-9173 Error HELP

[anotherone]

Hi everyone,

since a few weeks I am experiencing a lot of -9173 errors on different systems.
It makes the affected systems very unreliable and I really don't know what to do anymore to fix it.

The error appears out of nowhere. CPU usage can be around 1-2 %, and then suddenly it peakes to 100%, followed by the error. Sometimes it doesn't happen for an hour, but after the error appears for the first time, it happens every few seconds of playback time. Only a restart fixes it (for the next few minutes, maybe hours if I'm lucky).

I did some screenshots. This is how the cpu usage looks just before the error, normal playback (1), when the audio playback interrupts (2), and shortly after the error appears (3). Those screenshots are taken within the same two or three seconds.

I already did some digging and cross-checking:
- It happens on an iMac (27-inch, Late 2012, 3.4GHz i7, 16GB RAM, OWC SSD) and on a MacBook Pro (Mid 2014, 2.5GHz i5, 16GB RAM, Original SSD). I did not see -9173 on a Mac Pro 5.1 with HDX or a MacBook Air Early 14 with the same sessions so far.
- It happens on macOS 10.13.2 and on macOS 10.12
- It happens on Pro Tools 12.8.3, on 2018.1 and on 2018.3
- It doesn't seem to have anything to do with Plugins. It doesn't change if I deactivate any or all Plugins in a session or if I delete them from the Plugins folder.
- It doesn't seem to correlate with track number or general system usage
- I tried a clean reinstall of MacOS and Pro Tools, no Plugins and no other Software
- I replaced Memory and SSD in the iMac, didn't get better
- It happens wether I am working on an external SSD or the internal system drive

Anyone? Any idea is much appreciated. Thank you so much.

[TOM@METRO]

I'm seeing few if any 9173 errors with the last two builds here. Are you sure there is no other software running in the background?

[anotherone]

nothing else than Pro Tools and the Avid application manager is running.

[Rectifried]

Its crap avid
I deal with it as well... if I didnt have other DAW that sail along i would think this is "normal" a la 2002

[anotherone]

It‘s very strange. I didn‘t see this error a lot in the past years.
PT 2018 is very stable on the HDX systems I work on. Just these two macs seem to have very serious issues. And I really don‘t know where to look for the reason for it anymore.

[TNM]

what buffer are you running at? That third pic looks like what happens at 32 or 64 buffer when adding a VI or monitoring an audio track with an effect.

Sample rate? If 88k or above, you must use minimum 256 with that sort of mac and core audio (my imac is identical)

If 44 or 48K, you must use minimum 128 buffer.

[anotherone]

These screenshots were taken at 1024 samples / 44.1kHz.

[TNM]

Originally Posted by anotherone

These screenshots were taken at 1024 samples / 44.1kHz.

wow i am in amazement then...

And i am embarrassed to say I have no idea how to help you.

If you have an active support plan, and no one else is able to help you, your best bet might be to contact Avid.

I have only seen that sort of usage, even at 128 buffer where i am on permanently, if I really am maxing out the processors, say 8 or 10 VI's, 32 audio tracks, plenty of native FX.

Really hope you get that sorted!

[TNM]

hang on i see some active sends there to a plate plugin.. that's not abbey road by any chance? if so, that could explain it as that is designed to destroy cpu's especially ones as old as ours.

[anotherone]

I appreciate the effort, everyone.
I deactivated all plugins in that particular session. 4 active audio tracks, all inserts as well as any plugins on auxes are deactivated. so, no abbey roads...