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#1
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maintenance best practices?
Hello DUC community...
I am working on a textbook (of sorts) to use with a studio maintenance class within a recording engineering curriculum. These days, of course, that means computer maintenance moreso than aligning tape machines or cleaning heads! I know there are a lot of IT-savvy users here and I wanted to take an informal survey of what people are doing to optimize their systems and keep them running smooth and trouble free. The class is not Pro-Tools specific, but comments in that direction are welcome. I am specifically interested in things not clearly outlined by Digi or other software providers. I have already written chapters on harware setup (environmental and power issues, peripherals) OS tweaks and settings (very general so far) file management (naming conventions and organization) backup and archive schemes hard drives (rotating and swapping drives, cloning working system drives) emergency troubleshooting If anyone has anything to offer on those or any other topics, I would appreciate the input...as would the next generation of engineers! Thanks in advance, Tom
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Tom Lynn my music: www.tomlynnmusic.com other people's music: www.headphonomenon.com |
#2
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Re: maintenance best practices?
I haven't given much thought but initially when reading your post the first thing that came to my mind about PC maintenance is cleaning the inside of the computer case. With all the fans moving air and dust through the computer, it doesn't take much time for the dust to build up inside the case. About quarterly (of more often if it gets really dusty) it is time to open up the case and clean out the dust. The dust blocks the flow or cooling air which may lead to premature failure of components like the CPU, graphics card, memory. Dust also clogs up the fans, heatsinks and power supply and may increase the noise level which we want to keep at a minimum in the sutdio. One can use a vaccum cleaner (shop vac) along with a can of compressed air to get most ot the dust out. Make sure you clean all the vents and fans.
Here are a few other tips: 1. D/DVD cleaner for your optical drives. (Does any one still use floppy drives?) 2. Removing the memory modules and cleaning the contacts with contact cleaner or at least rubbing them with an eraser. 3. Removing the graphics cards (or any other peripherial cards and cleaning the contacts with contact cleaner or at least rubbing them with an eraser. 4. Check if it is time ot replace the batteries in your Uninterruptable Power Supply. 5. Check if it is time ot replace the batteries on the motherboard that keeps the CMOS settings. 6 If your computer sits on carpet or other static prone material, reapply anti-static treatment. 7. Check if your motherboard, graphics card, etc. have updated drivers and install them only after making a backup. Hope that helps. It sounds like a great resource. How do we get a copy of your book?
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Obsidian Dragon
MacbookPro14,3 - Intel Core i7 3.1 GHz, 16 GB MacOS 13.6.6 running Protools 2024.3.1 Mac Studio M1Max - 64GB MacOS 14.4.1 running Protools 2024.3.1 |
#3
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Re: maintenance best practices?
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James Cadwallader Mac Studio, 64GB RAM, 1 TB SSD, Glyph 2TB USB3 HDD, OWC drive dock, Mac OS Monterey 12.6.8 Pro Tools Ultimate 2023.9, HD Native, Focusrite Red 8Pre Presonus Faderport, Pro Tools | Control |
#4
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Re: maintenance best practices?
Thanks for taking the time to respond. I appreciate it!
Obsidian: Thanks for the tips. I didn't take it to the level of contact cleaning but I think I will include that in the semi-annual course of maintenance. I am trying to just suggest some routines with variables but mainly introduce the ideas and concepts so students can come up with their own. Regarding the copies. Right now I am just developing it for one specific class. Once it is done (by the end of the year) I will post is as a pdf on my site and probably offer hard copies through print on demand. I'll keep you posted. Thanks for the help! Top Jimmy: Thanks for the suggestion. I have actually been using the P&E guidelines for a while since they are some of the few detailed guidelines in print on the topic. I've glossed over the ideas in the book then just pointed readers to the real thing online. That also helps expose students to the P&E wing which may play a role in their futures. Thanks for the idea - it is something we should at least all look at! Tom
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Tom Lynn my music: www.tomlynnmusic.com other people's music: www.headphonomenon.com |
#5
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Re: maintenance best practices?
Use Acronis True Image or Ghost on PC or SuperDuper on Mac and make image files regularly of your OS and Audio Record drives. By regularly I mean daily and before updates or upgrades of any program.
Cheers,
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Take your projects to the next level with a non-union national read at reasonable rates Demos: brucehayward dot com SonoBus Source-Connect: brucehayward Options for Remote Direction |
#6
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Re: maintenance best practices?
Hi,
I just posted this today as useful information PT 10 and OSX related. Playing Nice: ProTools 10 and OSX: Set up, Best Practices and Maintenance some Info as of February , 2012 Hi, Context: Recently I have had many error messages, insufficient memory, high cpu indications (170 %) and forced closure of sessions. This has been while running current versions of PT 10 with updates, OSX Lion with update and SSD 4.0 on an 09, iMac, 2.66 k, i5 with 16 g of ram. Intention and Disclaimer: I have simply pulled together some sources of information ( AVID, APPLE sites, Sound on Sound etc. and from Internet) that provide insights, into and possible solutions to or ways to attempt to mitigate these problems ( Set up, Maintenance, tools, etc.). Maintenance: Do Don't ? For Mac users, frankly there appear to be two camps about Maintenance: some do, some don't. There is contradictory information on the Internet about whether this is required or not. I am not advocating one way or the other or recommending a particular product: just sharing information: you decide. I have no great expertise and am just sharing this to be helpful and to reduce time you might use to looking for this information too. Comments Welcomed Please feel free to comment or to correct any errors I might make and or to indicate other solutions you may know about. Finally, this note presumes that you have properly installed , your respective software and have appropriate licenses etc.. MAC SET UP for Protools: Here are directions for setting up your Apple Preferences to establish the best working relationship between your OS and Protools. Here is a document from the AVID site and you tube videos also from the Avid site. OS X 10.7 Lion Optimization and TroubleShooting (article) http://avid.custkb.com/avid/app/self...p?DocId=423791 Snow Leopard: http://avid.custkb.com/avid/app/self...p?DocId=349739 System Preferences: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LINM1...ure=plpp_video Start up and Log Items: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h1sTq...ure=plpp_video Trashing Preferences: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mj2fJ...ure=plpp_video Optimization: (Video) http://m.youtube.com/watch?desktop_u...M1EvvTxM&gl=CA New User Account (video) :http://m.youtube.com/watch?desktop_u...x_DRg8XU&gl=CA Overview of OSX Maintenance and Trouble Shooting Tuning OSX Performance: http://www.thexlab.com/faqs/performance.html http://www.macattorney.com/ts.html ( Somewhat dated) 3rd Party Softwares: For OSX Maintenance: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QByvF...e_gdata_player OnyX: Titanium Software http://www.titanium.free.fr/ PRAM NVRAM Resets (Videos) http://m.youtube.com/watch?desktop_u...ouaqmL3c&gl=CA http://m.youtube.com/watch?gl=CA&hl=...&v=yOLm-ump7cU Protools Tutorials etc. Sounds on sound: http://www.soundonsound.com/articles/ProTools.php Protools Error Messages: 6101, 9128, 6043, DAE Error :9073 Without Reaching the 2 GB File Limit, 9128, 9131 (92747, 20843) 9132 (32397), 9155 ,9735 , : Workarounds ? [bleep]Re: PT 10 6101 and 9128 errors Spoke to a lovely bloke Renato at Avid today and he suggested this As discusses during our telephone conversation, the quickest way to troubleshoot DAE Errors -6101 and -9128 is to move all third party plug-ins from the Plug-Ins folder to the Plug-Ins (Unused) folder and test the system in this basic configuration.[bleep] If performance will improves dramatically, the next step will be to gradually move your plug-ins back to the Plug-Ins folder.[bleep] When performance will degrade again, then you will know which plug-ins might have issues and investigate for possible updates or known issues with the plug-in manufacturers.[bleep] Let us know how your testing progresses,[bleep] So I will do this and report back. Hopefully this info on troubleshooting these particular DAE errors will help others in the same boat too. __________________ Pro Tools HD10 MacBook Pro Dual 2.3 i7[bleep] OS 10.7.2 4 gig RAM 6101: CPU overload fix: http://m.youtube.com/watch?gl=CA&hl=...&v=PstdpHHHOVo http://m.youtube.com/watch?gl=CA&hl=...&v=mfJ12UGJbkw Error Messages: Error 6042 If you repeatedly encounter 6042 errors, open the System Usage window and check the PCI gauge. If the gauge is peaked, you will need to reset the PCI bus. To reset the PCI bus, make all tracks inactive and start playback. If you still encounter a 6042 er- ror, quit and relaunch Pro Tools, open the Playback Engine dialog, and change the Number of Voices to a setting that uses fewer voices per DSP. DAE Error 9073 Without Reaching the 2 GB File Limit If you encounter a 9073 error, and you have not reached the 2 GB file size limit, please refer to the Knowledge Base for possible causes and solutions (www.avid.com/onlinesupport). DAE Error 9128 In sessions with high sample rates (96 kHz or higher), you may need to set the Hardware Buffer Size to 512 or more to avoid 9128 errors during playback with Native (RTAS and AAX) plug-ins or dense automation. DAE Error 9131 (92747, 20843) GUID partitioned drives will not allow you to record beyond the third partition when running on OS X. A workaround is to par- tition audio drives using Apple Partition Map instead of GUID. or Recording to or playing from a UNIX File System (UFS) formatted drive is not supported in Pro Tools. DAE Error 9132 (32397) If a 9132 error occurs during Bounce To Disk (even with the highest Hardware Buffer setting selected), bus the appropriate tracks to the appropriate number and format of audio tracks, and record to disk. You can then use the resulting audio files as you would have used bounced files. DAE Error 9155 In sessions with high sample rates of 96 kHz or more, you may need to set the Hardware Buffer Size to 512 or more to avoid 9155 errors during playback with dense automation. DAE Error 9735 When Pro Tools reaches the end of its time limit in the session Timeline, or if Pro Tools has been in continuous play for longer than the maximum time limit, you will encounter a DAE error 9735. The maximum time limit for Pro Tools depends on the ses- sion sample rate. For more information, see the Pro Tools Reference Guide.[bleep] Protools Plug in: Hygiene: (Expired Plug ins can cause problems), Infro, Updater, 3rd party tools Plug Tool: Shareware that helps you manage plugins http://emptymusic.com/software/Plug_Tools.html ProToolerBlog: http://www.protoolerblog.com/2009/12...nd-help-tools/ Sound on sound article: http://www.soundonsound.com/sos/aug1...es/pt-0810.htm AVID Protools10 Plug in info: http://www.avid.com/US/products/Pro-...undled-plugins AAX: http://www.avid.com/US/categories/Audio-Plug-ins/AAX Updater: http://avid.custkb.com/avid/app/self...p?DocId=362887 Optimizing ? http://community.avid.com/forums/post/515280.aspx Ram Problems: http://duc.avid.com/showthread.php?p...59#post1901559 APPLE Site OSX Problems, Articles: https://discussions.apple.com/thread...art=0&tstart=0 GADGETWISE: http://gadgetwise.blogs.nytimes.com/...-wounded-lion/ |
#7
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Re: maintenance best practices?
This might be a little controversial but I would like to throw out the idea of NOT doing some usual maintenance operations.
Once you achieve a stable working system, disconnect from the internet and don't do Windows updates. Don't do driver updates. I don't run any anti-virus program because I don't take my workstation on the internet so there are no virius definitions to update. Don't update anything routinely. If you purchase a new plug-in and it doesn't work, maybe then look into some updating, but only if you really identify that you need to. Maybe try it first on a cloned drive. I wouldn't even do Avid updates unless they offer a specific bug fix or feature that you need. The old cliche: "If it's not broke, don't fix it." Sooner or later the time will come when you want to do a completely new version of Pro Tools (PT11?). Then and only then, go out and update everything before you do the install. Of course, I understand that this is only possible if you don't take your workstation on the internet. The Marketplace & the export to cloud functions sort of encourage internet connectivity. So this concept won't work for everyone. Thoughts?
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Main Workstation: Pro Tools 2023.12.1, Windows 11, HP Z4 Xeon 8 core W2145, 64 GB DDR4, Omni, Artist Mix, Sync X, Eleven R(2 of them), UAD 2 PCIe card |
#8
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Re: maintenance best practices?
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#9
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Re: maintenance best practices?
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3. Removing the graphics cards (or any other peripherial cards and cleaning the contacts with contact cleaner or at least rubbing them with an eraser. Allow me to respectfully disagree with these two items. Typically, a very fine layer of "corrosion" will form over the exposed portions of the connectors which forms a "seal" over the entire assembly. This "seal" keeps dust out of the connection, and prevents corrosion of the contact portion of the connectors. Removing the module, card, etc destroys this "seal", and "fragments" of the seal can fall into the card slots, causing further problems. So, unless you are having a problem with a module, card, etc you will probably be better off just dusting them and leaving them in place. And, as always, YMMV...
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X Note that all opinions, observations, whatever, in this post are mine, unless I'm being mean or am wrong, in which case it's somebody else's fault. I do not work for Avid (their loss)...my only relationship with Avid is that of a customer (when I'm not too poor to buy stuff, like now)...and that hot administrative assistant...that's more of a "thing" than a "relationship" (that should keep them guessing for a while...) Just rockin'...what more is there? Bill in Pittsburgh |
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