Another "Unable to locate Digidesign hardware" error message

[Albers]

• Computer model and processor speed – Intel 3.2 GHz processor
• OS version – Windows 7 Home Premium
• Digidesign or M-Audio hardware model – Avid M Box 3 Mini
• Pro Tools version – LE 8.0.4
• Amount of RAM installed – 1GB
• A complete and precise description of any attached peripherals (hard drives, video devices, other firewire or USB devices that may be attached, etc). We need to know to which port on the computer they're connected to, what type of cables you're using (is it a FW800-FW400 adapter cable? How long is it? Are you using an extender or repeater?) and, if you've tried replacing cables, what the differences were between the original and the replacement. – No additional peripherals other than the MBox Mini with supplied cable
• Number and type (firewire, SATA, SCSI, etc) of drives installed, how they're formatted and which one(s) you're using for recording and playback. None
• A concise list of the troubleshooting you've already tried - please be as specific as possible! The first thing we'll ask is 'Have you done everything in the Setup and General Troubleshooting thread?', so we'll want to know that you've done ALL of it and, if you've not done everything, we need to know what you have or have not done, as this can have a huge impact on further troubleshooting.

HISTORY

Installed ProTools 3 months ago and used only a few times. Then after about 6 weeks, got the “unable to locate Digidesign hardware” message.

Tried reinstalling the MBox drivers, changing the USB port, run as administrator, but nothing worked. However, Windows Control Panel recognised the hardware and when clicking on the MBox Mini icon in Control Panel, the window that displayed a picture of the Mbox Mini showed a status of “Hardware Connected”. Also, Windows Sound Recorder could record from the Mbox Mini as well as Audacity. All media sound output from the computer could be heard via the headphone socket on the Mbox Mini. The only software that wouldn’t recognise the hardware was ProTools.

Only solution I could find that worked was to reinstall ProTools which solved the problem.

Then last week I moved the computer from one room to another and the “unable to locate Digidesign hardware” message reappeared. All other uses of the MBox Mini by the computer still worked. The only software that wouldn’t recognise the hardware was ProTools.

Any ideas on where to go from here?

[SteveC7]

New MBOX user here too... Based on my linited experience, it seems IE8 is an obvious problem, so uninstalling would benficial. And I'd check your DEP setting:

Choose Computer > Properties > Advanced system settings

Under the Performance section, click on Settings, then go to the Data Execution Prevention tab and make sure the radio button is set to "Turn on DEP for essential Windows programs and services only" and not "Turn on DEP for all programs except the ones I select"


Also, check hardware devices in Control Panel and see if there's a USB device with a question mark. If so, try the Update Drivers option and manually browse to select the MBOX driver. That worked for me after doing the above.

[KingShao]

I have exactly the same problem. Just moved my computer to a different room and I get this message. I haven't installed anything or changed anything. It's in the same frikkin USB port as it was 10 minutes ago when it worked. WTFWTFTWFT, I don;t want to spend my session re-installin PT WE NEED A PROPER FIX FOR THIS.

I'm running:
Windows 7 Pro
Phenom II 1090T x6
4GB Ram
Mbox w/ PT 8 LE

[SeventySix]

I'm having the same exact problem. I moved my PC to another room, and now I'm getting the "Unable to Locate Digidesign Hardware".

I started Pro Tools without the Mbox plugged in when I got the message originally, thought "oops, forgot that." I plugged it in, and now the message will. not. go. away.

I took the following steps, all followed by a system re-boot:
1) The usual: deleted databases and prefs per the Avid Vista tweak guide.
2) Used Device Manager to re-install the drivers for both the Mbox and the Mbox MIDI.
3) Unplugged all other USB devices and then tried the other six USB ports on my system

I am using
Pro-Tools 8.0.5 LE
Mbox 2

Someone, please chime in here :), It's tough enough as it is, I'd like to get some work done today.

edit: in the interest of expediting the process of getting back to work (and just playing by the rules, generally :) )

It bears mentioning that the gigabit network adapter and the on-board sound card are both disabled in the Device Manager. This computer is in no way connected to the intrawebs.

SiSoftware Sandra

Computer
Model : HP-Pavilion GG779AAR-ABA m8187c
Workgroup : WORKGROUP
Host Name : bargainbin
User : ElvisSkywalker

Processor
Model : Intel(R) Core(TM)2 Duo CPU E6750 @ 2.66GHz
Speed : 2.67GHz
Cores per Processor : 2 Unit(s)
Threads per Core : 1 Unit(s)
Type : Dual-Core
Integrated 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

Computer
Mainboard : Asus Berkeley
BIOS : AMI 5.13 10/24/2007
Bus(es) : ISA X-Bus PCI PCIe IMB USB FireWire/1394 i2c/SMBus
Multi-Processor (MP) Support : No
Multi-Processor Advanced PIC (APIC) : Yes
Total Memory : 3.25GB DIMM DDR2 DDR3

Chipset
Model : HP P35/G33/G31 Processor to I/O Controller
Front Side Bus Speed : 4x 333MHz (1.33GHz)
Total Memory : 4GB DIMM DDR2 DDR3
Channels : 2
Memory Bus Speed : 2x 400MHz (800MHz)

Memory Module(s)
Memory Module : Patriot Memory 6400EL Series 2GB DIMM DDR2 PC2-6400U DDR2-800 (5-5-5-12 3-23-6-3)
Memory Module : Patriot Memory 6400EL Series 2GB DIMM DDR2 PC2-6400U DDR2-800 (5-5-5-12 3-23-6-3)

Video System
Video Adapter : NVIDIA GeForce 9800 GTX/9800 GTX+ (128 SM4.0 1.7GHz, 512MB DDR3 2.2GHz 256-bit, PCIe 1.00 x16)
Video Adapter : NVIDIA GeForce 9800 GTX/9800 GTX+ (128 SM4.0 1.7GHz, 512MB DDR3 2.2GHz 256-bit, PCIe 1.00 x16)

Graphics Processor

Storage Devices
WDC WD5000AAKS-40TMA0 (500.1GB, SATA300, 3.5", 7200rpm, 16MB Cache) : 466GB (C:) (D:)
WD 5000AVV External 500.1GB (USB) : 466GB (F:)
ATAPI DVD A DH16A1L (SATA150, DVD+-RW, CD-RW, 2MB Cache) : N/A (E:)

Logical Storage Devices
HP (C:) : 457GB (NTFS) @ WDC WD5000AAKS-40TMA0 (500.1GB, SATA300, 3.5", 7200rpm, 16MB Cache)
Recovery (D:) : 9GB (NTFS) @ WDC WD5000AAKS-40TMA0 (500.1GB, SATA300, 3.5", 7200rpm, 16MB Cache)
Optical Drive (E:) : N/A @ ATAPI DVD A DH16A1L (SATA150, DVD+-RW, CD-RW, 2MB Cache)
My Book (F:) : 466GB (FAT32) @ WD 5000AVV External 500.1GB (USB)

Peripherals
LPC Hub Controller 1 : HP (ICH9) LPC Interface Controller
LPC Legacy Controller 1 : Asus F8000
Audio Device : HP (ICH9) HD Audio Controller
Audio Codec : Realtek Semi 888 High Definition Audio
Serial Port(s) : 1
Disk Controller : HP (ICH9) 4 port Serial ATA Storage Controller 1
Disk Controller : HP (ICH9) 2 port Serial ATA Storage Controller 2
USB Controller 1 : HP (ICH9) USB Universal Host Controller
USB Controller 2 : HP (ICH9) USB Universal Host Controller
USB Controller 3 : HP (ICH9) USB2 Enhanced Host Controller
USB Controller 4 : HP (ICH9) USB Universal Host Controller
USB Controller 5 : HP (ICH9) USB Universal Host Controller
USB Controller 6 : HP (ICH9) USB Universal Host Controller
USB Controller 7 : HP (ICH9) USB Universal Host Controller
USB Controller 8 : HP (ICH9) USB2 Enhanced Host Controller
FireWire/1394 Controller 1 : HP FW322/323 IEEE1394 OHCI FireWire Controller
SMBus/i2c Controller 1 : Intel ICH SMBus

Network Services

Power Management
Mains (AC) Line Status : On-Line

Operating System
Windows System : Microsoft Windows Vista Home 6.00.6002 (Service Pack 2)
Platform Compliance : x86

[Kind Dub]

Thought I would Join The Bandwagon...
*Just to start, all optimization has been done and I've installed all updated drivers as best to my knowledge. *

I've had Pro Tools LE running through a Mbox Mini 3 for about four months now. I didn't really run into to many problems software wise until recently.

I relocated the computer set up to a different room, the interface worked (other than being able to run pro tools) but i could play music as well as a guitar through the MBox3Mini. After hours of countless ways of uninstalling/reinstalling, including reinstalling just drivers, removing pro tools from my tower(Windows Vista) and putting it on my laptop(Windows 7), nothing worked what so ever the "Unable to locate hardware" seemed impenetrable. The next day I reinstalled again in a variety of ways(hours) and surprisingly got it to work again. Worked with it for about two days...

So.. Then I Moved The computer back to its previous location and now have run into the same problem only I cannot get it to work whatsoever, I have tried every possible thing(on multiple computers) and feel like the interface could be at fault. I have tried new USB cords as well...

On a second note, the interface makes noise(crackling) when i turn up the volume nob and has done so since day one...on a third note my Pro Tools Instillation DVDs were GLUED to the inside of my Pro Tools DVD case!!! I had to literally tear them from the glue just to be able to get them out not to mention clean the the living **** out of them before i dared to put them in my computer. I have pictures...

Maybe i just got sold a bad box all around...any thoughts?



Here is the basics the Computers running:
Vista Home Premium
Service Pack 1
AMD Athlon(tm) 64 X2 Dual Core Processor 5000+ 2.6 Ghz
2Gs Ram (Corsair)
32 bit operating system


Thanks in advance

[SeventySix]

Really? Nothing?

Nothing, whatsoever?

Ok. I want to get back up and running. I have spots to do. What are my best options?

Really, what I want to know is why am I using Audacity, when I paid for pro tools ?

[Benoni]

Originally Posted by SeventySix

Really? Nothing?

Nothing, whatsoever?

Ok. I want to get back up and running. I have spots to do. What are my best options?

Really, what I want to know is why am I using Audacity, when I paid for pro tools ?

Your Mybook should be formatted to NTFS, not FAT32. USB drives are not supported for PT8, only PT9 on Windows 7.

Did you install the drivers before installing PT8.0.5?


Driver Downloads and Updates for Pro Tools 9 and 8

Pro Tools 8.0.5 Downloads and Details

try updating your video card drivers too:

www.geforce.com

[Benoni]

Originally Posted by Kind Dub

Thought I would Join The Bandwagon...
*Just to start, all optimization has been done and I've installed all updated drivers as best to my knowledge. *

I've had Pro Tools LE running through a Mbox Mini 3 for about four months now. I didn't really run into to many problems software wise until recently.

I relocated the computer set up to a different room, the interface worked (other than being able to run pro tools) but i could play music as well as a guitar through the MBox3Mini. After hours of countless ways of uninstalling/reinstalling, including reinstalling just drivers, removing pro tools from my tower(Windows Vista) and putting it on my laptop(Windows 7), nothing worked what so ever the "Unable to locate hardware" seemed impenetrable. The next day I reinstalled again in a variety of ways(hours) and surprisingly got it to work again. Worked with it for about two days...

So.. Then I Moved The computer back to its previous location and now have run into the same problem only I cannot get it to work whatsoever, I have tried every possible thing(on multiple computers) and feel like the interface could be at fault. I have tried new USB cords as well...

On a second note, the interface makes noise(crackling) when i turn up the volume nob and has done so since day one...on a third note my Pro Tools Instillation DVDs were GLUED to the inside of my Pro Tools DVD case!!! I had to literally tear them from the glue just to be able to get them out not to mention clean the the living **** out of them before i dared to put them in my computer. I have pictures...

Maybe i just got sold a bad box all around...any thoughts?



Here is the basics the Computers running:
Vista Home Premium
Service Pack 1
AMD Athlon(tm) 64 X2 Dual Core Processor 5000+ 2.6 Ghz
2Gs Ram (Corsair)
32 bit operating system


Thanks in advance

To enable other users to help you, please include all of your system details when posting an issue to the DUC; Pro Tools hardware,
Pro Tools software version, CPU, OS version, Motherboard make/model, chipset, amount of RAM, type of hard drives used, etc.

- Please - Use SiSoftware's Sandra Lite application to generate a full system profile:

CLICK HERE---->Sandra Report<----CLICK HERE


Under SiSoftware Sandra, click on "Download & Buy" to download the FREE Sandra Lite version or purchase other versions.
After installing Sandra, click on the 'Hardware' tab and run the 'Computer Overview', then copy and paste into your post here on the
DUC.
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[SeventySix]

Originally Posted by Benoni

Your Mybook should be formatted to NTFS, not FAT32. USB drives are not supported for PT8, only PT9 on Windows 7.

I don't record to that drive.

When I'm trying to get Pro-Tools to initialize I don't have anything other than the Mbox 2 hooked up, USB-wise, period.

try updating your video card drivers too

I appreciate the stab at it Benoni, I really do.

[albee1952]

SeventySix is the only one to get points as he(she) is the only one that paid attention and posted a Sandra report. You should boot the computer with the Mbox plugged in. If that doesn't help, It might be worth uninstalling Pro Tools(with Mbox disconnected) rebooting and running the installer again(and maybe try a different USB port next time). As a matter of fact, I would go ahead and reboot with the Mbox on a different USB port first. Traditionally, you should use the ports nearest the PS2 ports(mouse/keyboard), but sometimes, changing ports makes it work(even to the point of trying front mounted ports). When you DO get it working, you will need a second hard drive for recording(unless you are content to do 2-4 tracks). Pro Tools requires a separate recording drive for any decent level of performance With Vista, I would consider upgrading to Windows 7(but that's just me)(and I would NOT expect that to solve the issue here)