Does Pro Tools have an Error Log?

[nOrakat]

I am getting errors with Pro tools 2018 where the playback timing might slow down/pause or the audio might glitch/distort for a split second.

Before I start troubleshooting, I was wondering if there is any way to confirm that an error occurred in Pro tools in the first place?

It would be great if a playback error say, occurred at for e.g. 22:40, 15 sec (time) it would get recorded into a log that you can view and maybe it can indicate the the type of error.

Does this exist?

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I have no clue what is causing the error since when it occurs, the CPU is not even under heavy load, and there is plenty of memory available. I am running on a PC at 64bits.

[albee1952]

Not positive, but try searching the C: drive for *.dlog and see what comes up. I'm not sure that you(me, we, etc) will be able to read the crash logs, but I think that's where to start your search.

If you follow the link near the top of this(and every) DUC page named Help Us Help You, you can find info on how to generate and paste a SiSoft Sandra Lite system report, which will reveal a ton of info on your system. Most important is to figure out if you have hardware incompatibilities. Pro Tools is very finicky and simply having" plenty of RAM", or "a powerful system" are meaningless if you have an incompatible chipset on the motherboard, or a drive that is formatted incorrectly.

Don't forget to add details on your interface too

[nOrakat]

Originally Posted by albee1952

Not positive, but try searching the C: drive for *.dlog

Hi Dave, Thanks for the reply.

I just searched and nothing.

It sounds tough to view even if it existed. They don't make it easy. They should def have some error reporting system that confirms whether an error occurred.

What if a subtle timing error occurs and goes into your final mix but you didn't detect it at first? There should be a way to confirm that a playback completed without any errors.

I thought my system information was in my signature but it is not showing. This is my first post in a long while.

Hopefully I can get to the bottom of this.

System info:

Pro Tools 2018.3.0 (64 bit version) on Windows 7 Professional 2009 (Service Pack 1), PC: i7 CPU (960 @ 3.2 Ghz, 16 GB memory)

[nOrakat]

BTW, I am getting audible audio glitches and timing glitches but no error number displayed. Playback does not stop, it just keeps going..

Is that normal?

"Ignore playback errors" is NOT checked in my preferences.

[Rich Breen]

Of course not normal. Interface? Drives? Peripherals? Under what circumstances does it glitch? How many tracks? Plugins? Buffer settings? Playback engine settings? No way anyone can help without lots more info

[BScout]

There is an error log in Windows System Events. One is readable and one is not (encrypted logging). They do not contain the same info and only Avid can read the second.

If a program like a DAW kept a running error log as you suggest, it would make it one of the worst, most inefficient programs. Only system stop errors are dumped to logs. If you’ve ever worked with a program with debug code/logging still included you would understand. That stuff is stripped out for release.

[albee1952]

A Sandra report and info on your interface are needed before anyone can offer better advice. I believe that you really need to try Windows 10 with recent versions of PT. As much as I liked Win7 better, once I bit the bullet and got used to 10, it seems to me to be a leaner OS and I have far fewer errors than I had back on Windows 7(assuming 64 bit in all cases).

Beyond hardware info, are you trying to track with several amp sim plugins? Those are notorious cpu hogs so freeze or commit to reduce load on the computer. Some other plugins that are known to drag a system down include Ozone and Melodyne(I have to max the buffer when running those). Also, high sample rates(88.2 or 96K) double the load, so you might find 44.1 or 48K just fine for most commercial music releases(I certainly do).

Last tidbit; your i7 960 rig is fairly ancient in terms of computer hardware. I ran a 980X/x58 for a while and my semi-ancient 3930K/X79 rig runs circles around it

[nOrakat]

hey Dave, All,

Sorry for the late, late reply. Got taken away by work and other things.

No I don't do amp plugins, and when it freezes, I hardly have any tracks open and I track at 44.1khz.

I'm gonna try cleaning up my registry and other things.

Thanks for all the advice. I may consider Windows 10.

I'll try to come back when I have my act together with more info.

Thanks again.