Help with PT3 multiple Disk I/Os

[Jim Roberts]

I have been running a 32 track system without any trouble with the following setup:

Beige G3/300 w/ Bit3 7 slot PT version 4.2

Bit3 card order
Farm
Farm
Farm
Backplane
Farm
Disk I/O w 888
Disk I/O w 888
empty

I have just added a third I/O to the empty slot (with no 888 interface). The system sees the card and acknowledges the attached drive. The Allocator Application "sees" the third I/O card but does not load the DAE deck onto it (i.e. the Disk I/O #3 is green when a session is launched, the other two are red and 100% occupied by DAE). Because of this I only have 32 voices available in a session instead of the desired 48. Please help!!

I need the additional voices for a session in 2 days!! Anybody?? Digi???

[Jim Roberts]

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[Jim Roberts]

Anybody?? Digi documentation says that you can use up to 3 Disk I/O cards and 4 farms in a 7 slot chassis. This would clearly allow for 48 voices. I don't understand Brad's comment about supporting only 2 I/O cards. Either the documentation is wrong or Brad is mistaken.

Digi tech support was testing my config as of Friday afternoon, but I received no definitive answer. The only difference I found in the documentation was the fact that they were running 4.3...I am running 4.2. I plan to install 4.3.1 tomorrow to see if it is the fix. Anyone have any experience with this that can help me before my Saturday session??

Jim

[DigiTechSupt]

There are a couple of things I would look at..

- card order. Without looking at a Bit 3 expansion chassis diagram and looking at your post I'm not sure what slot is what here but, if you added a Disk I/O card to the empty slot in your diagram you will have to change the 888 to that card. In a Pro Tools III system a Disk I/O must be the first (or master) card. The master interface, an 888 in this case, must be attached to the first Disk I/O. If you have a second interface, it will need to be moved up to what was the first Disk I/O but is now the second and so on if you more interfaces.

You should be able to run Digitest to tell if you have the correct order or not.


- Make sure the new installed card is connected to the rest by the TDM ribbon cable.


- Try different versions of DSI/DAE. I have heard of any problems with the versions you are using but it can't hurt to try other versions. When doing so, be sure to trash the digisetup file, DAE prefs, Pro Tools prefs and reboot so that the new versions will take effect.

Otherwise, if this doesn't work, you will have to make the voices work for you. For example, assign the lead vocal and the solo instrument to the same voice, sometimes they won't be playing audio at the same time and this will buy you a track, etc.

Jon Connolly
Digidesign Product Specialist

[Techsupt2]

Jim

Unfortunately PCI TDM Disk I/O systems only support two Disk I/O cards at one time.

Brad

[MR. IVORY STYLES]

can you connect a y cable to a second disc i/o without getting a second farm for 32 tracks on a pt3 system?

[DigiTechSupt]

No, you cannot use a "Y" cable on Pro Tools III cards, they are 8 channel cards.

Jon Connolly
Digidesign Product Specialist

[digidesigner]

Jim, maybe you should be running PT 5.0.1.
I am using 2 i-o cards and 3 farm cards in a Power Mac 9600/350/G3.
At first when i installed my additional i-o card and farms i was running PT ver. 4.0 and it did not work.
Installing 5.0.1. and DAE ver. 5.0. resolved my problems with my different rev. cards.