Help...MBox Pro 3 Not Working / Powering Correctly with MacBook Pro OS Lion 10.7.3

[Bendrixx]

Hope I'm posting in the right area..apologies if not. If so, please read on, and if you've run into this, I could definitely use some guidance.

Brand new Mac Book Pro, loaded with OS 10.7.3 Lion, running Firewire to a brand new Avid MBox Pro. It has not worked correctly since day 1, (I'm on day 3, still no dice).

Initially bought this as a package from Sweetwater April 2012, included MBox Pro and Avid PT 9 (with free optional upgrade via download code for PT 10).

I PRE loaded the drivers for the MBox Pro before installing PT 9 per the recommendations in the setup manual and at avid.com. I then installed PT 9, no ilock required to run that one. I decided to jump on the free upgrade to PT 10 after registering PT 9 a few days later. It required me to set up an ilock account at that point which I did without a hitch. PT 10 works flawlessly on it's own, no system probs thus far.

I finally went to start recording, and started setting up the MBox Pro 3.

So I plugged in the MBox last, after all was installed, hooked up the cables, powered on my Mac and turned the power to the MBox on. Immediately, I got a systems freeze and a message stating I needed to manually power off my Mac and back on again. I did this again and got the same message. I THEN decided to reinstall drivers, this time, instead of the disc, directly from the Avid website (even though, the PT9 and "PT 9 and after" drivers appear to be identical on the site as well as to my disc copy that came with PT 9)...(MBox_Pro_Drivers_V1014_72729(1).dmg) is the exact file name for ALL.

Since Avid expressly states on the site that ANY PT version after 9, it's fine to do the driver update before or after Pro Tools installation, I figured I was and am in the clear. I also DOUBLE checked the latest driver info for systems AFTER PT 9 (i.e. PT 10 or PT 9-10 upgrade) on avid's site against their PT 9 driver file, and again, it's that IDENTICAL aforementioned file name above.

Interestingly, after that install, THIS time, the Mbox powered up, no systems failure, with a steady blue LED, but my MAC could not recognize a hardware connection for the MBox Pro icon when I checked the control panel.

I then did a whole series of restarts...each from hereout, resulting in a now BLINKING blue LED, NO sound or response from the MBox, but THIS time, with my MAC stating that the MBox pro connection WAS recognized (even though the MBox itself wasn't responding to any sound inputs/microphone 1 or 2.

In regards to the restarts, I tried powering up, then connecting and powering up the MBox per the explicit enclosed instructions, ...same results, then I tried leaving it connected, restarted the MAC, powered on the MBox, no dice, and of course, leaving the MBox ON, and restarting. I also did (for each of these) a complete shut down, and restart to no avail either...same blinking blue LED everytime with no response from the MBox.

Interestingly, consistently, if I power the MBox on BEFORE I power up the MAC, I get the steady Blue LED, and the equalizers for Mic input 1 or 2 definitely show a response and activity to Mic 1 or 2, although I get no sound through the headphones...but as soon as I get to the MAC startup screen after powering on the MacBook pro, the MBox LED starts blinking again, and the equalizers go dead.

In ONE of the restart sessions, somewhere around 2am, I got the blue LED to remain stable, and actually got sound out of the headphones after powering up the MAC, bringing up the MBox control panel and assigning the correct functions to the headphone 1 and 2 jacks, all other functions seemed to work, and the hardware sensor on the MAC's control panel still recognized the MBox as well. I literally screamed "Eureka!"...But, after I carefully closed everything and restarted just to be sure,... back to square 1 blinking LED, hardware recognized by MAC, but MBox unresponsive. There is no word I can use to describe my frustration, so we'll just say "bummer."

I also tried a brand new, shielded 400 to 800 Firewire (the Macbook pro uses an 800 input, the MBox uses a 400 output)....same problem.

Since the Mac is NEW, from what I've read, I cannot downgrade to Snow Leopard if this is a MAC issue/ new OS compatibility issue with MBox since the MAC was made AFTER Snow Leopard was discontinued, and the last apple rep I spoke to said it is a very bad idea to downgrade any MAC not previously outfitted with Snow Leopard since it's not designed to support a previous OS.

I've also toyed with the idea of going Firewire to USB??...Maybe try an adaptor cable that goes from the 400 firewire on the MBox to one of my USB inputs on the MAC, instead of the Firewire, in case it's a literal power issue.

also...could the ilok, since it's a USB enabled device, somehow be futzing with the Firewire connection on the MAC?

Finally..is there another driver I'm missing?? ..or possibly multiple drivers not mentioned clearly on Avid.com or in with my discs for PT9??

I'm concerned because I have new MAC with Lion (notorious for buggyness with even PT9), I've upgraded to PT 10, and am trying to run an Mbox 3...you'd think the latest and greatest should jive, but I may have inadvertently dug myself an impossible trench of incompatibility here.

If anyone has ANY suggestions, please share, I'm stuck, and out about $1200 on this thing.

-Ben
Edit/Delete Message