Interrupt problems

[Matty M]

Hi everyone,
I was hoping someone might be able to help me out with a solution to the constant interrupt errors that I am having. Currently I am running an MBox 2 with Pro Tools 8 on a Dell XPS M1210 Intel Core Duo T7200 laptop using Windows XP Service Pack 3. Below is my Sandra report. I am also recording to a 640 GB WD Studio external hard drive over firewire out of the 1394 4 port from my laptop.

< Processor >
Model: Intel(R) Core(TM)2 CPU T7200 @ 2.00GHz
Speed: 2.00GHz
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: Dell Inc. MXC062
Platform Compliance: Intel Centrino Mobile Technology
Mainboard: Dell Inc. 0FP985
Bus(es): ISA X-Bus PCI PCIe IMB PCMCIA USB FireWire/1394 i2c/SMBus
Multi-Processor (MP) Support: No
Multi-Processor Advanced PIC (:Yes
System BIOS: Dell Inc. A08
Total Memory: 2GB DDR2 SO-DIMM

< Chipset >
Model: Dell XPS M1210
Front Side Bus Speed: 4x 166MHz (664MHz)
Total Memory: 2GB DDR2 SO-DIMM
Memory Bus Speed: 4x 166MHz (664MHz)

< Memory Module(s) >
Memory Module: Hyundai HYMP512S64CP8-Y5 1GB DDR2 SO-DIMM PC2-5300U DDR2-666 (5.0-5-5-15 3-20-5-3)
Memory Module: Hyundai HYMP512S64CP8-Y5 1GB DDR2 SO-DIMM PC2-5300U DDR2-666 (5.0-5-5-15 3-20-5-3)

< Video System >
Adapter: NVIDIA GeForce Go 7400 (64MB DDR3, PCIe 1.00
x16)
Adapter: NVIDIA GeForce Go 7400 (64MB DDR3, PCIe 1.00
x16)

< Storage Devices >
Hitachi HTS541612J9SA00 120GB :112GB (C:) (D:)
WD My Book 640GB (FireWir:596GB (G:)
WD 3200BEV External 320GB:298GB (F:)
Optiarc DVD+-RW AD-5540A (ATA3:N/A (E:)

< Logical Storage Devices >
Hard Disk (C:): 30GB (NTFS) @ Hitachi HTS541612J9SA00 120GB
(SATA150, 2.5", 5400rpm, NCQ, 7MB Cache)
Hard Disk (D:): 82GB (NTFS) @ Hitachi HTS541612J9SA00 120GB(SATA150, 2.5", 5400rpm, NCQ, 7MB Cache)
New Volume (G:): 596GB (NTFS) @ WD My Book 640GB
(FireWire/1394, NCQ)
CD-ROM/DVD (E:): N/A @ Optiarc DVD+-RW AD-5540A (ATA33, DVD+-
RW, CD-RW, 2MB Cache)
WD Passport (F:): 298GB (FAT32) @ WD 3200BEV External
320GB (USB)

< Peripherals >
LPC Hub Controller 1: Dell XPS M1210
LPC Legacy Controller 1: SMSC LPC v1
Audio Device: Dell XPS M1210
Audio Codec: Sigmatel 7680h
Audio Codec: Conexant Systems HDAudio Soft Data Fax Modem
with SmartCP
Serial Port(s): 1
Disk Controller: Dell XPS M1210
USB Controller 1: Dell XPS M1210
USB Controller 2: Dell XPS M1210
USB Controller 3: Dell XPS M1210
USB Controller 4: Dell XPS M1210
USB Controller 5: Dell XPS M1210
FireWire/1394 Controller 1: Dell XPS M1210
System SMBus Controller 1: Intel 801xx/63xx SMBus

< Printers and Faxes >
Printer: Send To Microsoft OneNote Driver (300x300,
Colour)
Printer: Microsoft XPS Document Writer (600x600,Colour)

< Network Services >
Network Adapter: Broadcom 440x 10/100 Integrated Controller -Packet Scheduler Miniport (Ethernet, 100Mbps)
Network Adapter: Dell Wireless 1505 Draft 802.11n WLAN Mini-
Card - Packet Scheduler Miniport

< 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 3)
Platform Compliance: x86


I have also tried the following XP optimizations from the Digidesign website:
1. Created a new hardware profile and disabled network adapters and soundcards etc.
2. Set the relevant settings within the bios.
3. Set my display settings as per the optimization guide.
4. My processor scheduling and memory usage have been set to background services and system cache. (I’m not sure about this one as the MBox manual says to set it to this but the optimizations guide on theDigidesign website says to set them both to programs.
5. Set the power management in power schemes.
6. Configured the USB root hubs.
7. Ran my system in a diagnostic startup.

Even with the above mentioned optimizations I still have interrupt issues. Sometimes I can record for five minutes with no problem. Sometimes it will interrupt at 5/10/30 seconds. It’s just not consistent. Altering the settings within the playback engine also does not help. Even if someone could tell me if my laptop is or is not compatible would be greatly appreciated.

[TOM@METRO]

I’m not sure exactly what errors you are getting, but Dell firewire ports are notoriously suspect when it comes to these things.

[wdco]

Let me add to that... I bought a Studio XPS 435MT with the new i7 chip and I consistently got 6086, 6088 and 6085 errors. Maxing out the buffer size helped but the errors still popped up now and then. Today I installed what digi specifies... a firewire card (by Siig) with Texax Instrument chips on it.

Problems vanished instantly even with 32 tracks and a buffer size of 128.

William Coakley/Perfect Piano

[Matty M]

Thanks for that, I will try a new firewire card. My next issue is that because I’m using a laptop, I am limited to using my express card port. The Digidesign website states that firewire express cards have not been tested. Do you know of one that will work?

[Greg M]

The SIIG 2-port firewire ExpressCard (EC-2012-S1) works for me. The only thing you need to be aware of is that it does not deliver power to the firewire device unless you also buy and use the SIIG power supply for the card. This is not an issue if all of your firewire devices supply their own power.

Greg

[TOM@METRO]

Originally Posted by Greg M

The SIIG 2-port firewire ExpressCard (EC-2012-S1) works for me. The only thing you need to be aware of is that it does not deliver power to the firewire device unless you also buy and use the SIIG power supply for the card. This is not an issue if all of your firewire devices supply their own power.

Greg

Greg seens to have the answer on that one. I have nothing better to offer with express.

[Tiko]

Hi All,

I am new to the Board and already I need some help. I have chosen to post my problem to this thread because it relates to a similar problem. I hope someone can help me reach a swift solution.

I have used prvious versions of PT without problem until now. I have a Digi 002r
and recently upgraded to vesion 8. the first few weeks presented no problems but maybe that was because I had not started recording intensly.I used both my Digi and my Mbox mini without any major issues. The Digi firewire was working perfectly.

I recently decided to buy an another external HD since my old USB one went bad. I thought it might be a good idea from posts I read on this board to get a firewire HD for speed and reliability.

I got a WD Book 1T HD. I suddely started getting the error -6086. It intially started occuring when I moved my mouse but later became more frequent when I tried to record midi data to audio track. It has become so bad that I can't even record 20 seconds of Audio.

I have gone though several threads on the topic here and ruled out a great deal. For example, some have experienced the problem due to thier video cards others due to the mouse drivers. I have uninstalled my video driver and gone though some optimization steps stated here. I have still not solved the problem.

I tried some troubleshooting myself and through a process of elimination found that it is either my Western Digital HD or my express card I use with my laptop that is causing the problem. I am however leaning more towards the WD hardrive as the cause, since I used my card successfully with my digi 002 in the past. The only reason it might still be the cause is because it has two firwire ports one with I use for each device.

I found out after several hours yesterday tha as soon as I unplug the Western Digital HD I record without these interupts.

I need to know for sure if this is the problem. If anyone has any idea whta the cause is or can confirm which is cause I would very much appreciate it.

Regards

TIKO

[Tiko]

Hi people,

I noticed that evryone that has posted problems has been asked to submit a Sandra report. I used the software for the first time to generate one. Please forgive me if I left any information out. I would be glad to submit more infore as required

SANDRA REPORT

< Processor >
Model: Intel(R) Core(TM)2 Duo CPU T7300 @
2.00GHz
Speed: 2.00GHz
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: FUJITSU SIEMENS ESPRIMO Mobile V5505
Platform Compliance: Intel Centrino Mobile Technology
Mainboard: FUJITSU SIEMENS ESPRIMO Mobile V5505
Bus(es): ISA PCI PCIe IMB PCMCIA USB FireWire/1394 i2c/
SMBus
Multi-Processor (MP) Support: No
Multi-Processor Advanced PIC (:Yes
System BIOS: Phoenix Technologies LTD R01-A0U
Total Memory: 1.99GB DDR2 SO-DIMM

< Chipset >
Model: Fujitsu Siemens Mobile PM965/GM965/GL960
Express Processor to DRAM Controller
Front Side Bus Speed: 4x 200MHz (800MHz)
Total Memory: 2GB DDR2 SO-DIMM
Shared Memory: 8MB
Memory Bus Speed: 2x 333MHz (666MHz)

< Memory Module(s) >
Memory Module: Samsung M4 70T2953EZ3-CE6 1GB DDR2 SO-DIMM
PC2-5300U DDR2-666 (5.0-5-5-15 3-20-5-3)
Memory Module: Samsung M4 70T2953EZ3-CE6 1GB DDR2 SO-DIMM
PC2-5300U DDR2-666 (5.0-5-5-15 3-20-5-3)

< Video System >
Adapter: Mobile Intel(R) 965 Express Chipset Family
(128MB DDR2, 500MHz, PCI, PS3.0, VS3.0, 2
Heads)
Adapter: Mobile Intel(R) 965 Express Chipset Family
(128MB, PCI, PS3.0, VS3.0)

< Storage Devices >
WDC WD2500BEVS-22UST0 250GB (S:233GB (C:) (F:)
BELKIN F5U126ea1GB 1GB (USB): 995MB (E:)
Generic-Multi-Card (USB): N/A (D:)
WD My Book 1TB (FireWire/:932GB (H:)
Optiarc DVD RW AD-7540A (ATA33:N/A (G:)
Disk: N/A (I:)

< Logical Storage Devices >
Hard Disk (C:): 30GB (NTFS) @ WDC WD2500BEVS-22UST0 250GB
(SATA150, 2.5", 5400rpm, NCQ, 8MB Cache)
Data (F:): 201GB (NTFS) @ WDC WD2500BEVS-22UST0 250GB
(SATA150, 2.5", 5400rpm, NCQ, 8MB Cache)
CD-ROM/DVD (G:): N/A @ Optiarc DVD RW AD-7540A (ATA33, DVD+-RW,
CD-RW, 2MB Cache)
CD-ROM/DVD (I:): N/A @ Disk
Removable Drive (E:): 994MB (FAT) @ BELKIN F5U126ea1GB 1GB (USB)
Removable Drive (D:): N/A @ Generic-Multi-Card (USB)
New Volume (H:): 932GB (NTFS) @ WD My Book 1TB (FireWire/
1394, NCQ)

< Peripherals >
LPC Hub Controller 1: Fujitsu Siemens ICH8M-E (ICH8) LPC Interface
Controller
Audio Device: Fujitsu Siemens 82801H (ICH8) HD Audio
Controller
Audio Codec: Conexant Systems CX20549 (Venice)
Disk Controller: Fujitsu Siemens 82801H (ICH8) Ultra ATA
Storage Controllers
Disk Controller: Fujitsu Siemens ICH8M (ICH8) 3 port SATA
Controller
USB Controller 1: Fujitsu Siemens 82801H (ICH8) USB UHCI #4
USB Controller 2: Fujitsu Siemens 82801H (ICH8) USB UHCI #5
USB Controller 3: Fujitsu Siemens 82801H (ICH8) USB2 EHCI #2
USB Controller 4: Fujitsu Siemens 82801H (ICH8) USB UHCI #1
USB Controller 5: Fujitsu Siemens 82801H (ICH8) USB UHCI #2
USB Controller 6: Fujitsu Siemens 82801H (ICH8) USB UHCI #3
USB Controller 7: Fujitsu Siemens 82801H (ICH8) USB2 EHCI #1
FireWire/1394 Controller 1: TI XIO2200(A) IEEE-1394a-2000 Controller (PHY/
Link)
System SMBus Controller 1: Intel 801xx/63xx SMBus

< Network Services >
Network Adapter: Intel(R) PRO/Wireless 3945ABG Network
Connection - Packet Scheduler Miniport
(Ethernet, 54Mbps)

< Power Management >
Mains (AC) Line Status: On-Line
Battery No 1: 97%

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

[Matty M]

I have just ordered the firewire express card that Greg M recommended so we will find out in a couple of days if it is my WD external hard drive causing the problem.

[Tiko]

Thanks for replying so quickly Matty M!!. I can't wait to see the end of this problem. I also just notice that with my western Digital, I have two entries of the device in Device Manager. One comes under Disks and the second under Other devices. The second entry however has like a yellow question mark against it. This only happens with the firewire connection. If I connect via USB then that does not happen.

Ill wait to hear back from you once you get the card. please let me no what card it is as soon as you can.

Regards,

TIKO