MBOX PRO 3rd Generation Keep disconnecting: a solution

[Intini]

Relevant data about my rig:

MBOX PRO 3rd generation, package: 1.1.5, firmware: 1.0.3
Pro Tools 10.3.5
Mac OS X 10.8.3
MacBook Pro 2.7 GHz Intel Core i7, 4GB 1333 MHz DDR3 RAM

I could not get my MBox Pro 3 to keep connected to my MacBook Pro for more than 5 minutes without it loosing its connection completely and requiring me to turn it off and on again to be able to use it. It happened in Pro Tools, iTunes, Safari and even when no application was using the MBox Pro 3 - you could see the blue led started to flash and the MBox Pro 3 would disappear from the sound output device list in System Preferences. The error reported in the MBox Pro 3 Control Panel was a CLOCK error and the same error was reported by Pro Tools. Using external WordClock supplied by my ISA430MKII didn't help, so it was not really a CLOCK issue.
After 2 weeks believing that my MBOX PRO 3 was defective and trying everything I could in terms of cables and software I started monitoring my Mac with the Console and the Activity Applications from OS X and I found out that the very Mbox Pro Control Panel was taking around 10%-14% of the CPU even when it was apparently doing nothing and no audio was being played and based on some previous conclusion that the Firewire bus was being flooded with non-audio related data (due to Firewire bus errors observed in the Console) I concluded that the Control Panel could be using too much Firewire bandwidth to communicate with the Mbox Pro 3. As I always kept the MBox Pro 3 Control Panel open every single time I used Pro Tools and any other App that used the MBox Pro 3, I simply closed it and, as you may guess, the problem was solved.
I just thought I would share this with everyone here as this was driving me crazy and I thought others could be experiencing the same problem.
Of course, I would love to see a new version of the MBox Pro 3 Control Panel that would not cause such problem as I really like to track with the Control Panel open (for various reasons). The solution is to set everything I need in the MBox Pro 3 Control Panel and close it before working in Pro Tools or using any other software that will use the MBox Pro 3.

Cheers,

Intini

[Intini]

I upgraded to PT11 last night and....oh...the problem is back!!!! Oh! No! I cannot even try PT11. So frustrating...
Tonight I will be again investigating this problem...
Does anyone else have this problem? Is it only me?
Can anyone can help me, please?

[jryser]

Update to the latest MBox driver. It's brand new specific to 11.


Sent from my PT beating heart

[jryser]

I think off the top of my head it is 1.2.0


Sent from my PT beating heart

[Intini]

Originally Posted by jryser

Update to the latest MBox driver. It's brand new specific to 11.

Thank you very much, JRyser.
After installing PT11 and having problems I found the new MBox 3 Pro driver 1.2.0 but it still didn't solve my problem.

[jryser]

Can you open 10.3.6?


Sent from my PT beating heart

[Intini]

Thank you again. I have tried everything when I got back home, even PT10 to no avail. Just when I thought I had a defective MBox 3 Pro, I decided to try one last thing: to change the apparently professional sturdy Firewire cable that came with the MBox 3 Pro for a shorter apparently flimsy one I had for a hard-drive. Well, I changed it and it DID WORK!
So here is another thing someone with this horrible problem can try to do to solve this situation.
I have now been running audio through the interface for 30 minutes non-stop. Of course, if something bad happens, I will post it here.
Thank you again!

[Intini]

Just an update. Everything is fine and I have been using Pro Tools 11 ever since. It is working great!

[Zakazastar]

Originally Posted by Intini

Thank you again. I have tried everything when I got back home, even PT10 to no avail. Just when I thought I had a defective MBox 3 Pro, I decided to try one last thing: to change the apparently professional sturdy Firewire cable that came with the MBox 3 Pro for a shorter apparently flimsy one I had for a hard-drive. Well, I changed it and it DID WORK!
So here is another thing someone with this horrible problem can try to do to solve this situation.
I have now been running audio through the interface for 30 minutes non-stop. Of course, if something bad happens, I will post it here.
Thank you again!

Thanks a lot for sharing this! I am experiencing similar problem every other day with my Mbox pro. I will try another cable and see if it fixes it.

[jryser]

I had some serious FireWire issues due to cables. I even bought new ones that had issues. The most consistent FireWire I have had cake from the 24 or 36 inch OWC. Even the 12 gave me trouble.