Pro Tools 10.3.8 random crashes and freezes

[cvdpoel]

Hey guys. I have recently been having some MAJOR issues with 10.3.8. I'm posting this both in the Avid forum and the Windows forum, because I'm still unsure as to which one is actually causing the problem.

Whenever certain Pro Tools sessions try to autosave, Windows will crash. I'm talking mouse freezes, cannot pull up task manager crashing. Also randomly, if I have been in Chrome searching something, or in any other window other than PT, and switch back to PT and try to hit play, the crashes will happen again.

It doesn't seem linked to one certain session, it just appears to happen randomly.

What I've noticed is that if I DO manage to pull up task manager, it'll say that PT is using up 99% of my CPU, but it definitely shouldn't be. Most of these are minimal sessions that have maybe five or six plugins initiated, and about 8 tracks total. None of these plugins are pirated, and this is an actual purchased version of Pro Tools.

I DO have Pro Tools 11 as well, but with the recent change to AAX plugins, I still run Pro Tools 10 in order to use certain VSTs that I cannot run in Pro Tools 11.

Also, I just built this PC and it works GREAT in other big programs; Photoshop, Illustrator, After Effects, Lightroom, etc. I'll post a Sandra report at the end of this post, but in the meantime thanks in advance for any type of help!

Computer
Model : ASUS All Series ASUS MB
Serial Number : System Ser**********
Chassis : Desktop
Mainboard : ASUS SABERTOOTH Z87
Serial Number : 1312198********
BIOS : AMI (OEM) 1603 11/06/2013
Intel vPro : 9.00.22.1467
Total Memory : 32GB DIMM DDR3

Processors
Processor : Intel(R) Core(TM) i7-4770K CPU @ 3.50GHz (4C 8T 4.2GHz, 3.9GHz IMC, 4x 256kB L2, 8MB L3)
Socket/Slot : FC LGA1150

Chipset
Memory Controller : ASUS Core (Haswell) DRAM Controller 100MHz, 2x 16GB DIMM DDR3 1.33GHz 128-bit

Memory Module(s)
Memory Module : G.Skill F3-1333C9-8GAO 8GB DIMM DDR3 PC3-10700U DDR3-1334 (9-9-9-25 4-34-10-5)
Memory Module : G.Skill F3-1333C9-8GAO 8GB DIMM DDR3 PC3-10700U DDR3-1334 (9-9-9-25 4-34-10-5)
Memory Module : G.Skill F3-1333C9-8GAO 8GB DIMM DDR3 PC3-10700U DDR3-1334 (9-9-9-25 4-34-10-5)
Memory Module : G.Skill F3-1333C9-8GAO 8GB DIMM DDR3 PC3-10700U DDR3-1334 (9-9-9-25 4-34-10-5)

Video System
Monitor/Panel : Dell Computer DELL IN2020M
(1600x900, 19.9")
Monitor/Panel : Dell Computer DELL E2009W
(1680x1050, 20.0")
Video Adapter : NVIDIA GeForce GTX 660 (5CU 960SP SM5.0 1GHz/1.24GHz, 384kB L2, 2GB 6GHz 192-bit, PCIe 3.00 x16)
Video Adapter : NVIDIA GeForce GTX 660 (5CU 960SP SM5.0 1GHz/1.24GHz, 384kB L2, 2GB 6GHz 192-bit, PCIe 3.00 x16)

Graphics Processor
OpenCL GP Processor : NVIDIA GeForce GTX 660 (960SP 5C 1GHz/1.24GHz, 384kB L2, 2GB 6GHz 192-bit)
Compute Shader Processor : NVIDIA GeForce GTX 660 (960SP 5C 1GHz/1.24GHz, 384kB L2, 2GB 6GHz 192-bit)
CUDA GP Processor : NVIDIA GeForce GTX 660 (960SP 5C 1GHz/1.24GHz, 384kB L2, 2GB 6GHz 192-bit)

Storage Devices
2x Seagate ST3500418AS (1TB, RAID1/SATA300, SCSI-5, 3.5", 7200rpm, 16MB Cache) : 932GB (F:)
2x hp ssd v300a (500.1GB, RAID0/SATA600, SCSI-5, 2.5", SSD) : 466GB (E:)
2x hp ssd v300a (240GB, RAID0/SATA600, SCSI-5, 2.5", SSD) : 224GB (C:)
Seagate ST2000DM001-9YN164 (2TB, USB2/SATA600, 7200rpm) : 2TB (H:)
2x Seagate ST3500418AS (RAID1/SATA300, 3.5", DVD+-RW, CD-RW, 16MB Cache) : N/A (D:)
DTSOFT BDROM () : N/A (G:)

Logical Storage Devices
System Reserved : 350MB (NTFS)
Storage (E:) : 466GB (NTFS) @ 2x hp ssd v300a (500.1GB, RAID0/SATA600, SCSI-5, 2.5", SSD)
Windows (C:) : 224GB (NTFS) @ 2x hp ssd v300a (240GB, RAID0/SATA600, SCSI-5, 2.5", SSD)
Studio (H:) : 2TB (NTFS) @ Seagate ST2000DM001-9YN164 (2TB, USB2/SATA600, 7200rpm)
Pro Tools (F:) : 931GB (NTFS) @ 2x Seagate ST3500418AS (1TB, RAID1/SATA300, SCSI-5, 3.5", 7200rpm, 16MB Cache)
Optical Drive (D:) : N/A @ 2x Seagate ST3500418AS (RAID1/SATA300, 3.5", DVD+-RW, CD-RW, 16MB Cache)
Optical Drive (G:) : N/A @ DTSOFT BDROM ()

Peripherals
LPC Hub Controller 1 : ASUS Lynx Point LPC Controller
LPC Legacy Controller 1 : T0 C8-03
Audio Device : ASUS Lynx Point HD Audio Controller
Audio Device : ASUS GK106 HDMI Audio Controller
Audio Codec : nVidia GeForce 6800 [NV40.1]
Disk Controller : ASUS ICH8R (ICH8) SATA RAID Controller
Disk Controller : ASUS Asmedia 106x SATA Controller
Disk Controller : ASUS Asmedia 106x SATA Controller
USB Controller 1 : ASUS Lynx Point USB xHCI Host Controller
USB Controller 2 : ASUS Lynx Point USB Enhanced Host Controller #2
USB Controller 3 : ASUS Lynx Point USB Enhanced Host Controller #1
SMBus/i2c Controller 1 : Intel ICH SMBus

Printers and Faxes
Printer : Microsoft XPS Document Writer v4 (600x600, Colour)
Fax : Microsoft Shared Fax Driver (200x200)

Peripherals
Media Player : Seagate GoFlex Desk (1.82TB)

Network Services
Network Adapter : Intel(R) Ethernet Connection I217-V (Ethernet)
Wireless Adapter : NETGEAR WNA3100 N300 Wireless USB Adapter (802.11g (ERP), WEP n-bit, 54Mbps)

Operating System
Windows System : Microsoft Windows 8.1 Professional 6.03.9600
Platform Compliance : x64

Windows Experience Index
Current System : 8.2

[cvdpoel]

383 views and not one post, sweet

[Bill Denton]

When you run Pro Tools you should be running only Pro Tools...

Close every other program on your computer, then try running Pro Tools and let us know if you're still having problems.

I know it's a pain to buy a total "hoss" of a computer and not be able to use it for multiple programs at once, but when you get into the world of professional applications, such as Pro Tools is, that's often the only option.

Good luck...

[sw rec]

That auto save bug has been pretty well-documented. I had to disable session file backups on mine because of it. (As of PT 10, have the same problem with PT 11) I would HIGHLY recommend un-checking 'session file backups' and getting (staying??) in the habit of doing a ctrl-S FREQUENTLY, but not while PT is rendering anything, or creating a fade, or even playing.
Question..in your setup preferences, how many "cores" have you allocated to Pro Tools? Try 5.
And would like to echo what Bill said about multi-tasking while Pro Tools is running. Bad idea.
One more thing. Go into Control Panel and de-select your Pro Tools audio interface as a Windows device. Let Windows sounds play off the onboard sound card. (It's supposed to be multi client, but that's causing conflicts for some people.)

[uQbar]

Originally Posted by cvdpoel

Whenever certain Pro Tools sessions try to autosave, Windows will crash. I'm talking mouse freezes, cannot pull up task manager crashing.

When I was having this issue the solution was to not use the AAX 32 bit versions of my plug ins. Load using the no plug ins option (ctrl N on start up I think) and see if it goes away. If it does, move your 32 bit AAX plug ins into a folder where PT won't find em!