Keeps freezing after just minutes of being on. Have 2 force restart PC. Sandra inside

[JLiRD808]

Cant get PT10 to keep from freezing. Longest I've been able to keep it running is about 7-8 minutes. It was working fine the week before. I made no significant changes to my computer hardware or software.

CPU usage is at like 22-36% sometimes when it freezes. Usually freezes when I perform an action, ie mute a track, open a plugin, open the mixer, etc.

Someone told me it might be a Waves 9 license conflict. However, I've disabled all my Wave plugins and it still happens. Plus, again, it worked the week before.

Any ideas?? Really frustrated...8yr Cubase user who's trying to learn PT but this is just getting insane. I spend about 70% of my time troubleshooting

THANKS!!!!

SiSoftware Sandra

ID
Host Name : JMLeezWin7
Workgroup : WORKGROUP

Computer
Model : MSI MS-7508
Serial Number : To Be Fille***********
Chassis : MSI Desktop
Mainboard : MSI K9N2GM-FD(MS-7508)
Serial Number : To be fille***********
BIOS : AMI (OEM) V1.8 09/30/2010
Total Memory : 7.75GB DIMM DDR2

Processors
Processor : AMD Phenom(tm) II X2 560 Processor (2C 3.6GHz, 2GHz IMC, 2x 512kB L2, 2x 6MB L3)
Socket/Slot : Socket AM2r2/AM3

Chipset
Memory Controller : AMD F10 Athlon 64/Opteron/Sempron HT Hub 2x 2GHz (4GHz), 2x 4GB DIMM DDR2 800MHz 128-bit

Memory Module(s)
Memory Module : Asint BW9J2LF4FN1 2GB DIMM DDR2 PC2-6400U DDR2-800 (5-5-5-18 3-23-6-3)
Memory Module : Asint BW9J2LF4FN1 2GB DIMM DDR2 PC2-6400U DDR2-800 (5-5-5-18 3-23-6-3)
Memory Module : Asint BW9J2LF4FN1 2GB DIMM DDR2 PC2-6400U DDR2-800 (5-5-5-18 3-23-6-3)
Memory Module : Asint BW9J2LF4FN1 2GB DIMM DDR2 PC2-6400U DDR2-800 (5-5-5-18 3-23-6-3)

Video System
Monitor/Panel : Hewlett Packard HP S2331
(1920x1080, 23.1")
Video Adapter : NVIDIA GeForce 8200 (16 SM4.0 1.2GHz, 256MB DDR2 800MHz 128-bit, Integrated Graphics)

Graphics Processor
OpenCL GP Processor : NVIDIA GeForce 8200 (8SP 1C 1.2GHz, 256MB DDR2 800MHz 128-bit, Integrated Graphics)
Compute Shader Processor : NVIDIA GeForce 8200 (16SP 1.2GHz, 256MB DDR2 800MHz 128-bit, Integrated Graphics)

Storage Devices
SAMSUNG HD103SJ (1TB, SATA300, 3.5", 7200rpm, 32MB Cache) : 932GB (C:)
Seagate ST3250823AS (250GB, SATA150, 3.5", 8MB Cache) : 233GB (D:) (G:)
Maxtor 6Y160M0 (160GB, SATA, 8MB Cache) : 149GB (J:)
Hitachi HDS722516VLSA80 (164.7GB, SATA150, 3.5", 7200rpm, 8MB Cache) : 153GB (E:)
SanDisk SanDisk Cruzer (4GB, USB2) : 4GB (N:)
HP DVD Writer 300n (439.8MB, ATAPI, DVD+-R, CD-RW, 2MB Cache) : 419MB (F:)
COMBO COB-6V5216 (ATA44, DVD+-R, CD-RW, 2MB Cache) : N/A (H:)
ELBY CLONEDRIVE (SCSI, SCSI-2, BD-R, HD-DVD-R, DVD-R, CD-R, 256kB Cache) : N/A (I:)
SanDisk SanDisk Cruzer (100.7MB, USB2) : 96MB (L:)

Logical Storage Devices
System Reserved : 3GB (NTFS)
Hard Disk (D:) : 225GB (NTFS) @ Seagate ST3250823AS (250GB, SATA150, 3.5", 8MB Cache)
Hard Disk (J:) : 149GB (NTFS) @ Maxtor 6Y160M0 (160GB, SATA, 8MB Cache)
JML 2 (E:) : 153GB (NTFS) @ Hitachi HDS722516VLSA80 (164.7GB, SATA150, 3.5", 7200rpm, 8MB Cache)
Removable Drive (N:) : 4GB (FAT32) @ SanDisk SanDisk Cruzer (4GB, USB2)
Hard Disk (C:) : 929GB (NTFS) @ SAMSUNG HD103SJ (1TB, SATA300, 3.5", 7200rpm, 32MB Cache)
Nuggz (G:) : 8GB (NTFS) @ Seagate ST3250823AS (250GB, SATA150, 3.5", 8MB Cache)
Floppy Disk (A:) : N/A
Audio CD (F:) : 0bytes (CDFS) @ HP DVD Writer 300n (439.8MB, ATAPI, DVD+-R, CD-RW, 2MB Cache)
Optical Drive (H:) : N/A @ COMBO COB-6V5216 (ATA44, DVD+-R, CD-RW, 2MB Cache)
Optical Drive (I:) : N/A @ ELBY CLONEDRIVE (SCSI, SCSI-2, BD-R, HD-DVD-R, DVD-R, CD-R, 256kB Cache)
U3 System (L:) : 7MB (CDFS) @ SanDisk SanDisk Cruzer (100.7MB, USB2)

Peripherals
LPC Hub Controller 1 : MSI K9N2GM-FIH
LPC Legacy Controller 1 : Fintek F71882FG/F71883FG
Audio Device : MSI K9N2GM-FIH
Audio Codec : Realtek Semi 888 High Definition Audio
Audio Device : Creative Labs E-MU E-DSP Audio Processor
Serial Port(s) : 1
Disk Controller : MSI K9N2GM-FIH
Disk Controller : MSI K9N2GM-FIH
Disk Controller : MSI K9N2GM-FIH
Disk Controller : MSI K9N2GM-FIH
Disk Controller : MSI K9N2GM-FIH
USB Controller 1 : MSI K9N2GM-FIH
USB Controller 2 : MSI K9N2GM-FIH
USB Controller 3 : MSI K9N2GM-FIH
USB Controller 4 : MSI K9N2GM-FIH
FireWire/1394 Controller 1 : Creative Labs Audigy 2 Firewire Controller
SMBus/i2c Controller 1 : nVidia MCP5 SMBus 1
SMBus/i2c Controller 2 : nVidia MCP5 SMBus 2

Network Services
Wireless Adapter : D-Link DWA-140 RangeBooster N USB Adapter (802.11n (HT), AES-CCMP, 150Mbps)

Operating System
Windows System : Microsoft Windows 7 Ultimate 6.01.7600
Platform Compliance : x64

Windows Experience Index
Current System : 4.3

[albee1952]

Fast look over the Sandra points to a few potential issues
1-wifi needs to be disabled when running Pro Tools
2-integrated graphics are often a show stopper with Pro Tools
3-nVidia graphics often don't play well with AMD processors
Hopefully, some AMD users can chime in soon

[JLiRD808]

Originally Posted by albee1952

Fast look over the Sandra points to a few potential issues
1-wifi needs to be disabled when running Pro Tools
2-integrated graphics are often a show stopper with Pro Tools
3-nVidia graphics often don't play well with AMD processors
Hopefully, some AMD users can chime in soon

Really....I cant run WIFI with Pro Tools? That kinda sucks as I like being able to read online PT tutorials & tips/tricks, take quick breaks & browse, even reference a Spotify track. Also, my PT10 worked perfectly last week with WIFI...

Regarded integrated graphics, ur saying I should get a graphics card correct? Just some basic AMD card? I think I have an NVidia card laying around collecting dust. Is it worth a try?

Just so I dont go TOO CHEAP on the AMD card, are there some graphics specs I should try to aim for? I dont really play video games (maybe an occasional movie), my monitor has DVI and VGA inputs...thats all I know really. That and I have a PCI-e slot but my PCI's are full.

Thank you...!!!

[albee1952]

I doubt you can find a graphics card these days that is anything but PCIe. I must say I'm not an expert on this, especially on AMD stuff. Only trying to offer some suggestions. Disabling the onboard graphics in BIOS and using a modest($50-75) ATI card might help(if you were on an intel machine, I would have more confidence in my advice, and then I would suggest an nVidia card, but since AMD owns ATI, I expect that pairing to be a safer bet).

Re wifi, disabling it(and all networking) has been a recommendation for years. Not to say it WON'T work, but my suggestion is; disable it until you get the rig to perform well(and consistent). Once you establish solid performance, THEN try adding stuff back in(like wifi). The idea is to eliminate as much as possible in the name of making it work. As for the internet, realize 2 things. 1-anti-virus software runs in the background and CAN chew up system horsepower(some are worse than others), and 2-as soon as you connect, your computer is a target for a lot of nasty stuff. At the very least, once your system works well, back it up with drive imaging or drive cloning(to a spare drive). That way, if you do get attacked, you can reformat and restore easily

[JLiRD808]

Just bought an AMD card online and will try it in a few days...and my mobo has pci x1 and x16 actually so I should be good. Yeah not getting a strictly PCI graphic card lol. Hopefully that helps a bit.

Other than that, I started a new track from scratch and its been problem free. Granted its only 4 tracks with MINIMAL plugins so far, and the CPU meters only at about 11%. Does that provide a clue? BTW...my WIFI's been on the whole time.

Maybe I need a CPU upgrade? Does a weak CPU cause these issues? Again, I would think a high CPU mark on the meter would indicate a correlation with these freezes, so I'm not so sure that its CPU related.

We'll see....a little afraid to reload the project that kept freezing up, even though I'd like to go back to it. For now I'll just build up this new project and see how far I get.

Thank you!