ProTools SE and C400 fastrack

[Myleftoe_C400]

Hi folks, I hope I'm not posting in the wrong location, if so I would like the forum moderators to redirect my query to the proper location.
I recently purchased the Fast Track C400 and seem to having problems and some confusion with the product support system.

I keep getting redirected to M-audio's web site for support. I was under the impression that this product is still owned and maintained by Avid.
The links within the software for the product redirect you to M-audio.

Also the forum for the C400 product that you maintain on this site also redirects to M-audio.
I have posted a query on M-audio's web forum and they indicated that the C400/C600 fast track are indeed an exclusive product to Avid and are no longer supported by them.

What I would like is some indication from your team if this is the case.
Part of the problem is that I seem to be unable to register the product and obtain support to some hardware issues.

I did not wish to post any hardware issues until I was certain this is the proper location.

Cheers

[Myleftoe_C400]

Let me just start by saying what a messed up support system this forum is proving to be.
If you are going to sell a product that is computer based, in some way, then you should take the time to actually setup a working support mechanism.
This byzantine layout appears to be designed to fail.

Imagine my surprise after purchasing the C400 fast-track that it is no longer part of m-audio and the software that's shipped with it has all these built-in links that are no longer valid. That is a major failure that I imagined would have been addressed by now. (bought the product towards the end of Dec 2012).

Oh well here goes nothing, Protools SE and my C400 do not work (on Win7).
I downloaded the latest drivers and version of Protools SE (8.0.3). Neither of which works in a stable fashion under Windows7(64bit) i.e. frequent BSOD's.
I've managed to load the drivers for the C400 on a WinXP pro system but protools fails to recognize any (protools hardware?) audio interface present and gives me the option ...to do nothing.

I tried calling the support number but it appears to be one of those automated machines that did not respond to the key press from my telephone; by the way that was a long distance call from Canada and I don't appreciate the lack of a 1-800 number, its not only unprofessional but reeks of small-time grifter style of operation.

The admins in this forum know what my email address is so I will leave it up to them on how to proceed. Incidentally I will not provide my home phone number as a means to pursue support; I consider it a breach of my personal privacy and will not provide it.

I have run into this sort of thing from another company that claimed to be world class but proved to be unwilling or incapable of providing a solution.
So I switched products and moved on, only to run into this sort of thing again. By the way the issue is different this time.

I work in the IT industry and have deep roots in the hardware and OS side of support and system configuration field and do not believe any of my current systems fall below your stated minimum system requirements.

I have several pc's the oldest of which is a laptop from 2009(HP/Compaq) an Asus P7P55D PRO/i5 quad core from 2010 and two Gigabyte based i5's from last year 2012.

As a side note, that other company which failed to provide support (all they advised is remove and re-install) is on my permanent ban list.

Oh yeah almost forgot to attach the screenshot...I guess you cant...
anyways it was a screen shot showing that the C400 control panel software is running fine but the Protools app is still waiting for compatible hardware to be attached.


Tag your it...

[LowerFrequencies]

Same exact problems with me. I had it working at one point, but would make my computer crash and go to the blue screen. Then it just doesn't find the the device anymore. I have Fast Track C600. I run a through a Windows 7 Pro 64Bit on an I7 laptop. I tried using other software also like cakewalk, presonus, etc., is able to use the fast track, but again makes the system crash. Avid has not provided any solution and it seems like they do not intend to. Is it like this for the rest of their lineup or just Fast Track and SE users?

[Myleftoe_C400]

so far as I know it looks like a trend... guess we didn't spend enough money for them to care... too low end for them...
oh well, it seem to work as a sound card but it stops working after a few hours of use. I think making it your default audio device for your pc is the wrong approach. ASIO drivers tend to lock sound card devices and this may not be the right approach. The other thing I noticed is the ASIO4All drivers seem to work better for the C400 then the drivers from Avid.
This worries me... I'm going to re post my system details and see if I get a response. Oh and one other thing, I have updated firmware and drivers for all items except the firmware on my Blu-ray burner.

Computer
Model : OEM System Product Name
Serial Number : System Ser**********
Chassis : Desktop
Mainboard : ASUS P7P55D PRO
Serial Number : 100************
BIOS : AMI (OEM) 2101 09/27/2012
Total Memory : 3.5GB DIMM DDR3

Processors
Processor : Intel(R) Core(TM) i5 CPU 750 @ 2.67GHz (4C 2.81GHz/3.19GHz, 2.14GHz IMC, 2x 256kB L2, 8MB L3)
Socket/Slot : FC LGA1156

Chipset
Memory Controller : ASUS Core (Clarksfield/Lynnfield) DMI 2x 2.41GHz (4.82GHz)
Memory Controller : Intel Core Desktop (Lynnfield) UnCore 2x 2.41GHz (4.82GHz), 2x 2GB DIMM DDR3 1.34GHz 128-bit

Memory Module(s)
Memory Module : Kingston 9905402-414A00LF 2GB DIMM DDR3 PC3-10700U DDR3-1334 (9-9-9-25 4-34-10-5)
Memory Module : Kingston 9905402-414A00LF 2GB DIMM DDR3 PC3-10700U DDR3-1334 (9-9-9-25 4-34-10-5)

Video System
Monitor/Panel : ACI VE247
(1920x1080, 24.0")
Monitor/Panel : ACR H243H
(1920x1080, 30.2")
Monitor/Panel : (Standard monitor types) Default Monitor
Monitor/Panel : (Standard monitor types) Default Monitor
Video Adapter : NVIDIA GeForce GTX 550 Ti (192SP 1.82GHz, 1GB 4.1GHz, PCIe 2.00 x16)
Video Adapter : NVIDIA GeForce GTX 550 Ti (192SP 1.82GHz, 1GB 4.1GHz, PCIe 2.00 x16)

Storage Devices
WDC WD20EARX-00PASB0 (2TB, SATA600, 3.5") : 2TB (C:) (F:) (V:)
PIONEER BD-RW BDR-206D (8.3GB, SATA150, BD-RE, DVD+-RW, CD-RW, 64kB Cache) : 8GB (G:)
PLEXTOR DVDR PX-716A (6.3GB, SATA150, DVD+-RW, CD-RW, 8MB Cache) : 6GB (D:)
HL-DT-STDVD-RAM GH22LS30 (4.1GB, SATA150, DVD+-RW, CD-RW, 2MB Cache) : 4GB (E:)

Logical Storage Devices
Hard Disk (C:) : 679GB (NTFS) @ WDC WD20EARX-00PASB0 (2TB, SATA600, 3.5")
Hard Disk (F:) : 628GB (NTFS) @ WDC WD20EARX-00PASB0 (2TB, SATA600, 3.5")
shared_user (V:) : 556GB (NTFS) @ WDC WD20EARX-00PASB0 (2TB, SATA600, 3.5")
CM138 (G:) : 8GB (CDFS) @ PIONEER BD-RW BDR-206D (8.3GB, SATA150, BD-RE, DVD+-RW, CD-RW, 64kB Cache)
Battlefield 3 (D:) : 6GB (CDFS) @ PLEXTOR DVDR PX-716A (6.3GB, SATA150, DVD+-RW, CD-RW, 8MB Cache)
FM257 (E:) : 4GB (UDF) @ HL-DT-STDVD-RAM GH22LS30 (4.1GB, SATA150, DVD+-RW, CD-RW, 2MB Cache)

Peripherals
LPC Hub Controller 1 : ASUS P55 LPC Interface Controller
LPC Legacy Controller 1 : T0 B3-53
Audio Device : ASUS P55/PM55/3400 High Definition Audio
Audio Device : ASUS GF116 High Definition Audio Controller
Serial Port(s) : 4
Disk Controller : ASUS P55/PM55/3400 4 port SATA IDE Controller
Disk Controller : ASUS P55/PM55/3400 2 port SATA IDE Controller
Disk Controller : ASUS JMB36X PCIE-to-SATAII/IDE RAID Controller
USB Controller 1 : ASUS P55/PM55/3400 USB2 Enhanced Host Controller
USB Controller 2 : ASUS P55/PM55/3400 USB2 Enhanced Host Controller
USB Controller 3 : VIA VIA VT6214L USB UHCI Controller
USB Controller 4 : VIA VIA VT6214L USB UHCI Controller
USB Controller 5 : VIA VT6202 USB 2.0 Enhanced Host Controller
SMBus/i2c Controller 1 : Intel ICH SMBus

Printers and Faxes
Printer : Microsoft XPS Document Writer (600x600, Colour)
Printer : Microsoft Office Document Image Writer Driver (200x200)
Printer : HP LaserJet 1018 (600x600, USB)
Printer : Adobe PDF Converter (4000x4000, Colour)

Network Services
Network Adapter : Realtek PCIe GBE Family Controller - Packet Scheduler Miniport (Ethernet, 100Mbps)

Operating System
Windows System : Microsoft Windows XP Professional 5.01.2600 (Service Pack 3)
Platform Compliance : x86

[Myleftoe_C400]

Just asking, I haven't been able to get any help I post a question and still no help. Kinda curious if I should bother... My next move? well I posted a questions its been 11 days and all i got was a reply from a fellow user indicating that they have the same issue.
I guess I should leave while I still have some sanity. Well if i get no help I will just have to move on and put Avid on my permanent ban list.

Its a bit extreme but if I cant get any satisfaction from a company's product then I place them on my ban list. All software and hardware products from this company will be boycotted. I was thinking about doing a little youtube video about it, like a presentation of all the companies that have made it to my list...

Anyways, Look Avid... all I'm asking for is help with the product I purchased from you...If you never intended to support it then the least you could have done was say so on the packaging in clear bold print...

I will not repost my problem its already on the system. And I will not call your "helpdesk", setup a proper 1-800 number like more mature companies. I expected more from your company...

[Darryl Ramm]

This is a user forum, not an Avid online support forum. Whether we all like that, or not, that is the way it is and complaining about it won't change things.

The more direct problem, and I suspect why you are not getting help is that other users won't spend their time wading through the long posts bitching and complaining about things to try to work out exactly what is going on to see if they can help you.

A quick look at you previous posts talk about blue screens... but what exact blue screen? Folks here need specific information to help you. Blue screens are (obviously) frequently caused by drivers. So what exact driver version for your interface do you have installed?

You did post a Sandra report before that is a good start but makes it look like you are running on a WD Caviar Green drive. And maybe worse are recording to the system/boot drive. The WD Caviar Green drives with their slow rpm and funky power management are totally toxic to Pro Tools. So while that won't be causing your blue screen you just will not get anywhere without fixing the disk. I would recommend you look at one or two nice SSD drives (Samsung 840 Pro) or WD Caviar Black HDD. Avid has less stringent requirements for Pro Tools SE disk storage than the other products but running on a single Caviar Green is guaranteed to fail.

Why don't you post some concise info here on exactly the problem you are trying to solve, exact error messages, interface driver versions you have installed, etc. and describe what you have done to try to troubleshoot this so far.

Darryl

[DigiTechSupt]

Sorry you are having trouble with the product.

There are Avid employees up here, but as Darryl pointed out this is a User Forum and we do not monitor every thread (this is also stated in the Terms of Use).

We checked and you did register your C400 and were issued (emailed) an Avid Support Code. This allows you to call or start online cases to get assistance directly from Avid Support. We see that you do not want to call, so you could instead start a support case online here to get assisted support.

[Darryl Ramm]

Ah the other big/obvious problem may just be you are on Windows XP, which I am pretty sure is not officially supported with the C400.

As an IT professional I'm sure you'll appreciate how many problems are inflicted by users on themselves by not following systems requirements or documentation. Time to double check those systems requirements and update your PC as needed.

For lots of reasons I would recommend going to Windows 7 SP1.

Make sure you then install the latest divers from here http://avid.force.com/pkb/articles/d...k-C400-Drivers

Make sure you read and following the written installation instructions.

Now you may still run into problems, if so post clear descriptions back here about the problem. The C400 and Pro Tools SE don't seem near the top of the list for product updates at Avid, effectively they seem near their end of life/are being deeply discounted as Avid moves to focus more on pro level product.


Darryl

[Myleftoe_C400]

Hmm, Well i did try a different post on Avid's main page and was advised by an avid employee to post my queries at duc.avid.com and go to the forums section.
As for my problem revolving around my use of WinXP. In my original post I indicated that I have tried to use the hardware on Win7 x64bit and WinXP x32Bit. The WinXP version was the only platform that runs with the hardware.

When I tried installing the drivers for the C400 on Win7 it just goes straight to BSOD and lists a DFU driver error. In WindowsXP, Protools fails to acknowledge that any avid hardware is even present.

If this forum is not the proper place for asking for help, then where is the 1-800 number for me to call? And why do I need a "support" account from Avid? If I thought for a moment getting support was this draconian I would probably never have purchased the item and left this so called "Avid community" to its own devices...

So what could have Avid done? how about an email address for people that need help with C400? Too obvious? Do you think I like registering in forums and asking unqualified users for help?

I came to this forum because if on the off chance I found a quick answer, I could get back to making music in the digital domain. I do not want to post! And I did not ask for this bizarre support stream that Avid setup.

[Myleftoe_C400]

Originally Posted by DigiTechSupt

Sorry you are having trouble with the product.

There are Avid employees up here, but as Darryl pointed out this is a User Forum and we do not monitor every thread (this is also stated in the Terms of Use).

We checked and you did register your C400 and were issued (emailed) an Avid Support Code. This allows you to call or start online cases to get assistance directly from Avid Support. We see that you do not want to call, so you could instead start a support case online here to get assisted support.

Perhaps you do not understand , I am a new user of this product and do not have the slightest idea which of those option have anything to do with C400 support.
You work for this outfit I have no idea what I am looking at. My instinct is to click on all the links you direct me too until I find something.
So, no... your link is not much help...