My MBOX2 and MBOX2 mini won't work in Europe?

[jonslaten]

Here's the thing. I brought my MBOX 2 mini with me on my Deployment to do some recording while I'm here. I plugged it into my MacBook Pro and the USB light wouldn't come on. I assumed that maybe the USB plug went bad. So I then went out and bought another USB plug. Still no light and Protools won't load. So I then ordered a MBOX 2 off ZZounds and got it in the mail today. I plugged it in and still no USB light for this one too! I do get the MONO, 48V, DI/MIC light for input 1 and 2, but no power light. Do you think that maybe my computer's power adapter could be bad or something? It charges up my computer fine, my computer works fine and all other USB ports work fine too with my mouse and cooling tray. I can't figure out what's wrong. BTW, the mini worked fine in the states a few months ago. So there must be some sort of voltage issue with the USB ports maybe. Doesn't all USB accessories work on 5Vdc? Anyone know of this or experienced this before in Europe with their Protools not working? Any suggestions welcomed!

[ChuckS]

I hate to ask this, but are the drivers installed? Or they may be corrupted. Try reinstalling PTLE. Also, if you've upgraded to Leopard and haven't updated PT LE to 7.4.2 or better, that may be the issue.

[jonslaten]

yeah all drivers are up to date. I upgraded to PT 8 and used my mbox2 mini to record multiple times and did a few songs. I then got on a 9 hr flight, landed, got to my duty station in Germany and plugged it into my mac. Nothing . . .no light or anything. Like I said I replaced the usb plug, upgraded to a mbox2 and still the same issue. Not enough juice getting to the device? I dunno.

[jonslaten]

also my computer came with leopard and I have updated the system since to 10.5.6 or something. All I'm saying is that it worked fine a few weeks ago in the states, but not here in Europe. How can a software issue cause the device NOT to power on anyway? It's still 5 volts of electricity going into it in the first place.

[ChuckS]

The USB light indicates that the USB device has been initialized and is communicating with the computer. It's not just on with power. That's why I asked about the drivers. I'd still try to reinstall PT8.

[jonslaten]

ok thanks for the advice Chuck. I also plugged the hardware into my buddies gateway computer to see if it would recognize it and a window popped up and said that the MBOX2 was connected. BTW he doesn't have PT installed on his machine so at least the hardware works fine. I guess I need to reinstall pro tools. I got the new cd with the MBOX2 in the mail, but have already upgraded to 8 via this website. Oh do I need to back up my songs before I wipe it out and how do I do that? I'm new to Mac and protools. Thanks!

[jonslaten]

sorry . . . one more thing too. I have it hooked up to my computer, then clicked on the program and it started to load, then a message said that it's unable to locate the hardware. "Make sure your hardware is connected" . . . anyway hopefully you got a better background on my irritable situation here.

[ChuckS]

I've done a clean uninstall of PTLE with no issues regarding the sessions, but I keep my sessions on an external drive. A clean uninstall leaves third party plugs and VIs intact which are stored in the Digidesign Application Support folder, so I think they're pretty careful abouts what's uninstalled. If you're not using an external drive, your sessions are probably in your documents folder which should be good. It's always safer to have a copy. Just burn your session folders to a data CD or DVD. Also, make sure the disk you received with the MBox 2 is PT8 - some are still shipping with older versions. If it's not and you don't have your downloaded upgrade on your computer, you'll have to download it again.

[jonslaten]

Chuck I verified that the cd is indeed PT8. Now as far as the PT8 that's on the hard drive on my computer, I only upgraded when version 8.0 was initially released, so if there's an 8.01 or something else like that out there, then I need to upgrade that too after the new install. So back to what I was asking; do you feel that there isn't a power issue going into the mbox? Just maybe a software issue then?

[ChuckS]

Originally Posted by jonslaten

So back to what I was asking; do you feel that there isn't a power issue going into the mbox? Just maybe a software issue then?

Yes, I believe it is software. You've said that you have phantom power lights, etc., so you have power to the unit. Unistalling, reinstalling PTLE is SOP when troubleshooting. If nothing else, if it doesn't work after the reinstall, you've eliminated one line of inquiry.

Look here: http://duc.digidesign.com/showthread.php?t=54888