DAE Error "9073 Can't get audio from drive fast enough"

[jepsis203]

Hello all,

I've been getting this error "DAE can't get audio from the drive(s) fast enough. Your drive may be too slow, or fragmented, or a firewire drive could be having trouble due to the extra firewire bandwidth or CPU load. (-9073)".

I'm trying to work on a simple post production project. Around 30 channels with multiple bus routing. I only have two stereo wav files, totaling around five minutes of playtime. I did have a small amount of luck when I changed the playback settings as follows:

H/W Buffer Size: From 512 to 64
Host Processors: From 6 to 4
CPU Usage Limit: from 85% to 70%

DAE Playback Buffer: From level 2 to level 4
Cache Size: From Normal to Minimum

I continued to get the 9073 error after these changes were made but it was less frequent (Every 2-4 minutes depending on how many files I was importing from a separate drive") although this made my computer OS much slower. I've followed all of the windows optimization guidelines to the "T". I've searched all over the forums and have tried everything from defragmenting my drives to testing them to make sure they weren't going bad. I have my OS and Pro Tools on a SSD HD and I'm writing all of my data to a secondary NTFS drive that runs at 7200 RPM. This should be plenty for this session right? I am operating with a 64 bit system which should be compatible but I know has caused issues in the past. Did they fix those with Pro Tools 11? Any advice I could get on this would be great since it's been a problem for a couple of months now.

I'm running a Focusrite ls56 as my converter



SANDRA REPORT:
SiSoftware Sandra

ID
Host Name : ION
Workgroup : RAIN

Computer
Model : Seneca pro236811
Serial Number : 491***
Chassis : GigaByte Desktop
Mainboard : GigaByte X58A-UD3R
BIOS : Award (OEM) FE 12/23/2010
Total Memory : 24GB DIMM DDR3

Processors
Processor : Intel(R) Xeon(R) CPU W3550 @ 3.07GHz (4C 8T 3.2GHz, 2.13GHz IMC, 4x 256kB L2, 8MB L3)
Socket/Slot : FC LGA1366

Chipset
Memory Controller : Gigabyte X58 I/O Hub 2x 2.4GHz (4.79GHz)
Memory Controller : Gigabyte Core Desktop (Bloomfield) UnCore 2x 2.4GHz (4.79GHz), 3x 8GB DIMM DDR3 1GHz 192-bit

Memory Module(s)
Memory Module : G.Skill F3-12800CL9-4GBRL 4GB DIMM DDR3 PC3-12800U DDR3-1600 (11-11-11-29 5-40-13-6)
Memory Module : G.Skill F3-12800CL9-4GBRL 4GB DIMM DDR3 PC3-12800U DDR3-1600 (11-11-11-29 5-40-13-6)
Memory Module : G.Skill F3-12800CL9-4GBRL 4GB DIMM DDR3 PC3-12800U DDR3-1600 (11-11-11-29 5-40-13-6)
Memory Module : G.Skill F3-12800CL9-4GBRL 4GB DIMM DDR3 PC3-12800U DDR3-1600 (11-11-11-29 5-40-13-6)
Memory Module : G.Skill F3-12800CL9-4GBRL 4GB DIMM DDR3 PC3-12800U DDR3-1600 (11-11-11-29 5-40-13-6)
Memory Module : G.Skill F3-12800CL9-4GBRL 4GB DIMM DDR3 PC3-12800U DDR3-1600 (11-11-11-29 5-40-13-6)

Video System
Monitor/Panel : (Standard monitor types) Generic Non-PnP Monitor
Monitor/Panel : Samsung SMT24A350
(1920x1080, 30.2")
Video Adapter : AMD Radeon HD 5450 (2CU 80SP SM5.0 650MHz, 1GB DDR3 1GHz 64-bit, PCIe 2.00 x16)
Video Adapter : AMD Radeon HD 5450 (2CU 80SP SM5.0 650MHz, 1GB DDR3 1GHz 64-bit, PCIe 2.00 x16)

Graphics Processor
OpenCL GP Processor : AMD Radeon HD 5450 (80SP 2C 650MHz, 512MB DDR3 1GHz 64-bit)
OpenCL GP Processor : AMD Radeon HD 5450 (80SP 2C 650MHz, 1GB DDR3 1GHz 64-bit)
Compute Shader Processor : AMD Radeon HD 5450 (80SP 2C 650MHz, 1GB DDR3 1GHz 64-bit)

Storage Devices
WDC WD1002FAEX-00Y9A0 (1TB, SATA600, 3.5", 7200rpm) : 932GB (D:)
WDC WD1002FAEX-00Y9A0 (1TB, SATA600, 3.5", 7200rpm) : 932GB (E:)
Crucial M4-CT256M4SSD2 (256GB, SATA300/600, 2.5", SSD) : 238GB (C:)
TOSHIBA MQ01UBD050 (500.1GB, USB3/SATA300, 2.5", 5400rpm, 8MB Cache) : 466GB (F:)
ATAPI iHAS124 B (SATA150, DVD+-RW, CD-RW, 2MB Cache) : N/A (G:)

Logical Storage Devices
Projects1 (D:) : 932GB (NTFS) @ WDC WD1002FAEX-00Y9A0 (1TB, SATA600, 3.5", 7200rpm)
Projects2 (E:) : 932GB (NTFS) @ WDC WD1002FAEX-00Y9A0 (1TB, SATA600, 3.5", 7200rpm)
SELF (F:) : 466GB (FAT32) @ TOSHIBA MQ01UBD050 (500.1GB, USB3/SATA300, 2.5", 5400rpm, 8MB Cache)
SYSTEM (C:) : 215GB (NTFS) @ Crucial M4-CT256M4SSD2 (256GB, SATA300/600, 2.5", SSD)
Recovery : 24GB (NTFS)
Optical Drive (G:) : N/A @ ATAPI iHAS124 B (SATA150, DVD+-RW, CD-RW, 2MB Cache)

Peripherals
LPC Hub Controller 1 : Gigabyte LPC Interface Controller
LPC Legacy Controller 1 : ITE IT8720F
Audio Device : Gigabyte HD Audio Controller
Audio Device : Pine Technology Manhattan HDMI Audio [Mobility Radeon HD 5000 Series]
Audio Codec : ATI (AMD) HDMI Audio
Disk Controller : Gigabyte 6 port SATA AHCI Controller
Disk Controller : Gigabyte 88SE9128 SATA-600 Controller
Disk Controller : Gigabyte JMB36X PCIE-to-SATAII/IDE RAID Controller
Disk Controller : Gigabyte JMB36X PCIE-to-SATAII/IDE RAID Controller
Disk Controller : Gigabyte JMB36X PCIE-to-SATAII/IDE RAID Controller
USB Controller 1 : Gigabyte USB UHCI Controller #4
USB Controller 2 : Gigabyte USB UHCI Controller #5
USB Controller 3 : Gigabyte USB UHCI Controller #6
USB Controller 4 : Gigabyte USB EHCI Controller #2
USB Controller 5 : Gigabyte USB UHCI Controller #1
USB Controller 6 : Gigabyte USB UHCI Controller #2
USB Controller 7 : Gigabyte USB UHCI Controller #3
USB Controller 8 : Gigabyte USB EHCI Controller #1
FireWire/1394 Controller 1 : Gigabyte TSB43AB23 1394a-2000 OHCI PHY/link-layer Controller
SMBus/i2c Controller 1 : Intel ICH SMBus

Printers and Faxes
Printer : Microsoft XPS Document Writer (600x600, Colour)
Fax : Microsoft Shared Fax Driver (200x200)

Network Services
Network Adapter : Realtek PCIe GBE Family Controller (Ethernet, 100Mbps)

Operating System
Windows System : Microsoft Windows 7 Ultimate 6.01.7600
Platform Compliance : x64

Windows Experience Index
Current System : 4.1

[albee1952]

On the off chance that this is a sign of impending drive failure, I would back up your sessions now(as in RIGHT NOW). Better safe than sorry
Something sounds odd here as your machine SHOULD handle this size session with ease(although I have not used a XEON cpu). I would start with these settings:

H/W Buffer Size: From 512 to 64-1024 SHOULD make it easiest on the system
Host Processors: From 6 to 4-is 6 the highest option?
CPU Usage Limit: from 85% to 70%-with less than the max, you should be able to run at 90 or 99%
DAE Playback Buffer: From level 2 to level 4-default setting is USUALLY best
Cache Size: From Normal to Minimum-with so much RAM, Normal should be fine(or 12GB if you can specify the amount)

You never mention what exact version of PT you are running

[jepsis203]

Albee,
Thanks for the reply! I'm running Pro Tools 9.0.6. As far as a possible drive failure. I ran a drive test on all of my hard drives and they came back normal. I also realize that there is always still a chance of failure and have made a backup for all of my sessions/data on an external.
For the host processors: 8 is the highest option for me. I was actually originally allocating 7 of the 8 to Pro Tools. That was a typo on my part.

I'm really at my wits end with this one. Part of me wonders if this could be a communication problem between Pro Tools 9, my interface, and my OS (64 bit). I'm tempted to crossgrade to PT11 to see if maybe its a bug they've since fixed. However if this is a problem with my computer somewhere I might end up buying a mac. I really would not want to since A: I like PC, B: I have a bit of money invested in my current system, and C: I'm not sure if I buy PT11 for PC if I can change it out for a Mac version of PT?
Again, thanks for any input!

[Terry Wetzel]

Hello jepsis203. You must be my illegitimate brother! (No offense). Your post sounds like the exact same problem I'm having with 9.0.6! I've tried all the same supposed corrections as you and still the problems persist! albee1952 has recommended ver.9.0.3 but I tried it and in general 9.6 works better for me. I wish I was knowledgeable enough to help. I keep getting the same answers from every one on the forums and I think that there is no answer other than it's Pro Tools ! By the way, I've been told by some that I should have bought a mac. Others, (Sweetwater), says Windows should work fine! Go figure!

[Darryl Ramm]

Originally Posted by jepsis203

Albee,
Thanks for the reply! I'm running Pro Tools 9.0.6. As far as a possible drive failure. I ran a drive test on all of my hard drives and they came back normal. I also realize that there is always still a chance of failure and have made a backup for all of my sessions/data on an external.
For the host processors: 8 is the highest option for me. I was actually originally allocating 7 of the 8 to Pro Tools. That was a typo on my part.

I'm really at my wits end with this one. Part of me wonders if this could be a communication problem between Pro Tools 9, my interface, and my OS (64 bit). I'm tempted to crossgrade to PT11 to see if maybe its a bug they've since fixed. However if this is a problem with my computer somewhere I might end up buying a mac. I really would not want to since A: I like PC, B: I have a bit of money invested in my current system, and C: I'm not sure if I buy PT11 for PC if I can change it out for a Mac version of PT?
Again, thanks for any input!

So some things to try...

Are you mixing or tracking? If just mixing set the IO buffer at 1024 or larger and leave it there. While trying to febug things set it smaller (128?) to the point you see errors so uou can see if changes are making things better or worse.

Double check all your audio content in the session is on the audio drive where you think it is.

You have 4 physical cores, so start by setting the RTAS CPUs to 3 so a whole physical core will be available to Pro Tools to do IO with. Leave it set at 3 while you try other things. Once the system is more stable you can try increasing it.

Turn off "ignore errors" in the playback engine dialog while trying to debug things. You want to see errors/if your changes are making things better or worse.

This issue can be caused by plugin problems. Be sure to do the normal debugging steps of trashing prefs and databases and try temporarily moving all third party plugin files out of the plugin folder and restarting Pro Tools and see if the problem still happens. A bad plugin does not even need to be instantiated to cause problems.

Make sure you have the latest interface drivers suitable for your OS and Pro Tools version.

There is not such thing as buying a Mac or Windows version of Pro Tools. You purchase a Pro Tools license, that license on an iLok lets you run Pro Tools on any PC or Mac you have the iLok connected to.

[jepsis203]

Ok so I've since upgraded to PT11 and miraculously all of my problems have vanished. My best guess is that PT9 simply wasn't really ready for my third party hardware. Thanks everyone for your input and valuable advice!

[albee1952]

I do remember 9.0.6 being the worst version. I went back to 9.0.5 before moving on to 10

[nacho260990]

SOLVED!!!!

Before recording (trying to record...), click on window, and select the last option to view system monitor. Then, while recording check what happens with the disk... in my case, before error appears, the percentage of disk goes up a lot, more than 30%... so, i've closed pro tools, i connected an external drive to my notebook, and i've created a new session of pro tools there, in the external drive. Yeaaah! Problem solved!! Disk usage was 3 - 6 %.... and no error appears!!!

I hope it works for you too!! From Argentina!

Nacho!...

[albee1952]

Originally Posted by jepsis203

Albee,
Thanks for the reply! I'm running Pro Tools 9.0.6. As far as a possible drive failure. I ran a drive test on all of my hard drives and they came back normal. I also realize that there is always still a chance of failure and have made a backup for all of my sessions/data on an external.
For the host processors: 8 is the highest option for me. I was actually originally allocating 7 of the 8 to Pro Tools. That was a typo on my part.

I'm really at my wits end with this one. Part of me wonders if this could be a communication problem between Pro Tools 9, my interface, and my OS (64 bit). I'm tempted to crossgrade to PT11 to see if maybe its a bug they've since fixed. However if this is a problem with my computer somewhere I might end up buying a mac. I really would not want to since A: I like PC, B: I have a bit of money invested in my current system, and C: I'm not sure if I buy PT11 for PC if I can change it out for a Mac version of PT?
Again, thanks for any input!

No reason to buy a Mac What is this drive doing?
SELF (F:) : 466GB (FAT32) @ TOSHIBA MQ01UBD050 (500.1GB, USB3/SATA300, 2.5", 5400rpm, 8MB Cache)
Don't record to it or use it for samples as its too slow. Not sure if you want to make this move, but for my socket 1366 rig(which was running an i7 950), I picked up a used 980X 6 core off evilbay and dropped it into my Gigabyte X58A mobo and now its like a new machine Having said that, I only run nVidia graphics in my audio machines(and modest cards in the $0-60 price range). Not sure how fresh your BIOS is or if you might consider an update

[Howardk]

I didn't read this whole thread, but I am having this same problem with my Macbook Pro and both Pro Tools 10 and 11. I found an Avid note that mentions disabling the MacBook Pro's Sudden Motion Sensor so the hard drive does not park. I have a Hybrid System Drive and a SSD Data drive (replaced the Internal DVD/CD Drive), so all should be good. I am hoping this is the solution:, time will tell. Here is a link:
http://avid.force.com/pkb/articles/t..._Motion_Sensor