midi timing erratic even with click on LE 7.3

[DigiTechSupt]

If you've done everything in the General Troubleshooting thread and are still having the problem, most likely it's due to the unsupported integrated graphics card, which is known to cause this sort of thing:

Graphics Processor
Adapter : NVIDIA GeForce 8400 GS (128SP 1.4GHz, 512MB 2x400MHz Integrated Graphics)

You could try getting a dedicated graphics card and disabling the integrated one, but there's no guarantee it will work, as motherboards with integrated graphics often have and overall hardware design that doesn't work well with Pro Tools.

[DigiTechSupt]

Originally Posted by Dazzahaz

Ive spent a few hours getting my drivers setup the same way as the working version and that doesnt change a thing.

Ive noticed that sometimes it wont play at all until pressing the play button a few times, some notes will play others wont, sometimes it tries to catch up by playing the missed notes very quickly. Sometimes it will just play one note, then maybe later sometime, even if the sequence is over it will play a few more.

Ive looked everywhere for an answer and seen nothing, Ive remove protools and reinstalled, installed the update, just got the same result.

Ive really enjoyed working in pro tools but Im getting to the end of my patience, no VSTs, expensive plugins and a this crazy problem. There is the option of the $150 upgrade to version 8, but theres no guarantee I wont get this problem still.

Frustration!!

We need your Sandra report and info on which steps you've done from the General Troubleshooting thread to assist you further.

[Dazzahaz]

Thanks for replying Tech support,

Im running Pro Tools 7.3 with the latest patch for this version
I havent changed anything to do with bios, the only plugins are Expand and Sample Tank that both came with LE (Sample Tank came with Version 6.8?, the original Of PT Bundled with the MBox2). Im using the MBox2 mini.

I havent made any extra changes to my system, beyond for the prerequisites in the quick start guide. I havent done this as there was nothing I read which suggested a possible solution to this problem.

My laptop is new, originally came with Vista, Ive used the XP drivers supplied by Dell for this computer to "downgrade" so to be able to run Pro Tools.

With so many different problem resolution techniques suggested on the website I dont have the time try every one and I didnt have to do much to solve the same problem with my last computer.

Ive ran Sandra on my computer and have supplied just the general specs below.
SiSoftware Sandra

System
Model : Dell Inc. Studio 1555

Processor
Model : Intel(R) Core(TM)2 Duo CPU T6400 @ 2.00GHz
Speed : 2GHz
Cores per Processor : 2 Unit(s)
Threads per Core : 1 Unit(s)
Type : Mobile, Dual-Core
Integrated Data Cache : 2x 32kB, Synchronous, Write-Thru, 8-way, 64 byte line size
L2 On-board Cache : 2MB, ECC, Synchronous, ATC, 8-way, 64 byte line size, 2 threads sharing

System
Platform Compliance : Intel Centrino Duo Mobile Technology
Mainboard : Dell Inc. 0C234M
BIOS : Dell Inc. A05 (03/20/2009)
Bus(es) : X-Bus PCI PCIe IMB USB FireWire/1394 i2c/SMBus
Multi-Processor (MP) Support : No
Multi-Processor Advanced PIC (APIC) : Yes
Total Memory : 3GB SO-DIMM

Chipset
Model : Dell PM45 Mobile Controller Hub
Front Side Bus Speed : 4x 200MHz (800MHz)
Total Memory : 3GB SO-DIMM
Memory Bus Speed : 2x 400MHz (800MHz)

Memory Module(s)
Memory Module : Elpida EBE11UE6ACUA-8G-E 1GB DDR2 SO-DIMM PC2-6400U DDR2-800 (5-6-6-18 4-24-6-3)
Memory Module : Hynix (Hyundai) HMP125S6EFR8C-S6 2GB DDR2 SO-DIMM PC2-6400U DDR2-800 (5-6-6-18 3-24-6-3)

Video System
Adapter : ATI Mobility Radeon HD 4570 (PS3.0, VS3.0, 512MB, PCIe 2.00 x16)

Storage Devices
ST9250320AS (250GB, SATA300, 2.5", 5400rpm, NCQ, 8MB Cache) : 233GB (C:) (D:) (E:)
HL-DT-ST DVD+-RW GA10N (SATA150, DVD+-RW, CD-RW, 2MB Cache) : N/A (F:)

Peripherals
LPC Hub Controller 1 : Dell (ICH9M) LPC Interface Controller
LPC Legacy Controller 1 : Winbond W83687THF
Audio Device : Dell (ICH9) HD Audio Controller
Audio Device : Dell RV730XT Audio device [Radeon HD 4670]
Disk Controller : Dell (ICH9) Mobile 2 port Serial ATA Storage Controller 1
Disk Controller : Dell (ICH9) Mobile 2 port Serial ATA Storage Controller 2
USB Controller 1 : Dell (ICH9) USB Universal Host Controller
USB Controller 2 : Dell (ICH9) USB Universal Host Controller
USB Controller 3 : Dell (ICH9) USB Universal Host Controller
USB Controller 4 : Dell (ICH9) USB2 Enhanced Host Controller
USB Controller 5 : Dell (ICH9) USB Universal Host Controller
USB Controller 6 : Dell (ICH9) USB Universal Host Controller
USB Controller 7 : Dell (ICH9) USB Universal Host Controller
USB Controller 8 : Dell (ICH9) USB2 Enhanced Host Controller
FireWire/1394 Controller 1 : Dell R5C832 IEEE-1394 Controller
SMBus/i2c Controller 1 : Intel 801xx/63xx SMBus

Network Services
Network Adapter : Intel(R) WiFi Link 5100 AGN - Packet Scheduler Miniport (Ethernet, 54Mbps)
Network Adapter : MAC Bridge Miniport - Packet Scheduler Miniport (Ethernet, 400Mbps)

Operating System
Windows System : Microsoft Windows XP Professional 5.01.2600 (Service Pack 2)
Platform Compliance : x86

I appreciate any suggestions.

[DigiTechSupt]

I havent made any extra changes to my system, beyond for the prerequisites in the quick start guide. I havent done this as there was nothing I read which suggested a possible solution to this problem.

You missed this one then:

IMPORTANT! You MUST use a secondary hard drive (not your main OS drive) for recording and playback of audio in Pro Tools. Recording or playback from the OS drive is known to be problematic and the cause of many different error types. If you are using your system drive and encountering errors, the first thing you should do is get a compatible drive. USB drives are not supported and are known to be problematic, so please do not use them with Pro Tools. If you're recording or playing back from a USB drive and are getting errors in Pro Tools, please switch to using a compatible external firewire drive or internal SATA/ATA/IDE drive and disconnect the USB drive.

There are also several other optimizations in the General Troubleshooting thread that are likely to help, but first you need to get a compatible secondary drive.

[Dazzahaz]

By "secondary drive" does this mean a physical second drive or a second partition? My machine is a laptop which I doubt has room for a second drive and as USB drives are a problem.

This will mean I have to buy a firewire drive, is there any guarantee this will solve the problem? Have there been other cases where the situation we are describing has been solved taking this action? The recording and playback of audio is fine, its just the midi notes that playback erratically.

I appreciate the suggestion and yes my other computer does have a second dedicated drive, it initially had this problem too, but the problem was solved a different way (its killing me that I cant remember how I solved it).

[spkguitar]

Originally Posted by Dazzahaz

I appreciate the suggestion and yes my other computer does have a second dedicated drive, it initially had this problem too, but the problem was solved a different way (its killing me that I cant remember how I solved it).

Erratic timing has usually been linked to having a multi-core processor (which you have), but not having the Microsoft hotfix installed (which you may or may not have). I would recommend either finding the Microsoft multi-core hotfix, or upgrading to SP3. That will probably solve your erratic timing issue.

Originally Posted by Dazzahaz

By "secondary drive" does this mean a physical second drive or a second partition?

Physical second drive, just like it says.

Originally Posted by Dazzahaz

This will mean I have to buy a firewire drive,

Yes.

Originally Posted by Dazzahaz

is there any guarantee this will solve the problem?

No. As I mentioned above, I think your timing problem is elsewhere, but it will definitely eliminate future problems (buffer errors, specifically).

[The Weed]

While not supported by Digidesign, eSATA drives with an eSATA ExpressCard could be an answer to a second, external drive. They certainly have a faster transfer speed than USB or FireWire as they are basically plugged into the MB controller like an internal drive.

Cheers,

[kubar]

I have the exact same problem. I think this is something wrong with sending data to click - 'midi in' light in click plug-in window. When I run TL Metro, without linked to session tempo, everything it's all right. But when I use TL Metro, linked to transport+tempo, or DigiRack Click / Midi instrument Click.....

[TOM@METRO]

Welcome,

If you have the exact problem, have you tried all of the suggestions offered here in this thread? And here... And here.

[kubar]

Yes, and nothing didn't fix the problem. I removed PT and all preferences, re-install and download last cs7 update. My computer is certified by digidesign.