The Aux I/O device has disappeared from the system and will be disabled

[daeron80]

Originally Posted by its2loud

If you change the name of the Aux IO, Pro Tools will automatically match your "To Zoom" Bus to the "To Zoom" Aux IO Output path also named "To Zoom". This is how changing the name will help you with this issue.

Thanks, I'll give that a shot. Thing is, I work on a wide variety of projects that require different setups. Studio, remote, and livestreaming. Sometimes, I'm hooked to my Clarett+, sometimes to an Apogee Duet, sometimes to an A&H SQ5. There's no way I can have a single I/O setup. Saving and recalling I/O setups doesn't seem to solve the problem.

[chrisVVS]

Originally Posted by daeron80

Thanks, I'll give that a shot. Thing is, I work on a wide variety of projects that require different setups. Studio, remote, and livestreaming. Sometimes, I'm hooked to my Clarett+, sometimes to an Apogee Duet, sometimes to an A&H SQ5. There's no way I can have a single I/O setup. Saving and recalling I/O setups doesn't seem to solve the problem.

Make a template that works for you and use Import Session Data to bring any other session into your working template each time.

[tomguest.tv]

2023.3 has made this issue worse for me - have tried all different buffer sizes..

[DJEJPRO]

There seems to be 2 problems being discussed in this thread:
- Aux I/O ‘devices’, inputs, outputs, etc. dropping from the I/O setup
- crackling/popping/sync issues occurring when actually "getting" to use Aux I/O (if it's already in the I/O page)

Maybe they are directly related, but I haven’t even gotten to the Aux I/O or Audiobridge dropping during playback or recording yet..It’s happening when just trying to load and get situated.

I can get the I/O page exactly where I want it, and have everything routed correctly. What’s happening is Pro Tools simply refuses to correctly save the "last used I/O" when Audiobridge components are involved. I've checked the 'last used I/O' file, and the date modified is showing that it was modified at the time it should be (right after closing the session)... but coming back to it it's not including the Audiobridge outputs.

Every time I quit and re-open PT, any Audiobridge I had assigned to the OUTPUT section gets dropped. I can very easily import a saved I/O that included what I need in the inputs and outputs (import I/O saved with session also works, but ONLY for a session - trying to do this for a saved template does NOT work - yet another problem).

I'm very aware of the I/O page, and how to map busses to outputs, etc.

Best practices of course are to create/define your 'hard' in's and outs, and map any busses to outputs as needed. The ONLY thing that changes when you change audio interfaces or try to load your session at another studio are the physical in's and out's of the audio. Your busses ALWAYS follow along with your session..It's fairly easy and quick to remap busses to physical outputs. BUT…you CAN'T map to an Audiobridge output that doesn’t exist, which is what’s happening on a PT restart.

For now, I have an I/O setup saved that re-infuses the hard in’s and out’s, including Aux I/O’s, and the session lights up fine after that. Save, quit, restart…no Aux I/O outputs. They should still be there just like the other few physical outputs that I have.

As I mentioned earlier, this does NOT work with templates. I can setup everything with the I/O page (including all PT Audiobridge ins/outs as needed), and save as a template. After restarting PT, and trying to create a template from what I just saved, it once again won’t have the Audiobridge outputs. The template also gives an error when trying to import from session, however import i/o from session works on just a regular saved session.

I've check permissions on the documents and prefs folder, and everything looks fine. As I mentioned the 'last used I/O' is being written to as it should, it's just not where I left it.

Sorry for the long winded description..just trying to establish a pattern.

With all that being said, is anyone experiencing this behavior that might be instigating any of the problems mentioned here?


Mac Mini Pro M2, 32GB RAM, Ventura 13.5
Pro Tools 2023.6 Ultimate - no accel hardware, using core audio (Mostly running native - Rosetta only when needed for source nexus if this aux I/O becomes a problem)
Focusrite Scarlett 18i8
Eucon 2022.4

[its2loud]

I have experienced dropped Aux IO for seemingly no reason at all. I have yet to come up with a solution for it other than to remap the Aux IO.

If you have a current support contract it might be a good idea to report it to Avid.

[DJEJPRO]

Yes, I need to start a ticket, as I've tried everything I can think of.

As far as remapping, it's pretty easy for how I'm getting around it..if the Aux I/O's aren't there, I set it up how I want it and export the I/O settings.

When the system decides to not load them, I simply re-import this saved I/O setting (I import all tabs, because the input, output, and busses that I saved are directly relevant to any project I start..I use the same template and audio interface for all my sessions).

After doing this, the mapping to outputs that were greyed out become active again, so I don't really have to 'remap' anything per-se; I just import the I/O and PT now finds the mappings it was looking for.

[EmilILönneberga]

I had this issue with a USB mic. It was always kicked out by PT with the same error message after a while.
What helped me is instead of directly selecting it within Aux I/O, I created an Aggregate Device in macOS Audio MIDI Setup, named it USB-Mic, added only the USB Mic, enabled Drift Correction and selected the Aggregate Device (USB-Mic) in Aux I/O.
It's been running without any hiccups ever since.

[DJEJPRO]

I've yet to try aggregate devices, as I'm trying to get things working as intended by the software. I may just have to try this route for now as well. Thanks for the tip!

Edit: I'm sure there's a way to use aggregate devices in my setup, but a USB mic is a 'physical' device, with it's own ID as a device in the audio/midi setup.

I think part of the problem might be with the actual Audiobridge 'devices'..those are virtual, and rely on Avid's implementation to show up as available devices. In the end, we're still relying on the Audiobridge to work as it should..not sure until I do some testing.

[daeron80]

Originally Posted by DJEJPRO

Pro Tools simply refuses to correctly save the "last used I/O" when Audiobridge components are involved. I've checked the 'last used I/O' file, and the date modified is showing that it was modified at the time it should be (right after closing the session)... but coming back to it it's not including the Audiobridge outputs.

Every time I quit and re-open PT, any Audiobridge I had assigned to the OUTPUT section gets dropped.

It does that to me a lot of times, too. If I have used a different interface since the last time, I always have to delete and recreate my Aux I/O channels. But sometimes, like you say, simply closing and reopening is enough to mess it up.

[DJEJPRO]

Quick update…

I tried a route that involves what @EmilILönneberga mentioned with the aggregate devices.

I originally had audio bridges setup for mac sound output (to grab in PT for recording system and web audio), to source connect, from source connect, to zoom, from zoom, from soundly, etc..all were completely independent bridges, and selected directly as audio bridge items in the I/O. Only the outputs were dropping upon restart (inputs would always retain for whatever reason).

I re-did the I/O page with aggregate devices. I created a single aggregate device for the first audio bridge item I needed, selected drift correction, and moved on to the next one, repeating the process until each bridge was contained in it’s own aggregate. I used the aggregates in the Aux I/O window as the in’s and outs vs selecting the bridges directly. Unfortunately, those are dropped as outputs as well on PT restart.

I haven't gotten as far as doing a long enough recording or playback over source connect or zoom etc. to get a device 'disappearing' from the system, but I almost feel more comfortable with this approach, as EmilILönneberga mentioned with drift correction they hadn’t seen an error message.

What makes me feel better is that I have the opportunity to actually select ‘drift correction’ in the audio/midi aggregate devices. My audio interface (Scarlett 18i8) is NOT set as any part of the aggregates. It’s simply selected as the main playback engine in PT, and all the separate, purpose built aggregates are being added as additional ins and outs from the I/O setup page.

My main problem still stand..anything selected as an OUTPUT Aux I/O device (whether it’s an audio bridge device or an aggregate device) is getting booted off when Pro Tools restarts.

It’s fringing on what the potential problem could be for what users are experiencing with the Aux I/O device “disappearing”: It’s either being caused by either Pro Tools having a hard time ‘holding’ Aux I/O outputs (problem I’m having currently), or s sync issues that make it crap out over time. The latter may be resolved with aggregate devices, as you can manually select ‘drift correction’, but until I can do an actual session with some lengthy material, I won’t know the answer to either.

Hope this info helps anyone having issues.

There’s definitely a bug in holding Aux I/O outputs on restart (at least for me), but I guess I’ve found a work around for the time being. Regarding the sync/drifting/crackling, and eventually dropping or failing, the aggregate approach may be the answer for that particular problem)