Problems with Pro Tools 8.0.3(-6085) error Need Serious HELP & FAST

[mexablcknesekid]

(I did look up my problem up & nothing came close to helping me)

I'm running my sessions off a

macbook pro

processor-3.06 ghz intel core 2 duo

memory-4gb

with snow leopard

mbox 2 pro

250gb external hard drive

and the mbox is connected via a 800 to 400 firewire cable

my pro tools doesn't want to playback it was working fine on friday and before but saturday was when this problem started & now i cant get any sessions to playback i even tried creating a blank session & tried to see if playback worked & yet nothing

I keep getting "This audio device buffer underflowed. If this occurs frequently, try decreasing the "H/W Buffer Size" in the Playback Engine Panel or remove other devices from the audio firewire bus.(-6085)"

I got all the Playback settings at the lowest possible & I even tried to see if playback worked on a blank session and it didn't work and I really got to get stuff finished so if you guys could please help me I would really appreciate it

[Slim Shady]

A couple things you could try -

Copy one of the sessions to your internal drive, remove the external drive from the equation, and then see if you can then run the session. This is just as a test, but since you're getting a firewire error, removing/swapping things on the firewire bus is a good place to start.

If you have access to a different 800->400 cable or adapter you could try that as well, maybe the cable went bad or got cinched or something.

[Dism]

Before doing anything silly like writing to your system drive, which could only give you more errors...

If your MBox is connected to your Macbook via 400 to 800 cable... how is your external hard drive connected?

If you are using a USB drive, that's most likely your choking point.

[mexablcknesekid]

Originally Posted by Slim Shady

A couple things you could try -

Copy one of the sessions to your internal drive, remove the external drive from the equation, and then see if you can then run the session. This is just as a test, but since you're getting a firewire error, removing/swapping things on the firewire bus is a good place to start.

If you have access to a different 800->400 cable or adapter you could try that as well, maybe the cable went bad or got cinched or something.

Originally Posted by Dism

Before doing anything silly like writing to your system drive, which could only give you more errors...

If your MBox is connected to your Macbook via 400 to 800 cable... how is your external hard drive connected?

If you are using a USB drive, that's most likely your choking point.

co-sign Dism,Slim shady you dont ever want to write sessions to your system drive NEVER

i dont have another 800 to 400 cable and my mbox is connected firewire & external is connected by usb

Dism why would my hard drive be choking like that just asking because I have never heard of that??

[Dism]

Originally Posted by mexablcknesekid

co-sign Dism,Slim shady you dont ever want to write sessions to your system drive NEVER

i dont have another 800 to 400 cable and my mbox is connected firewire & external is connected by usb

Dism why would my hard drive be choking like that just asking because I have never heard of that??

Because USB drives are not supported.

You want to use a firewire drive with an oxford chipset.

The best way to do it:

Mac > 800 to 400 cable > FW400 drive > MBox Pro

USB is notoriously unstable for streaming audio/video as it operates in bursts, whereas FW is more consistant. Plus, USB has pretty low write speeds in comparison.

[Ben Jenssen]

Originally Posted by mexablcknesekid

co-sign Dism,Slim shady you dont ever want to write sessions to your system drive NEVER

And what would happen? Sounds like you think it would melt down your system.

Slim has been around a while and knows what he's talking about. His advise was sound. A tip for troubleshooting.

I've recorded to the system drive a few times when I had no alternative, nothing wrong with that. Might not work depending on the load, but it will NOT break anything.

To the OP: sorry I don't have any advise but to do the general troubleshooting stuff. Good luck.

[Dism]

Originally Posted by Ben Jenssen

And what would happen? Sounds like you think it would melt down your system.

Slim has been around a while and knows what he's talking about. His advise was sound. A tip for troubleshooting.

I've recorded to the system drive a few times when I had no alternative, nothing wrong with that. Might not work depending on the load, but it will NOT break anything.

To the OP: sorry I don't have any advise but to do the general troubleshooting stuff. Good luck.

It's not that the system will melt... it's for the same reasons why he shouldn't be using a USB drive. If he's choking on underrun errors, moving it to the system drive is likely not to help at all, and result in the same issues.

Unsupported drive configurations are just asking for more problems.

[mexablcknesekid]

i wasnt taking nothing away from slim im sure he knows what he is doing but you never write to the main drive because its a clutter for the drive & will make everything slow down

i guess i will have to buy a firewire hard drive this is gonna slow down things for me & i got to buy a usb hub with firewire ports

and there is no other way??

[Dism]

Whoa what? No USB hub with FireWire ports.

You have to go into the FireWire port on the Macbook.

You can daisy chain with FW, thats the lovely thing about it. A FireWire drive will have 2 ports on it. One to connect to the Mac, the other to connect to the MBox. Just make sure you get a FW400 (6-pin) drive, and use the 800 to 400 cable to connect to the Macbook. Then connect the MBox to the drive with a regular 400 cable. Should do the trick.

[mexablcknesekid]

Originally Posted by Dism

Whoa what? No USB hub with FireWire ports.

You have to go into the FireWire port on the Macbook.

You can daisy chain with FW, thats the lovely thing about it. A FireWire drive will have 2 ports on it. One to connect to the Mac, the other to connect to the MBox. Just make sure you get a FW400 (6-pin) drive, and use the 800 to 400 cable to connect to the Macbook. Then connect the MBox to the drive with a regular 400 cable. Should do the trick.

haha no of course i will get a usb hub with firewire ports but dam this is really killing me right now

i just made a blank session & just pressed play & it still said the same thing smh wow