Pro tools sound output no working after click sound

[lostinprotools]

Hello,

I am having a recurring issue while working on a specific session. I can work on it for 5mn and at some point I hear a click/pop sound and then I have no sound. The master level are all saturating and stay like that with no sound ( see screen cap ) I never encounter that problem on other sessions. That session is heavy, I have a bunch of plugins (synths, mixing tools..) running but I often work with that many tools and I am wondering why on that one it creates a problem. I have to restart pro tools or even reboot my mac to undo that error. Please let me know what parameter I could change to fix it.

I am working with Pro tools 12, Eleven rack.
H/W Buffer size: 1024
Cache Size: Normal

I also run a few samples. A pad sample that is located on an external HD played via the plunging MOTU Mach5 sampler and a little drum kit also located on that HD and played via the Motu BPM drum machine plugin. Could that affect drasticaly the system usage?

I get the messages/alerts saying:

"Solo mode has been changed to SIP-only, as DSP resources are insufficient to use AFL/PFL. Try Freeing up DSP by making some tracks or plug-ins inactive."

or

"Pro Tools ran out of CPU power. Try de-activating or removing Native Plug-ins. (AAE-9173)"

It might be that I am using too many plugins... I understand that I need to remove some of them but my question here is why do I have to completely restart my sessions each time the sound/output is not working any longer.

I used to have crashes on pro tools 7/with Mbox - I would just change the Buffer size to another setting and then I would just change it again to my working Buffer size setting and the sound would come back easily.

Today I tried that, I am trying to fix that issue without having to close pro tools or even to reboot my mac. Do I have to change something in the "disk playback"?

I hope my explanations are precise enough to give you a hint on what's going on with that session. Thank you for your advices

[Stephen Bond]

Isn't there a bug with the Click plugin?

Either way, try deactivating/reactivating the plugins or track(s).

Otherwise, switch the buffer size to something else (and back) and see if that cures it.

Lastly, a restart of Pro Tools and maybe the Mac/PC too.

If all that fails then trash prefs!

Stephen

[lostinprotools]

I don't use the Click Plug In on that session. I tried deactivating the plugs already but still no sound. Its like something breaks in the session and i can't fix it unless I close it and re-open the session completely or reboot pro tools.

I did try the Buffer size switches..

What prefs should I erase? Where are they located? Could that affect other parameters of my setup? Thank you Stephen.

[Stephen Bond]

Start here http://www.petegates.com/pg-pt-prefs.html

Also here...

http://duc.avid.com/showthread.php?t=54888

Stephen

[ronzie]

I had this crop up for the first time after 20+ years of PT use. I am certain it's a 3rd party plugin or a combination that doesn't play well together.

The sessions loses clock (hence the click), and some of the PT meters stream to peak in a cycle from the upper area of the meter scale. I would NOT get an error message though. The session(s) would get completely hung up clocked internal or s/pif

I narrowed it down to either Slate or Sound Radix Surfer EQ. Haven't had time to narrow further.

[lostinprotools]

Thank you for all your advices I am going to try removing the plugins one by one to see where it interferes. I will let you know how it goes and if I don't find the issue, I will trash some prefs.

[lostinprotools]

I fixed the problem removing some plugins. I think the MOTU ones were not behaving correctly in that particular session.. still a mystery but that happens. Now everything works perfectly. Thank you again for your advices.