Really odd problem with Mbox 2 and Mac Mini, Please help!!

[CaptainWhiskey]

Alright guys,

I'm new here, and I am having serious problems trying to get Pro Tools working. I recently just bought a Mac Mini second hand: 2GHZ Processor, 2GB RAM, 120GB HD running Leopard 10.5.8

I have had an Mbox 2 for a while, and just upgraded from 7 to 8. So installed everything and right away the Mac found it difficult to recognize the Mbox, I would have to keep unplugging it in and out till it worked. Then when I did get it to work, as soon as I turned phantom power on, the Mbox would turn itself off and not work again until restart then it would just happen again

My Mbox 2 was working fine with my old desktop PC with Phantom Power on. So I decided to do a fresh install again, starting with 7. So I have version 7 installed currently. But now as soon as I start it the Mbox 2 wont even turn on when plugged in and it isn't detected so I can't even open Pro Tools

So I've been pulling my hair out and I've come to the conclusion that it has something to do with the Mini and the Mbox but I can't work out why.

Because as soon as I plug in into my laptop it will light and be detected and I can turn on Phantom Power without it switching off. So I thought it might be the USB ports on the Mini, but they are fine I tried them all with a USB stick and it works in everyone.

So I can't honestly work out what the hell is wrong with it, am I missing something here? Why does it turn off when phantom power is turned on? and how come it can't even be detected now?

Please help me, I have been trying to get it to work for weeks now and I am so eager to start recording. I have all my mics lying around unable to be used

[Lawery Murray]

So is your M-box working on any computer at all?
Have you tried different usb cables?

If it does not work on your PC then you might have a problem with your m-box.

[CaptainWhiskey]

Originally Posted by Lawery Murray

So is your M-box working on any computer at all?
Have you tried different usb cables?

If it does not work on your PC then you might have a problem with your m-box.

yes like I say as soon as I plug it into my Dell Laptop it lights up and is detected, so it isn't the Mbox 2. And I had it working before with my mini, It's just not coming up as a device. How can I set up the Mbox with my Mac Mini again? I'm quite new to Mac, There must be something similar to device manager on it?

[CaptainWhiskey]

Ok so since, I installed Pro Tools 8 again and now it is turning on and the lights are on, and it shows up as a device. But...when I click on it, it says "Unable to connect to Mbox 2."

So I tried going into the Digidesign CoreAudio Manager, and it says the following.

Digidesign HW: Unsupported Device
Status: Not Connected (HW not found)
Channels: N/A
Attached Clients: 0
Buffer Size: 512

And when I try to click connect it says that the status is "Not Connected (HW in use)" How can it be in use?

Any suggestions, it shouldn't be a compatibility problem I know the Mbox 2 works with Mac Mini's.

Cheers for any help

[Eric Seaberg]

Make sure you don't have the MBox selected as an audio device in the Mac Core audio window. Simply go to SYSTEM PREF (Apple menu) and check your settings under SOUND. If the MBox is selected, de-select it putting everything on INTERNAL.

By the way, I have 4-Mac PTHD systems and one on the PC. The grief you have to go through on a PC to get devices recognized has driven me to fits of rage more than once. The Mac is, truly, plug and play once you've installed the proper extensions (drivers). Once you get it running, you will be amazed at how much easier is it on a Mac.

[CaptainWhiskey]

That's the thing though it doesn't even appear in the mac core audio, and I tried my flate mates Mbox 2 today and it wasn't picked up either. Doesn't make any sense..Anyone got any ideas?

[Eric Seaberg]

Just for fun, run the ProTools Uninstaller which will get rid of every little piece of code necessary and hidden for PT to work. You will find it in the Digidesign folder in your Applications folder.

NOW do a re-install of 8, if you desire. This has saved my butt a couple of times, especially because of the little hidden things that get thrown in there.

[CaptainWhiskey]

Well I've tried that, but no success. I've established that Pro Tools 8 works on the Mac Mini with another device. And the Mbox works on another Laptop I've tried. So it is a problem with the Mbox 2 and the Mac Mini, but I don't know what? Sometimes it is recognized others it isn't. When it is recognized it says it is already in use but nothing as far as I can tell is using it!

[FajitaTone]

are you installing the software without the m box. meaning install, THEN connect the mbox after the restart.