anyone using Protools on an SSD?

[oreo1]

My new iMac with lion has two internal drives: a solid state drive for all the apps and a big eSATA drive for docs. Everything loads and works really fast, except Protools. It loads OK, but takes 2:30 to load a session. Once the session is up and running, it is very stable and very fast.

I'm just trying to figure out if the problem is the SSD, or something else.

[DJKeys]

SSDs are technically not supported by Pro Tools at the present time:

http://avid.custkb.com/avid/app/self...p?DocId=380567

[stakeoutstudios]

I'm running an SSD on my tracking system for system and apps (2009 mac pro) but running 7200rpm western digital drives to record sessions.

Runs absolutely fine. Faster than my other identical system (without an SSD) but only for boot, application launch etc. Actual Pro Tools sessions run pretty much the same on both machines.

You mentioned eSATA? As no macs have this port are you running a Hackintosh or have you bought a PCIe eSATA card?

I'm running an Intel value SSD - only 40GB But it was cheap and loading apps flies!

When large SSDs come down in price I may try running a session from one! The new RAM disk cache feature in 10 might have made this idea obselete already!

[Guitarman002]

I have SSDs on a MacBook Pro and Pro Tools 10 works just fine. Sessions load up quickly...(maybe 10-15 seconds) and the program runs great.

[oreo1]

Yes, it is a SATA drive, not e-SATA. My mistake.

I asked my question, because i have a tech support issue going on right now, trying to figure out why every session takes 2:30 seconds to load, even though Protools itself loads very quickly. I have no such problem with any over program, including other audio software like Audition, Logic, and Ableton Live.

So far tech support hasn't come up with a solution, although they did mention that maybe it's the Apple SSD drive. That conclusion was reached after I tried every single thing they told me to try from their playbook of troubleshooting ideas.

It's ironic, because otherwise, this iMac could be the perfect mac Protools machine, with its 16 gb memory, 27' integrated screen, and SSD.

It's kind of depressing to hear DJKeys response that an SSD is not supported by Protools. For one thing, every mac now being sold offers an SSD as an option, and they are only going to become more common in the upcoming year as prices drop and the drives get bigger and bigger. My contact at Avid, made no mention that my SSD was unsupported.

It's good to hear that others are using the SSD without any glitches. And yet, I wish someone did have the same problem as me, so maybe together we could figure out how to solve these depressingly slow load times.

[crizdee]

Originally Posted by oreo1

My new iMac with lion has two internal drives: a solid state drive for all the apps and a big eSATA drive for docs. Everything loads and works really fast, except Protools. It loads OK, but takes 2:30 to load a session. Once the session is up and running, it is very stable and very fast.

I'm just trying to figure out if the problem is the SSD, or something else.

Hi,

Try holding shift whilst opening a session! This will disable all plugins, see how quickly it loads now! This will tell you if it's a plugin that's causing the lag or if it's the actual session and audio that is causing it. My money is it will open quickly without the plugins and it's probably an old or out of date plugin in your folder and that is loading into the plugins cache.

Chris

[abomeerza]

I have SSDs on a pc and Pro Tools HD10 works just fine

[oreo1]

holding shift while opening a session, made no difference. still took 2':30" to load. And thanks for the tip.

[tamasdragon]

Originally Posted by oreo1

holding shift while opening a session, made no difference. still took 2':30" to load. And thanks for the tip.

If you're up to some more investigation, here's another tip:
make a new session
use import session data to get the info from the previous session
save
close and maybe restart
try to open the new session

Hope this help. It sound like if pro tools was struggling with something in that session.

[sunburst79]

I agree with Tamas except that I would also test that with new session with no data and see what happens as far as load up times goes.

Have you checked your recording drive using Disk Utility lately? That may help if its a disk permissions issue of some type.