Problems with PT and Pegasus RAID

[JohnnyFiction]

I'm trying to use the Promise Pegasus R8 as my main PT drive. I can record and playback from the drive but if I try to crossfade audio regions PT crashes. Also I do not see waveforms and can not audition audio files in workspace. If I move my session over to the system drive PT generates the waveform preview in workspace, auditions them, and has no trouble crossfading audio regions. After some research I found an old post from 2009 that stated PT is not compatible with RAID. I just talk with a friend today that is running a similar Mac Pro 6,1 with a Thunder Bay IV running software raid with no problems auditioning file, editing, or crossfade regions. Any help or advice would be greatly appreciated.

Late 2013 Mac Pro
MacPro6,1
8-Core Intel Xeon E5
Memory 32 GB
OS 10.9.4

Pro Tools 11.2.1.203

Apogee Symphony 24x24

Magma ExpressBox 3T (Thunderbolt 2) :
--------------------------
HDX
UAD Quad

Promise Pegasus R8 24GB (Thunderbolt 2)

USB Computer:
-----------------
Apple Keyboard
Apogee Symphony
USB 2.0 Hub
USB 3.0 Hub

USB 2.0 Hub:
---------------
Alesis I/O Dock
Novation ReMote LE
APC UPS Backup
iLok

USB 3.0 Hub:
---------------
LG Blu-ray Drive
Lexar CF reader
Elektron TM-1
Emagic Unitor 8/ AMT8

--------------------------

[remotedude]

Very strange.

Been running a RAID 10 with Pro Tools 10.3.8 for quite some time using a Thunderbay IV. It's been nothing but solid. I also have a few friends using the Pegasus Raid with zero problems. Pro Tools has been quite capable of utilizing RAID storage for quite some time. But as of PT10 and PT11 the limitations of types of storage that could be used without tricks opened up tremendously.

I've actually recorded to a Network attached storage drive over WIFI. And in a pinch used the card slot on my MBP to record and edit audio.

I'd look at a reinstall, and make sure all your drivers are up to date.

J

[JohnnyFiction]

Originally Posted by remotedude

Very strange.

Been running a RAID 10 with Pro Tools 10.3.8 for quite some time using a Thunderbay IV. It's been nothing but solid. I also have a few friends using the Pegasus Raid with zero problems. Pro Tools has been quite capable of utilizing RAID storage for quite some time. But as of PT10 and PT11 the limitations of types of storage that could be used without tricks opened up tremendously.

I've actually recorded to a Network attached storage drive over WIFI. And in a pinch used the card slot on my MBP to record and edit audio.

I'd look at a reinstall, and make sure all your drivers are up to date.

J

Are you suggesting that I reinstall PT? Everything is up to date and it's pretty much a fresh install. Just to be clear, I can record and playback from the RAID but if I try to crossfade audio regions PT crashes. Also there are no waveforms or auditioning of files in workspace. If I record audio onto the Pegasus and then transfer the files to my system drive I can crossfade those audio regions.

Any other suggestions?

[bigsnit-media]

I have the same issue with waveforms, but not the crashes. It does seem to be related to the Pegasus Raid.

Protools 11.2.1
Mac OSX 10.9.4
2.7 GHz 12-core Intel E5
64 gb ram

Promise Pegasus R8, 21 tb, Raid 5
Stripe 1 mb cache policy ReadAhead/WriteBack
Thunderbolt 2

I also have a Promise Pegasus R4 NON RAID (a 4 drive enclosure)
4 x 3 gb drives
Thunderbolt 2

If my Protools session and source files are on the RAID, Protools does not draw any waveforms (see screen grab) and ProTools task manager just spins on Calculating Waveform Overview.
Clicking "recalculate waveform overviews" in clips does nothing.
View > Waveforms - have tried all the settings here and no change - no waveform.

I am able to mix as normal - I haven't experienced any crashes - just have no waveform info.

If my ProTools session and source are on the NON-RAID Pegasus, I get waveforms as per normal.

Is there something in the RAID settings that needs to be changed?

[jasonthurley]

Have you tried using a RAID 10 instead of 5? 5 is the worst performance RAID setup you can have...

[bigsnit-media]

Jason, thank for the tip. I'm new to RAID so any insights are helpful. Will update this thread once I've had a chance to test.

[JohnnyFiction]

I can't use the Pegasus with Pro Tools. I can record and playback but if I hit Command F it locks up. Please, any help would be appreciated. I've deleted PT preferences and disabled the Pegasus power saving features.

[JohnnyFiction]

Also I just tried importing an audio file into my session from the Pegasus and the Timeline Data and Session Data Indicators are red. Strange that it can record or playback if I create an audio file within the session but it can't access files that were created outside of the session.

[kevinmac]

I have one of the new Thunderbolt 2 Thunderbay IV's and tried to run 24 TB of storage in RAID 0, but it locks up ProTools when I'm trying to do a fade. I tried different sizes for the RAID, since the Thunderbay isn't a controller, just 4 independent drives. I found that RAID 0 configurations of 12TB (2 6TB drives) are fine, and ProTools won't lock up. But 18TB (3 6TB drives) lock up on fades, as well as 24TB (4 6TB drives). So the issue from my point of view is coming from RAID sizes over 12TB. It has nothing to do with preferences needing to be reset, or any settings in ProTools... it happens 100% of the time, and is absolutely repeatable based on the overall size of the RAID. I tested in Logic and Bitwig Studio... no similar issues in either one.

This happens when drawing fades or crossfades directly on a track, or when hitting Command-F.

[jasonthurley]

A RAID 0 will improve transfer rates but not access time, so reading/writing small files does not improve in performance... also RAID 0 is almost useless for redundancy as if one drive fails you lose all data, so what is the point of even using it? Just to stripe data over a few drives to improve transfer rates?

Now RAID 10 does striping just as RAID 0 does (improving transfer performance) but also does Mirroring (Makes a copy of your data) so you have a backup if a drive fails. The downfall is you can only use half your capacity.... which would be fine if as the post above states the limit of RAID size is affecting his performance anyway.

I use RAID 10 on all my storage systems used all my Pro Tools systems and have yet to have any issues. However I do not use a Pegasus