Solution for those having problems finding HDX in the Playback Engine

[adrianrobison]

(My setup is listed at the bottom of this post)

So, I posted earlier about Pro Tools not giving me an HDX option in the playback engine (just "Pro Tools Aggregate I/O" and "HDMI") and how disconnecting my HDMI monitor was the solution. Well, there's a little bit more to the story, so I thought I'd go in-depth in a more solution based thread. If you want the HDMI backstory, read the thread here: http://duc.avid.com/showthread.php?t=356025

HDMI problems aside, I cannot seem to get Pro Tools (that has started clean from a fresh computer restart) to recognize HDX as a playback engine. I only get "Pro Tools Aggregate I/O". I have luckily found a workaround for this problem that works every time.

When I first power on my computer fresh with no applications autoloading from previous use, I notice that either the HDX card in my Sonnet Echo Express ThunderBolt 2 Chassis or my HD I/O makes a "click" sound, followed by a one second high speed fan noise, followed by another "click" sound. I assume that the hardware is just going thru it's regular startup procedure. When the hardware cycles with both "clicks", starting Pro Tools will only yield the "Pro Tools Aggregate I/O" on my playback engine menu. The workaround is as follows:

With Pro Tools set in the dock and the application still open (a session can be closed as long as the actual app is still open), you need to restart the computer. After logging in from the restart, you are given about a 5-10 second window in which you need to start Pro Tools from the dock. You will notice that the Pro Tools icon has a little light blob underneath it indicating that it was once open before you restarted it. If you follow these steps with speed in the first 5-10 seconds, you will hear either the HDX card or HD I/O "click" once, followed by a fan noise, with no second click. If you hear no second click, you have succeeded and you need to go to the playback engine and select HDX. Pro Tools will prompt you that you need to restart Pro Tools to enable the HDX playback engine. Press ok and open Pro Tools again. BOOM! HDX in all of it's glory. If you didn't open the app in 5-10 seconds from a few steps earlier, you will hear the "click" noise, a one second fan noise, then another "click" noise, and you will have known that you failed. You will have to try again at that point.

All in all, this is all really annoying and a real amateur problem to have. If HDX is Avid's flagship Pro Tools system, then why does it remind me of when I was a kid blowing dust out of my Nintendo cartridges to get them to play? This is beyond cumbersome and needs to be fixed asap.

By the way: My setup before HDX was a Digi 002 Rack. I had zero problems getting the playback engine to recognize it, even though it was a "legacy" device that is no longer supported in Pro Tools 11.

I really hope that my posts have or will help someone else out there. I've lost so much time trying to get my "investment" to work and I would never wish that upon anyone else.

-Adrian


My current setup:
-MacBook Pro 15” Retina, Mac OS version 10.9.2, 2.6 GHz Intel Core i7, 16GB Ram, 1TB internal flash HD
-Sonnet Echo Express Thunderbolt 2 Chassis with daisy chained Dell 2408wfp monitor using thunderbolt to DVI adaptor
-Pro Tools version 11.2, HDX Card connected to HD I/O
-Pegasus J2 Thunderbolt SSD HD for session data
-WD MyBook USB 3 HD for VI Samples

[DetroitT]

11.2 HDX driver installed? (Separate from application)

[adrianrobison]

Originally Posted by DetroitT

11.2 HDX driver installed? (Separate from application)

Yes, absolutely. I'm completely up to date and have even spent 5 hours debugging with Avid Tech Support.

[paulo m]

I had that issue once, no HDX was available in playback engine, after having set aggregate and closing the app by mistake.

The trick was to press N while launching PT from the dock. It brings a window in at a stage in the the launch where you can choose HDX as the playback engine. It was simple as that. But I have to admit that I was lucky to find that trick in a forum

[adrianrobison]

Originally Posted by paulo m

I had that issue once, no HDX was available in playback engine, after having set aggregate and closing the app by mistake.

The trick was to press N while launching PT from the dock. It brings a window in at a stage in the the launch where you can choose HDX as the playback engine. It was simple as that. But I have to admit that I was lucky to find that trick in a forum

Thanks for the advice. I actually tried that a while ago. Doesn't work for me 100% of the time. It boils down to that second click I will hear from the hardware if I don't follow my steps. If the second click happens, I'm never going to see HDX in the P.E. no matter if I hold N or not. Also, I shouldn't have to press a secret button every time to unlock the app. It is a good code to know however. I ran DigiTest and my hardware checks out ok, I really just think it's a software / MacBook Pro Retina issue. Anyone else run HDX thru a Thunderbolt 2 Chassis on a MBPR?