again.

Here is what worked for me:

In Device Manager
Select "Universal Serial Bus controllers"
Right click on "Generic USB Hub" and click "Uninstall"
Select "Universal Serial Bus controllers" again
Right click on it and select "Scan for hardware changes"
I had to do this a couple of times

Since there are more than one Generic USB Hubs, I used the iLok dongle to locate the USB port that I needed to target. Here's how I did that:
Plug in the iLok to any USB port
Then, back in Device Manager I did the following:
Select "Universal Serial Bus controllers"
Right click on one of the "Generic USB Hub" and select "Properties"
Click on the "Power" tab and in the "Attached devices" section, you'll see the iLok device (if not, go to the next "Generic USB Hub")
Unplug the iLok device and quickly plug the MBox into that same port, then if the MBox is not recognized, uninstall that USB Hub following the steps above

The MBox is working fine now.

[Pinball Wizard]

Originally Posted by albee1952

One of the required Windows system tweaks is to turn OFF the power management feature on all USB ports

Yes, that & all other windows optimizations were done before these problems & tests.

I believe that is exactly what happened to Augster. I'm guessing that for some crazy reason, his power management got turned back on. When he uninstalled & reinstalled drivers, he probably did the optimization and turned it off (it would have defaulted on).

The lesson here is that if you are experiencing this problem, check the power management EVEN IF YOU AT ONE TIME TURNED IT OFF!

[lobabe]

Jesus, how can so many people have the same problem and be getting almost no help here? Has Avid not fessed up that there's a serious manufacturing issue here? Mine has done the same as mentioned. It was because I plugged it into a different power strip and boom...flashing lights.

What makes my issue different than what I'm seeing above is that no powered usb hub is working. And I've tried my Mbox 3 with three separate computers and as soon as the usb is plugged in....flashing lights.

I would ask for help but I realize that's pointless at this point.

[creebobby]

Same thing happened to me.
I bought a new Mbox 3 six months ago. It was working great and them all of a sudden I get the Christmas Lights. 'Hardware Not Connected'.

Avid told me that since I didn't buy it from an authorized Avid reseller, I have to pay to have it fixed at an authorized repair center.

I called the repair center - they'll swap it out for a refurb. unit for $130, or sell a refurb. outright for $170.

But is this problem just going to happen again down the line?
Was the Mbox 3 product line abandoned for a reason?

[elk]

I've got the same problem! I just posted about it but will post again here- i need help! and yes, i don't want to spend the $40 to call tech support. Here's my other post - would so appreciate some help! "Not sure if this should be in the pro tools 11 thread or ? (this is my first post) ...I have an Mbox gen 3, using pro tools 11.3.1 on a Macbook pro OS X Yosemite 10.10.3.
I've been using this for the last 3 years and it's been running ok, until yesterday when i went to plug in a second mic lead into the available input in the Mbox, and all the lights flashed, and now all the led lights continue to flash one after the other repeatedly, and there is a repetitive clicking sound happening in the head phones. I'm not very tech savvy, but read about someone else having a similar problem and they plugged the Mbox into a second computer and somehow it 'reset' itself. I tried this and nothing changed. There was also talk of downloading a driver or firmware but nothing suggested. Any help would be great...I do have Mbox 2 i can dust off but rather stay with the 3. Any insight appreciated! thanks..."