Pro Tools Ultimate Shuts Down After a few seconds

[Franzen]

Hi there,
Pro Tools | Ultimate is shutting down a few seconds after I start it. This isssue was happening in version 2021.10, then repeated rolling back to 2021.7 and continues on 2021.12. The scenarios vary:
- It shuts down while waiting to open a session
- It shuts down if I open a previous session
- It shuts down if I open a new session (clean)

So far I have tried:
- Formatted my workstation.
- Added a new SSD for where PT is installed
- Rolled back to previous versions: 2021.7, 2021.6, 2021.3 (I am at the moment running the latest version)
- I tried updating the latest Graphic Drivers
- Adjusted Power Options
- Disabled USB Power Management
- I am running the program as Administrator
- Latest Drivers are Installed
- I have deleted the Preferences multiple times
- Disabled System Startup Items
- Latest version of iLok is installed
- I haven't installed any new plugins
- I did a clean install of PT 12


Further information on the issue:
If I reboot my workstation and open PT it works fine. I have noticed that if I check my e-mails on chrome after a few seconds PT also shuts down.
If I have an error or a session crashes when bouncing it fail to launch again (opens and shuts down).

Please help....

Workstation information:

Computer
Model : OEM System Product Name
Serial Number : System Ser**********
Chassis : OEM Desktop
Mainboard : ASUS TUF Z370-PRO GAMING
Serial Number : 1709104********
BIOS : AMI (OEM) 0215 09/05/2017
Intel Management Engine (ME) : 11.7.4.3314

System Memory
Total Memory : 32GB DIMM DDR4

Processors
Processor : Intel(R) Core(TM) i7-8700K CPU @ 3.70GHz (6C 12T 4.6GHz, 4.3GHz/4.4GHz IMC, 6x 256kB L2, 12MB L3)
Socket/Slot : FC LGA1151

Chipset
Memory Controller : ASUS Core8S (CofeeLake-S 6C) Host Bridge/DRAM Registers 100MHz, 2x 16GB DIMM DDR4 2.13GHz 128-bit

Memory Module(s)
Memory Module : Corsair CMK32GX4M4A2133C13 8GB DIMM DDR4 2Rx8 PC4-19200U DDR4-2400 (15-15-15-37 4-52-17-6)
Memory Module : Corsair CMK32GX4M4A2133C13 8GB DIMM DDR4 2Rx8 PC4-19200U DDR4-2400 (15-15-15-37 4-52-17-6)
Memory Module : Corsair CMK32GX4M4A2133C13 8GB DIMM DDR4 2Rx8 PC4-19200U DDR4-2400 (15-15-15-37 4-52-17-6)
Memory Module : Corsair CMK32GX4M4A2133C13 8GB DIMM DDR4 2Rx8 PC4-19200U DDR4-2400 (15-15-15-37 4-52-17-6)

Video System
Monitor/Panel : LG 20EN33
(1600x1200, 19.9")
Monitor/Panel : LG 23MP55
(1920x1080, 23.1")
Video Adapter : NVIDIA GeForce GTX 960 (1024S 8C SM6.5 1.23GHz, 1MB L2, 2GB 7.2GHz 128-bit, PCIe 3.0 x16)
Video Adapter : NVIDIA GeForce GTX 960 (1024S 8C SM6.5 1.23GHz, 1MB L2, 2GB 6GHz/7.2GHz 128-bit, PCIe 3.0 x16)

Graphics Processor
CUDA : NVIDIA GeForce GTX 960 (1024S 8C SM5.2 1.23GHz, 1MB L2, 2GB 6GHz/7.2GHz 128-bit)
OpenCL : NVIDIA GeForce GTX 960 (1024S 8C SM3.0 1.23GHz, 1MB L2, 2GB 6GHz/7.2GHz 128-bit)
D3D 11 : NVIDIA GeForce GTX 960 (1024S 8C SM12.1 1.23GHz, 1MB L2, 2GB 6GHz/7.2GHz 128-bit)
OpenGL : NVIDIA GeForce GTX 960/PCIe/SSE2 (1024S 8C SM4.60 1.23GHz, 1MB L2, 2GB 6GHz/7.2GHz 128-bit)
OpenGL : NVIDIA GeForce GTX 960/PCIe/SSE2 (1024S 8C SM4.60 1.23GHz, 1MB L2, 2GB 6GHz/7.2GHz 128-bit)

Storage Devices
Disk : Samsung SSD 850 EVO 500GB (500.1GB, SATA600, SSD, SED)
Disk : Seagate ST3000DM008-2DM166 (3TB, SATA600, 3.5", 7200rpm)
Disk : WDC WD3003FZEX-00Z4SA0 (3TB, SATA600, 3.5", 7200rpm)
Disk : WDC WD10EARS-00Y5B1 (1TB, SATA300, 3.5")
Disk : WDC WDS500G3XHC-00SJG0 (500.1GB, PCIe3x4/NVMe)
Disk : WDC WD20SMZW-11JW8S1 (2TB, USB3/SATA600, 2.5", 5400rpm)
Optical : hp DDVDW TS-H653R (142.5MB, SATA150, DVD+-RW, CD-RW)

Logical Storage Devices
Recuperação : 450MB (NTFS, 4kB) @ Samsung SSD 850 EVO 500GB (500.1GB, SATA600, SSD, SED)
Hard Disk (Z:) : 464GB (NTFS, 4kB) @ Samsung SSD 850 EVO 500GB (500.1GB, SATA600, SSD, SED)
Hard Disk : 523MB (NTFS, 4kB) @ Samsung SSD 850 EVO 500GB (500.1GB, SATA600, SSD, SED)
Hard Disk : 523MB (NTFS, 4kB) @ Samsung SSD 850 EVO 500GB (500.1GB, SATA600, SSD, SED)
Projects 2018 (F:) : 3TB (NTFS, 4kB) @ Seagate ST3000DM008-2DM166 (3TB, SATA600, 3.5", 7200rpm)
Orchestra (G:) : 3TB (NTFS, 4kB) @ WDC WD3003FZEX-00Z4SA0 (3TB, SATA600, 3.5", 7200rpm)
Plugins (I:) : 932GB (NTFS, 4kB) @ WDC WD10EARS-00Y5B1 (1TB, SATA300, 3.5")
Hard Disk (C:) : 465GB (NTFS, 4kB) @ WDC WDS500G3XHC-00SJG0 (500.1GB, PCIe3x4/NVMe)
Hard Disk : 516MB (NTFS, 4kB) @ WDC WDS500G3XHC-00SJG0 (500.1GB, PCIe3x4/NVMe)
Elements (H:) : 2TB (NTFS, 4kB) @ WDC WD20SMZW-11JW8S1 (2TB, USB3/SATA600, 2.5", 5400rpm)
Hard Disk : 96MB (FAT32, 1kB) @ Samsung SSD 850 EVO 500GB (500.1GB, SATA600, SSD, SED)
Hard Disk : 96MB (FAT32, 1kB) @ WDC WDS500G3XHC-00SJG0 (500.1GB, PCIe3x4/NVMe)
Audio CD (D:) : N/A (CDFS, 2kB, Read-Only) @ hp DDVDW TS-H653R (142.5MB, SATA150, DVD+-RW, CD-RW)

Storage System
Storage Pool : Primordial (9.1TB)

Peripherals
LPC Hub Controller : ASUS Z370 (Union Point) LPC/eSPI Controller
Audio Device : ASUS ICH200 (Union Point) HD Audio
Audio Codec : Realtek Semi High Definition Audio
Audio Device : ASUS GM206 High Definition Audio Controller
Audio Codec : nVidia 0072
Serial Port(s) : 1
Disk Controller : ASUS ICH200 (Union Point) SATA controller [AHCI mode]
Disk Controller : ASUS ICH200 (Union Point) PMC
Disk Controller : Sandisk WD Black 2018/PC SN720 NVMe SSD
USB Controller : ASUS ICH200 (Union Point) USB 3.0 xHCI Controller
USB Controller : ASUS ASM2142 USB 3.1 Host Controller
SMBus/i2c Controller : Intel ICH SMBus

Printers and Faxes
Printer : Microsoft Software Printer Driver (300x300, Colour)
Printer : Send to Microsoft OneNote 16 Driver (1200x1200, Colour)
Printer : Microsoft XPS Document Writer v4 (600x600, Colour)
Printer : Microsoft Print To PDF (600x600, Colour)
Fax : Microsoft Shared Fax Driver (200x200)
Printer : Canon E4200 series FAX (200x200)
Printer : Canon E4200 series FAX (200x200)
Printer : Canon E4200 series (Colour)
Printer : Canon E4200 series (Colour)

Biometrics
Voice : Analog NUI Voice Virtual Sensor (Voice)

Peripherals
Media Player : WD Elements 25A1 (1.82TB)

Network Services
Network Adapter : TAP-NordVPN Windows Adapter V9 (Ethernet)
Network Adapter : Intel(R) Ethernet Connection (2) I219-V (Ethernet)
Wireless Adapter : Qualcomm Atheros AR9485 Wireless Network Adapter (Wifi4 (802.11n/HT), AES-CCMP, 72.2Mbps)

Operating System
Windows System : Microsoft Windows 10 Professional 10.0.19043
Platform Compliance : x64

Performance Enhancing Tips
Warning 2513 : TPM not detected. Some security features are unavailable.
Tip 3 : Double-click tip or press Enter while a tip is selected for more information about the tip.

[Darryl Ramm]

Hi

Welcome to DUC.

When you say "shut down" what exactly happens on the screen? Do you see any error message? Lets get traction on what is exactly happening, is it actually shutting down or crashing?

Does anything appear in the Windows Event Viewer around the time of these crashes/shutdown/whatever?

You should be focusing on a know officially supported version of Pro Tools. I'm not following why you tried all the things you have. e.g. The Pro Tools executable should always be installed on the C: drive, and whatever drive you have will not cause Pro Tools to crash/shutdown or do whatever is is doing.

But if you have not already: remove all plugin files from the plugin folder, trash prefs (use https://www.pro-tools-pc.us/category-s/1514.htm), and starting with a new empty session (not a copy of an existing session, not from a Template). Testing all those at once.

When you say "formatted my workstation" you mean you did a full clean new install of Windows 10? Did you test that before reinstalling plugins (either from installers of from any backup/recovery of the plugin folder files) or other software on the PC?

You might find clues in what is happening in the Pro Tools log C:\Users\<username>\AppData\Local\Avid\Logs, even if none of that makes sense to you just compare log files between sessions that crash/close/shut down or whatever and those that don't. And you can check in C:\Users\<username>\AppData\Local\Avid\Crashlog to see if there are crash dumps from the time when things seem to shut down.

[Franzen]

Hi Darryl, thanks for the replay!

When I say shut down I mean PT just closes. No error messages, no freezing. Nothing. Its just like if I would click on 'close window'.

I just did the same procedure checking windows viewer and nothing appeared at the time of the event.

Aren't all these versions officially supported? The compatibility chart says they are compatible with Windows 10 (21H1), so I tried previous versions to see if the problem also happens.
The executable is, of course on the C: drive. What I did was replace my older SSD for a new one (the new one is the C: drive, where PT is installed). I thought I might be have an issue with the previous one since it was a little older, or could be having any other problem.

Yes, a previously did a full new clean install of windows 10 on the new SSD. Initially PT worked fine and I gradually installed my plugins checking if anyone would cause problems - none of them did.

An update with more testing:
- After a couple of hours - without the need to reboot my workstation - I opened PT again. Through the dashboard I created a new clean session. It seemed stable.
- I tested adding tracks (audio, instruments, etc). No shut downs.
- I tested adding plugins (native ones and third party). Mostly no shutdowns.
- Some third party fx plugins made PT shutdown immediately.
- Some virtual instruments made PT shutdown immediately.
- Eventually I added a track to a CLEAN new session and it also shut down immediately.
Again. No crashing or error messages just a shut down.

I find it interesting that when I boot and only open PT I don't have any problems usually. It makes me think it is not a plugin issue.
I just purchased trasher and as soon as I get the download link I will run it. Regarding the crashlogs, there are none.

[Franzen]

I wasn't able to post the log on my reply or attach the txt file, so I am sending a print screen of the last few lines. It does mention shut down.

[Darryl Ramm]

Always suspect plugins, you say that things worked OK before installing plugins... that's maybe a good clue you need look at plugins more. I also disagree with your assumption that because things work for a while then don't that it is unlikely to be a plugin, what you are seeing *might* be a sign of memory corruption caused by a plugin. I certainly don't know it's a plugin, problem, just that's where I would focus now testing/excluding things... like once you feel you are able to reproduce the problem with some confidence, then remove all the .aaxplugin files and then try to reproduce the problem.

Whether using a plugin causes problems when you instantiate it is not enough of a test, you need to remove those .aaxplugin files from the plugin folder (e.g. move them to the Unused folder), and trash prefs and test with no third party plugins *installed* (not instantiated/used) in Pro Tools at all. Pro Tools will automagically put back the standard plugins the first time it starts up. Test with just those... if no problems then start putting plugins back in batches seeing if the problem comes back.

I can barely see the text it that screenshot, is there any interesting difference between logs of sessions that shutdown? themselves and ones where you manually shutdown Pro Tools?

Could there be any scripts or automation tools running on your PC that could be shutting down Pro Tools? e.g. as part of a backup etc?

Nothing showing up in the Windows Event Manager?

[Franzen]

Is there any way I can post one of those log files here? Or at least part of it?

Even after uninstalling 3rd party plugins the same issue keeps happening. I opened PT and didn't load a session - just as a test - and I got the same shutdown eventually. I wanted to share that log file to see if anyone has a clue of what could be going on...

[unkJE]

Originally Posted by Franzen

Is there any way I can post one of those log files here? Or at least part of it? ...

How about a Dropbox link?



Also - can you remove to test - just in case something as simple as this is causing the problem.
Disk : WDC WD20SMZW-11JW8S1 (2TB, USB3/SATA600, 2.5", 5400rpm)
Pro Tools needs 7200rpm – not 5400rpm



And … when you said:
“Added a new SSD for where PT is installed”
… (please don’t be offended!) - I had to ask about this location, as Pro Tools needs to be installed to your C-drive

[Franzen]

Great - I didn't know if it was okay to post a dropbox link here.
Link: https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fo/pgv6d...2ir81cym163d02

That drive that you mentioned is not being used by PT or any libraries or plugins. This happens even when that drive is not connected, or another one I use eventually. I understand what you said about 5400rpm but its really not used for anything related.

Regarding the SSD - sorry if I wasn't clear - I installed a new SSD:
Disk : Samsung SSD 850 EVO 500GB (500.1GB, SATA600, SSD, SED)
This is my C drive and it is where PT is installed.

I originally thought that I could be having trouble with my previous SSD (which was the C drive) because it was older, so one of the first things I did trying was replacing it.
Not offended at all! I might have explained something in a confused way, my apologiese.

[Darryl Ramm]

Your log has what might be a clue in it with a "AVX2 Message: OPServer(%d) died!" error. I don't normally run video but I don't believe that's an expected message.

The first suspect there will be AVX2 plugins in (edit Doh Windows:) c:\Program Files\Avid\Pro Tools\AVX2_Plug-Ins\ Move them out, trash prefs, and try again starting with a clean empty session, etc. (keep retrying all the standard troubleshooting stuff). The log is also whining about some of the AVX2 plugin startup, no idea if that is Windows standard behavior.

If that does not work turn off video support in the playback engine dialog (I assume that was on, speak up if it was not) and test again.

---

Under spec HDD or any other storage related issues are extremely unlikely to cause Pro Tools to exit/shutdown.

[Franzen]

Yes, that did catch my attention also but I didn't know it was related to video. However, I am not running video at this session and I just checked and video is disabled.
But I will need to work with video soon...

I'll try your suggestion!