Computer Freezing from Pro Tools 8 LE - Windows 7

[Feroyn]

Hey, first post here!

So. Im about to pull out my hair because of this, so many countless hours of work has gone to waste of this problem.

Everytime I start working in Pro Tools 8 LE, and add some tracks and plugins, after a while Windows gets stuck, the sound gets stuck, everything is frozen. I can't even move the cursor, and press ctrl alt delete. So I need to emergency shut it off.

Its only on Pro Tools this happens.

I have an Mbox 2 Mini and its run on Pro Tools 8.05 LE.
I've tried reinstalling the program, deleteing preferences, disabling all I can disable for fast and smooth run, but the problem remains.
Even sometimes when I turn Pro Tools off, I get blue-screen. It's really annoying...

Maybe it's my computer? Here's the Sandra report:


SiSoftware Sandra

Computer
Model : Gigabyte P55M-UD2

Processor
Model : Intel(R) Core(TM) i3 CPU 530 @ 2.93GHz
Speed : 3GHz
Cores per Processor : 2 Unit(s)
Threads per Core : 2 Unit(s)
Type : Dual-Core
Integrated Data Cache : 2x 32kB, Synchronous, Write-Thru, 8-way, 64 byte line size, 2 threads sharing
L2 Cache : 2x 256kB, ECC, Synchronous, ATC, 8-way, 64 byte line size, 2 threads sharing
L3 Cache : 4MB, ECC, Synchronous, ATC, 16-way, Exclusive, 64 byte line size, 16 threads sharing

Computer
Mainboard : Gigabyte P55M-UD2
BIOS : Award (OEM) F8 02/11/2010
Bus(es) : X-Bus PCI PCIe IMB USB FireWire/1394 i2c/SMBus
Multi-Processor (MP) Support : No
Multi-Processor Advanced PIC (APIC) : Yes
Total Memory : 4GB DIMM DDR3

Chipset
Model : Giga-Byte Core (Auburndale/Clarkdale) DRAM Controller
Front Side Bus Speed : 2x 3GHz (5.85GHz)
Total Memory : 4GB DIMM DDR3
Channels : 2
Memory Bus Speed : 2x 665MHz (1.33GHz)

Memory Module(s)
Memory Module : A-Data DDR3 1333G 2GB DIMM DDR3 PC3-10700U DDR3-1334 (9-9-9-25 4-34-10-5)
Memory Module : A-Data DDR3 1333G 2GB DIMM DDR3 PC3-10700U DDR3-1334 (9-9-9-25 4-34-10-5)

Video System
Video Adapter : NVIDIA GeForce GTS 250 (128 SM4.0 1.5GHz, 1GB DDR3 2GHz 256-bit, PCIe 2.00 x16)

Graphics Processor
OpenCL Processor : NVIDIA GeForce GTS 250 (128SP 16C 1.62GHz, 1GB DDR3 2GHz 256-bit)
Compute Shader Processor : NVIDIA GeForce GTS 250 (128SP 1.5GHz, 1GB DDR3 2GHz 256-bit)

Storage Devices
SAMSUNG HD502HJ (500.1GB, SATA300, 3.5", 7200rpm, 16MB Cache) : 466GB (C:)
TSSTcorp CDDVDW SH-S223C (SATA150, DVD+-RW, CD-RW, 2MB Cache) : N/A (D:)
YHA Q349YR8P6V8 (SCSI, BD-R, HD-DVD-R, DVD+-R-DL, CD-R) : N/A (F:)

Logical Storage Devices
Enhet C (C:) : 466GB (NTFS) @ SAMSUNG HD502HJ (500.1GB, SATA300, 3.5", 7200rpm, 16MB Cache)
Optical Drive (D:) : N/A @ TSSTcorp CDDVDW SH-S223C (SATA150, DVD+-RW, CD-RW, 2MB Cache)
Optical Drive (F:) : N/A @ YHA Q349YR8P6V8 (SCSI, BD-R, HD-DVD-R, DVD+-R-DL, CD-R)

Peripherals
LPC Hub Controller 1 : Giga-Byte P55 LPC Interface Controller
LPC Legacy Controller 1 : ITE IT8720F
Audio Device : Giga-Byte P55/PM55/3400 High Definition Audio
Serial Port(s) : 1
Disk Controller : Giga-Byte P55/PM55/3400 6 port SATA AHCI Controller
Disk Controller : Giga-Byte JMB36X PCIE-to-SATAII/IDE RAID Controller
USB Controller 1 : Giga-Byte P55/PM55/3400 USB Universal Host Controller
USB Controller 2 : Giga-Byte P55/PM55/3400 USB Universal Host Controller
USB Controller 3 : Giga-Byte P55/PM55/3400 USB Universal Host Controller
USB Controller 4 : Giga-Byte P55/PM55/3400 USB2 Enhanced Host Controller
USB Controller 5 : Giga-Byte P55/PM55/3400 USB Universal Host Controller
USB Controller 6 : Giga-Byte P55/PM55/3400 USB Universal Host Controller
USB Controller 7 : Giga-Byte P55/PM55/3400 USB Universal Host Controller
USB Controller 8 : Giga-Byte P55/PM55/3400 USB Universal Host Controller
FireWire/1394 Controller 1 : Giga-Byte TSB43AB23 1394a-2000 OHCI PHY/link-layer Controller
SMBus/i2c Controller 1 : Intel ICH SMBus

Printers and Faxes
Printer : Send To Microsoft OneNote 2010 Driver (1200x1200, Colour)
Printer : Microsoft XPS Document Writer (600x600, Colour)
Fax : Microsoft Shared Fax Driver (200x200)

Network Services
Network Adapter : Realtek PCIe GBE Family Controller (Ethernet, 100Mbps)

Power Management
Mains (AC) Line Status : On-Line

Operating System
Windows System : Microsoft Windows 7 Home 6.01.7600
Platform Compliance : x64

Windows Experience Index
Current System : 5.9


Would be great with some help! Thanks.

- Feroyn

[Benoni]

I only see one hard drive.

Are you recording to your system (OS) hard drive? That could easily cause your PC to freeze.

Another thing it to make sure your Video card drivers are up to date

www.geforce.com

and make sure your PACE drivers are up to date

www.ilok.com

Have you done the Windows 7 Optimizations? Or at least most of them? I personally leave Aero ON, but you may find your setup works better with it OFF.

Make sure UAC is OFF.

Always run PT with RUN AS ADMINISTRATOR

You may want to check with your Motherboards manufactures website to see if there are any updated drivers that you may need.

SP1 for Windows 7 is approved, so you may want to update that as well.

Avid Windows 7 Optimizations Video Playlist - YouTube

Windows 7 Optimizations

[Feroyn]

Originally Posted by Benoni

I only see one hard drive.

Are you recording to your system (OS) hard drive? That could easily cause your PC to freeze.

Another thing it to make sure your Video card drivers are up to date

www.geforce.com

and make sure your PACE drivers are up to date

www.ilok.com

Have you done the Windows 7 Optimizations? Or at least most of them? I personally leave Aero ON, but you may find your setup works better with it OFF.

Make sure UAC is OFF.

Always run PT with RUN AS ADMINISTRATOR

You may want to check with your Motherboards manufactures website to see if there are any updated drivers that you may need.

SP1 for Windows 7 is approved, so you may want to update that as well.

Avid Windows 7 Optimizations Video Playlist - YouTube

Windows 7 Optimizations

Hey, thanks for your answer!

Yeah, I've bought an extra internal harddrive, 500Gb. Should I install Pro Tools on that drive and save all my projects and VST's there, or should I only save the projects/record on another drive? Im really lost in that area.

I've done optimizations, and updated all drivers. I guess the problem could be the hard drive.

- Feroyn

[albee1952]

With 2 drives, all software and sample libraries go on the C: drive. Some add a 3rd drive for sample libraries only. Consider that the i3 is not a prime choice for DAW use. Its a "budget" cpu, not a "power" cpu.

[Feroyn]

I see. Well, I've ordered an i5 2500K processor, and extra 4gb of RAM. I've also bought an extra harddrive so I'll save all my Pro Tools sessions and recordings there.

Will this solve the problem maybe?

[benherron.rrr]

surprisingly enough, I began having these issues after I un-RAIDed my hard drives so that I had one for OS etc and one for samples/recording instead of everything split on both drives.

I do recommend the optimizations, Its well worth starting up Pro Tools, closing it, restarting the computer and opening up pro tools again after each change you make, I have found that some of them do more harm then good on my system.

[Feroyn]

So guys.

I've bought a new processor, the i5 760 4x cores, 4GB more RAM memory (8GB total now) and I'm saving all new project files in the new harddrive.

I played around with Pro Tools all day yesterday, with my dual core i3 540 processor, and with the extra RAM and harddrive, it went SPLENDID! I wrote this: http://soundcloud.com/walidfeghali/e...tral-score-new

BUT.. The problem just came back right now. I was playing around again, and the computer just froze up again. What the f* is going on, seriously?

I've done everything I can, what more should I do?



Here's my new Sandra report:
SiSoftware Sandra

Computer
Model : Gigabyte P55M-UD2
Workgroup : WORKGROUP
Host Name : Walid-Dator
User : Walid

Processor
Model : Intel(R) Core(TM) i5 CPU 760 @ 2.80GHz
Speed : 3GHz
Cores per Processor : 4 Unit(s)
Type : Quad-Core
Integrated Data Cache : 2x 32kB, Synchronous, Write-Thru, 8-way, 64 byte line size, 2 threads sharing
L2 Cache : 2x 256kB, ECC, Synchronous, ATC, 8-way, 64 byte line size, 2 threads sharing
L3 Cache : 8MB, ECC, Synchronous, ATC, 16-way, Exclusive, 64 byte line size, 16 threads sharing

Computer
Mainboard : Gigabyte P55M-UD2
BIOS : Award (OEM) F8 02/11/2010
Bus(es) : X-Bus PCI PCIe IMB USB FireWire/1394 i2c/SMBus
Multi-Processor (MP) Support : No
Multi-Processor Advanced PIC (APIC) : Yes
Total Memory : 8GB DIMM DDR3

Chipset
Model : Giga-Byte Core (Clarksfield/Lynnfield) DMI
Front Side Bus Speed : 2x 2.4GHz (4.79GHz)

Chipset
Model : Giga-Byte Core Desktop (Lynnfield) UnCore
Front Side Bus Speed : 2x 2.4GHz (4.79GHz)
Total Memory : 8GB DIMM DDR3
Channels : 2
Memory Bus Speed : 2x 665MHz (1.33GHz)

Memory Module(s)
Memory Module : A-Data DDR3 1333G 2GB DIMM DDR3 PC3-10700U DDR3-1334 (9-9-9-25 4-34-10-5)
Memory Module : Corsair VS2GB1333D4 2GB DIMM DDR3 PC3-10700U DDR3-1334 (9-9-9-24 5-34-10-5)
Memory Module : A-Data DDR3 1333G 2GB DIMM DDR3 PC3-10700U DDR3-1334 (9-9-9-25 4-34-10-5)
Memory Module : Corsair VS2GB1333D4 2GB DIMM DDR3 PC3-10700U DDR3-1334 (9-9-9-24 5-34-10-5)

Video System
Video Adapter : NVIDIA GeForce GTS 250 (128 SM4.0 1.5GHz, 1GB DDR3 2GHz 256-bit, PCIe 2.00 x16)

Graphics Processor
OpenCL Processor : NVIDIA GeForce GTS 250 (128SP 16C 1.62GHz, 1GB DDR3 2GHz 256-bit)
Compute Shader Processor : NVIDIA GeForce GTS 250 (128SP 1.5GHz, 1GB DDR3 2GHz 256-bit)
CUDA Processor : NVIDIA GeForce GTS 250 (128SP 16C 1.62GHz, 1GB DDR3 2GHz 256-bit)

Storage Devices
SAMSUNG HD502HJ (500.1GB, SATA300, 3.5", 7200rpm, 16MB Cache) : 466GB (C:)
WDC WD5000AAKX-001CA0 (500.1GB, SATA600, 3.5", 7200rpm, 16MB Cache) : 466GB (E:)
TSSTcorp CDDVDW SH-S223C (SATA150, DVD+-RW, CD-RW, 2MB Cache) : N/A (D:)
YHA Q349YR8P6V8 (SCSI, BD-R, HD-DVD-R, DVD+-R-DL, CD-R) : N/A (F:)

Logical Storage Devices
Enhet C (C:) : 466GB (NTFS) @ SAMSUNG HD502HJ (500.1GB, SATA300, 3.5", 7200rpm, 16MB Cache)
Enhet E (E:) : 466GB (NTFS) @ WDC WD5000AAKX-001CA0 (500.1GB, SATA600, 3.5", 7200rpm, 16MB Cache)
Optical Drive (D:) : N/A @ TSSTcorp CDDVDW SH-S223C (SATA150, DVD+-RW, CD-RW, 2MB Cache)
Optical Drive (F:) : N/A @ YHA Q349YR8P6V8 (SCSI, BD-R, HD-DVD-R, DVD+-R-DL, CD-R)

Peripherals
LPC Hub Controller 1 : Giga-Byte P55 LPC Interface Controller
LPC Legacy Controller 1 : ITE IT8720F
Audio Device : Giga-Byte P55/PM55/3400 High Definition Audio
Serial Port(s) : 1
Disk Controller : Giga-Byte P55/PM55/3400 6 port SATA AHCI Controller
Disk Controller : Giga-Byte JMB36X PCIE-to-SATAII/IDE RAID Controller
USB Controller 1 : Giga-Byte P55/PM55/3400 USB Universal Host Controller
USB Controller 2 : Giga-Byte P55/PM55/3400 USB Universal Host Controller
USB Controller 3 : Giga-Byte P55/PM55/3400 USB Universal Host Controller
USB Controller 4 : Giga-Byte P55/PM55/3400 USB2 Enhanced Host Controller
USB Controller 5 : Giga-Byte P55/PM55/3400 USB Universal Host Controller
USB Controller 6 : Giga-Byte P55/PM55/3400 USB Universal Host Controller
USB Controller 7 : Giga-Byte P55/PM55/3400 USB Universal Host Controller
USB Controller 8 : Giga-Byte P55/PM55/3400 USB Universal Host Controller
FireWire/1394 Controller 1 : Giga-Byte TSB43AB23 1394a-2000 OHCI PHY/link-layer Controller
SMBus/i2c Controller 1 : Intel ICH SMBus

Printers and Faxes
Printer : Send To Microsoft OneNote 2010 Driver (1200x1200, Colour)
Printer : Microsoft XPS Document Writer (600x600, Colour)
Fax : Microsoft Shared Fax Driver (200x200)

Network Services
Network Adapter : Realtek PCIe GBE Family Controller (Ethernet, 100Mbps)

Power Management
Mains (AC) Line Status : On-Line

Operating System
Windows System : Microsoft Windows 7 Home 6.01.7600
Platform Compliance : x64

Windows Experience Index
Current System : 5.9

[SKI]

I think your problem is you are looking for a simple fast easy solution.
Nothing wrong with that but rarely the case with PT.

You were far to willing to buy a new processor, hard drive and ram instead of trying to find a culprit.
The i3, 4G and 1 hard drive is not optimal but not prone to locking up, it would more than likely give you performance issues prior to reaching that point.
Granted the things you purchased will benefit you once your system is up and running properly so they still are beneficial.

You said only PT and even sometimes shutting down PT correctly gives you a blue screen even after re-installs.
So I would look for the problem to be more PT based.

As benherron.rrr mentioned the optimizations can choke some systems because of how the manufacturer implements something so never overlook them as a problem.

Download something like Reaper and install it on your computer.
Try using it with ASIO4ALL and your built in sound.
It it plays and records ok then try using Reaper with the mBox as your output.
This will at least let you test your system performance and then your mBox performance.

If it passes these 2 test then it would seem to be related to your PT install, how you are installing it or something you have installed that is conflicting with PT.

[albee1952]

If you are running Pro Tools 8, then you need to uninstall it and start over. Install 8 but DO NOT connect the interface when asked. Click okay and let the installer finish and reboot. Now run the 8.0.4(or 8.0.5) updater. PT8 is not compatible with Win7 without the .0.4 or later update.

[Feroyn]

Yeah, I am searching for a fast solution. But I only had like 30 GB left on my harddrive, and my RAM-memory reaches easily over 4GB (It used 5.4GB last night), ergo the RAM purchase. I'm not that supreme in the computer hardware discipline, but hey...

About the culprit, I've tried reinstalling Windows, making all the optimizations, knowing that some may skin more than they aid, but atleast I've done research for a couple of weeks. Don't tell me I just went blindly and threw my money somewhere! Enough of the sidepoints!

Thanks for your advice btw!

Anyways, Reaper is a complete program for audio editing, I don't wish to struggle around with another big program like that with all those drivers and connections between hardware/software and all that... It probably is my PT as you're saying, since no other program than PT is shutting down! But the purchases of the extra RAM and the harddrive are justified.

What a struggle this is...

Feroyn