AAE 6101 Error randomly on BRAND NEW Mac Pro

[colliderman]

Also getting this issue now. Seems to have just started out of the blue. I used to experience this a lot in earlier Pro Tools versions but from 12.8.3 on everything's been great. Most stable Pro Tools system I've ever had. Did a huge mix just a couple weeks ago with tons of tracks, plugins, etc. no problems at all. Now I'm getting 6101 errors playing back 2 tracks with no plugins at 1024 buffer rate. Only thing I remember updating recently is the latest version of Softube Console 1 software. Seems crazy that would break it but who knows. Time to do some sleuthing...

[bom619]

Check out my posts on how to disable hyper-threading. I only get stopped by errors every 30 minutes instead of every play. At least I can get some work done until someone figures this out. Filed an Avid support ticket on the subject but they took me down some rabbit hole that had no relevance to my issue.

[brettyc]

I hadn't touched pro tools until recently and have been seeing some ridiculous -6101 errors. I have a mid 2015 Macbook Pro 2.2Ghz with 8 core i7 OS 10.11.6. I have never had any issues with performance and have been able to run huge sessions until recently when I can't record or playback 1 track, 0 plugins, max buffer without a -6101 error every 20 seconds. I have tried:

- move all 3rd party plugins to Unused folder
- trash preferences
- uninstall / reinstall pro tools
- reset PRAM
- various hard drives (internal, external, USB, TB)
- turn off wifi, bluetooth, etc

This is insane

[Darryl Ramm]

Originally Posted by brettyc

I hadn't touched pro tools until recently and have been seeing some ridiculous -6101 errors. I have a mid 2015 Macbook Pro 2.2Ghz with 8 core i7 OS 10.11.6. I have never had any issues with performance and have been able to run huge sessions until recently when I can't record or playback 1 track, 0 plugins, max buffer without a -6101 error every 20 seconds. I have tried:

- move all 3rd party plugins to Unused folder
- trash preferences
- uninstall / reinstall pro tools
- reset PRAM
- various hard drives (internal, external, USB, TB)
- turn off wifi, bluetooth, etc

This is insane

What changed? Something *had* to have changed.

What exact Pro Tools version? What interface? Driver version? What sample rate? What exact disk drives with what filesystems? How much memory?

El Crapitan is one of the worst Mac OS releases ever. So if nothing else can be found here, then get off it.

Is the computer fully optimized? Bluetooth disabled, WiFi disabled etc. etc.?

Set dynamic plugin processing off (just because, it should not an issue here).

Set ignore errors off.

Trash prefs again, using a trashing tool or carefully check you do everything correctly. And trash prefs as you keep doing other tests as well.

Does it do this with Built-In Output?

Create a new admin account and test from there with a new empty session (not from template).

If the Mac has an internal PCIe SSD just put your test session there. Set Pro Tools the disk cache to say 2GB... huge for an empty session, but that will ensure the cache is most effective.

Still stuck. Grab a spare drive (fast SSD preferred) or partition on a current drive and do a fresh OS install... not El Crapitan, boot that and latest ILM, and Pro Tools, and any interface drivers needed and nothing more and test that.

[brettyc]

Thank you for the reply. I have tried all of your ideas except for changing my OS. I can't remember when I upgraded to 10.11.6 but, I don't know that I've used Pro Tools much since then and I think you are correct that it is probably my issue. One thing is for sure - I am going to start an upgrade log and keep track of date/time on all OS, PT and also plug-in installs/upgrades.

I have tried both PT 12.4 and 12.5.1 which on this page it says are both compatible with 10.11.6 but, I just found this conflicting tidbit here that says "10.11.6, 10.12.6 (only supported with Pro Tools 12.8 and above)"

So thanks Avid for the inconsistent information and thanks Apple for a horrible operating system. I will see what I can do about upgrading (PT, OS, or both) to get out of this mess and report back.

[brettyc]

Thanks for the reply. I have tracked everything you recommended except for the OS (10.11.6). So I think you're right on the money in suspecting el crapitan.

I tried both Pro Tools 12.4 and 12.5.1 which it says here are both compatible with OS 10.11.6 HOWEVER, I just found some other conflicting information from Avid.

On another Avid page here it says, "10.11.6, 10.12.6 (only supported with Pro Tools 12.8 and above)".

So thanks to Avid for the conflicting information and, thanks to Apple for the crappy OS. I will try upgrades (OS, PT, maybe both) and report back.

[brettyc]

It appears to have been incompatibility between PT 12.4 and 12.5.1 with OS 10.11.6

I am now using PT 2018.4 with 10.13.4 even though Avid says not to. It is much much better. Avid doesn't know what their software is compatible with or not. They need to get it together.