Does Mbox really suck this bad?

[Slim Shady]

..but it seems all (or nearly all) of the iBooks are listed as compatible with the mBox. Is the one your client has specifically listed in the compato docs?

Actually none of the current line of iBooks is supported. The compato pages are deceptive because before the most recent revision (Oct. 19, 2004) the top of the line iBook was a 14" at 1.2ghz. The compato pages list a 1.2ghz G4 iBook as being compatible, but they're referring to the old 14" (you have to look to the right in the 2nd column under "LCD Screen") - unfortunately if you don't read carefully it makes it look like the new low end 12" iBook at 1.2ghz is also compatible, when obviously it isn't judging by the responses here. My bet is that they'll never make it up there similar to the G3's lwilliam mentioned since there really seems to be some sort of mechanical/USB issue going on here, which is not an easy fix.

In the end I think we just have another lesson that you should always check the compato pages carefully before you buy. Since it's too late for several users, I really hope digi or apple is able to come up with a fix or some sort of exchange program, although since the info is readily available, the fault really falls on the end user and it would be more of a 'goodness of their heart' kind of deal, and I think we know how often that kind of thing happens.

Please keep us posted on your progress. Has anyone contacted digi support directly on this issue? My guess is that they'd just point you to the compato pages, but maybe you'll get lucky and get a support person who actually knows their stuff and could shed some light on the problem. I'm also still curious to know if the current iBooks work with any of the firewire 002 interfaces - the compato pages for those interfaces don't list the new iBooks either so the problem could potentially be more than just USB related.

[Chris Coleman]

lwilliam wrote:

...but it seems all (or nearly all) of the iBooks are listed as compatible with the mBox. Is the one your client has specifically listed in the compato docs?

In the very first post in this thread, I wrote:

and before the obvious is stated - I know the 12" iBook 1.2GHz is not yet tested, but its 14" brother is supported...and 6.4 is compatible with 10.3.5

I refuse to believe that this is the sole issue given that the problems experienced with my client's setup have also been documented with many supported systems. I mentioned elsewhere in this thread that the exact same errors are occurring on my father's supported G5 iMac/Mbox system...and others have commented on having fully supported systems that throw the same errors.

Slim wrote:

Has anyone contacted digi support directly on this issue?

Digi contacted me and we're in touch about this issue. I'll say this again, because it bears repeating: I didn't start this thread to just trash Digi or the Mbox. Mbox is a great tool that just happens not to be working for my client - and I simply find that unacceptable. This is a situation I will not just let slide and I'm out to find a resolution. Nothing more, nothing less. This exact issue seems to have plagued many Mbox users - hence the nearly 3000 viewings of this thread.

[SimpleNatureSpirit]

If this is indeed a USB implementation issue, then yes, Digi and Apple would be well served to come up with an updated driver. This would not be rocket science. All they would need to do is give the user access to the chipset functionality. Digi would have to innitiate this conversation and post the fix as an update. I know their techs are reading this post and I don't understand why they haven't addressed this as long as this post has been running. I would really like Digi to say "We are working on it" to know that they care about us cheapskate MBox owners after all.

[subsonicworld]

I would really like Digi to say "We are working on it" to know that they care about us cheapskate MBox owners after all.

I prefer "cautious" to "cheapskate"...

They know once they have us hooked we'll want more, and we'll all be onto TDM before you know it

That's why I don't think they'll abandon us.... But I would like that in writing!

[SimpleNatureSpirit]

All I wanted was a box to record the beach and the woods

After all, they already got my bucks on an OO2 upgrade and I like PTLE as an app.
As a hardware company, however, DigiDesign is falling behind.
Their own proprietary'ness and non-qualified OS implementations are making it very hard for them to remain compatable.
I hope they are working on a major rewrite for v7.

[jeffro]

I would understand this problem more if Digi hadn't listed the iBook as "OK" on the Compato docs. Is the one your client has specifically listed in the compato docs?

Actually, the 1.2GHz iBook listed in the compato docs is the 14" model, not the 12" model that his client is using.

Mbox Mac compat

[jeffro]

...the exact same errors are occurring on my father's supported G5 iMac/Mbox system...

Please have your father contact us, or forward his info to us via the TSR so that we can troubleshoot further. Thanks!

[jeffro]

It's not just MACs, this happens on PC laptops too.
MBox is just a flacky hardware implementation.
Plug & Play should be just that, specially the Play part.
Seems some driver developers at Digi should be fired

Could you please describe your system, and explain the problem you are having with your Mbox? Thanks!

[Chris Coleman]

Jeff,

Nice to see you here - I will urge my father to call TS or fill out a TSR, but he's usually too busy to troubleshoot his system because he's actually using it for VO work and he just sort of suffers through the errors.

in other news...

Small update: I talked to my client today and she said that when she previously thought she had turned off the Airport card, she actually hadn't. (she's fairly new to macs and PT, so some things are a bit rocky for her). LIke I said earlier in this thread, I wasn't 100% positive that she had properly implemented all the suggested troubleshooting measures, so this may be a biggy. She went on to say that when she finally did turn off the Airport, just thinks she stopped getting the errors as frequently, but couldn't completely recall because she was too busy actually making music...bless her heart.

We're supposed to grab some troubleshooting time together later this week. We'll see what happens!

[SimpleNatureSpirit]

Could you please describe your system, and explain the problem you are having with your Mbox? Thanks!

Good to see you here, Jeff

I purchased an eMachines M2350 (AMD) with the intention of using it for my wife's business. All of Microsoft office is installed and nothing else. Needless to say, operation on this machine has to be up to date and available for her needs without tweeking between bootups.
I was hoping to have this machine also work with MBox and PTLE 6.4 with all CS updates to do occasional field recording. During testing, I recorded one track onto the system drive, I get halts anywhere from 2 seconds to 3 minutes into the recording (no internet connection). I tested this for an evening and decided this wasn't working or worth it. Simply by being so inconsistent before crashing shows a serious flaw in the I/O (USB) implementation.

I played with the settings for buffers, DAE buffers and CPU, but nothing within PTLE worked. This was the only place I was willing to do tweeking in.

It is not practicle to be carrying a firewire drive out to the field either. I need a truly mobile solution at a reasonable investment. A second dedicated notebook for only PTLE/MBox is not an option.

I will use a non-Digi solution for my field recordings and put the MBox up on eBay (once I figure out how to make a fair and honest ad, and it will be linked to the DUC prominently).

Don't get me wrong, Jeff, this was my choice to try to use this system in this way, but I expected it to work (based on eMachines comments here on the DUC) or not work. It didn't and people should know this.

With the recent rash of problems being reported on the DUC with MBox noise, low performance, and crashing problems, something is obviously amiss. We all were wondering why Digi CS hasn't shimed in till now. Please do dig internally and let us all know what is going on with MBox and the newer systems. Are we facing a technology crash?

I recorded 2 to 4 tracks for two years with a DigiOO1 & v5.3.1/6.x to the system drive on a custom built 2.4Mhz P4 (ASUS mobo) without a single hitch, ever.