University Tech Lab Question

[mfhorn63]

Hi all!
I have been working some capability issues with new PCs we have received in our music tech lab. The machines we got were not up to spec for running PT11, and we have upgraded each unit to 8GB RAM, but still have problems doing anything in PT. We were getting what appeared to be an "out of memory" assertion when trying to record, playback, or import audio, MIDI or video. The error message references "AAE 6." I did find some data on AAE 6 errors in earlier (pre-10) versions of PT, but nothing with regard to PT11.

Short story is that we are going to buy new CPU chips for the machines referenced in the attached Sandra report. I know that an "Avid-qualified PC" runs Xeon processors, but those our currently beyond our budget. I am running PT11 with no problems on my i5-2520M 2.5GHz laptop- system usage meters hardly register for RAM, CPU, and SSD. What I need to know is whether or not any of the i% chips we are looking at getting will get us to that basic level of functionality that will see us through the Pro Tools 101 curriculum. Upgrades to higher-end Xeon machines matching Avid specs are a ways off (grant-writing and all that). Given the attached Sandra (pre-RAM upgrade), will any of these get us there? These machines are not needed for recording, only post activities.

As always, I appreciate the support found amongst the Pro Tools community!
Cheers!

[mfhorn63]

Oops! Forgot Sandra...

[Craig F]

Processor : Intel(R) Core(TM) i3-4150

not good

Video Adapter : Intel(R) HD Graphics 4400 (20CU 160SP SM5.0 600MHz/1.15GHz, 64MB DDR3 1.6GHz 64-bit, Integrated Graphics)

not good ether

TOSHIBA MQ01UBB200 (2TB, USB2/SATA300, 2.5", 5400rpm, 8MB Cache) : 2TB (E:)

your audio drive?

if all the boxes are the same, you have lots of wrong equipment

check into HPs educational deals on Z machines that are Avid qualified

the other area that maybe problematic is what kind of Active Directory/Group Permissions you have running on them

[mfhorn63]

Thanks for the reply. I already know that the machines are not up to spec, but they are what we have, and I need to make them work for basic PT classroom use. These machines will not be used for any recording (I have a laptop and SSD for that), but are needed so that the students can accomplish the basic tasks that are part of the PT 101 coursework.

Because we really want to make sure that any further upgrade we do gets us into the realm of possibility (vs. Avid qualification), we are expanding our CPU search to include LGA 1150 i7 chips. I know that others here have done i7-4xxx series builds, so the i7-4770, -4771, and -4790 CPUs are our choices.

I just need to know that this incremental move will get us beyond the AAe-6 error that nobody seems to know anything about.

Thanks in advance.

[Craig F]

AAE errors are new to all of us

i7s should be fine

i3 + Integrated Graphics is your main problem. dedicated video card might take the load off the i3 enough

5400rpm drives should just give Can Not Get Data Fast Enough errors


HP has been known to be very generous to schools, that's why I recommend them

[Darryl Ramm]

Originally Posted by mfhorn63

Thanks for the reply. I already know that the machines are not up to spec, but they are what we have, and I need to make them work for basic PT classroom use. These machines will not be used for any recording (I have a laptop and SSD for that), but are needed so that the students can accomplish the basic tasks that are part of the PT 101 coursework.

Because we really want to make sure that any further upgrade we do gets us into the realm of possibility (vs. Avid qualification), we are expanding our CPU search to include LGA 1150 i7 chips. I know that others here have done i7-4xxx series builds, so the i7-4770, -4771, and -4790 CPUs are our choices.

I just need to know that this incremental move will get us beyond the AAe-6 error that nobody seems to know anything about.

Thanks in advance.

Huh you are proposing swapping the CPUs in all these existing PCs? (maybe having to swap out CPU cooling) And adding a GPU? And adding more memory (and making sure those DIMMS are a matched set), and adding a suitable HDD or SSD? And doing all this work and debugging problems, and that is a cheaper/better option then just replacing all of them with new properly spec'ed systems? And you want to do all this on an 1150 motherboard, which would likely be the last choice of many Pro Tools PC builders. And if all that does not work who gets the blame?

Who decided to order systems for a specialized task without checking with anybody who knows what they are doing whether those computers will do the job? That moron needs to be looking for work elsewhere.

[sw rec]

I must chime in and say I'm puzzled by how many people do research AFTER they buy things....

[Craig F]

General School IT departments are the worst when it comes to understanding the specialized needs of the Audio/Video production needs
they buy for price not the need

[Darryl Ramm]

Well at least the ones with IT and purchasing organizations that suck.

My son's middle and high school is more than capable of dealing with specialized needs, e.g. for students using CAD packages (in this case high-spec iMacs bootcamped to Windows 7). Sure is a lot smaller than a university but running an organization well has got to start at the IT purchasing and management being there to serve the needs of the students/teaching program.

I've worked at enough start-ups where money was tight and we pushed everybody who could be down to standardized Windows PC or laptops etc. but you go and identify the users that have specific needs and work with IT/finance to make sure those needs are met. CAD/CAM, software development tools, whatever. If that can't be done there are really more problems there than configuring computers.

[mfhorn63]

Originally Posted by Craig F

AAE errors are new to all of us

i7s should be fine

i3 + Integrated Graphics is your main problem. dedicated video card might take the load off the i3 enough

5400rpm drives should just give Can Not Get Data Fast Enough errors


HP has been known to be very generous to schools, that's why I recommend them

Thanks for the info. Fortunately, the lab computers just have to process the PT101 project and session files, which are not that intense (compared to a live 10+ channel recording). If I can get these machines to the point where they can handle simple 2-4 track student recordings, we'll have the time to upgrade other components.

The mistake was mine- I didn't push my IT for what was really necessary. We should have gotten the kind of units that they supply to the engineering department. This is the first major upgrade I have been party to since joining this school, and I learned some hard lessons from it. I am fortunate to have a very supportive department chair, who doesn't need to be convinced that music tech is growing as a discipline faster than the "traditional" music majors.

The cost of replacing the machines with Avid-qualified specs (which, by the way, reference obsolete Dells...), according to the best price my IT can get, is around $1500 per. The iMacs (retail) look to be about $2000 each. While I am formulating a multi-phase creation of a new, dedicated, audio and music production lab, right now I need to just fall on my sword and do the best I can to get the boxes we have to a nominal level of functionality.