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Old 04-23-2011, 05:59 PM
ZEUSS ZEUSS is offline
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Default Problem with 6 cards in Magma PE6r4

I have been having major issues with adding a 6th card to the system.

You can read all about the issues on this thread.
http://duc.avid.com/showthread.php?t=298651

I have tried everything that I could after doing days of troubleshooting.
My magma has an upgraded power supply. The one they were putting in the unit. PC Power and Cooling Silencer 500 EPS12V. Everything is hooked up correctly. The load resister is attached, cards are snug, flex cables B to A etc.

I have read countless magma threads on the DUC. A few people had issues,Crizdee, and a few others that resolved their problems.

When 5 cards are in the magma, everything runs amazing. As soon as I add the 6th card, I have nothing but problems. I have tried new flexcables, reseated and switched cards around in the proper order, reinstalled EVERYTHING from scratch on a new hardrive.

I have tried both ways of installing the cards. Core and accel/process closest to power supply in motherboard slot9, which doesnt work at all and core card,accel,process farthest from power supply in motherboard slot 4.

I can have all 6 cards in the magma, and protools starts and works. I can open a session and it takes a while but will work one time or not at all.

As soon as I try and close or open a session after that, it will quit and sometimes even COD on me when creating the mixer. Its always Surround dithered mixer crashing.

If I deactivate/allocate ALL of the chips on the 6th card the problems go away.
The cards pass digitest. I have since removed the 6th card and again, everything works fine.

Can it be that it needs a bigger power supply? Is it because the last 2 cards are process cards and not accel? Are there revision issues with older process cards?

Working great with 5 cards. Core-3 accel-Process.

I don't know what to do at this point. Can someone help?
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  #2  
Old 04-24-2011, 01:16 AM
BDWillis BDWillis is offline
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Default Re: Problem with 6 cards in Magma PE6r4

I don't know the definitive answer, but perhaps can help you take the troubleshooting one step further. I wouldn't think the power supply was simply weak (as the chassis is designed to power 6 cards) although guess it *could* be defective. And the card configuration doesn't seem out of the ordinary... you could verify that with a call to Magma tech support... knowledgeable & eager to help in my past experience.

First, is it showing the same behavior with the Stereo dithered mixer (not Surround)?! (if NOT, that may point to a software issue; if so, seems to be hardware related).

The next step I'd recommend trying is to remove Card #5 (Process card 1 in 6-card config) and replace it with Card #6 (Process card 2 in 6-card config).

If the rig works perfectly, as in the original 5-card config, then it would seem to point to a hardware problem with the 6th slot in the chassis (bent pins, cold solder joints, etc). If it malfunctions, it would point to a problem with Process card 2.

Last step: If the rig works fine with Process card 2 (previously in slot #6) placed in slot #5, I would then place Process card 1 (previously in slot #5) into slot #6. If the rig malfunctions, it would again point to a problem with the slot. However, if it works properly, I'd check the Rev versions on the two Process cards, see if there's a difference, and if so contact Avid repair to see if the earlier one could be updated to the later (latest?) Revision for the sake of compatibility going forward. Just as the chassis wants to see Accel cards before Process cards, maybe it wants to see newer Process cards before older ones...??!

Grasping: the other check would be to leave slot #5 empty & try one, then the other Process card in slot #6, BUT if memory serves, you can't skip a slot.

I don't envy your situation... good luck!

Warmest Regards,
Brian
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Old 04-24-2011, 11:59 AM
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crizdee crizdee is offline
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Default Re: Problem with 6 cards in Magma PE6r4

Hi,

If swapping the cards 5 and 6 around and the flex cables as well to totally eliminate the card or the flex cable as the cause, then it could be PCI slot 6 or even the power supply.

I was getting crackles and pops etc with 6 cards and a new more powerful power supply was the fix!

I'll be surprised if the PSU causes such obvious quits and problems! i would have thought it would give a few blips here and there on big sessions etc, so i think you need to have the chassis checked by Magma.


Chris
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Old 04-24-2011, 03:34 PM
ZEUSS ZEUSS is offline
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Default Re: Problem with 6 cards in Magma PE6r4

I swapped the process cards around from slot 5 and 6 and it hasn't made a difference unfortunately.

I thought at first that it might be the process card that was manufactured in 2002 with the 2 serial ports on it. But I get no crashes when its in slot 5 with the rest of the cards when the 6th card is either not installed or all the chips are allocated on the card in the 6th slot.

I haven't tried changing the mixer to the non surround version. I have a feeling it would not matter. If there was a problem, it would most likely happen in the 5 card config.

I guess it wouldn't hurt to try skipping slot 5 and putting a card in slot 6 to see if it works.

Another odd thing is digitest works fine with all 6 cards in the chassi. It sees all of them and tests all of them. It passes all of them too.

I think the only thing I could do at this point is call magma and maybe send it to them. OR it just does not want to be stable with 1 core, 3 accel and 2 process cards. OR there is a software glitch that is causing this.

If someone has this exact same configuration, does it work for you without constant quits and COD's? Anyone running a magma with 1 core 3 accel and 2 process cards?
This is with protools 8.1.1 AND 9.02.

Thanks for the help.
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