Problem with PTLE 8 for Windows on MacBook Pro

[soundguy_2000]

I have a new MacBook Pro (MB985X/A. That is 15" MBP/2.66 Core 2 Duo/4GB RAM) and am experiencing the good ol' increase/decrease buffer size loop.

It's running PTLE 8.0.1 under Windows XP Pro SP3. Original mbox and mbox mini.

Does anyone have this configuration working properly?

I've searched the forums and not found anything that provided a solution so any constructive input greatly appreciated.

[albee1952]

That message can happen if you are recording to your system drive. If that's the case, try a firewire drive.

[soundguy_2000]

Originally Posted by albee1952

That message can happen if you are recording to your system drive. If that's the case, try a firewire drive.

I am using an external FW800 drive (924 chipset)

I actually noticed these new MacBooks use the nVidia i970 chipset. Not sure if that could be the issue?

[audiogeekzine]

I bet that mac works great in OSX 10.5.8

I'll get me coat

[soundguy_2000]

Originally Posted by audiogeekzine

I bet that mac works great in OSX 10.5.8

I'll get me coat

10.6.1

of course it does

[soundguy_2000]

Albee, I'm about to take a massive plunge (possibly suicidal) and buy an SL4000G+ SE from Nashville. Eek..!

[albee1952]

Originally Posted by soundguy_2000

Albee, I'm about to take a massive plunge (possibly suicidal) and buy an SL4000G+ SE from Nashville. Eek..!

Holy buckets of FIRE
Do ya need someone to babysit the console in transit

[soundguy_2000]

As long as you don't mind traveling in the cargo hold of a 747 inside a wooden crate. Haha

I did a repair install of XP as suggested by someone on the Apple forum and it works fine now.

Interesting thing is under XP I get 32 tracks/83 dverbs and under OS X I get 32 tracks/117 dverbs. What's going on there, Digi???

[soundguy_2000]

Okay. Not solved.

Seems the performance off the rear USB port is far better than the forward port.

Suggestions, anyone?

[soundguy_2000]

I have also posted this under "Best Laptop" thread.



Alright. For those interested, the problem seems to have been solved.

N.B.: This was done on a current model 15.4” MacBook model MB985X/A ( I assume the “A” could possibly mean Australia as another computer in the house was purchased in Japan has a /J at the end of the model number.) I am not sure this would work with any other model of MacBook Pro.

Basically, there appears to be two ways to make it work. First thing I tried: don’t use the Apple automatic Boot Camp driver installer but the system seemed to get quite hot so I experimented further. Second method was to use the Apple Boot Camp installer then disable a whole bunch of stuff. Took a while but it works now.

The system runs slightly cooler under the latter method and it’s slightly faster/easier to implement.

Method one means that you need to use a mouse as there is no right click on the trackpad (not a big deal for me - I hate the trackpad with Pro Tools anyway), the F keys will not have their system functions and the keyboard back light will not work. Optical disc eject key does not work. If I have time/can be bothered, I will try to find a way of correcting these issues.

Step 1: Install Windows XP Professional SP3 following Boot Camp instructions;
Step 2: Insert OS X 10.6 DVD;
Step 3: Quit the Boot Camp installer that auto starts;
Step 4: Open System Properties>Device Manager;
Step 5: Double-click “Coprocessor”, select “Reinstall Driver”;
Step 6: Select “Automatic” and click “OK”, wait for process to complete;
Step 7: Double-click “SM Bus Controller”, select “Reinstall Driver”;
Step 8: Select “Automatic” and click “OK”, wait for process to complete;
Step 9: Open a Windows Explorer window and navigate to DVD drive>WindowsSupport>Boot Camp>Drivers>NVidia>NVidiaGraphicsMobileXP>Setup.e xe;
Step 10: Restart system, click NVidia icon in systray and select “Control Panel”;
Step 11: Navigate to “Power Miser” and select the “Disable” radio button;
Step 12: Install Pro Tools LE 8.0.1, restart and go for it!

Method two – the one I am currently using:

Keyboard back light works but no F key or track pad extra functions.

Step 1: Install Windows XP Professional SP3 following Boot Camp instructions;
Step 2: Insert OS X 10.6 DVD;
Step 3: Run Boot Camp installer, restart, etc.;
Step 4: Open System Properties>Hardware>Device Manager;
Step 5: Disable all network, bluetooth and audio devices;
Step 6: Open regedit
Step 7: Navigate to HKLM>Software>Microsoft>Windows>CurrentVersion>Run ;
Step 8: Delete the Apple keyboard manager key
Step 9: Restart, Install Pro Tools LE 8.0.1, restart again and go for it!

Performance wise, there was only a three track difference between the two methods described above using the prescribed dverb method.

Under method one the result with mbox mini connected to the front most USB port was 32 tracks with 91 dverbs at 24 bit/48 KHz, buffer 1024 (recorded and played to 20 minutes four times)

Under method two the result was 32 tracks with 88 dverbs at 24 bit/48 KHz, buffer 1024. (recorded and played to 20 minutes four times)

As I am more interested in reliability than potential mixing performance with a whole bunch of crap sounding dverbs, I performed four runs at twenty minutes recording/playback time each. The system was able to record and play 32 mono tracks with no plug-ins at a buffer setting of 64, two CPU’s, 90% CPU usage on the internal Toshiba 5400 RPM HDD.

I suspect, however, that using a firewire interface would be a different story. Apple is no longer using the TI firewire chipset in their latest laptops.