[Mr.BC]

I'm surprised! Thank you tremendously.
Description of problem: Random bursts of LOUD white noise, and random occasional pops and clicks when trying to play any demo song from the Pro Tools demo session folder.

Observations: I've noted that I can't produce the problem, i.e.; I can't do any known functions to MAKE it happen, it's totally random. It doesn't seem to be associated with any particular track or demo song. And the duration of the white noise and it's intensity vary. Also, it's sporadic. Sometimes a whole song will play without the bursts, next time there may be 1 or 2 short, comparitively low level burst, play the song again, and this time the bursts are exteremly loud but quick, anothe play of the song and the bursts may last through an entire verse of the song, or longer. It doesn't seem to be progressive in the sense that it doesn't get necessarily worse over time. But as stated, the bursts duration and intesity vary when they hit. And the frequency of occurences vary, but I cannot play two clean songs in a row without at least a click or pop.

Troubleshooting efforts:
Checked location of the fast track interface, moved it around, tried different settings (even for dormant input switchs) - no difference.
Checked cables and connections - no problems.
I've tried various combinations with buffer cache on the playback engine. Nothing helps, but some settings seem to make it worse. It's hard to tell however, because the bursts vary in number of occurences during playback, and they vary in length and intesity. So how can I know if what I'm doing is having an effect, other than the fact that the bursts keep occuring.

Sandra:
I've read over and over again, on the "Help Us to help you" link, that Pro Tools needs to record and play to/from another HDD other than the one the OS resides on. I have not met with that requirement, and only using one HDD). Could that be it?

Anyway, per your suggestion, here is my sandra report. I certainly hope this helps you to help me, and thanks (sincerely):


SiSoftware Sandra

Computer
Model : Dell OptiPlex GX280
Workgroup : WORKGROUP
Host Name : dell-94dfa85070
User : OWNER

Processor
Model : Intel(R) Pentium(R) 4 CPU 2.80GHz
Speed : 2.8GHz
Cores per Processor : 1 Unit(s)
Threads per Core : 1 Unit(s)
Integrated Data Cache : 2x 16kB, Synchronous, Write-Thru, 8-way, 64 byte line size, 2 lines per sector
L2 On-board Cache : 2x 1MB, ECC, Synchronous, ATC, 8-way, 64 byte line size, 2 lines per sector

Computer
Mainboard : Dell 0G8310
BIOS : Dell A04 02/09/2005
Bus(es) : X-Bus PCI PCIe IMB USB i2c/SMBus
Multi-Processor (MP) Support : No
Multi-Processor Advanced PIC (APIC) : Yes
Total Memory : 1.5GB DIMM DDR2

Chipset
Model : Dell 82915G/GV/GL/P/PL/GL/910GE/GL Grantsdale Host Bridge/DRAM Controller
Front Side Bus Speed : 4x 200MHz (800MHz)
Total Memory : 1.5GB DIMM DDR2
Shared Memory : 8MB
Channels : 2
Memory Bus Speed : 2x 200MHz (400MHz)

Memory Module(s)
Memory Module : Samsung M3 78T3253FG0-CCC 256MB DIMM DDR2 PC2-3200U DDR2-400 (3-3-3-8 2-11-3-2)
Memory Module : Samsung M3 78T3253FG0-CCC 256MB DIMM DDR2 PC2-3200U DDR2-400 (3-3-3-8 2-11-3-2)
Memory Module : Kingston K 1GB DIMM DDR2 PC2-3200U DDR2-400 (3-3-3-8 2-11-3-2)

Video System
Video Adapter : Intel(R) 82915G/GV/910GL Express Chipset Family (8 SP 333MHz, 128MB DDR2, Integrated Graphics)

Graphics Processor

Storage Devices
WDC WD400BD-75LRA0 40GB (SATA300, 2MB Cache) : 37GB (C:)
HL-DT-ST CD-RW/DVD-ROM GCC-4482B (ATA33, DVD+-R, CD-RW, 2MB Cache) : N/A (D:)

Logical Storage Devices
Hard Disk (C:) : 37GB (NTFS) @ WDC WD400BD-75LRA0 40GB (SATA300, 2MB Cache)
Optical Drive (D:) : N/A @ HL-DT-ST CD-RW/DVD-ROM GCC-4482B (ATA33, DVD+-R, CD-RW, 2MB Cache)
3.5" 1.44MB (A:) : N/A

Peripherals
LPC Hub Controller 1 : Intel 82801FB/FR (ICH6/ICH6R) LPC Interface Bridge
LPC Legacy Controller 1 : SMSC LPC47M584-NC
Audio Device : Dell Optiplex GX280
Serial Port(s) : 1
Parallel Port(s) : 1
Disk Controller : Dell 82801FB (ICH6) Ultra ATA Storage Controller
Disk Controller : Dell Optiplex GX280
USB Controller 1 : Dell Optiplex GX280
USB Controller 2 : Dell Optiplex GX280
USB Controller 3 : Dell Optiplex GX280
USB Controller 4 : Dell Optiplex GX280
USB Controller 5 : Dell Optiplex GX280
SMBus/i2c Controller 1 : Intel 801xx/63xx SMBus

Printers and Faxes
Printer : Microsoft XPS Document Writer (600x600, Colour)

Network Services

Power Management
Mains (AC) Line Status : On-Line

Operating System
Windows System : Microsoft Windows XP Professional 5.01.2600 (Service Pack 3)
Platform Compliance : x86