Ran out of CPU power

[arauza]

I am trying to bounce an hour-long audio file (5 tracks, no inserts). I keep getting a message that says "ProTools ran out of CPU power. Try de-activating or removing Native plugins. (AAE-9173)" I did a search in the Help section but did not get any suggestions that worked. I searched "Ran out of CPU power" and "Native plugins." I got nothing for Native plugins and several possible causes but no working solutions for "out of power." I moved almost all plugins to the Unused folder. I ran the System Usage meter and it shows 16% memory and 1% CPU.

I did a search online. Apparently, this error is common and other people have not found a solution either. I sent a message to Support and did not receive an answer.

I am not using any plugins that I know -- no EQ, no compression, etc.

One of the suggestions was to deactivate any unused tracks, I deactivated the Master Fader.

The first time I bounced a file after installing PT12, it worked fine. The second time, it did not work. After that, I installed HD and XD drivers that I received as updates, and the file worked. Today, it did not work, again. Today, I also installed Codecs PE, First AIR instruments and effects, and Xpand updates.

The Bounce runs for about 15 minutes and stops.

Also, often PT12 hangs before doing a function, such as delete a short section of audio. One more thing, twice it will not load/boot up; it stops/hangs and I have to reboot my computer to get it to load.

I am using a Presonus AudioBox 44VSL audio interface and a j5create USB 3.0 hub to connect a second external display. I disconnected the display and I still have the problem.

Someone please help. Thanks.

[remideflon]

That's strange. What happens if you adjust the buffer size? Does it help?

[nigelpry]

Sometimes 6173 errors happen when bouncing, but I also get it sometimes when hitting playback.

And, every now and again, once I get that message, it is impossible to get Pro Tools running again until I reboot the computer. Closing down Pro Tools and relaunching it isn't enough to cure the problem. A full reboot is ncessary.

Sometimes I can go days without it happening, other times it happens multiple times a day. I think that there is something weird going on under the hood in Pro Tools, some bug that throws up a 9173 error.

Like with anything that goes wrong, there are immediate causes and underlying causes. In this case, the immediate cause is a momentary running out of cpu power. The real problem is finding out what is causing that, especially as it often seems to happen with projects that have only a few tracks, no active plugins, system usage meter showing very little cpu usage etc etc.

I've been doing a few small projects in PT12 vanilla, as I have a license for it and haven't upgraded my PT11HD license (I don't plan to either). I was interested to see for myself whether reports of PT12 being more stable than PT11 were true for me too.

So far, I have to say, I've not had a single 9173 error in any PT12 projects, so it may be that Avid has fixed the problem. It's just a shame that Avid hasn't been very explicit in detailing what fixes have been made in PT12, so we don't know for sure. And that, for me, is a big issue, as I have no intention of running any more sessions with clients present using a software I don't have confidence in.

Taking a chance and using it in front of clients to test whether a software version is stable does not seem to be good practice to me.

[Quickdraw]

Originally Posted by arauza

I am trying to bounce an hour-long audio file (5 tracks, no inserts). I keep getting a message that says "ProTools ran out of CPU power. Try de-activating or removing Native plugins. (AAE-9173)" I did a search in the Help section but did not get any suggestions that worked. I searched "Ran out of CPU power" and "Native plugins." I got nothing for Native plugins and several possible causes but no working solutions for "out of power." I moved almost all plugins to the Unused folder. I ran the System Usage meter and it shows 16% memory and 1% CPU.

I did a search online. Apparently, this error is common and other people have not found a solution either. I sent a message to Support and did not receive an answer.

I am not using any plugins that I know -- no EQ, no compression, etc.

One of the suggestions was to deactivate any unused tracks, I deactivated the Master Fader.

The first time I bounced a file after installing PT12, it worked fine. The second time, it did not work. After that, I installed HD and XD drivers that I received as updates, and the file worked. Today, it did not work, again. Today, I also installed Codecs PE, First AIR instruments and effects, and Xpand updates.

The Bounce runs for about 15 minutes and stops.

Also, often PT12 hangs before doing a function, such as delete a short section of audio. One more thing, twice it will not load/boot up; it stops/hangs and I have to reboot my computer to get it to load.

I am using a Presonus AudioBox 44VSL audio interface and a j5create USB 3.0 hub to connect a second external display. I disconnected the display and I still have the problem.

Someone please help. Thanks.

Unfortunately, there are lots of things that could cause this. Can you provide some sytem specs like CPU, RAM and OS info? when you get the error you could try rebooting and bouncing as soon as you can get Pro Tools up, it could be that something is happening after Pro Tools starts that causes it. It could be a background process that disrupts access to the CPU causing Pro Tools to think that there is no power left for it to utilize.

[Amack]

Maximizing the buffer size is really good thing to try (making sure PT's matches that shown on the interface's control panel). Then you could try an "Offline Bounce to Disk". Doing so bypasses the "Playback Engine" to help determine if it might be part/all of the problem. If that works, the speed at which it bounces (X real time) will also give you an idea of how fast the rest of your system is.

Originally Posted by remideflon

That's strange. What happens if you adjust the buffer size? Does it help?

[notedmusic]

Originally Posted by Amack

Maximizing the buffer size is really good thing to try (making sure PT's matches that shown on the interface's control panel). Then you could try an "Offline Bounce to Disk". Doing so bypasses the "Playback Engine" to help determine if it might be part/all of the problem. If that works, the speed at which it bounces (X real time) will also give you an idea of how fast the rest of your system is.

buffer is already at MAX for me
same old problem since PT 9.

[Bookerv12]

Hi,

I had a friend have this happen and we switched from one brand of external firewire drive to another and it cleared up.
We also turned up the buffer size before that.
What computer and external drive are you using?