Pro Tools Installed But Won't Open

[johnfdm]

I recently purchased a gaming laptop (a Lenovo Legion) with what I'm pretty sure are the right specifications for Pro Tools 12 (researched quite a lot before purchasing), purchased Pro Tools 12, and installed it. But whenever I try to open it, I get "AAE was unable to communicate with the audio hardware" (this happens when the opening program reaches the stage, "initializing Audio Engine"). According to AVID's support page, "If an audio interface loses power while recording, you will receive this message." But this is happening immediately when I attempt to open the program. I haven't been able to get it to open properly once, much less start a recording session. Can anyone help me out?
Specific info:
Bought Pro Tools 12 Perpetual
Computer is a Lenovo Legion Y540 15.6 Inch FHD 1080P Gaming Laptop
Intel 6-Core i7-9750H (up to 4.5 GHz)
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1650 4GB
32GB DDR4 RAM
1TB SSD + 1TB HDD
Windows 10
Using a Focusrite Scarlett 2i2 2nd Gen. interface (downloaded the latest driver for it from the Focusrite site).
SANDRA report below:
SiSoftware Sandra

ID
Host Name : LAPTOP-GR5TRL7F
Workgroup : WORKGROUP

Computer
Model : Lenovo 81SX Legion Y540-15IRH
Serial Number : PF28****
Chassis : Lenovo Notebook
Mainboard : Lenovo LNVNB161216
Serial Number : PF28****
BIOS : Lenovo BHCN36WW 02/10/2020
TPM - Trusted Platform Module : INTC Intel 2.0 (PCR 24)
Intel vPro : 12.0.47.1524
Total Memory : 32GB SO-DIMM DDR4

Processors
Processor : Intel(R) Core(TM) i7-9750H CPU @ 2.60GHz (6C 12T 4.39GHz, 4.1GHz IMC, 6x 256kB L2, 12MB L3)
Socket/Slot : FC BGA1440

Chipset
Memory Controller : Lenovo Core8H (CofeeLake-H 6C) Mobile Host Bridge/DRAM Registers 100MHz, 2x 16GB SO-DIMM DDR4 2.67GHz 128-bit

Memory Module(s)
Memory Module : 16GB SO-DIMM DDR4 2Rx8 PC4-21300SO DDR4-2666 (19-19-19-43 5-62-20-7)
Memory Module : 16GB SO-DIMM DDR4 2Rx8 PC4-21300SO DDR4-2666 (19-19-19-43 5-62-20-7)

Video System
Monitor/Panel : BOE Generic PnP Monitor (1920x1080, NV156FHM-N4G
, 15.5")
Video Adapter : NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1660 Ti (1536S 24C SM6.4 1.46GHz/1.59GHz, 5.9GB 12GHz, PCIe 3.0 x16)

Graphics Processor
OpenCL : NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1660 Ti (1536S 24C SM1.2 1.46GHz/1.59GHz, 6GB 12GHz)
D3D 11 : NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1660 Ti (1536S 24C SM12.1 1.46GHz/1.59GHz, 5.9GB 12GHz)
OpenGL : GeForce GTX 1660 Ti/PCIe/SSE2 (6GB)

Storage Devices
Disk : SPCC M.2 PCIE SSD (1TB, PCIe3x4/NVMe)
Disk : WDC WD10SPZX-75Z10T3 (1TB, SATA600, 2.5", 5400rpm)

Logical Storage Devices
WINRE_DRV : 1000MB (NTFS, 4kB) @ SPCC M.2 PCIE SSD (1TB, PCIe3x4/NVMe)
Windows-SSD (C:) : 953GB (NTFS, 4kB) @ SPCC M.2 PCIE SSD (1TB, PCIe3x4/NVMe)
DATA (D:) : 932GB (NTFS, 4kB) @ WDC WD10SPZX-75Z10T3 (1TB, SATA600, 2.5", 5400rpm)
SYSTEM_DRV : 256MB (FAT32, 4kB) @ SPCC M.2 PCIE SSD (1TB, PCIe3x4/NVMe)

Peripherals
LPC Hub Controller #1 : Lenovo HM470 (Cannon Point) LPC/eSPI Controller
Audio Device : Lenovo ICH300 (Cannon Point) cAVS
Audio Device : Lenovo TU116 High Definition Audio Controller
Disk Controller : Lenovo ICH300 (Cannon Point) Shared SRAM
Disk Controller : Lenovo ICH300 (Cannon Point-M) PCH SATA AHCI Controller
Disk Controller : Silicon Motion Standard NVM Express Controller
USB Controller #1 : Lenovo ICH300 (Cannon Point) USB 3.1 xHCI Host Controller
USB Controller #2 : Lenovo TU116 USB 3.1 Host Controller
SMBus/i2c Controller #1 : Intel ICH SMBus

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

Biometrics
Voice : Analog NUI Voice Virtual Sensor (Voice)

Network Services
Network Adapter : Bluetooth Device (Personal Area Network) (Ethernet)
Network Adapter : Realtek PCIe GbE Family Controller (Ethernet)
Wireless Adapter : Intel(R) Wireless-AC 9560 160MHz (802.11n (HT), AES-CCMP, 144.4Mbps)

Power Management
Battery #1 : SMP L17M3PG2 57.00Wh/4.33Ah

Operating System
Windows System : Microsoft Windows 10 Personal 10.0.18363
Platform Compliance : x64

[Trace305]

Pro-tools usually needs external hardware to open depending on which version of Protools you have. I was having a similar issue when I first started my protools 12 ultimate trial.

I downloaded a program called ASIO4ALL. It's free and helps Protools communicate with the audio hardware if, for instance, Windows doesn't have the driver or maybe you don't even have an external hardware device. Once I downloaded ASIO4ALL the program opened fine. Maybe try that?

[sw rec]

See the “help us help you” link at the top of this and every page. You haven’t told us ANYTHING about your actual system specs, and that makes it pretty much impossible to nail down the problem. Post a SANDRA report, please.

[Darryl Ramm]

Hi welcome to DUC.

What audio interface are you hoping to use? You really should be using an external interface with an ASIO driver. Hoping that ASIO4ALL or WASAPI/Windows Audio will work is not a good plan.

Your profile shows you have a Focusrite 2i2, if you are trying to use that interface you need to install the latest drivers for that interface. Make sure you have downloaded the latest and correct drivers from the Focusrite website for the exact generation of the 2i2 you have. Then make sure Windows sound is *not* set to use the 2i2 and startup Pro Tools and hold down the ‘N’ key until the playback engine dialog panel appears and then select the 2i2 ASIO device. If stuck show us a screenshot of all the playback engine options in the pull down on the playback engine dialog panel.

Still stuck tell us the exact version of the driver you have installed (in the device manager) and include a screenshot of the Windows Sound control panel. And that Sandra report.

[musicman691]

And if you're using a USB interface make sure that you've turned off all power savings measures to the USB ports in Windows. By default they're set to turn off after some amount of time (even on desktops).

[johnfdm]

Should have read the "Help us help you." Now I have provided more comprehensive information, which I hope will be useful.

[johnfdm]

UPDATE: Thank you, Darryl Ramm. Your advice got me up and running.

[sw rec]

You will eventually want to replace that 5400 rpm drive. Recording spinner drives need to be 7200 rpm so you have sufficient throughput.

[Darryl Ramm]

^^^ well spotted.

Unclear what the Data drive is used for... but a 5,400 rpm drive is so slow I would not even use it for backups.

With an M.2 NVMe boot drive you should be putting sessions and samples there if they will fit. Either on that Slow Data drive will just make performance worse.

[johnfdm]

Wow, this is a knowledgeable community! Thank you all for your responses.