HLP PT 10.3.10 & 12.5 problems after ASIO4ALL was enabled then disabled

[dantakesthesquare]

Thanks everyone.
I was just going to order a firewire drive because of the optimization guide. It said something about usb not being the way to go, but I would much rather do usb, so I will do that.

I have since deleted and uninstalled asio4all, so it shouldn't be the driver for anything anymore. I was only not using the focusrite driver so I could mix without my interface. I was still using the focusrite driver with the focusrite. (so I think) Is there any way that I could still be using the focusrite for playback and somehow using a different asio driver with it? I assume when I choose focusrite for playback, it uses it's driver. Again, I'm a n00b.

I am pretty sure windows isnt using the focusrite driver when connected, because during trouble shooting, I had some music playing in the background and was coming from my speakers/headphone jack. (I usually don't run any programs in the background, just was doing this while opening and closing pt a bunch and trying different things) But I will make sure when I get home.

Again, I will get another HD, but I am 99% certain that is not the problem in this case. PT was working fine, I configured using asio4all, reconfigured back to focusrite, and then problems galore.

[The Weed]

Ah, a little clarity. You are trying to use Pro Tools without the 18i20, yes? Pro Tools has to have something to output with. And no, you can't use the Focusrite driver without the 18i20 as its driver is only for it. All ASIO4ALL is doing is wrapping your onboard soundcard's WDM driver to present it to Pro Tools as an ASIO device.

You're best bet IMHO, if you only want to mix "on the road" ie outside the studio and without the 18i20, is to purchase a Focusrite 2i2 and use that as the interface for PT and again, make sure your onboard sound card is the default for Windows sounds/audio and leave the Focusrite for Pro Tools only.

If you don't want to be carrying a small interface and an external drive, one suggestion would be to either put another hard drive in the laptop - again 7,200 RPM spinner or SSD - or, replace the hard drive in the laptop with a large enough SSD. Some have found that they can use one SSD as the OS and Recording/Playback drive.

There are a few more optimizations you can/should do besides the ones Avid has documented. Search my user name and look for a post about what I did to get my RME and Pro Tools to play nice.

[dantakesthesquare]

Thanks, The weed!

And no, I am not trying to use pro tools without the focusrite anymore. all of these problems are happening with the focusrite connected. I have deleted and uninstalled asio4all long ago. it's really not that big of an issue using the focusrite to mix at this point. it's in a rack case. Just a little inconvenient.

UPDATE ALL:

TLDR: Problem is fixed! (mostly) Error seemed to be windows using the focusrite driver for recording. Strangeness still abounds, however.

Just got home. Went straight from work to a gig. I checked to make sure windows wasn't using the focusrite driver for anything, and lo and behold, it was set to use it for recording. I turned this off, and while nothing happened right away, when I went into pro tools, messed around with the playback engine settings, and turned off the "ignore errors during playback" button, the noise went away and I was able to record and play as normal. When I turned it back on, the noise didn't come back, but it would no longer let me play anything. (it would just depress the play and stop buttons on screen for half a second and then normalize them again and no nothing) I maxed my playback settings, and it still played fine, but then when I clicked ignore errors during playback, it didn't work again. This is especially strange, since I was using that feature before activating and deactivating asio4all.

It would seem my problem is fixed! At least mostly... Still don't know why it's doing that thing with the "ignore errors during playback" but it seems that windows using the focusrite driver for recording was most of the issue. it's been a long day, so I'm gonna knock out, but I'll do more testing tomorrow.

Thanks EVERYONE in this thread for your advice. You made me feel very welcome and helped :) you'll surely be hearing from me soon with more dumb mistakes and errors. More updates to follow on this problem.

[The Weed]

It's not just the recording, but all parts of the Sound menu that you need to be sure are defaulted to your onboard soundcard.

Glad we could help.

[dantakesthesquare]

Yes, the weed. Windows isn't using the Focusrite for playback. I knew this because I was listening to music through the headphone jack of my laptop while troubleshooting. I just double checked yesterday to find windows was defaulted to the Focusrite for recording, which seemed to be at least a major part of the problem.

Well I re downloaded PT 12 and it seems that it's at least part of the way fixed. I was able to record a sample section and play it back. Again, this only worked with the "ignore errors during playback" button off. When it was on, it either wouldn't play in a similar fashion to pt 10, or it would play, but there would be no sound coming out of the focusrite.

Strange though, as when I opened a session, it suddenly said that my focusrite driver could not be initialized, and to make sure it was connected correctly. It was also prone to freezing. I think this is also because the session file was created in PT 10, but there shouldn't be an issue in compatibility so I've heard. I haven't been using any plugins of any sort as I am still pretty early on in the demo recording process. This is pretty strange, but I don't really have time to worry about it. I'm just going to finish this round of demos on pt 10. I'm kind of just flying by the seat of my pants here, as my end goal is also to have a custom built tower to mix at home on, and just use my laptop to track mobile at our rehearsal spot or wherever else I can track. I just don't have the patience or money right now to follow through with that right away. When I get the tower, I will probably switch over to pt 12 and check it out.

I am going to order an external HD probably tonight. Any other recommendations other than 7200rpm? and does it really matter ssd or not? the wd caviar weed recommended wasn't a usb external. Am going to do some more research before I order, but just figured I'd ask while I'm here. Thanks

[digi98]

Have you looked through the threads on sample rate switching with Focusrite? I have to create a new dummy session whenever switching sample rates with Scarlett 18i20 or it can have all the problems you describe. I don't use internal sound card either. Sample rate has to be same everywhere if playing Windows sounds, iTunes.


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[mjslakeridge]

Look into a USB docking station for the WD Caviar HDD. Here is an example:

http://eshop.macsales.com/item/Newer...nAOxoCz0Dw_wcB

It supports HDDs up to 6TB in size. Maybe you can find a self contained 7200Rpm drive, but I am not aware of any.

[The Weed]

BTW, you have to co-install PT 10 and 12 in the right order. 10 first, then 12. Doing it the reverse can cause issues and has for many.

You may want to uninstall all versions of Pro Tools, run a registry cleaner like CCleaner until it shows no issues and then install PT 10.

[dantakesthesquare]

http://www.amazon.com/HGST-High-Perf...=ATVPDKIKX0DER

Going to order this. usb 3.0 7200rpm 1tb. seems good to me.

And I haven't checked sample rate switching threads, I'll check them out right now. That sounds closer to the solution to my problem. Everyone here is suggesting things that, while are helpful, weren't active or present before asio4all when both versions of pt were working fine. Thanks!