Pro Tools 11.0.2 crashing on launch

[pencil_ethics]

I have tried everything within my limited power to successfully launch Pro Tools 11.0.2 on the Windows workstation I built (specifications will follow shortly); alas, no luck. It crashes with exception code 40000015 (STATUS_FATAL_APP_EXIT: in other words, abort() is being called) in DigiTrace.dll. All right, let's see if Pro Tools will run if that DLL is squirreled away. And behold, I now have the splash screen! . . . followed by the Avid Crash report dialog. Inspection of the crash dump shows that the exception code in this case is c000001d (STATUS_ILLEGAL_INSTRUCTION), and inspection of the stack trace looks (to the untrained eye) as if Pro Tools started executing random data as code before finally running into an invalid opcode (0x17). Of course, not being a programming guru, this last part is entirely speculation. Enabling Windows 7 or 8 compatibility modes will not crash on DigiTrace.dll but result in the same STATUS_ILLEGAL_INSTRUCTION crash. Pro Tools gurus, please enlighten this grasshopper in the ways of a functional Pro Tools machine :-( Sandra computer overview is as follows. Identification lines such as computer name and serial number have been removed.
------------------------------------------
SiSoftware Sandra

Computer
Mainboard : SuperMicro X9SRL-F
BIOS : AMI (OEM) 1.0b 09/19/2012
TPM - Trusted Platform Module : 1.02, IFX
Total Memory : 128GB DIMM DDR3

Processors
Processor : Intel(R) Xeon(R) CPU E5-1620 0 @ 3.60GHz (4C 8T 3.6GHz, 3.6GHz IMC, 4x 256kB L2, 10MB L3)
Socket/Slot : FC LGA2011

Chipset
Memory Controller : Super Micro Computer Core DMI2 (Sandy Bridge-E) 100MHz
Memory Controller : Super Micro Computer Core (Sandy Bridge-E) Integrated Memory Controller Registers 100MHz, 4x 32GB DIMM DDR3 1.6GHz 256-bit

Memory Module(s)
Memory Module : SanMax M393B2G70BH0-YK0 16GB DIMM DDR3 PC3-12800U DDR3-1600
Memory Module : SanMax M393B2G70BH0-YK0 16GB DIMM DDR3 PC3-12800U DDR3-1600
Memory Module : SanMax M393B2G70BH0-YK0 16GB DIMM DDR3 PC3-12800U DDR3-1600
Memory Module : SanMax M393B2G70BH0-YK0 16GB DIMM DDR3 PC3-12800U DDR3-1600
Memory Module : SanMax M393B2G70BH0-YK0 16GB DIMM DDR3 PC3-12800U DDR3-1600
Memory Module : SanMax M393B2G70BH0-YK0 16GB DIMM DDR3 PC3-12800U DDR3-1600
Memory Module : SanMax M393B2G70BH0-YK0 16GB DIMM DDR3 PC3-12800U DDR3-1600
Memory Module : SanMax M393B2G70BH0-YK0 16GB DIMM DDR3 PC3-12800U DDR3-1600

Video System
Monitor/Panel : Samsung SyncMaster (1920x1200, 24.0")
Video Adapter : NVIDIA GeForce GTX 660 Ti (7CU 1344SP SM5.0 1GHz/1.32GHz, 384kB L2, 2GB 6GHz 192-bit, PCIe 2.00 x16)

Graphics Processor
OpenCL GP Processor : NVIDIA GeForce GTX 660 Ti (1344SP 7C 1GHz/1.32GHz, 384kB L2, 2GB 6GHz 192-bit)
Compute Shader Processor : NVIDIA GeForce GTX 660 Ti (1344SP 7C 1GHz/1.32GHz, 384kB L2, 2GB 6GHz 192-bit)
CUDA GP Processor : NVIDIA GeForce GTX 660 Ti (1344SP 7C 1GHz/1.32GHz, 384kB L2, 2GB 6GHz 192-bit)

Storage Devices
Samsung SSD 840 PRO Series (256GB, SATA600, SSD) : 238GB (C:)
Samsung SSD 840 PRO Series (256GB, SATA600, SSD) : 238GB (F:)
WDC WD30EFRX-68AX9N0 (3TB, SATA600, 3.5") : 3TB
WDC WD30EFRX-68AX9N0 (3TB, SATA600, 3.5") : 3TB
Msft Storage Space (3TB, ) : 3TB (P:)

Logical Storage Devices
System (C:) : 200GB (NTFS) @ Samsung SSD 840 PRO Series (256GB, SATA600, SSD)
Speed (F:) : 200GB (NTFS) @ Samsung SSD 840 PRO Series (256GB, SATA600, SSD)
Polaris (P:) : 3TB (NTFS) @ Msft Storage Space (3TB, )
Recovery : 300MB (NTFS)

Peripherals
LPC Hub Controller 1 : Super Micro Computer Patsburg LPC Controller
LPC Legacy Controller 1 : T0 C3-33
Audio Device : Gigabyte GK104 HDMI Audio Controller
Audio Device : ASUS Virtuoso 200 (Xonar D2X)
Serial Port(s) : 3
Disk Controller : Super Micro Computer Patsburg 6 Port SATA AHCI Controller
USB Controller 1 : Super Micro Computer Patsburg USB2 Enhanced Host Controller #2
USB Controller 2 : Super Micro Computer Patsburg USB2 Enhanced Host Controller #1
SMBus/i2c Controller 1 : Intel ICH SMBus
SMBus/i2c Controller 2 : Intel SNB-E XMB Ch 0 SMBus
SMBus/i2c Controller 3 : Intel SNB-E XMB Ch 1 SMBus
SMBus/i2c Controller 4 : IPMI T1 Controller

Printers and Faxes
Printer : Send to Microsoft OneNote 15 Driver (1200x1200, Colour)
Printer : Microsoft XPS Document Writer v4 (600x600, Colour)
Printer : HP psc 2300 Series (1200x1200, USB, Colour)
Printer : Brother HL-2240D series (1200x1200, USB, Duplex)
Printer : Adobe PDF Converter (4000x4000, Colour)

Network Services
Network Adapter : Microsoft Network Adapter Multiplexor Driver #2 (Ethernet, 2Gbps)
Network Adapter : Hyper-V Virtual Ethernet Adapter #2 (Ethernet)

Operating System
Windows System : Microsoft Windows Server 2012 R2 Datacenter 6.3.9600
Platform Compliance : x64

[mjslakeridge]

Wow, that is a lot of memory! Why are you using Windows Server 2012 as your operating system? I thought only Windows 8 was approved for PT 11.

[philgrab]

What is your sound device?

If it is not this: Audio Device : Gigabyte GK104 HDMI Audio Controller
Then disable this.

I just went through two days of 11.0.2 hell and it was a conflicting ASIO driver which once removed, left PT running smooth.

[pencil_ethics]

Originally Posted by mjslakeridge

Wow, that is a lot of memory! Why are you using Windows Server 2012 as your operating system? I thought only Windows 8 was approved for PT 11.

You are absolutely right in that only Windows 8 is approved for Pro Tools 11, especially given Windows Server 2012 R2 is a disguised version of Windows 8.1. But surely that wouldn't do anything since Windows 8.1 didn't change much from 8... (oh wait, this is Pro Tools we're talking about. My bad.) As for the memory, this computer runs a lot of server stuff and virtual machines.

Originally Posted by philgrab

What is your sound device?

If it is not this: Audio Device : Gigabyte GK104 HDMI Audio Controller
Then disable this.

I just went through two days of 11.0.2 hell and it was a conflicting ASIO driver which once removed, left PT running smooth.

Per your suggestions I nuked the graphics card sound outputs to no avail )-: I killed all the ASIO drivers for fun to see if that helped, but no progress.

I am starting to suspect that Pro Tools either a) does not like so much RAM being available, b) does not like server OSes, c) does not like Windows 8.1, d) does not like Hyper-V or e) some combination of the above. I might want to check a) and d) at some point in the future, and see if they can be eliminated as a cause. But an illegal instruction exception strongly smells of a weird bug in Pro Tools.

[sw rec]

You are absolutely right in that only Windows 8 is approved for Pro Tools 11,

Windows 7, too....

[rlcowastudio]

did you ever get pt 11 installed on windows server 2012?

[pranza]

no same issue.

[albee1952]

How did you choose that particular motherboard? Its certainly not a "usual" choice(and may be incompatible). I would try installing Windows 10(or 7) PRO x64 and then install PT 11.3. After that, unless someone else can verify that motherboard as compatible, I would think about an approved/tested mobo. While many motherboards can't handle that much RAM, half of it would still be plenty for any PT machine

Don't forget all the usual system tweaks, including setting Windows to use the on-board sound as the default playback device. And I also recommend some kind of real "interface" for Pro Tools(using ASIO4ALL and the onboard audio is not a "pro" solution)

[Southsidemusic]

Dave This is 3 almost 4 years old