Spinning Wheel of Death on Pro Tools 8 M-Powered

[zachscott]

Here is the deal. I have a MacBook Pro 10.5.8 and I am using ProTools M-Powered 8 with a ProFire 2626 and a Glyph GT 050Q hard drive. When I start recording, regardless of the number of tracks, without using any plug-ins or effects, the recording stops and we experience the Spinning Wheel of Death. Sometimes it will spin for 5 minutes then be fine and other times we have to just do a Force Quit and shut it down. The problem has gotten progressively worse. We have uninstalled and reinstalled the drivers twice and it doesn't seem to help. We are not very experienced with Mac or ProTools so that could be a problem. This issue just began, the unit has been working fine for the last 6 months. We need help so any info would be great.

[bradch00]

Any recent upgrades or changes to the system?

[djspl]

I have this exact problem with my Profire 2626/PT Mpowered 8.03/new 13" Macbook Pro w/ Snow Leopard.

I record live shows with the 2626 connected via ADAT to my Yamaha LS9. The spinning wheel will show up randomly. At one show I can record 4 bands perfectly, the next show I'll get the spinning wheel after ~7 minutes and it will continuously come back.

Lately this problem is so unpredictable that I've gone back to using my 6 year old HP NC8430 Windows laptop and Ableton Live to track with the 2626. I have never had a problem with that set up.

I record to the internal drive (7200 rpm), but I have ALWAYS recorded to the internal drive (at least a hundred multitracked shows). I have never seen a drive write error (unless I decide to start copying/downloading files while recording, which I don't).

Buffer settings are at the highest, I don't touch anything while recording. I don't use any plug ins while recording. System and disk usage are minimal. I've tried new firewire 800 > 400 cables. I don't get Protools errors, just the spinning wheel. Wireless is off.

When I built the M powered system it recorded 24 tracks for an hour without a glitch in my office. I took it to a show the day after and the spinning wheel came up twice. The recording will start fine, then the PT counter will stop and the spinning wheel shows up. Force quitting Protools is the only way out, but I don't have to restart the computer (which doesn't help, I've tried).

Thanks for listening, I feel better. Any suggestions will be tried.