PT 7.3.1 locks up when getting MIDI cc messages

[Jon E.]

Hey everybody, has anyone run into this one? It happens only when I engage the transport (play and record), I use MIDIman 2x2's, I haven't tried removing the MIDI thru instrument yet since this is a feature I use. I have set the inputs to just my controller input just in case there was a loop. Does this sound like a buffer overrun? Thanks. Jon E.

[Jon E.]

OK, I tried a few things. It locks up whenever it receives MIDI data and the transport is running. It seems to lock up occasionally when MIDI note data is being sent, always when cc: data is sent. I removed all MIDI through and disconnected the MIDI in's from my modules so there is no possibility of a feedback loop. I removed all but the stock plug-ins, no change. I realized I started seeing this when I installed cs4. Am I the only one having MIDI lockups with cs4??? If I don't hear anything I'll try backtracking to cs3 next.

[LSW]

I may be having the same issue. Using - just playing back a MIDI track to by outboard synth via the Midiman - gets a couple measures into the MIDI part of the song - the note hangs, all the audio hangs and protools stops responding.

Did all the same things to ensure there's no loop. Using cs4 also, but went from 7.1 to 7.3 cs4.

Did you find a solution?

[Jon E.]

I rolled back to cs3 and cs2 and got the same results. Brought it back to cs4 and tried it with another earlier session, it worked! So now I'm totally stumped, it's something with this session but I can't figure it out. I went through all the MIDI settings and set them up the same as the earlier one and still had no luck. Digi, help!!!

[Jon E.]

For the benefit of the knowledge base I will go through what I did to isolate the problem and come up with a workaround. But I have to say I am more than a little bit disappointed with the lack of participation in this thread, I don't believe this is a one off problem.

I deleted all the MIDI tracks in the session and built new ones, same problem. I created a new session with a single MIDI track and didn't have the problem. I imported the old session into the new one, but did not import the MIDI tracks, when I created a new MIDI track the problem reappeared. In the course of this exercise I tried disabling the 2x2's (I have two) in the Device Manager and the driver hung. I have the latest M-Audio driver so there's no fix there, but it opened my mind to the possibility that it could be a hardware problem and not a session configuration issue. So next go around (each hang required a reboot) I used my Audiophile card's MIDI input instead of the 2x2 for my controller. Problem solved, or at least a work around found. If I get a chance I'll dig into it further, try taking my USB hub out of the loop, but from all indications there appears to be an issue with the MIDIman 2x2 and PT. I suspect my controller is partially to blame, I use Roland A-series (70 and 90), they put out a MIDI keep alive that could well be contributing to the flood of MIDI data.

Now I can get back to making music again!

[Keeron]

Jon,

For what it's worth, you'll be getting better MIDI timing issues by going through your sound card's MIDI inputs rather than the USB MIDI interface. I have the MOTU Micro express USB that I rarely use because of the inherent latency when dealing with USB.

Now, that being said, by removing the USB interface from your system, you'll also gain precious bandwidth from your PCI bus by your PC not having to send requests to the USB's peripherals.

My system is old yet rock solid and whenever I plug...say a USB flash drive...my systems crawls as if overwhelmed by kryptonite and basically becomes unusable.

The problem with today's boards is that they offer lots of connectivity (USB, IEEE1394, on board audio) but at the price of chewing up your precious IRQs...which CANNOT be modified in your BIOS (even if it says you can) as they are handled by Win XP.

Many times these options share IRQs with some of your PCI slots (which is the case for my SATA drive containing all of my samples) hence the kryptonite effect.

Even though you have the latest processor (I'm still running 7.3CS4 on and AMD Athlon 2400+ *single core* with BFD 1.5 at 24bits with no problems whatsoever) you still have the archaic IRQ system to deal with that no amount of processing can circumnavigate.

My advice is to disable as many of the motherboard's optional devices that you can live without: audio, com ports, printer ports, LAN, even firewire or usb ports all of which should be accessible via the BIOS.

My rig is a strictly Pro Tools rig with no network, audio, printer and com port enabled...hence its usability even after 5 years!!!

Hope that all helps...it sure has with others I have helped.
Feel free to contact me for further assistance.

KT

[Jon E.]

Thanks Tom!

I am running an Allenstein AMD Opteron 2214 Socket F Quad so processing power isn't an issue. I run PT on a separate partition with all unused ports and hardware disabled, no peripherals other than USB for the MIDI interfaces and iLok, and no software loaded on the machine other than basic disk utilities and music applications (Live 6 and Soundiver OEM for the JV and Trinity) so software and device conflicts should not be an issue. I have optimized my Windows configuration according to Digi's specs. I agree, USB (any serial port) adds delay and overhead, but the fact that I've used these same two MIDIman 2x2's in the same configuration with a PT 5.0/Windows 98 setup for almost 6 years before this without a conflict or a single hiccup leads me to believe there's another issue. FWIW, relying on the single MIDI port on the Audiophile card is not an option for me, I use too many MIDI devices.

Tonight I will take the USB hub out of the loop and see if that could be the cause, though by all rights it shouldn't be. And I will run msconfig to see if there's a rogue driver running that shouldn't be. Thanks again for replying! Jon E.

[dillon99999]

perhaps you should consider using virtual instruments instead of the midi mess.

1. no noise from them.
2. less latency.
3. no wires.
4. expandable.
5. just pure sound.

a. Reason (I have the JV, Trinity, and Proteus libraries - sold my rack modules a year ago on ebay and never looked back)
b. BFD
c. DFH
d. GURU
e. SampleTank
f. many of them are freely available on the internet.

all you need is a decent computer with sufficient RAM.

this is how many producers make music now-a-days.

you can even do it on a laptop.

[jallen]

Thanks for all the great responses and great ideas. I did record the midi tracks as audio, and now things are moving forward again.

I'm also very interested in a free drum sampler RTAS plugin for Pro Tools LE.
I've mainly been using my old Roland Sound Canvas as a drum sampler, and bass sampler.

Funds are pretty tight, I did demo Native Instruments Battery package, not sure I want to spend the $$ to buy it though.

Could anyone recommend a free drum sampler plugin for Pro Tools????
Do you know which packages that you recommended are actually free, and not just a demo??

You mentioned:

. Reason (I have the JV, Trinity, and Proteus libraries - sold my rack modules a year ago on ebay and never looked back)
b. BFD
c. DFH
d. GURU
e. SampleTank
f. many of them are freely available on the internet.

[dillon99999]

to use VST Instruments, you need a VST Wrapper program called:
VST to RTAS ($99) @ http://www.fxpansion.com

to find free VST Instruments (and Effects) you can go search here:
http://www.kvraudio.com/