Mbox 2 Pro Tools 7.3 LE H/W Buffer Error Message

[hotboxdj]

HELP!

I purchased Pro Tools as an upgrade (at least I thought) from Adobe Audition, but so far its given me nothing but hell.. and my MBOX has been downgraded to a paper weight.

Every time I go to record a track or play back a track after about 10 to 30 seconds of playing (or recording) I get an error message that says "The Operating System Held off interrupts too long. If this occurs frequently try increasing the HW buffer size in the playback engine panel (-6086)"

I have raised the buffer size to the max, checked every box that I related to the HW buffer size with no help.

My setup is a Dell 8400
Windows XP
512 MB of RAM
3.0 GHZ P4.

I appreciate your help!

Thanks

[spkguitar]

You need to read through the General Troubleshooting Thread, concentrating on the first suggestion, making sure that our system is compatible, and then finally posting details about your system as directed at the end of that post.

[hotboxdj]

I am still having issues with Pro Tools (the same HW Buffer Issue) after installing four new 1GB RAM chips.. 4 GB of RAM installed now as opposed to 512 MB. All was fine in the beginning, then the HW Buffer issue started to appear again. Also, a new message popped up that said "Problem detected with the audio clock. Check that your clock source and sample rate are correct".

I may have found the problem though... In the tech support link that was posted it says that my hardware may not be compatible with 925x chipsets.. I have an i925x chipset. Do you guys think the chipset is my culprit?

Thanks for the help.

Here is my system synopsis below
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SiSoftware Sandra

System
Host Name : BWAT
User : Audition-Pro Tools
Workgroup : WORKGROUP

Processor
Model : Intel(R) Pentium(R) 4 CPU 3.00GHz
Speed : 2.99GHz
Cores per Processor : 1 Unit(s)
Threads per Core : 2 Unit(s)
Internal Data Cache : 16kB, Synchronous, Write-Thru, 8-way set, 64 byte line size, 2 lines per sector
L2 On-board Cache : 1MB, ECC, Synchronous, ATC, 8-way set, 64 byte line size, 2 lines per sector

System
System : Dell Inc. Dimension 8400
Mainboard : Dell Inc. 0J3492
Bus(es) : X-Bus PCI PCIe IMB USB FireWire/1394 i2c/SMBus
Multi-Processor (MP) Support : 1 Processor(s)
Multi-Processor Advanced PIC (APIC) : Yes
System BIOS : Dell Inc. A02
Total Memory : 3.2GB DDR2-SDRAM

Chipset 1
Model : Dell Computer Corp 82925X/XE Host Bridge / DRAM Controller (B1 Step)
Front Side Bus Speed : 4x 200MHz (800MHz data rate)
Total Memory : 4GB DDR2-SDRAM
Memory Bus Speed : 4x 133MHz (532MHz data rate)

Video System
Monitor/Panel : Plug and Play Monitor
Adapter : RADEON X300 Series
Adapter : RADEON X300 Series Secondary
Imaging Device : Dell Photo AIO Printer 922

Physical Storage Devices
ST3160023AS (ATA) : 149GB (C:)
WD 2500JB External (USB) : 233GB (F:)
HL-DT-ST CD-RW GCE-8483B (ATAPI) : N/A (D:)
_NEC DVD+RW ND-3100AD (ATAPI) : N/A (E:)

Logical Storage Devices
Hard Disk (C:) : 145GB (128GB, 88% Free Space) (NTFS) @ ST3160023AS (ATA)
CD-ROM/DVD (D:) : N/A @ HL-DT-ST CD-RW GCE-8483B (ATAPI)
CD-ROM/DVD (E:) : N/A @ _NEC DVD+RW ND-3100AD (ATAPI)
3.5" 1.44MB (A:) : N/A
My Book (F:) : 233GB (35GB, 15% Free Space) (FAT32) @ WD 2500JB External (USB)

Peripherals
Serial/Parallel Port(s) : 2 COM / 1 LPT
USB Controller/Hub : Intel(R) 82801FB/FBM USB Universal Host Controller - 2658
USB Controller/Hub : Intel(R) 82801FB/FBM USB Universal Host Controller - 2659
USB Controller/Hub : Intel(R) 82801FB/FBM USB Universal Host Controller - 265A
USB Controller/Hub : Intel(R) 82801FB/FBM USB Universal Host Controller - 265B
USB Controller/Hub : Intel(R) 82801FB/FBM USB2 Enhanced Host Controller - 265C
USB Controller/Hub : USB Root Hub
USB Controller/Hub : USB Root Hub
USB Controller/Hub : USB Root Hub
USB Controller/Hub : USB Root Hub
USB Controller/Hub : USB Root Hub
USB Controller/Hub : USB Composite Device
USB Controller/Hub : Digidesign Mbox 2 Firmware Updater
USB Controller/Hub : USB Mass Storage Device
USB Controller/Hub : USB Composite Device
USB Controller/Hub : USB Printing Support
FireWire/1394 Controller/Hub : OHCI Compliant IEEE 1394 Host Controller
Keyboard : Standard 101/102-Key or Microsoft Natural PS/2 Keyboard
Mouse : HID-compliant mouse
Human Interface : HID-compliant device
Human Interface : USB Human Interface Device
Human Interface : USB Human Interface Device

MultiMedia Device(s)
Device : Creative SB Audigy
Device : Creative Game Port
Device : SoundMAX Integrated Digital Audio

Communication Device(s)
Device : Intel(R) 537EP V9x DF PCI Modem

Printers and Faxes
Model : Send To OneNote 2007
Model : Fax
Model : Dell Photo AIO Printer 922

Power Management
Mains (AC) Line Status : On-Line

Operating System(s)
Windows System : Microsoft Windows XP (2002) Professional 5.01.2600 (Service Pack 2)
Platform Compliance : Win32 x86

Network Services
Adapter : D-Link AirPlus DWL-520+ Wireless PCI Adapter




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[spkguitar]

In the tech support link that was posted it says that my hardware may not be compatible with 925x chipsets.. I have an i925x chipset. Do you guys think the chipset is my culprit?

It is definitely your major issue, yes. Using a powered USB HUB for the MBOX in that situation has been known to work sometimes. Other times, not.

Another problem you have is that you aren't using a recommended hard drive for your audio sessions. The system drive is not supported as an audio sessions drive. USB drives are not supported as an audio sessions drive. You need to be using either a separate physical internal drive, or an external firewire drive with the Oxford 911 chipset that follows the other guidelines for hard drives (rotational speed, access times, etc.)

Another problem you have is that you have two other sound cards installed, one of which (the Audigy) has been known to conflict with Pro Tools and Digidesign hardware at times.

Another problem you have is that you are using a wireless network card. Definitely recommended to turn that off while using Pro Tools (I can attest to that first hand, as I have used that same exact card in the past).

[orange beats]

i don't know about the chipset. that might be it. I had this same problem. Try this. increase your sample 1024 in play back engine. Are you using alot of plugins and/or automation? if so. you could bus your plugin effects to aux tracks to save cpu power or just print each track to a new track and then you will have the effect without the plugins and save cpu power and you won't get the buffer error.