Sessions Losing sync at 4096 samples??

[Shazamm]

Hi

Im running Pro Tools 8 LE using a digi 003 interface. Ive been using this for the past 6 month and i'm sick of the Blue screen of death. Each time my sessions build up and become somewhat complicated , Pro tools freezes/crashes and the BSOD appears. I think this is due to me having to stick to using lower buffer sizes. Whenever I attempt to use the max resources my computer can handle, the sync of the files is lost on the playback, and things are playing randomly and falling and dropping behind the beat. How can i use all the processing capabilities without losing sync or bsod?
Sometimes when i attempt to change the buffer size , I cant as its set to 64 samples?


I couldnt get sandra to export the text so i hope this info will suffice :)



Windows 7 Professional (x64) Service Pack 1 (build 7601)
Processor a Main Circuit Board b
3.40 gigahertz Intel Core i7-2600K
256 kilobyte primary memory cache
1024 kilobyte secondary memory cache
8192 kilobyte tertiary memory cache
64-bit ready
Multi-core (4 total)
Hyper-threaded (8 total) Board: ASUSTeK Computer INC. P8Z68-V PRO Rev 1.xx
Serial Number: 110460560000365
Bus Clock: 100 megahertz
BIOS: American Megatrends Inc. 0501 05/09/2011
new USB Storage Use in past 30 Days (mouse over last used for details) new Hosted Virtual Machines (mouse over name for details)
Last Used
Seagate FreeAgent -- drive 4, s/n 2GEX7016, rev 102D 11/03/2012 21:45:05
Apple iPod, s/n 000A270013BCBADE, rev 1.62 08/03/2012 18:35:35*
SEMC Mass Storage, s/n BX902ED5X7, rev 0001 22/02/2012 05:14:54*

* Possibly used again before the reboot following this time.
None discovered
Drives new – drive encryption Memory Modules c,d
5500.29 Gigabytes Usable Hard Drive Capacity
1196.82 Gigabytes Hard Drive Free Space

TSSTcorp CDDVDW SH-222AL [Optical drive]

ASDK WDC WD30EZRX-00MMMB0 ATA Device [Hard drive] (801.56 GB) -- drive 3, s/n 4E6E7A25
Seagate FreeAgent USB Device [Hard drive] (1500.30 GB) -- drive 4, s/n 2GEX7016
WDC WD30EZRX-00MMMB0 [Hard drive] (3000.59 GB) -- drive 2, s/n WD-WCAWZ0810841, rev 80.00A80, SMART Status: Healthy
WDC WD5002AALX-00J37A0 [Hard drive] (500.11 GB) -- drive 0, s/n WD-WCAYUW205740, rev 15.01H15, SMART Status: Healthy
WDC WD5002AALX-00J37A0 [Hard drive] (500.11 GB) -- drive 1, s/n WD-WCAYUW138387, rev 15.01H15, SMART Status: Healthy 16362 Megabytes Usable Installed Memory

Slot 'DIMM0' has 4096 MB
Slot 'DIMM1' has 4096 MB
Slot 'DIMM2' has 4096 MB
Slot 'DIMM3' has 4096 MB
Local Drive Volumes new – volume encryption


c: (NTFS on drive 1) * 500.11 GB 246.19 GB free
d: (NTFS on drive 0) 500.00 GB 392.30 GB free
f: (NTFS on drive 2) 2199.02 GB 163.76 GB free
h: (FAT32 on drive 4) 1499.73 GB 115.60 GB free
i: (NTFS on drive 3) 801.43 GB 278.97 GB free

* Operating System is installed on c:
Network Drives
None discovered

[albee1952]

Odd looking report A few things to look at: Are you using the onboard graphics? That has been a show stopper for many and inconsistent at best. You should leave the iPod disconnected when running Pro Tools. What is drive H:? FAT 32 drives are not good for audio(okay for backups and transfers). From the report: Drives new – drive encryption Memory Modules c,d Does this mean you have drive encryption running? If so, I would not do that. RAM is not showing the typical info of a Sandra report, so its impossible to tell if the timings are correct. The AUTO setting can sometimes be a poor choice. With Windows 7, you should be running 8.0.5, so I would install that update. My Asus setup would not work with the on-board firewire(adding an approved SIIG card solved that issue). The 4096 buffer was an anomaly and only appeared on 1 version, but my testing showed absolutely NO performance change or improvement when using it(assuming 44.1 or 48K sessions). BSOD is evidence of a serious issue to solve. Start by updating all drivers(connect to the internet and open Device Manager and update each and every item on the list).

[Shazamm]

Got The specs now , phew :)

SiSoftware Sandra

Computer
Model : System manufacturer System Product Name
Workgroup : WORKGROUP
Host Name : OS-PC
User : OS

Processor
Model : Intel(R) Core(TM) i7-2600K CPU @ 3.40GHz
Speed : 3.51GHz
Cores per Processor : 4 Unit(s)
Threads per Core : 2 Unit(s)
Type : Quad-Core
Integrated Data Cache : 4x 32kB, Synchronous, Write-Thru, 8-way, 64 byte line size, 2 threads sharing
L2 On-board Cache : 4x 256kB, ECC, Synchronous, ATC, 8-way, 64 byte line size, 2 threads sharing
L3 On-board Cache : 8MB, ECC, Synchronous, ATC, 16-way, Exclusive, 64 byte line size, 8 threads sharing

Computer
Mainboard : Asus P8Z68-V PRO
BIOS : AMI 0501 05/09/2011
Bus(es) : X-Bus PCI PCIe USB FireWire/1394 i2c/SMBus
Multi-Processor (MP) Support : No
Multi-Processor Advanced PIC (APIC) : No
Total Memory : 16GB DIMM DDR3

Chipset
Model : ASUS Sandy Bridge DRAM Controller
Front Side Bus Speed : 1x 100MHz (100MHz)
Total Memory : 16GB DIMM DDR3
Channels : 2
Memory Bus Speed : 2x 667MHz (1.33GHz)

Memory Module(s)
Memory Module : Corsair CMZ16GX3M4A1600C9 4GB DIMM DDR3 PC3-12800U DDR3-1600 (9-9-9-24 5-34-10-5)
Memory Module : Corsair CMZ4GX3M1A1600C9 4GB DIMM DDR3 PC3-12800U DDR3-1600 (9-9-9-24 5-34-10-5)
Memory Module : Corsair CMZ16GX3M4A1600C9 4GB DIMM DDR3 PC3-12800U DDR3-1600 (9-9-9-24 5-34-10-5)
Memory Module : Corsair CMZ16GX3M4A1600C9 4GB DIMM DDR3 PC3-12800U DDR3-1600 (9-9-9-24 5-34-10-5)

Video System
Video Adapter : NVIDIA GeForce GTX 570 (480 SM5.0 1.6GHz, 1.3GB, PCIe 2.00 x16)

Graphics Processor
OpenCL Processor : NVIDIA GeForce GTX 570 (480SP 15C 1.6GHz, 1.2GB)
CUDA Processor : NVIDIA GeForce GTX 570 (480SP 15C 1.6GHz, 1.2GB)
Compute Shader Processor : NVIDIA GeForce GTX 570 (480SP 1.6GHz, 1.2GB)

Storage Devices
WDC WD5002AALX-00J37A0 (500.1GB, SATA600, 3.5", 7200rpm, NCQ, 32MB Cache) : 466GB (D:)
WDC WD5002AALX-00J37A0 (500.1GB, SATA600, 3.5", 7200rpm, NCQ, 32MB Cache) : 466GB (C:)
WDC WD30EZRX-00MMMB0 (3TB, SATA600, 3.5", NCQ) : 3TB (F:)
ASUSTeK osm 801.6GB : 747GB (I:)
Seagate FreeAgent 1.5TB (USB) : 1TB (H:)
TSSTcorp CDDVDW SH-222AL (SATA150, DVD+-RW, CD-RW, 2MB Cache) : 8GB (E:)

Logical Storage Devices
System Reserved : 100MB (NTFS)
OS (C:) : 466GB (NTFS) @ WDC WD5002AALX-00J37A0 (500.1GB, SATA600, 3.5", 7200rpm, NCQ, 32MB Cache)
Storage (F:) : 2TB (NTFS) @ WDC WD30EZRX-00MMMB0 (3TB, SATA600, 3.5", NCQ)
Media Files (I:) : 746GB (NTFS) @ ASUSTeK osm 801.6GB
FREEAGENT (H:) : 1TB (FAT32) @ Seagate FreeAgent 1.5TB (USB)
AUDIO DRIVE (D:) : 466GB (NTFS) @ WDC WD5002AALX-00J37A0 (500.1GB, SATA600, 3.5", 7200rpm, NCQ, 32MB Cache)
Pro Tools LE (E:) : 8GB (CDFS) @ TSSTcorp CDDVDW SH-222AL (SATA150, DVD+-RW, CD-RW, 2MB Cache)

Peripherals
LPC Hub Controller 1 : ASUS Cougar Point LPC Controller
LPC Legacy Controller 1 : T0 C3-33
Audio Device : ASUS Cougar Point High Definition Audio Controller
Audio Device : CardExpert Tech 0E09h
Audio Codec : nVidia Riva 128 Graphics Accelerator [NV3]
Audio Codec : 1 0001h
Audio Codec : 1 0001h
Serial Port(s) : 1
Disk Controller : ASUS Cougar Point 6 port SATA AHCI Controller
Disk Controller : ASUS JMB362 AHCI Controller
Disk Controller : ASUS 9172h
USB Controller 1 : ASUS Cougar Point USB Enhanced Host Controller #2
USB Controller 2 : ASUS Cougar Point USB Enhanced Host Controller #1
USB Controller 3 : ASUS 1042h
USB Controller 4 : ASUS 1042h
FireWire/1394 Controller 1 : TI TSB43AB23 1394a-2000 OHCI PHY/link-layer Controller
FireWire/1394 Controller 2 : ASUS VT6306 VIA Fire II IEEE-1394 OHCI Link Layer Controller
SMBus/i2c Controller 1 : Intel 801xx/63xx SMBus

Printers and Faxes
Printer : Microsoft XPS Document Writer (600x600, Colour)
Fax : Microsoft Shared Fax Driver (200x200)

Network Services
Network Adapter : Bluetooth Device (Personal Area Network)
Network Adapter : TAP-Win32 Adapter V9
Wireless Adapter 1 : Wireless N-300 USB Adapter WNA3100 (802.11g (ERP), TKIP, 54Mbps)

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

Operating System
Windows System : Microsoft Windows 7 Ultimate 6.01.7601 (Service Pack 1)
Platform Compliance : x64

Windows Experience Index
Current System : 5.9

[Shazamm]

Thanks for the reply. No , im using NVIDIA GeForce GTX 570 graphics card. Yeah that report was done using Belarc, there was no ipod connected strangely enough.... Drive H is an external HD rarely connected , just used for storage, no writing. Yeah I forgot to mention that I updated to 8.0.5 and am still getting program crashes. Im using a texas instruments fw card connected to the digi 003. Also Ive had the same sync error before using Mac Pro's in college, even then i had to lower the rate to do work on a session. Im not too sure what the drive encryption thing is but thanks. Most drivers have been updated also thanks again

[albee1952]

Okay, FWIW, the VIA firewire on my Asus P8P67 would not work at all with my 003(tried all 3 drivers). Bluetooth and wifi need to be disabled when running Pro Tools. I would also disconnect the H: drive until things start working better(the FAT32 thing).

If all your drivers are up to date, then its time to start testing RAM. Memtest86 is free. From what I have read, its best to pull all but 1 stick and run memtest on each stick, one at a time

[Shazamm]

Thanks for the replies again! Yeah i think wi-fi could be accounting to the crashes, but not to the sync errors at the higher buffer rate. I will turn both off and try. I also did a memtest a while back thinking the ram could be an issue but i will test again now and see if anything has changed. One stick at a time? :) okay...... haha .....