PT11 crashes and is horribly slow

[Darryl Ramm]

How about starting with the specific link I sent you and seeing if that fixes the main problem you are having.

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For other things...

What exact make and model (name and exact model/part number) is your external drive? The size of the drive does not matter at all. Many consumer oriented cheaper external USB drives have awful performance, especially those with 'green' drives that are just toxic for use with Pro Tools. You need enough USB ports to connect the interface, audio/session drive and iLok. If not the iLok can hang off a USB hub (but usually a bad idea for the others).

You can collaborate in all sorts of different ways with other people. Talk to you friend about how he would like to/could work with you. He might strongly prefer a Pro Tools session, might not care. That is between you and him. And check with him what version of Pro Tools and any third party plugins etc. he might want you to have.

You need to work out what you want to do. A Mac or desktop PC or laptop may be a better choice than what you have now, whether you use it in Pro Tools or another DAW. It depends on how what exactly you want to do, and for example your dual core i7 small laptop is not going to able to deliver the same performance with lots of VIs and plugins as say a 4 core desktop i7.

There is no shortage of good DAWs out there. GarageBand is actually pretty impressive for what it lets people do. And if you are more into composition GarageBand and LogicPro or other DAWs are likely better choices than Pro Tools anyhow (and many users here will use them as well as Pro Tools). My advice generally is if you know folks are are going to work with them and they seem competent then get the same DAW as they are using and get their advice starting with what system to buy, how to set it up etc. and if things don't work well they should be able to help.

[praskal]

Yes. I saw your links. They indicate problems with PT and focusrite comparability. Which if course is not what I found when I researched and finally decided to buy the 18i8. Your second link suggested: "To overcome this switch off "Dynamic plug-in processing" in Setup > Playback Engine." But when I go to Setup > Playback Engine, there is no "dynamic plug-in processing" switch to unswitch.

These Focusrite people, it seems, make a great product, however say whatever they can to sell their product, even though it ain't compatible with windows and PT. Kind of hurts my feelings.

[musicman691]

Originally Posted by praskal

He's 7. And he would rather play x box. But I'm trying to instil in him a love of music. I did n while opening PT11. And it definitely has focusrite chosen. Also, I downloaded focusrite driver here: http://global.focusrite.com/usb-audi...18i8/downloads

And yes I have a 1 TB external HD. It wasn't connected for the Sandra report. Nit enough USB ports. Only 3. I keep getting a msg stating that PT cannot initialize focusrite as the interface and it needs to be configured.

Anyway, maybe I should get things that go together: iMac desktop, logic?, I already have the 18i8. I have money to make this easier. What do you think is the most plug and play for a physician who doesn't have a lot of time?

Also, I was hoping to collaborate with a buddy up in Seattle who offered to add Hammond B3 to my tunes. He uses PT. Can we collaborate using different DAW's??

There really is no such thing as a plug and play daw recording program. All require a learning curve, just that some are steeper than others. The closest thing is to go hardware with something like one of the Zoom recorders like the H4N or there's a newer one I think is called H6N. They're handhelds recorders. If you've ever seen Ghosthunters on SyFy channel the H4N is the handheld they use to give you an idea of size. Capabilities are really good. But if you're collaborating with others than you're going to need a computer and software solution. As far as collaboration you can use different daws as long as you exchange audio files of the same bit rate and depth just to make things easier.

[dave911]

Have you called Focusrite direct, they are very helpful.

As someone said you really need to sort out whether it is the computer or incompatibility with the interface.

If you check the forum you will see quite a few people with this interface type that have it working.

If you really have no extra time and limited computer knowledge then getting a pro to look at it would be a good choice.

I have found some other programs like Reaper are easier to get working, but I think PT is still the best overall program.

People are making a lot of good suggestion here, but figuring out what the issue is will take some time.

[Darryl Ramm]

Originally Posted by praskal

Yay. I was finally able to actually activate the pro tools 11 program. But it crashes and is horribly slow. Also, it gives me an error message stating that the focusrite 18i8 audio interface cannot be initiated and configured. This is going to be much more difficult than I was hoping. Of course there's no way to call avid without some sort of paid support program. How do I know if I want to pay $700 for the full pro tools 11 program if I can't get any support for the free trial? Anyway, I have a windows 8, samsung laptop, intel core i7, 8GB ram, with a focusrite 18i8.

Ah I dont' really need that description, I have already seen and commented on your Sandra report. What I wanted was the make/model for your external drive. Why is that so hard to post here?

You seem to have fallen back to whining about stuff vs. actually doing things when I've likely already given you a workaround.

One of the problems Donald mentioned is "Pro Tools could not initialize the Focusrite USB 2.0 Audio Driver. Please make sure that the device has been configured correctly." Now is or is that not what you are looking for help tying to fix? He describes there needing to set matching sample rates in the Mix Control Program to match the Pro Tools session for things to work. Please read again carefully. If that does not apply to or work or you please let us know.

Fix the one main problem then deal with others. I have no idea what "is slow" means. You have to clearly be able to describe what is going on to get help.

This thread has rambled on for three pages now, for what is likely largely a know problem with a known fix that you would have found yourself if you just searched for the error message on Google. For somebody who does not have much time, this is very poor use of your and other folks time. So try the sample rate work around and get rid of that error message and let us know if that work or not. If so then *clearly* describe your remaining problem(s) and post answers to all the other questions asked previously. Especially all the playback engine and other settings. And at the same time you should order a proper audio spec drive for your laptop if you don't have one already.

[Darryl Ramm]

Originally Posted by praskal

Yes. I saw your links. They indicate problems with PT and focusrite comparability. Which if course is not what I found when I researched and finally decided to buy the 18i8. Your second link suggested: "To overcome this switch off "Dynamic plug-in processing" in Setup > Playback Engine." But when I go to Setup > Playback Engine, there is no "dynamic plug-in processing" switch to unswitch.

There is in Pro Tools 11 playback engine dialog, you must have looked at Pro Tools 10, that issue I pointed you at as an FYI is with Pro Tools 11 and it does say that, but yes its easy to miss.

I assume both Pro Tools 11 and 10 are giving you this "Cannot initialize...USB 2.0 ..." error message, if not please state clearly what is going on with what version of Pro Tools. And again, focus for now on making that error go away, nothing else.

[praskal]

Whoa. Big news. I finally figured out how to put the focusrite and the PT11 both to 48kHz and this seems to have done something good. So I can actually hear a condenser mic (phantom powered 48V from the 18i8) into the PT11. This is a big step. No error messages. Things are looking better. I created an in and an out in the mix window. I enabled the "track record enable" icon. I pressed record on the transport window (with "count off" off. Then I pressed play, and nothing. No recording occurs. Hmm. I tried record, and then the space bar. And nothing. No recording. I tried to create a click track, and for a couple seconds I actually heard a click, but then nothing. Hmm. At least I've made it this far !!!!

[Darryl Ramm]

Ok well done.

Here is my first guess but based on no fully followign what you wrote...

When you record arm the track, put the transport in record and press play what happens? Do you see an audio waveform being recorded? Does that track meter for that track move? Do you see any activity on the screen at all? If you see that input track meters move etc. in Pro Tools and do not hear any audio, but heard it before you were recording then go to the PT Track menu and toggle between Track>Input only and Track>Auto Input modes (then read the Pro Tools Reference Guide to understand what that does).

If that is not it.....

What exactly do you mean "created and in and an out in the mix window". A screenshot would help, make sure the text is legible.

The best thing to do is likely to open a sample session and play with it.

Or make you own....

Create an new empty session.

First thing is to make sure playback works. Create a stereo *Audio* track in that session. Drag and drop your favorite MP3 or similar audio file onto that rack from the Windows desktop. Press play. Do you hear anything? How does it sound?

If you can't hear anything --- Do you see meters move in Pro Tools? And describe what headphones or powered monitors or amp and speakers you have connected to exactly what outputs on the 18i8. Is the monitor output or headphone levels on the 18i8 turned up? Levels on any powered monitors turned up?

Then create a mono audio (not instrument, not midi, not aux) track and select the input your mic is connected to as the track input. Record enable that track and put the transport in record mode and press play. Is the microphone plugged into the correct input and is the gain on that microphone turned up? You should normally have an XLR connector on the Mic cable plugged into one of the mic inputs on the front panel. The instrument and pad LEDs should not be illuminated for that input. Is the mic and cable known to work OK on some other device?

If one input on the interface does not work, try them all. Try hooking up an MP3 or CD player etc. to one of the line inputs and using that.

Still stuck post a large screen shot each of your mix and edit windows, showing the track IO (input and output) assignments. Try to post it with the text legible. Also post a screen shots of your Setup>IO panel showing the input and output tabs.

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Your interface has hardware monitoring with an on board low-latency hardware mixer controlled by the MixControl Software, you need to read the 18i8 manual to work out how that works, and I also don't currently know if with these other problems mentioned with Foucsrite stuff if you can even use that while tracking. Another Foucsrite user may be able to help you. If you cannot get the mic recording to work in Pro Tools then you may want to try using the MixControl stand alone without Pro Tools just to confirm the mic, cables, and mic preamp in the interface are all working OK.

[Shan]

Originally Posted by praskal

...I enabled the "track record enable" icon. I pressed record on the transport window (with "count off" off. Then I pressed play, and nothing. No recording occurs.

Focusrite has recently updated their drivers that sorts out the recording issue. The newest beta driver has solved this users recording problem which sounds similar to yours.

If you haven't already, update to the newest Focusrite driver for your I/O device. Hope that helps and keep us posted.

Shane

[Bookerv12]

What kind of external drive are you recording to?
Brand.
How are you attaching it to your computer?