WTF?! (6104 & 6101 Errors after switching to non-fusion drive)

[ianbee]

I had issues with my new late 2013 iMac and Pro Tools 10 / 11. I kept getting error messages during recording and playback. This iMac had a fusion drive. I got so sick and tired of waiting for Avid or Apple to come up with a solution, so I returned the late 2013 fusion drive imac for a late 2013 imac with a regular hd drive.

But now I am still getting 6104 and 6101 errors in Pro Tools 10 & 11. Not as bad as the fusion drive so far, but it's deffinietly happen.

Here is my setup:
Late 2013 imac with 1tb hd drive
mbox 3
lacie 2tb external drive
pro tools 10 & 11 (newest versions of both)

If anyone has any solutions or input, that would mean a lot. Im sort of confused as why this is happening, as it shouldn't. All my drivers and everything are up to date on my mbox, i just don't understand why i am still getting these error messages.

[Eric Seaberg]

So what's your drive setup? Are you trying to do audio on the internal 1TB or just to the LaCie? What else is going on, VIs? Have you confirmed all plugins are current and happy?

I'm running 10 and 11 on my personal system using a 2011 iMac and it screams! Never had an issue... but I may be pushing the CPU much less than you, too. A little more info as to what you're doing could help.

[ianbee]

Originally Posted by Eric Seaberg

So what's your drive setup? Are you trying to do audio on the internal 1TB or just to the LaCie? What else is going on, VIs? Have you confirmed all plugins are current and happy?

I'm running 10 and 11 on my personal system using a 2011 iMac and it screams! Never had an issue... but I may be pushing the CPU much less than you, too. A little more info as to what you're doing could help.

Hey.. I have a late 2013 imac with 24gb of ram 3.5 ghz processer and 1tb hd drive. All my PT 10 & 11 sessions are saved on and running from my lacie 2tb drive. My tests where i get errors in recording and playback are done with very little plugins.. no VI's, and the system usage is always under 10%.

There's no way a computer of this caliber should be getting these type of errors in these situations. All ill have is like 2-4 vocal tracks with a compressor, eq, de-esser & eq-1band on it, an audio track where i put a mp3 beat & two aux tracks with a reverb on both. Which isn't much at all.

Even when I have one vocal track and one audio track where the mp3 beat goes, I still get these same errors. I noticed it gets more frequent if I have the internet open or another program during playback in pro tools.

This is so stupid how i had these isuses with my fusion drive so i returned it for one without a fusion drive, and i still get the same issues. This shouldn't be happing at all. If anyone could help me out with a solution or any help at all, that would be great. And i'll certainly provide more info if needed.

edit: I'm starting to think it could be the mbox (3) and not the current iMac itself..

[Glenjb]

Is the LaCie a green drive? Is it 7200rpm?

[ianbee]

its not green, it's silver.. and yes its 7200rpm.. a great hard drive, here's the link:

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/produc...d2_Quadra.html

[Bruce Paine]

Are you connecting the external drive via USB 3 or FireWire 800?
If USB 3, I would try it with a Thunderbolt to FW800 converter cable and see if that makes a difference. That should be a great drive, but might work better on FW800.

Also, the product mentions a couple of things that I would want to look at:
included backup software and an app to configure your drive's eco mode.

A so-called "green drive" is usually one that automatically goes into an energy saving mode, not good for an audio drive. So enabling any "eco mode" features would be similar I would think.

One other thing I would try...
If you are having issues on a small, non-complex session with low track count and few plug-ins, you might want to try to "save session copy as..." to your internal drive. Then run it from there and see if it makes a difference. While recording to the system drive is not recommended, if it runs better on the system drive than the external, then you have a pretty good idea that it has something to do with the external drive setup.

[musicman691]

Originally Posted by Bruce Paine

Are you connecting the external drive via USB 3 or FireWire 800?
If USB 3, I would try it with a Thunderbolt to FW800 converter cable and see if that makes a difference. That should be a great drive, but might work better on FW800.

Also, the product mentions a couple of things that I would want to look at:
included backup software and an app to configure your drive's eco mode.

A so-called "green drive" is usually one that automatically goes into an energy saving mode, not good for an audio drive. So enabling any "eco mode" features would be similar I would think.

One other thing I would try...
If you are having issues on a small, non-complex session with low track count and few plug-ins, you might want to try to "save session copy as..." to your internal drive. Then run it from there and see if it makes a difference. While recording to the system drive is not recommended, if it runs better on the system drive than the external, then you have a pretty good idea that it has something to do with the external drive setup.

I run LaCie's here in various types and the included software is an optional use and won't run unless installed. To be safe I format my drives for the Mac I'm using them on so no LaCie utilities even get installed. The drives runs just fine without it. As I understand it the drives run in normal full power mode by default (at least they do for me).

[Eric Seaberg]

Glenjb, I would also refrain from having any other apps open while you're working with ProTools. No web browser or email... nothing else. I've had issues on our MacPro systems just opening 'Notes' while recording is going on and it throws ProTools into a small fit... and I've tweaked our MacPro systems considerably.

Another thing to do is disable Notification Center. Some people also recommend disabling Spotlight, but I've seen more problems with NC running in the background.

[ianbee]

I tried saving the PT session to my internal drive and not my lacie, and i still have the same error messages.

And when I put the periphreals in hardware setup as Pro Tools Aggregate, instead of my Mbox, I get no errors what so ever...

So when stuff is being passed through my mbox.. errors. When it isn't being passed through my mbox... no errors. I don't know about you guys, but doesn't that say enough (it's an interface problem)?

[GMP]

Originally Posted by ianbee

I tried saving the PT session to my internal drive and not my lacie, and i still have the same error messages.

And when I put the periphreals in hardware setup as Pro Tools Aggregate, instead of my Mbox, I get no errors what so ever...

So when stuff is being passed through my mbox.. errors. When it isn't being passed through my mbox... no errors. I don't know about you guys, but doesn't that say enough (it's an interface problem)?

so is MBOx2 the only I/O that will work with PT? this -6104 BS is hella annoyinng.