CPU meter in the RED! same session is green on Other MAC?

[sdaly]

Hi All
I am having nightmares playing quite a few sessions on my macbook.
I have a macbook 2.16 ghz, 2gig RAM intel core 2 duo,PTle8 Mbox2 & leopard My music partner has a macbook 2ghz, 2 gig RAM intel core 2 duo PTle8 Mbox2 leopard, he can run certain sessions fine with the CPU meter reading 40-50% (green) i try to run the same sessions and they will not play my CPU meter reads 95% + (red)

I have had my mac tested @ the mac genius bar and came back ok, i have re installed PT 8 (after trashing prefs more times than eating dinner) i have also done a clean re install of Leopard. but still can not run the sessions.

Plug ins are pt free bees and antares autotune and avox kit.

Activity monitor shows core audio (not responding) on both systems

The disk buffer size and playback engine are set identically - 2048 - 2 processors - 90% limit.

We both use identical gdrive hard drives FW400 oxford chipset. with over 50% of space available.

To be honest this just one of my pro tools headaches i also have bugs where my midi notes strike early, clicking in the time line bar to select a play point creates a loop, virtual instruments stop playing and if in the mixer window play does not respond to the space bar... but lets deal with the main CPU problem first as Digi are working on helping me with the bugs (so far no luck after 2 months)

If anyone can help ill be eternally grateful.

Steve

[DigiTechSupt]

Have you done all the steps in the General Troubleshooting thread yet? Are you absolutely sure that Firewire Networking is disabled?

[petter]

Hi,
I just updated from PT M-Powered 7.4.2 with M-Audio FW410 to PT 8 with M-box 2 Pro!
I also went from OS X 10.5.4. to 10.5.6.
Unfortunately, the whole system is now worse! I am getting constantly CPU errors with very few (Digi AIR) plug-ins, and the whole "thing" feels very instable!
I am basically using the "same" program, a similar FW sound card! I just changed the cables (FW, MIDI, etc...) from a sound card to another. It should work!
I did the General Troubleshooting before the updates, but I checked-it out again and everything looks OK!
I am a bit confused about the way Digidesign describe how to disable the firewire networking. I cannot find at all "next to show select Network Port Configurations", etc... I disable-it by making it inactive, etc...
BUT, this was not an isue with my old system that worked just fine!

I am on a Macbook - black. 2006 model : Intel Core 2 Duo 2.0 Ghz, 4 Gb RAM.
I am using a Firewire cable from the computer to the M-box 2 Pro, than trough the M-box to a Firewire external 3.5 '' Maxtor HD, and from this, trough again, to another external Firewire 2.5'' external drive (witch I only use sometimes for back-ups, etc...). They are according with the specs! Also (again!), this chain worked perfectly with my old system!
Even though is not indicated, I used the system drive many times for the sessions as well! Especially on the road. It worked fine even with some "big" sessions.
Now, as I said, everything is worse!
I am also using Logic Pro 8! So far I couldn't see any kind of differance comparing with my old OS X or my old FW sound card!!!

I still have 7.4.2. (OSX 10.5.4) on another drive, both LE and M-powered. LE I used to use it with my M-box Micro and was OK. Not as stable like the M-powered, but this may be beacuase of the USB protocol...
I will try to see how PTLE 7.4.2. work with M-box 2 Pro, but I kind of suspect that...:
PT 8 has some isues that may be fix soon!

I remember that I red for a while ago, that some people had better results inverting the FW chain: the HD first and then the sound card (M-box 2 Pro). Maybe I am wrong...
Even so, again: working with my new system on the system HD only is much worse than with my old system...
Some more ideas...?
Thanks!
/P

[DigiTechSupt]

When you upgraded from 7.4.2, did you uninstall 7.4.2 before installing PT8? If not - that could be part (or all) of the problem. Doing a clean uninstall of both PT8 and 7.4.2, restarting, then reinstalling PT8 may clear up the problems.

Also, when you updated from 10.5.4 to 10.5.6, did you use the Software Update panel or did you get the full Combo Update from the Apple website? The Combo Update is always the best way to go, as Software Update seems to be a little flaky sometimes.

You should definitely try putting the MBox 2 Pro at the end of your firewire chain to see if that changes any of the symptoms.

Are all your plug-ins up to date?

Pro Tools Plug-In Compatibility Info.

[petter]

Hi,

Thank you for answering.
I did everything by the book...
OK, talking about the plug ins:

EZ Drummer didn't work at all in the beginning. It has the version approved by Digidesign! (I found out this later...). I update-it to the latest version (non approved by Digi...) and it worked (much) better...
Spectrasonics stuff (Omnisphere, RMX), were already one version higher than the one approved by Digi, when I checked.
I didn't downgrade. In stead, I've got up to date, so now I am 2 versions higher...):-
...and I am not going to do a thing about this! Except waiting for Digidesign to catch up! Please do it soon! PT 8 is been long enough out so it's time to make it work properly! Thank you!
P.