Reproducible Bug 2022.12, Monterey, HD Native

[chuckbutler]

Here's the latest after consulting with Avid and Sonnet.

The Pro Tools system in the first room I set up uses a Mac Studio Max (12.6.3) connected to an HD Native card in an Avid HDX/TB3 expansion chassis (made by Sonnet). Sonnet tech support directed me to their tech note 1199 here . . .

https://www.sonnettech.com/support/k...on=b1193#b1193

. . . which reports a known issue with certain Macs (including Mac Studio) and the HD Native card. Their description of the issue is consistent with what I've experienced in that room (though I never get an error code). When we boot the system from a "cold" start, Pro Tools opens and performs correctly. But if we restart the Mac, this triggers the bug reported in my OP, at which point we can either use the workaround I described, or power down for another "cold" start to restore functionality.

The bug is much more problematic in our second room. The only difference in this system is that the HD Native card is in an older Sonnet Echo Express SEII TB2-toPCI Express Card Expansion Chassis (using an Apple TB2 > TB3 adapter). In this room, the bug is triggered by any shutdown or restart, whether "warm" or "cold." The only way I've found to restore normal Pro Tools operation once the bug is triggered is to uninstall and reinstalled the HD Driver, and then perform the workaround previously mentioned. Once the bug is triggered the workaround by itself will not restore functionallity (as it does in the first room), I have to reinstall the HD Driver.

Per another user's recommendation, I have tried inserting several different TB3 hubs/docks between the Mac and the expansion chassis, most recently an OWC 14-port TB3 dock. This has not made any difference (though I appreciate the suggestion, and Sonnet agreed that it was worth a shot, as altering the chain can sometimes alter the behavior of connected devices).

I am continuing to pursue this issue with Avid and Sonnet, though it is becoming increasingly apparent to me that it will only be resolved by an update to the HD Driver, or the HD Native firmware, or both. I fear that neither will be forthcoming in a timely manner, so I wonder if anyone here is aware of *any* expansion chassis that offers full compatibility between the Mac Studio and HD Native card.

[DetroitT]

This occurs with cMP 5,1 HDX
IN BOTH macOS 10.14.6
And open-sourced OS 12.3.6
Pro Tools Ultimate 22.10<22.12
My workaround is to switch to a Motu interface to get work done
Then back to the HDX/Omni. If still stuck then reinstall HDDriver from PT’s installer.
—-////
Regarding chassis Ive had zero issue on Mac Studio Max with Magma TB2 Roben 3slot HDX.

[chuckbutler]

It's interesting the some HDX users have seen this bug as well, but our situation seems consistent with this tech note that Avid forwarded to me:

https://protect-us.mimecast.com/s/WG...cure.force.com

Avid advised me against using our older Sonnet TB2 expansion chassis, so I have replaced it with a new Avid HDX/TB3 chassis. We now have two rooms with a Mac Studio Max, HD Native Card, and Avid chassis misbehaving in exactly the way described in the above tech note. Avid assures me that they are working on a fix.

In the meantime, I discovered a quicker way to reset when the bug occurs:

1. Quit ProTools, then open AudioMIDI Setup
2. Right-click on HD Native, choose Configure Device, then click OK (no need to change anything)
3. Relaunch ProTools, it should now function correctly

This isn't 100% reliable, but usually works.

I've also found that the bug occurs less frequently if (a) the buffer setting set for the interface in AudioMIDI setup matches the one set in ProTools under Setup > Playback Engine and (b) if the buffer is larger rather than smaller. With a 64k buffer the bug is easily triggered by many actions, at 256k it occurs much less frequently.

[chuckbutler]

Turns out that there is slightly easier way to "tickle" the hardware and reset after the bug occurs:

1. Quit ProTools, then open AvidAudioServerLauncher (in Applications > Avid)
2. When the Hardware dialog appears, click OK (no changes) and then quit
3. Relaunch Protools and open session; it should now play normally

This has been the most reliable workaround for me. Occasionally I've had to run through it twice. I'm keeping an alias to the AvidAudioServerLauncher on my desktop until this bug gets squashed.

[chuckbutler]

In case this helps anyone, we've found an even faster workaround. When the bug occurs, don't quit ProTools:

1. Go to Playback Engine settings and switch your engine to something *other* than HD Native.

2. On PT 2022.12 you can simply reselect HD Native, forcing it to reload. On PT 2023.3 this doesn't work, so we instead switch to ProTools Aggregate (which we don't have set up to do anything). PT then reports that this driver is unavailable, and defaults back to HD Native. Click OK to allow the HD Native driver to reload.

3. The bug should now be fixed. Once in a while we have to repeat this process a second time to get it to work, but usually one reset does the trick.

The advantage of this method is that it avoids quitting ProTools (and thus waiting for it to restart), so it's a much quicker way to get PT working again.

Avid is well aware of this bug, and included it as a "known issue" in the 2023.3 release notes. They have assured us that a fix is forthcoming...we shall see.

[chuckbutler]

I'm happy to report that this bug is fixed in 2023.6. Thanks to Avid for addressing the issue.