Pro tools makes jackhammer sound, then quits

[jrick79]

I am running a Digi002R on a intel based mac pro. Pro tools has been repeatedly crashing without warning since I got the machine. Sometimes playback will stop, followed by the spinning wheel, then a crash. Sometimes there is a loud jackhammer type sound that lasts for approx. 5 seconds, then a crash. Other times it will give me hardware buffer, or disc fragmentation errors. Often times the crashes take place when I'm running huge sessions, and other times pro tools will crash when I'm working with a very simple session (few plugins, tracks,etc.). in all of these instances, the "CPU" meter and "disk" meter never get above 15-20% in the system usage window. I've been working with LE versions of pro tools for quite a while, so I have a good grasp of how to manipulate the playback engine for best performace.
I am currently running 7.4, but I've had the same problems since I first moved to 7.
I've gone through all of the steps the general troubleshooting forum, and I'm still experiencing the same problem. Any ideas?

Machine Name: Mac Pro
Machine Model: MacPro1,1
Processor Name: Dual-Core Intel Xeon
Processor Speed: 2.66 GHz
Number Of Processors: 2
Total Number Of Cores: 4
L2 Cache (per processor): 4 MB
Memory: 2 GB
Bus Speed: 1.33 GHz

[Slim Shady]

Have you ever tried running the Hardware test on your System CDs to see if it detects any bad RAM or other issues?

[jrick79]

Have you ever tried running the Hardware test on your System CDs to see if it detects any bad RAM or other issues?

I ran the test yesterday, and everything seems to be in order.

[The Dougfather]

Jrick, you are not alone.

My 002R is currently in for repair because of the exact same issue. For me it started with erratic buffer errors and then progressed to the jackhammer and quitting type behavior you describe.

The worrying thing was that the repair centre rang me and said they couldn't find a fault testing it with there powermac G4. I asked them to retest the unit using an intel mac and they haven't come back to me yet.

Very frustrating

[Naagzh]

Jrick, you are not alone.

My 002R is currently in for repair because of the exact same issue. For me it started with erratic buffer errors and then progressed to the jackhammer and quitting type behavior you describe.

The worrying thing was that the repair centre rang me and said they couldn't find a fault testing it with there powermac G4. I asked them to retest the unit using an intel mac and they haven't come back to me yet.

Very frustrating

Oooh, please let me know how this turns out! I thought it was my external hard drive, then I was certain it was a bad FW cable, but now I'm not sure.

[The Dougfather]

Well to put your mind at rest i've tried 3 external firewire drives with the 911 chipset and 2 different macs and i still get the same grief. The only way i ever managed to alleviate this problem was to connect the 002R directly to the mac. Not much cop if your on a notebook and especially as all my kit meets digi requirements which lets face it isn't cheap????

I'll post back when i hear more.

[Naagzh]

Dougfather, heard anything yet?

[The Dougfather]

Naagzh, i received my 002R back yesterday with no fault found. Ummmmmmm the interesting part on the repair form was that they said there must be an issue with daisy chaining the 002R and there recommendation was to connect the 002R directly to the Macbook. I have to question if the ARC actually knows anything about Pro Tools because as far as Digi are concerned thats the biggest no no going.

In a final bid, tomorrow i will connect my 002R to a different FW drive and start new sessions on that drive. The only other possible scenario is that one of my specific FW drives is somewhow screwing up my sessions, i'm not optimistic. I'll post back and let you know how it goes. Incidentally what FW drive do you have, or are you recording to a secondary internal?

Cheers

[Naagzh]

Lacie FW 800 usually. Tried my friends WD, and also tried recording to the system drive. Same error/crashing BS in all 3 cases.

[MBRULE]

...just as an aside, I had a similar problem a year or two ago, I think I was running a G$ at the time (now on a G5). I spent hours upon hours trying to find the problem. It turned out that the
air conditioning unit in my studio was causing some sort of interference. I just shut it down when I am recording, and that seems to solve it. It doesn't seem to be a problem when editing, but only when recording. Good luck.