Lenovo Thinkpad T61 won't Recognize Mbox 2 Pro

[MWBonfiglio]

I have a Lenovo Thinkpad T61. I installed Pro Tools LE and then tried to use it and it keeps saying that the hardware is not connected. My laptop has a built in 4 pin firewire. So I bought a 6 pin to 4 pin wire. I called tech support, and they said the Thinkpad is not tested, that my firewire chipset could be incompatible, or that my built in video card could be. They said my best bet was buying a macbook...but I don't really want to drop $2000 on a macbook pro (the only macbooks with firewire now). So I'm trying to weigh my options. My system info is listed below. I'm trying to decide if there is anyway to make my thinkpad work with protools (possibly by buying a PCMCIA card with a firewire chip made by texas instruments (a brand support said usually works). Or if I should return the mbox 2 pro and get the mbox 2 and try my luck with USB. Or if I should get one of the recommended PC laptops. Or if I should buy a mac, return pro tools, and switch to logic and not have to deal with this absurd amount of compatability issues with pro tools.

Anyone have any advice or help?

SiSoftware Sandra

Processor
Model : Intel(R) Core(TM)2 Duo CPU T7500 @ 2.20GHz
Speed : 2.19GHz
Cores per Processor : 2 Unit(s)
Threads per Core : 1 Unit(s)
Type : Mobile, Dual-Core
Internal Data Cache : 2x 32kB, Synchronous, Write-Thru, 8-way, 64 byte line size
L2 On-board Cache : 4MB, ECC, Synchronous, ATC, 16-way, 64 byte line size, 2 threads sharing

System
System : LENOVO 7663AK5
Platform Compliance : Intel Centrino Duo Mobile Technology
Mainboard : LENOVO 7663AK5
Bus(es) : PCI PCIe IMB PCMCIA CardBus USB FireWire/1394 i2c/SMBus
Multi-Processor (MP) Support : No
Multi-Processor Advanced PIC (APIC) : Yes
System BIOS : LENOVO 7LETA9WW (2.09 )
Total Memory : 1.98GB DDR2 SO-DIMM

Chipset
Model : Legend ThinkPad T61
Front Side Bus Speed : 4x 199MHz (796MHz)
Total Memory : 2GB DDR2 SO-DIMM
Memory Bus Speed : 2x 332MHz (664MHz)

Video System
Adapter : NVIDIA Quadro NVS 140M (128MB DDR3, 168MHz/391MHz/2x601MHz, PCIe 1.00 x16, PS3.0, VS3.0)

Storage Devices
HITACHI HTS541616J9S 160GB (SATA150, NCQ, 7MB Cache) : 149GB (C:)
HL-DT-ST DVDRAM GSA-U10N (ATA33, DVD+-RW, CD-RW, 2MB Cache) : 4GB (D:)

Logical Storage Devices
Hard Disk (C:) : 149GB (NTFS) @ HITACHI HTS541616J9S 160GB (SATA150, NCQ, 7MB Cache)
Pro Tools LE (D:) : 4GB (CDFS) @ HL-DT-ST DVDRAM GSA-U10N (ATA33, DVD+-RW, CD-RW, 2MB Cache)

Peripherals
LPC Hub Controller 1 : Legend T61
Audio Device : Legend ThinkPad T61
Audio Codec : Analog Devices AD1984HD sound chip
Audio Codec : Conexant Systems HDAudio Soft Data Fax Modem with SmartCP
Serial Port(s) : 3
Disk Controller : Legend ThinkPad T61
Disk Controller : Legend ThinkPad T61
USB Controller 1 : Legend ThinkPad T61
USB Controller 2 : Legend ThinkPad T60
USB Controller 3 : Legend ThinkPad T61
USB Controller 4 : Legend ThinkPad T61
USB Controller 5 : Legend ThinkPad T61
USB Controller 6 : Legend ThinkPad T61
USB Controller 7 : Legend ThinkPad T61
FireWire/1394 Controller 1 : Legend R5C832 IEEE-1394 Controller
CardBus/PCMCIA Controller 1 : Ricoh RL5c476 CardBus Controller
System SMBus Controller 1 : Intel 801xx/63xx SMBus

Printers and Faxes
Printer : RDI Printer Driver (600x600)
Printer : Amyuni Document Converter 2.50 (1200x1200, Parallel, Colour)
Printer : Microsoft XPS Document Writer (600x600, Colour)
Printer : Microsoft Office Document Image Writer Driver (200x200)
Printer : Canon i860 (USB, Colour)

Network Services
Network Adapter : Bluetooth Device (Personal Area Network)
Network Adapter : Intel(R) Wireless WiFi Link 4965AG - AGN Filter Interface (Ethernet, 54Mbps)
Network Adapter : Intel(R) 82566MM Gigabit Network Connection - AGN Filter Interface
Network Adapter : AGN Virtual Network Adapter - AGN Filter Interface (Ethernet, 100Mbps)

Power Management
Mains (AC) Line Status : On-Line
Battery No 1 : 100%

Operating System(s)
Windows System : Microsoft Windows XP Professional 5.01.2600 (Service Pack 2)
Platform Compliance : x86

[albee1952]

Did you power the Mbox with an external power supply? It is only bus powered when attached to a 6 pin firewire port.

[MWBonfiglio]

Yep. I used the included AC Adapter. All I ever got was a blinking yellow light.

Some other notes:
In my device manager, the M Box 2 Pro has a yellow exclamation point next to it. When I unplug and replug back in the box it first comes up regular, and about 15 seconds later the yellow exclamation point appears.
I tried turning the computer on with the M Box 2 Pro plugged in and powered up.
I tried restarting lots of times, and connecting and disconnecting the M Box 2 Pro.
I used the digidesign driver installer to directly install the drivers onto my computer.
I redid all the installs with my firewall and anti virus off.

[albee1952]

Sounds like you have tried darn near everything. You may have done this method already but I will toss it up anyway just in case. put the Protools disk in the drive(but don't do anything yet). Go to Control Panel>system>Device Manager and find the Mbox on the list>right-click on it and choose Uninstall. Now go back to Control Panel>Add/Remove Hardware and it should bring up a window asking about installing drivers. check the "not this time" to the internet question, then tell it to install the driver automatically and see if it finds the disk and installs the drivers. If none of this works, I wonder if the firewire port is not compatible and you may need a PCMCIA firewire card that IS compatible.

[MWBonfiglio]

Digidesign suggested the firewire port may not be compatible, but would not comment on whether a PCMCIA card would fix the problem. Does anyone have any experience with this? Should I give buying one of these a try?

Otherwise, do people recommend buying a Mac or PC Laptop for doing audio? Someone told me digi design will be focusing more on PC's in the future because Mac has been uncooperative due to the fact that they own Logic. I looked up the models digi design recommends, and they are $1500 to buy. This isn't enough cheaper than the Mac to justify not getting a Mac. Are there other PC laptops known to work that are cheaper?

I'm so frustrated. I think it is ridiculous that a $700 piece of equipment that claims to be compatible with PC is barely compatible with any laptops.

[DigiTechSupt]

The reason for the incompatibilities is that many PC manufacturers cheap out and use the lowest end controller chips.

Digidesign hardware pretty much needs a TI chipset to work properly. Your best best is probably the Siig 2-Port.

I don't see anything specific about your laptop that would indicate an overall incompatibility, so most likely the expresscard with a TI chipset would do the trick.

[MWBonfiglio]

Do all of the Siig's have the TI chipset? I see this one for $40 (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16839150004). Also considering getting one with one 400 and one 800 slot. That way I can connect the M Box 2 Pro with the 400, and connect an external harddrive to the 800. Not sure if my T61 can even utilize speeds that fast through the PCMCIA slot.

If that doesn't work...I'll return it and buy a refurbished MacBook that still has firewire.

Though there seems to be a set of friends trying to convince me to go Logic Express and Apogee Duet.

[A Chadwick]

I'm pretty sick of Digidesigns compatibility issues too. In there defense, its hard to keep up with the hardware, but it seems that Cubase makes it happen.. Their junk can damn near run on any computer ever, so I think if Digi wanted to they could program to suit most computers.

I too am looking at a T61 and would prefer that I could occasionally leave my main frame and record a show once in a while.. I'm on the Digi 002 firewire, so let me know if there is any succuess with the T61.

This may be of interest regarding a bios update and the cardbus Ricoh controller that double as SD reader, firewire, and pcmcia adapter!!!!

http://2xod.com/articles/Lenovo%20T61%20Slow%20PCMCIA/

http://www-307.ibm.com/pc/support/si...ut=printLenovo

[lesoufs]

Just found a used T61 2.2ghz with pcmia not express
from gernany, I did the bios update
and my IEEE-1394 is Ricoh
running vista business and protools 8LE

with a digi002

I CAN'T RECORD 8 TRACKS WITH 128SAMPLES 44.1/24 ON THE INTERNAL DRIVE!?!?!?

I thought those machines were /&#% certified

did most of the vista tweek not network no wireless


-Are all the T61 with ricoh? or only the unlucky like me... : (


-is the PCMCIA the way to go or only the expresscard works for the external drive??

[epu]

The Firewire Port on all of the Thinkpad models (4 pin) have been known to cause problems because they usually employ the Ricoh chipset. However, all USB MBoxes and Digi interfaces run flawlessly. I've owned the T60, T61, X31, X61, X61 Tablet and now the X200 Tablet and they all run Pro-Tools (USB - MBox1, MBox 2, MBox 2 Mini, MBox Micro), without a hitch; EVEN to the internal drive. I've never had issues playing back large sessions with lots of plug ins and high track counts.

I run a Music Production program at the high school level and will occasionally allow my students to use my IBM/Lenovo Laptop if the workstations are full, and I've NEVER gotten any errors, EVER.

I'd go with DigiTechSupport's recommendation and buy the EXPRESS CARD w/Firewire (SIIG).