Please help with 003 connectivity issues!

[toddamo]

Dear DUC friends,

I'm a longtime PT user (PC world) and a new Mac user. I have been trying
unsuccessfully for many weeks to get my MacBook Pro to work with my 003
Rack. I'm posting here again in hope that someone can help me avoid paying
$40 for Avid phone support.

Ok...here are the logistical details --

Computer model and processor speed - new Macbook Pro 2.6 GHz i7
OS version - 10.8.4
Digidesign or M-Audio hardware model - 003 Rack
Pro Tools version - 11.0.1
Amount of RAM installed - 8 GB
Peripherals - Lacie Quadra D2 connected via Thunderbolt Port
003R connected via Firewire

Here's a description of the situation --

Audio plays through 003 on other applications...with crackling.

In Pro Tools, Avid 003 Rack is selected as the Playback Engine.
However, playback will not start. Pressing play results in flashing
Play Button and lit up Stop Button.

Increasing the H/W buffer size from 128 to 512 and then pressing play
results in pinwheel special effect and need for forced quit.

003 Rack is working as I'm still using it with my old PC setup.

I have tried uninstalling and re-installing both PT's and the 003 driver with the same results.

Any help or suggestions would be GREATLY appreciated. It's such a frustrating
thing when you want to make music on your new system and you're mired in
technical confusion. Thanks so much in advance for any insight!

[RegenerationMix]

Hi, a few redundant questions.

Do you have a 400-800 firewire adapter? The 003r is 400, but the new macs are 800. You would need a 400-800 cable.


Also did you install the newest driver for the 003r. There is one that is specifically for pro tools 11.



Chris

[toddamo]

Thanks for the response!

Yes...I'm using the latest 003 driver for PT 11.

I did have the 003 PT 10 driver installed previously.
(I see no way to uninstall it.)

I am coming out of my 003R and into the Mac with a 400 to 800 FW cable.

Is it possible my 003R needs a firmware update? (Not sure how to do that...)

Any other ideas or suggestions would be hugely appreciated!!

[RegenerationMix]

It sounds like the setup in pro tools is not the same as the 003r.

Crackling usually is the wrong sample rate between two machines.

if you have both drivers installed. Go into your Audio/ Midi setup. You sould see two devices. One named 003 ( this is the pro tools 10 driver) and one named Digi device ( this would be the pro tools 11 driver). ( one 003 driver doesnt replace the other as you can run 10 and 11 on the same computer.)


it may be that you will get better results picking the other driver. The driver for 10 will not work with 11, but i had it on my machine and used it for two weeks before i went back to the 003 driver for 10.

Perhaps the drivers are getting mixed up.

If you have both drivers installed, you should see two 003s in the Audio Midi setup.

Try selecting each one and see of you get better results.


Chris

[RegenerationMix]

Hi, ok. after playing with the 9, 10 and 11 drivers in my setup,

i would recommend you uninstall ALL the digi drivers. ( You can use the install of driver 11 to uninstall.)

Then after restart, go to your audio midi setup and delete all digi 003 devices.
Restart again. Then install only the drivers for pro tools 11. See if that clears up your problems.




Chris

[toddamo]

I'm going try and do this tonight.

The 11 has an uninstaller built in. How do I uninstall the 10 driver?

Thanks so much for your help with this!

I'll be so excited to get over this HUMP.

Cheers!

[RegenerationMix]

Hi, the 11 uninstaller will remove both drivers. just remember to remove all 003 devices from the audio midi setup.


I actually get the best results from the 9 driver and pro tools 10.3.5. but i am not on Mountain Lion.

10.3.6 didnt play well with driver for 11 and 10. But i had disastrious results with 10 and 11 drivers installed. all kind of errors and crashes from not enough cpu. Couldnt even record one audio track and kept getting lost of communication to 003 error or needed more CPU power.


I removed all and then just installed one driver. Since you are on 11, try just the 11 driver. If that doesnt work, uninstall it, remove device and try the 10.

Chris

[toddamo]

Hi...

Much appreciation for your assistance!

Unfortunately, I've been wrestling with this for hours today and it seems to be getting worse.

I uninstalled all drivers. (restart)
I deleted 003 devices in audio media setup. (restart)
I reinstalled the new PT 11 driver. (restart)
And same issue...no playback, flashing play button, HW buffer errors,
increasing H/W buffer size crashes whole system.

So then I tried installing the PT 10 driver.
I uninstalled, deleted devices, installed PT 10 driver and --
PT takes 10 minutes to load (gets hung up on Midi Initialization)
then PT crashes.

I then tried uninstalling the PT 10 driver.
Opening the Audio Midi Interface causes the computer to say Loading...
And then locks up the whole computer requiring a forced Restart.

I tried reinstalling PT 11 driver.
Now PT won't run at all. Just pinwheel effect when initializing Midi Engine.

I've uninstalled and reinstalled the drivers and the whole PT system so many times now.

I thought everything was simpler on a Mac! I'm ready for Windows XP...

Any other suggestions? I am so stubborn about paying Avid $40. (I know...)

Thanks much in advance!

[RegenerationMix]

Install the version 9 driver. If that doesnt work, it may be your Pro tools install is corrupt and that is the problem. The 003 Driver for 11 and for 10 give me all the same problems you have.


Personally i have the best results with the 9 driver ( the one before Mountain lion support as i am on Lion). Since you are on Mountain Lion, try those two drivers. 9 is working like a charm. Even heavy CPU VI's like Massive give me no problems.

I am running

Macbook pro late 2011, OS 10.7.5 2.4 GZ, i7 16 GB ram

Pro tools 10.3.5 ( 10.3.6 was buggy for me).



My buffer is 512, 7 processors and 99%. and level 2 cache.

003r and driver 90.3r

This guy also went back to 003 driver 9.

http://duc.avid.com/showthread.php?t=342459
Chris

[toddamo]

Ok--first off, thanks to RegenerationMix for jumping in with good suggestions!
Your help is much appreciated!

I think I may have some good news!

Yesterday, I bit the bullet and paid for Avid customer support.
I ended up on the phone with 2 very nice and earnest guys for
over 2.5 hours. They were stumped! They had never seen this
behavior before. So the next step was to elevate the ticket to
a senior engineer. That would happen on Monday.

It was suggested to me to uninstall the PT 11 drivers. Install PT 10
and the drivers--and at least I'd have that to work with over the weekend.

I did that today and it resulted in the same type of DAE errors that
I've been experiencing.

Desperate and super frustrated--

I then tried swapping out the Firewire cable. Bingo!
The first thing that happened was that it updated my 003R firmware.
Good sign! Then PT 10 played just fine.

Curious to see what would happen with PT 11, I uninstalled the driver.
Installed the PT 11 driver. And yes...working just fine.

So I THINK I've solved the issue. (Why I didn't try this earlier? )

As I don't have any other Firewire cables on hand right now,
I placed the 'faulty' one back in the chain to my external HD.

The HD SEEMS to be working just fine.

So here is the current question--

Is it possible a FW cable would work with the HD and NOT work with the 003R?

Am I asking for trouble by using this Firewire cable with my external?

I'm going to track today and over the next few days. And I'll see
how it goes.

Simple as that? I hope so.

Let's hope I can make music now!

Thanks again for all the help!

Cheers,

-todd