Digitest won't start up properly

[Robert U]

Just got a new computer. Installed all the cards in the same order as on my old Mac Quad PPC (Core card in slot 2, 3 and 4 the other two). Installed ProTools. Tried starting PT but it stops when it comes to the "Initilazing Hardware" part and then I have to force quit. I then restarted everything and tried Digitest which after a couple of seconds shows up but none of my cards. No window at all shows up actually. Preferences is greyed out and when I check about Digitest I get a couple of error messages. I have reinstalled everything twice with two different installers with the same result now.

My system:

Mac Pro 2.93 GHz 12-core Westmere, 14 gig ram
HD 3 Accel
2 Pcs 192 Interfaces
OSX 10.6.4
Protools 9

TIA,

Robert

[DigiTechSupt]

What happens if you test from a new administrator account?

[Robert U]

Originally Posted by DigiTechSupt

What happens if you test from a new administrator account?

Just did as you said and created a new administrator account. Same behaviour with Digitest as before and even worse with PT. Now it just bounces up and down in the dock and then nothing happens.

Cheers,

Robert

[matt_dale]

I am having a similar issue. I was at least able to open PT once, but the card and attached hardware was not found.

To add some info to the situation:
Computer: Mac Pro "Woodcrest", dual 2.66 GHz Dual Core Intel Xeon
16 GB RAM(4x 4GB sticks, two in top riser, two on bottom), 4x 500 GB hard drives, 3 partitions, mirrored then striped
Hardware:
HD Accel Core card (PCIe), 192 i/o

This was a fresh OS 10.6 install, then updated to 10.6.4 (itunes, java etc. updates were also done) Then installed Accel Core card in slot #2, then installed PT HD 9(leaving the default settings on the install). Then downloaded and installed "Pro Tools HD Drivers" from the HD 9 webpage.

I am working on two identical systems and getting similar errors. One machine is doing exactly what is described in this post.
The other can open PT 9, and use the aggregate audio device, but does not see the HD card or anything attached. When running digitest, no cards are shown at all.

One more thing to note, the status LEDs on the PCIe card itself do not light ever, not on startup or PT inititalization or anything.

[Tweakhead]

What about resetting the PRAM & the SMC?

PRAM:
Resetting PRAM and NVRAM
Shut down the computer.
Locate the following keys on the keyboard: Command, Option, P, and R. You will need to hold these keys down simultaneously in step 4.
Turn on the computer.
Press and hold the Command-Option-P-R keys. You must press this key combination before the gray screen appears.
Hold the keys down until the computer restarts and you hear the startup sound for the second time.
Release the keys.

SMC:
Shut down the computer.
Unplug the computer's power cord.
Press and hold the power button for 5 seconds.
Release the power button.
Attach the computer's power cable.
Press the power button to turn on the computer.

[Robert U]

I narrowed down the problem to one of my Accel cards. Put it in my old MAC G5, Digitest started and recognized the card but crashed when I ran the test. Took the card out and put it in my new Mac, Digitest starts but the "Digidesign DigiTest Diagnostics" window never shows up. Tried Core card together with the other accel card and both passed Digitest.

So, something is wrong with my card that even Digitest can't find.

Robert

[LukeHoward]

Originally Posted by Robert U

I narrowed down the problem to one of my Accel cards. Put it in my old MAC G5, Digitest started and recognized the card but crashed when I ran the test. Took the card out and put it in my new Mac, Digitest starts but the "Digidesign DigiTest Diagnostics" window never shows up. Tried Core card together with the other accel card and both passed Digitest.

So, something is wrong with my card that even Digitest can't find.

Robert

Check you didn't shear off a resistor, it's easy to do:

http://avid.custkb.com/avid/app/self...p?DocId=210585

Symptoms are DigiTest crashing and Tools hanging on "initialising DSI".

[matt_dale]

OK. I tried PRAM reset and SMC reset to no avail. Both of these core cards were tested in another woodcrest running 8.0.4 prior to beginning this project. So I wiped the machine and started over and put 8.0.4 on and I still have the same problem. Digitest will open on one machine and say "unsupported hardware" and will just bounce in the dock on the other machine.
Is it possible that I have too much RAM or the hard drive config is bad?

[matt_dale]

Yup. I have found this to be true in the past on some of our other cards. R35 is sheared off very easily

[Robert U]

Just checked the card and compared it to the one working. Yes, it seems that R35 is sheared off (the small black thing).

One more thing, Luke, did you just fix the component yourself or send it to an authorized dealer?

Thanks everyone for you input!!