HELP NEEDED!!! Pro Tools Error message when recording..Easy Fix?

[Osser]

I get this message while recording about 10 seconds into a session every time. "DAE can't get audio from the drives fast enough. Your drive may be too slow or fragmented , or a firewire drive could be having trouble due to the extra firewire bandwith or cpu load.-9073" What does this mean and how can I fix this issue?

Here's my system specs:

• MAC OS X Version 10.6.8, (macbook 13"), Processor: 2.26 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo.(1 processor). Memory 2 GB 1067 MHz DDR3. Bus Speed 1.07GHz.

I'm running ProTools 8 LE and I got my MACBOOK back in 09'. I tried running my sessions through a SEAGATE external hard drive(don't know the model) but it's the same issue. haven't had this happen consistently up until recently. I deleted a ton of stuff off my computer and still no dice. Any info on this would be great, Thanks in advance!

[Darryl Ramm]

Originally Posted by Osser

I get this message while recording about 10 seconds into a session every time. "DAE can't get audio from the drives fast enough. Your drive may be too slow or fragmented , or a firewire drive could be having trouble due to the extra firewire bandwith or cpu load.-9073" What does this mean and how can I fix this issue?

Here's my system specs:

• MAC OS X Version 10.6.8, (macbook 13"), Processor: 2.26 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo.(1 processor). Memory 2 GB 1067 MHz DDR3. Bus Speed 1.07GHz.

I'm running ProTools 8 LE and I got my MACBOOK back in 09'. I tried running my sessions through a SEAGATE external hard drive(don't know the model) but it's the same issue. haven't had this happen consistently up until recently. I deleted a ton of stuff off my computer and still no dice. Any info on this would be great, Thanks in advance!

It almost certainly means user error == you do not have a system that meets the disk specs for Pro Tools audio drives, with a dedicated separate drive for audio/session files that is at least 7,200 rpm or an SSD. What exact make/model/rpm spec drive do you have in the Mac and what exact drive did you try externally. "don't know the model" does not help. Go find out exactly what it is. If an external Firewire drive it needs to use a Oxford controller chipset. And it better be Firewire as PT8 LE also does not officially support using USB drives on a Mac, so was the external drive USB or Firewire. And nowadays I'd be using SSDs instead of HDD.

We can avoid all these questions, and you can usually avoid all these hassles, if you just follow the system/disk requirements for the version of Pro Tools you are using.

Your system is likely under-configured in other ways, how well it will work if at all depends on what you are planning to do, but it is also lite on memory for Pro Tools, the core 2 processors won't support running a lot of plugins and the 13" screen is a pain to do much on. OS X 10.6.8 requires Pro Tools LE 8.0.5, I hope you are running that.

And what interface and exact driver version are you running?

Darryl

[Osser]

Thanks for your reply, I'm running pro tools LE 8.0.3 ..Guessing thats an issue? I'm running protools straight to my MACBOOK then after the session is complete, I move it to my external which by me reading the specs I believe it is a USB 3.0 interface with 800 FireWire. Here's the exact one here.

Here's my macbook specs:

Model Name: MacBook
Model Identifier: MacBook6,1
Processor Name: Intel Core 2 Duo
Processor Speed: 2.26 GHz
Number Of Processors: 1
Total Number Of Cores: 2
L2 Cache: 3 MB
Memory: 2 GB
Bus Speed: 1.07 GHz
Boot ROM Version: MB61.00C8.B00
SMC Version (system): 1.51f53

So are you saying I need to upgrade protools and run it to an SSD instead of an external? What are the steps I need to take to combat this issue? Thanks again for your help Darryl.

[Darryl Ramm]

Originally Posted by Osser

Thanks for your reply, I'm running pro tools LE 8.0.3 ..Guessing thats an issue? I'm running protools straight to my MACBOOK then after the session is complete, I move it to my SEAGATE external which by me reading the specs I believe it is a USB 3.0 interface with 800 FireWire.

Here's my macbook specs:

Model Name: MacBook
Model Identifier: MacBook6,1
Processor Name: Intel Core 2 Duo
Processor Speed: 2.26 GHz
Number Of Processors: 1
Total Number Of Cores: 2
L2 Cache: 3 MB
Memory: 2 GB
Bus Speed: 1.07 GHz
Boot ROM Version: MB61.00C8.B00
SMC Version (system): 1.51f53

So are you saying I need to upgrade protools and run it to an SSD instead of an external? What are the steps I need to take to combat this issue? Thanks again for your help Darryl.

Nothing that you have provided tells us anything about what disks you have/have tried. And for now that is all that matters.

And no, 8.0.x to 8.0.5 likely will not fix this issue, what you are seeing is classic misconfigured/underspec disk, including appearing to work OK for a while then fall over. I am saying first understand what exact disk drive is in the Mac (OS X system report will tell you) and what exact external drive you have. What is the exact model number/what does the OS X System Report utility show when the drive is connected. Then either upgrade these to meet the documented Pro Tools system specs or throw out the Mac and get a new computer that at least meets the system requirements.).

[sunburst79]

Darryl has summed things up pretty well. What your seeing is a classic error that's normally generated my not having a fast enough drive or using slow interface or having two many devices on a bus etc.

As he stated we are going to need specific info about your system to sort this out.

Recording to the system drive and then transferring it to another drive is likely to be your issue. Without knowing more the best solution would probably be recording to the external drive if its fast enough. You could use a FW800 to FW400 adapter if need be. If the drive in the enclosure is a green drive or the enclosure is using a incompatible bridge chip then all bets are off.

[JFreak]

It might also be perfectly good disk but just too filled up. I never record to drives that are less than 50% empty.