Pro Tools 11 - CPU usage holding off USB Audio Error -6104

[gregoryl]

Hi Pro Tools 11 (iMac) Users,

I just purchased a new iMac Intel Quad Core 3.5GHz with 32 GB of RAM but Pro Tools 11.0.2 which I am running with OS X 10.8.5 will not play even the most basic session without stopping and giving error message (-6104) CPU Usage is holding off USB audio, Reduce plugins, delete tracks etc, (see attached). My audio interface is my trusty Eleven Rack combined with the expansion pack and appropriate drivers for PT11.

I use a 3TB Fusion Drive in my iMac for my programs but as is recommended all my Pro Tools sessions and data are located on an appropriate and Avid compliant external hard drive which has never let me down in the past due to it's superior performance and speed.

There has been so much talk and expectancy and now sales pitch about Avid PT11 being so powerful and it's long overdue 64bit architecture, but I can't even play the demo song all the way through let alone any of my more complex sessions.

Extremely disappointed and feel ripped off especially considering the price I paid to upgrade but even more important all my sessions are recorded and mixed in Pro Tools so right now I am no longer able to work as my previous license had to be surrendered.

If anyone knows how to assist me please let me know

Thanks in advance

Greg

[southboundloco]

Have you tried using 11.0.3?

[gregoryl]

You raise a very good point however I have not done this yet as V11.0.3 is labelled by Avid as being a patch for Mavericks users and I have been hesitant to use OS X 10.9 as it is still very new and bound to have it's own problems.

I might have to give this a try

Thanks for your quick reply...

[Darryl Ramm]

Originally Posted by southboundloco

Have you tried using 11.0.3?

No absolutely don't do that. 11.0.3 is a minor update just for Mavericks support. It has no other bug fixes/changes. There is no reason to go to mavericks and you do not want 11.0.3 on Mountain lion.

[Darryl Ramm]

Originally Posted by gregoryl

Hi Pro Tools 11 (iMac) Users,

What exact data/code model Mac (string fromt eh System Information utility), i7 or i5 processor?

I just purchased a new iMac Intel Quad Core 3.5GHz with 32 GB of RAM but Pro Tools 11.0.2 which I am running with OS X 10.8.5 will not play even the most basic session without stopping and giving error message (-6104) CPU Usage is holding off USB audio, Reduce plugins, delete tracks etc, (see attached). My audio interface is my trusty Eleven Rack combined with the expansion pack and appropriate drivers for PT11.

I use a 3TB Fusion Drive in my iMac for my programs but as is recommended all my Pro Tools sessions and data are located on an appropriate and Avid compliant external hard drive which has never let me down in the past due to it's superior performance and speed.

There has been so much talk and expectancy and now sales pitch about Avid PT11 being so powerful and it's long overdue 64bit architecture, but I can't even play the demo song all the way through let alone any of my more complex sessions.

Extremely disappointed and feel ripped off especially considering the price I paid to upgrade but even more important all my sessions are recorded and mixed in Pro Tools so right now I am no longer able to work as my previous license had to be surrendered.

If anyone knows how to assist me please let me know

Thanks in advance

Greg

OK I understand you are frustrated but less complaining and more just focus on fixing your problem will help you here. And is more likely to be a configuration/user induced problem than a problem with Pro Tools itself.

Start with the "Help us Help You - READ THIS Before Posting!" link above on this page.

Lots of standard troubleshooting steps there, what ones have you tried?

Have you fully optimized the computer done every last thing? Power management disabled, spotlight disabled, BT disabled, WiFi disabled, etc. etc. etc. Do every last thing, however silly or inconvenient it sounds.

Have you installed any antivirus silliness? (If so fully uninstall it).

What exact device do you have selected as the playback engine? (I want to make sure its just tge Eleven Rack and not an aggregate IO device, don't assume, go check, Pro Tools has a habit of changing this itself just to confuse users).

Obvious first test (after the optimizations are fully done) is what happens if you select the built-in output as the playback engine and try the same sessions. That quickly excludes or highlights the Eleven Rack (or more likely the driver) as the issue.

What exact driver version do you have installed? Run

kextstat | grep avid

and paste the results here.

What exact make/model/spec external audio disk do you have and how is it connected to the Mac (USB2/USB3/Firewire 800 etc.). What filesystem is on that external drive?

Try this with a new empty session (not an existing session and not a session from a template). Import a known good MP3 or similar audio file and see if that plays OK. Be sure to select the "copy" option as you want that MP3 file to end up on your audio/session drive, not to stay on the system/boot drive.

Did you install any third party or optional Avid plugins on this system? How? Rerun installers or did you drag stuff over from an old system? Exactly what ones? Are they up to date?

Try moving all plugin files temporarily out of their folder (Macintosh HD/Library/Application Support/Avid/Audio/Plug-Ins) and starting Pro Tools and see if this problem still happens. Yes even if not instantiated in a session a bad plugin might cause this problem just by begin installed on your Mac.

And from standard trouble shooting steps especially make sure you...

Delete preferences and databases (frequently during all other testing)

Disconnect as many other USB devices as possible from the Mac during testing.

Test with multiple different USB cables (yes even if they all seem to work OK for other things).

Test with multiple different USB ports on the Mac.

If your Mac only has USB3 ports tests with a USB2 powered hub between the Eleven Rack and Mac (yes even if you normally do not want a hub involved).

Do a memory reset on the Eleven Rack. (front panel user options menu).

Uninstall the Eleven Rack driver, reboot the Mac and reinstall the Eleven Rack 1.1.1 driver. Re download a fresh version first from Avid.com. As always install the driver with the interface disconnected/powered off. Reboot the Mac. connect the interface.

Are there any errors, warnings or suspicions looking messages in the System Console (Console.app)?

If all that fails, fully unisntall Pro Tools, manually delete any remaining plugins, download a new (edit: ) 11.0.3 installer and try again.



Darryl

[gregoryl]

Hi Darryl,

I have made most of the optimisations recommended in the "how to set up your mac for peak performance" but you have taken care to add some other things I had not thought of which I will try, and I'll then let you know how I get on with these.

I appreciate the care you have taken to assist other members and myself in this case.

Have a great day

Greg

[Darryl Ramm]

As you work through this try to reply clearly to each question I ask above that may help others identify the problem or suggest other things to try. That There have been occasional other reports of this problem and I do not think we clearly know in most of those cases what the user finally did to fix them. A few of them occurred with new USB 3 systems so USB 3 incompatibility was a suspect. If you do work it out it would be great to know what change fixed it.

[mhmh]

Originally Posted by Darryl Ramm

No absolutely don't do that. 11.0.3 is a minor update just for Mavericks support. It has no other bug fixes/changes. There is no reason to go to mavericks and you do not want 11.0.3 on Mountain lion.

This says different:

http://avid.force.com/pkb/articles/D...-0-3-Downloads

And in another thread someone with a similar problem reported that 11.03 (on Mountain Lion) resolved it.

Just sayin´

[Darryl Ramm]

Originally Posted by mhmh

This says different:

http://avid.force.com/pkb/articles/D...-0-3-Downloads

And in another thread someone with a similar problem reported that 11.03 (on Mountain Lion) resolved it.

Just sayin´

11.0.3 was a release just to add Mavericks support, that was it's reason for existence, Yes Avid has since qualified it to also be supported on Moubtain Lion. (That is all goodness for folks who want to use Pro Tools 11 on Mountain Lion then upgrade to Mavericks). I've been pointing this out myself in other threads and should have been clearer here, but I would not go to a Mavericks now unless there was a clear indication that doing so would address a problem. I would also not worry about upgrading from 11.0.2 to 11.0.3. OTOH for any install or reinstall of Pro Tools on Mountain Lion I would now use 11.0.3 for forward compatibility reasons.

What other thread? Link here please. And they upgraded to 11.0.3 from what previous Pro Tools version?

[mhmh]

Originally Posted by Darryl Ramm

11.0.3 was a release just to add Mavericks support, that was it's reason for existence, Yes Avid has since qualified it to also be supported on Moubtain Lion. (That is all goodness for folks who want to use Pro Tools 11 on Mountain Lion then upgrade to Mavericks). I've been pointing this out myself in other threads and should have been clearer here, but I would not go to a Mavericks now unless there was a clear indication that doing so would address a problem. I would also not worry about upgrading from 11.0.2 to 11.0.3. OTOH for any install or reinstall of Pro Tools on Mountain Lion I would now use 11.0.3 for forward compatibility reasons.

What other thread? Link here please. And they upgraded to 11.0.3 from what previous Pro Tools version?

In this thread:
http://duc.avid.com/showthread.php?t=346597&page=3

Hanswurstlsepp says:

"I have not had any system overloads or crashes when saving while PT was in PlayBack with 11.0.3.
It seems to be very stable."

He came from 11.02 and was on 10.8.4 at the time