Pro Tools starts skipping yet neither CPU or RAM maxed

[MoonUnit]

So I've got a question which I guess is about optimization, but its sort of more odd than that (I have read the optimization guide bare with me).

So I've got a project I'm working on which is about the same as any other bar the fact that perhaps it has quite a bit of automation going on. However it's reached a certain point whereby either almost immediately, or a few minutes into having the project open it will cause the computer to start to skip like a bad record. And the symptoms really are like that, the most telling is the fact that the mouse hangs up and pauses when you try to move it every other second. As soon as I close the project, my computer runs as normal again.

Now what I was hoping someone could tell me was what was causing this situation, as it's just this project. The thing is I've not run out of CPU or RAM when this occurs... so whats going on? I need to be able to understand what's causing this problem to optimize projects against it in the future.

i.e. to stop your playback buffer crapping out you print some effects to tracks, or increase its capacity and so on.
So in my case, to stop your computer skipping like a bad record you.... what?

I'm using Pro Tools 8, with an Mbox 2 on Windows Vista
Thanks in advance for any help you can provide.

[sw rec]

http://duc.digidesign.com/showthread.php?t=193637

[TOM@METRO]

Please post a Sandra report. Use the link above.

[MoonUnit]

Sorry, missed the part about a Sandra report. I'm assuming this is what you mean?

================================================== =========

SiSoftware Sandra

System
Host Name : BenjVista
User : Benjamin
Workgroup : WORKGROUP

Processor
Model : Intel(R) Core(TM)2 Quad CPU Q6600 @ 2.40GHz
Speed : 2.4GHz
Cores per Processor : 4 Unit(s)
Threads per Core : 1 Unit(s)
Type : Quad-Core
Integrated Data Cache : 4x 32kB, Synchronous, Write-Thru, 8-way, 64 byte line size
L2 On-board Cache : 2x 4MB, ECC, Synchronous, ATC, 16-way, 64 byte line size, 2 threads sharing

System
System : XFX XFX Nforce 680i LT
Mainboard : XFX XFX Nforce 680i LT
Bus(es) : ISA PCI PCIe IMB USB FireWire/1394 i2c/SMBus
Multi-Processor (MP) Support : No
Multi-Processor Advanced PIC (APIC) : Yes
BIOS : Phoenix Technologies, LTD 6.00 PG
Total Memory : 2.75GB

Chipset
Model : nVidia C55 Host Bridge
Front Side Bus Speed : 4x 267MHz (1GHz)

Memory Module(s)
Memory Module : Kingston 9905316-005A04LF 1GB DIMM DDR2 PC2-5300U DDR2-666 (5-5-5-15 3-20-5-3)
Memory Module : Kingston 9905316-005A04LF 1GB DIMM DDR2 PC2-5300U DDR2-666 (5-5-5-15 3-20-5-3)
Memory Module : Kingston 9905316-005A04LF 1GB DIMM DDR2 PC2-5300U DDR2-666 (5-5-5-15 3-20-5-3)
Memory Module : Kingston 9905316-005A04LF 1GB DIMM DDR2 PC2-5300U DDR2-666 (5-5-5-15 3-20-5-3)

Video System
Adapter : NVIDIA GeForce 8800 GT (2x 112 SM4.0 1.5GHz, 2x 512MB DDR3 2x952MHz, PCIe 2.00 x16)
Adapter : NVIDIA GeForce 8800 GT (2x 112 SM4.0 1.5GHz, 2x 512MB DDR3 2x952MHz, PCIe 2.00 x16)

Storage Devices
NVIDIA MIRROR 149.04G 160GB (RAID, NCQ) : 149GB (C:)
NVIDIA JBOD 465.76G 500.1GB (RAID, NCQ) : 466GB (E:)
PIONEER DVD-RW DVR-212 (Fibre Channel, DVD+-RW, CD-RW, 2MB Cache) : 7GB (D:)
EP0331R DFI814V (SCSI, DVD+-R-DL, CD-R) : N/A (F:)

Logical Storage Devices
Hard Disk (C:) : 149GB (NTFS) @ NVIDIA MIRROR 149.04G 160GB (RAID, NCQ)
New Volume (E:) : 466GB (NTFS) @ NVIDIA JBOD 465.76G 500.1GB (RAID, NCQ)
BATTLESTAR_GALACTICA_S4_DISC_4 (D:) : 7GB (UDF) @ PIONEER DVD-RW DVR-212 (Fibre Channel, DVD+-RW, CD-RW, 2MB Cache)
Optical Drive (F:) : N/A @ EP0331R DFI814V (SCSI, DVD+-R-DL, CD-R)

Peripherals
LPC Hub Controller 1 : nVidia MCP55 LPC Bridge
Audio Device : nVidia MCP55 High Definition Audio
Audio Codec : Realtek Semiconductor Realtek 885 High Definition Audio
Audio Device : VIA M Audio Audiophile
Disk Controller : nVidia MCP55 IDE
Disk Controller : nVidia MCP55 SATA Controller
Disk Controller : nVidia MCP55 SATA Controller
Disk Controller : nVidia MCP55 SATA Controller
USB Controller 1 : nVidia MCP55 USB Controller
USB Controller 2 : nVidia MCP55 USB Controller
FireWire/1394 Controller 1 : nVidia TSB43AB22 1394a-2000 OHCI PHY/Link-Layer Controller
SMBus/i2c Controller 1 : nVidia MCP5+ SMBus 1
SMBus/i2c Controller 2 : nVidia MCP5+ SMBus 2

Network Services
Network Adapter : NVIDIA nForce Networking Controller
Wireless Adapter 1 : NETGEAR WG111v2 54Mbps Wireless USB 2.0 Adapter #3 (802.11g (ERP), WEP n-bit, 54Mbps)

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

Operating System
Windows System : Microsoft Windows Vista Home 6.00.6001 (Service Pack 1)
Platform Compliance : x86

Windows Experience Index
Current System : 5.2

================================================== =======

(heh just noticed you can see I currently have a battlestar DVD in the disc drive)

[sw rec]

Start by disabling your RAID

[JMS40]

Yes, RAID is a big no no with PT.
You're also using an Nforce chipset with an Intel processor... which can also be a problem.
Digi recommends Intel chips with Intel CPU's.

[Premo]

Try raise your DAE playback Buffer to Level 4.
Make sure your Primary IDE Channels are set to DMA Mode and not PIO.
Make sure disk compression is off.
Try removing all non-digi plug-ins and try the session again.
MSCONFIG to turn off all background services and startup items.
http://www.digidesign.com/index.cfm?...&categoryid=34


If it's still not happening it could be a compatibility or RAID issue as mentioned above.

[spkguitar]

Along with the other suggestions, I'd like to point out some more:

Originally Posted by MoonUnit

Storage Devices
EP0331R DFI814V (SCSI, DVD+-R-DL, CD-R) : N/A (F:)

Pro Tools does not support "virtual" drives of any kind (have Daemon Tools installed?). Disable this drive while using Pro Tools

Originally Posted by MoonUnit

Network Services
Wireless Adapter 1 : NETGEAR WG111v2 54Mbps Wireless USB 2.0 Adapter #3 (802.11g (ERP), WEP n-bit, 54Mbps)

That also should be disabled when using Pro Tools.

Originally Posted by MoonUnit

Operating System
Windows System : Microsoft Windows Vista Home 6.00.6001 (Service Pack 1)
Platform Compliance : x86

Vista Home is not officially supported for Pro Tools use. Only Business and Ultimate.

[MoonUnit]

First of all thanks for your responses everyone :)

Ok now

Originally Posted by Premo

Try raise your DAE playback Buffer to Level 4.

Tried it, didn't appear to help.

Originally Posted by Premo

Make sure your Primary IDE Channels are set to DMA Mode and not PIO.

Went through the guide but found no "enable DMA" checkbox in the advanced options tab on my system

Originally Posted by spkguitar

Along with the other suggestions, I'd like to point out some more:

Pro Tools does not support "virtual" drives of any kind (have Daemon Tools installed?). Disable this drive while using Pro Tools
That also should be disabled when using Pro Tools.

Tried having both of these disabled, didn't alleviate the problem (and yeah, Alcohol 120%. Similar to Daemon).

Originally Posted by spkguitar

Vista Home is not officially supported for Pro Tools use. Only Business and Ultimate.

I'm aware of this, but although its not "officially" supported it's never caused me any trouble in the past.

Originally Posted by sw rec

Start by disabling your RAID

Some points like this whilst they may be relevant to a producers custom built studio rig, this is my bedroom studio/personal computer rig. And I cannot afford to disable the RAID.

Now regardless of my computer not being the perfect digidesign certified system, this issue appears to be a little more project specific than that. This issue has never previously occurred in any other project, regardless of what hardware I'm using. So it is in some way related to the specifics of this project

Something like "too many effects", "too much automation", "overfilled regions list" i don't know. I'm just making things up but in any case my point is that if it doesn't occur in other projects (some of which are far more processor intensive) you'd think it's something I've done with this particular file... but what?

This is a screen shot of the Task Manager right when the problem occurs.
http://img9.imageshack.us/img9/3249/cpuerror.jpg
The CPU spikes to 100% for a split second, then continues to hover around the same point it was previously. But it's at this point that the computer behavior starts to "skip."

Thanks once again for any help you can provide.

[weezul]

I've had similar symptoms. CPU hovers around like 23% and then it will pop up and then back down, giving me a CPU error every time and I tried stopping it but then realised it was session-specific because the next session we recorded on was around the 33% mark but stable. Only this session file does it, all my others are playing somewhat fine recently. Maybe try making a new session and importing all the data from the old one?