Long Standing Mac -917X Error Problem Finally Resolved

[musicman691]

Originally Posted by rus5

Hi Jack and thanks for the response.

First, I'm flat out envious you've basically never had the -917X error problem. Count yourself very lucky because it is a miserable thing for which there's almost no help. It took several years to get Avid to even admit it existed. And of course as other folks on this thread have stated, Apple is utterly useless.

Thanks for your comment on High Sierra not requiring Metal. I don't know what to say about that because my system absolutely wouldn't do it until I updated the card. Sources of information on that included OWC and it was very clear. It's a large part of why I bought the card. And it worked. There must be another variable in there somewhere which isn't surprising because that's been the theme of this story from the beginning.

Also my experience is the exact opposite of what you state. I didn't get the boot screen UNLESS I used a card flashed for mac and that was also consistent with all sources of information - specifically including OWC. Another case of a missing variable somewhere I guess.

I hope they fix your midi event list issue. There's been a lot of work on things-midi lately and I know folks are hoping they're not done improving midi yet.

I did a bunch more digging today and it's like I said - High Sierra does NOT require a Metal compatible card but can use it if one exists in the system. The video card in my 2012 5,1 Mac Pro is definitely NOT Metal compatible. Mojave is the first OSX that requires a Metal compatible video card.

[innesireinar]

Yes, I am running 10.13.6 with the old hd5770 with no issue (apart from the 917x errors). Mojave need an upgrade of the video card. I have also noticed that 917x errors were dramatically reduced by removing kontakt 5 from the plugin folder

[rus5]

Originally Posted by musicman691

I did a bunch more digging today and it's like I said - High Sierra does NOT require a Metal compatible card but can use it if one exists in the system. The video card in my 2012 5,1 Mac Pro is definitely NOT Metal compatible. Mojave is the first OSX that requires a Metal compatible video card.

Ok Jack, thanks for that. I've inserted an edit into my original post hopefully clarifying this.

By the way, I should be clear that I have no evidence that upgrading to 10.13 instead of 10.14 wouldn't fix the problem too. It's just not what I did. As I mentioned I've been told by Avid that Pro Tools "works better" with 10.14 anyway so I started this last experiment there. My take from the context was "Works better" included more drawing routine re-writes and maybe the completion of the effort altogether. So I suggest it might be the best place to start regarding fixing this issue.

[musicman691]

Originally Posted by innesireinar

Yes, I am running 10.13.6 with the old hd5770 with no issue (apart from the 917x errors). Mojave need an upgrade of the video card. I have also noticed that 917x errors were dramatically reduced by removing kontakt 5 from the plugin folder

Interesting you're having to move Kontakt 5 out of the plugins folder. I gather you don't use it right? K5 has been solid for me when I ran that version - have you updated it to the latest version? Kontakt 6 has also been solid.

While we're on the subject of 580 cards will someone clear up some confusion I'm running into? I read in some places that because of the fans on the card they block the next pcie slot up from the card leaving only two open slots - is that right?

[DRC Music]

Some do and some don’t. Depends on the brand and model.

This one comes factory over clocked and as you can see, the cooler is a bit beefier and a tad bit taller than the mounting bracket and would block the next up PCIe x16 slot.

https://www.newegg.com/sapphire-rade...1FT-000B-000G5

This one is the standard reference card and fits as a standard 2 slot card providing access to the second PCIe x16 slot above it (just like the factory Mac card). I have this card and it’s fine.

https://www.newegg.com/sapphire-rade...quicklink=true

I have a dual nvme adapter mounted in the second PCIe x16 slot right above mine and feared it would restrict the airflow to the GPU but Radeon cards have a feature called “Chill” that makes the card almost passive cooling meaning the fans only kick in on GPU intensive tasks... but even when they need to, I have zero over heating or fan noise issues.

[musicman691]

Originally Posted by DRC Music

Some do and some don’t. Depends on the brand and model.

This one comes factory over clocked and as you can see, the cooler is a bit beefier and a tad bit taller than the mounting bracket and would block the next up PCIe x16 slot.

https://www.newegg.com/sapphire-rade...1FT-000B-000G5

This one is the standard reference card and fits as a standard 2 slot card providing access to the second PCIe x16 slot above it (just like the factory Mac card). I have this card and it’s fine.

https://www.newegg.com/sapphire-rade...quicklink=true

I have a dual nvme adapter mounted in the second PCIe x16 slot right above mine and feared it would restrict the airflow to the GPU but Radeon cards have a feature called “Chill” that makes the card almost passive cooling meaning the fans only kick in on GPU intensive tasks... but even when they need to, I have zero over heating or fan noise issues.

Thanks much for the link. That's a damned good price on the second card. You didn't have to do anything special other than swap the cards out and provide power right? Does it come with whatever cables are needed? Under operating systems supported all it says is for Windows and nothing about Macs. Or am I missing something?

edit for additional:
Trust tried online support chat with Newegg and it was a colossal waste of time. No one of their chat people are tech trained and they don't have a tech support department/group anymore. Given that I don't feel comfortable ordering anything from then.

edit for more:
This card gives you a boot screen? A couple of Youtube videos say that it doesn't which would make it useless for me.

[DRC Music]

To acquire a Mac flashed efi card, you have to find one on eBay or from here.

http://www.macvidcards.com/

The off the shelf card will work but of course no boot screens.

I got mine on eBay from a seller named chopfooey. Ran about $250 and came with power cables and yes just replace the card and plug in power. Boot screen just like a official Mac card.

[the.engineer]

Am I missing a trick not having my 580 flashed? I can live without the boot screen but interested in stability. Didn’t think it made a difference.

[the.engineer]

Originally Posted by musicman691

Interesting you're having to move Kontakt 5 out of the plugins folder. I gather you don't use it right? K5 has been solid for me when I ran that version - have you updated it to the latest version? Kontakt 6 has also been solid.

While we're on the subject of 580 cards will someone clear up some confusion I'm running into? I read in some places that because of the fans on the card they block the next pcie slot up from the card leaving only two open slots - is that right?

I had to get a couple of wooden stirrers to space between the 580 and my NVMe card!

[DRC Music]

If you don’t need/miss the boot screens then NO, you are missing nothing. I was running a off the shelf PC Radeon RX580 until I got the custom flashed card. All is 100% the same other than boot screen ability.

Coffee stir sticks?! Haha too funny! 😁