CPU Issues w/ PowerBook G4 & ProTools Digi 002r

[ajp32746]

Hello, All

I am a beginner compared to most of your in regards to ProTools and so some of you might probably be able to quickly point out the answer, as it is not appearing obvious to me at this point

I am using a PowerBook g4 to run my Protools LE via my Digi 002r. I am using an external hard drive for all my session work and audio files. I am doing a lot of live recording, opposed to sequencing midi tracks, so these tracks are mostly audio/waveform, of which I generally use 10-15 tracks in any given session.

I try to keep things as streamlined as possible (being new w/ this system as well as being a songwriter who believes in keeping the arrangement simple opposed to overdone) to avoid running into various issues as I am having. However, my CPU on my Powerbook (which I monitor during sessions) seems to be getting overyly taxed (going into the red on my meter) when working in these various sessions. I am receiving DAE errors while recording, or just get knocked out of record mode, etc.

I have done everything I can figure to lessen the taxing of my cpu. I have even turned off the journaling on both hard drive and external drive, but this still seems to be a consitent issue I am running into. I have known people in past years to use lesser g4 systems without encurring this problem, so I am at a loss and am looking for any advice you more epxerienced users might be able to share.

Thanking you in advance and wishing you well in music and in life,
A.

[tele_player]

What sample rate are you using? High rates (88.2, 96) use twice as much CPU.
Are you using plugins? Try to minimize your use of reverbs. They use a lot of CPU, and one or two should be all you need, most of the time. Put reverbs on Aux inputs, and use sends from your audio tracks.

Which PowerBook? CPU speed? How much RAM? When using ProTools, set 'processor performance' to HIGHEST in SystemPreferences|EnergySaver.

[ajp32746]

Hello and thanks for the response and excellent questions, tele_player.
I apologize for not including that pertinent information originally.
I will get that info together and post it shortly, as I am not in my studio currently.

Thx.
A

[sdemott]

What kind of external drive? Is it 7200 RPM? Does it use the Oxford 911 bridge/chipset? The unfortunate truth is that FireWire taxes the CPU more than other device protocols (e.q. ATA/IDE, SCSI). Being sure you have an approved FW drive will lessen that as much as possible. Also, an externally powered FireWire drive will be more reliable than a bus powered drive.

Other things that might help:
* be sure you set up an account on the computer just for ProTools. Do not launch anything else from that account (to keep it from populating the account font or startup items folders).

* check to be sure that your energy saver settings do not allow processor cycling (if applicable to your machine) & are set to never sleep the system or the hard drives.

* I always renice pro tools at the start of a session/day to give it top priority on the system. To renice an app you need to:

[1] launch the terminal *after* launching Pro Tools
[2] type "top" (without the quotes) and hit return.
[3] A list of running processes will be listed, look to find Pro Tools and take note of the number just to its left (the process ID or PID).
[4] hit "q" to quit Top.
[5] type "sudo renice -20 PID" without the quotes and inserting the actual process ID number you just noted in step 3 in the place of PID. Hit return
[6] enter an administartor password (to satisfy the "sudo" command).
[7] type"exit" (again, no quotes) and hit return to end your terminal session.
[8] quit Terminal from the menu or by hitting CMD-Q.

for a detailed account of the renice command type "man renice" in the terminal.

Check your login or startup items to be sure nothing is starting up that isn't absolutely necessary (Norton anything, Palm anything, et al). If they are there in the PT account, delete them.

There are so many things that can cause slow downs. If you give us a complete rundown of the system (versions of everything running, RAM, session specs) we might be able to help more.

HTH

[ajp32746]

Thanks for all the great advice and recommendations, thus far, tele_player and sdemott (Steve).
I have researched and compiled the following specs:

-17" PowerBook G-4 (PowerBook 5.3):
CPU speed = 1.33 GHz
RAM = 2 GB DDR SDRAM (2-1 gig)
OS X (Panther)
-400 & 800 Firewire port(s) (2 total)
-I am using ProTools LE 6.4 (w/ Digi 002 Rack)
-1 External Hard Drive = LaCie d2 78 Gig FireWire Drive
- ProTools Session "Sample rate" = 44.1 kHz

Since receiving valuable input from you both I have done/verified the following:

-setup a new "account" on my PowerBook strictly for ProTools usage and verified no unnecessary background processes were running; emptied unnecessary startup programs
-"reniced" ProTools
-I have already been limiting use of CPU in sessions by minimizing my use of reverbs (I.e. putting reverbs on Aux inputs and using sends from audio tracks, etc.)
-have ProTool's "Processor Performance" set to HIGHEST in Syst. Prefs|Energy Saver

With my system set to everything I have previously mentioned, I am not noticing any significant change to the CPU usage thus far, but am hopeful to hear what else you all might be able to recommend me to try

Thankful as always for your time and expertise,

A.

[Larryboy]

It's been a while since I did this, but I remember that in OS9, if you checked the maximum allowed recording time, it would be set to infinity, but setting it to a more reasonable number (like 8 minutes) would really affect the CPU usage. I remember getting more plugs on playback just by doing that.

[JFreak]

seems dumb to ask, but have you checked what settings you have on hardware buffer and cpu limit? i have a 1.25GHz powerbook and use 256 buffer & 85% limit, and it works wonderfully. i have no trouble using all 16 audio inputs and spdif i/o for reverb at once, plus having 20+ plugins in the session. usually my cpu meter stays constantly at around 65% without any larger spikes.

but of course, i use external reverb. you should try how much you can get without reverbs and then compare your results to mine..

my system works naturally even better if i raise the hardware buffer, but because i do live foh mixing and need to provide the band some monitoring, that 256 (in 44.1khz session) is quite maxx it can take. double it and the monitors have far too much latency. with 256 setting (and having a 44.1khz session) i find that the players cannot say if i mix with analog or digital, and that tells me that latency is alright so in my system, in addition to the stereo mix for the crowd, i provide a stereo mix for wireless monitors, and up to 4 mono mixes for regular floor wedge monitors if needed. and i still don't run out of cpu.

---

side note: how fast is your lacie? i have found that in 10.3.3 and 10.3.4 there's something weird going on in the firewire side. i have got several error messages from protools as if i couldn't record the audio to the firewire drive fast enough. 16 mono tracks? come on. it should always fit into the firewire buss, but not in these system versions. so i have found that the workaround is to use round-robin disk allocation (which is annoying, yes, i know). this spreads the audio files to several hard drives which of course takes load off from the firewire buss. i have let apple personnell install a hitachi 7200rpm hard drive in this powerbook so i might benefit from it (it has 10ms latency which according to digi is fast enough for audio recording, and a 8mb cache buffer which helps a lot). oh, and the main audio drive i use is a lacie d2 160gb, which has a hitachi drive inside that has only 2mb cache buffer. the point in this side note should be that before you go crazy, check your hard drives and their fragmentation.

[ajp32746]

Hey, LarryBoy..

Thanks for your post. I looked in the ProTools LE "preferences" and believe think I found the options you were referring to when you recommended "to check the maximum allowed recording time", but to be on the safe side, is there a particular area where I would find this option in? In my "Prefs", under the "operation" tab I changed the "open ended record allocation" time to 5 minutes? Please correct me if my assumption was incorrect.

Thanks again,
A.

[ajp32746]

Hey, JFreak...

Thanks for the variety of things to try.

-Currently, my hardware buffer and cpu limit are set at: 256 buffer | cpu @ 85% | DAE @ level 8
-I am using 2 aux tracks for reverbs which I am busing to other tracks.
-regarding my LaCie, I have received the same error messages from protools stating it couldn't record or playback the audio to the firewire drive fast enough upon occassion. From what I am reading in system profiler, my LaCie d2 78 gig is using firmware version 77.0; unit software version 10483 @ 400 mb per sec.
-I am saving making any changes to my hard drive, till a time I have expended all my other avenues as I recently purchased this 17" Powerbook upgrading mostly everything it needed when I made my initial order in January.
-what (outside software) are you using in your PowerBook for defragmentation?

Without wanting to sound too anal, I am attempting in some way, shape or form to try every recommendation being given to me from everyone kind enough to help to ensure I have all my bases covered before I consider making further upgrades... As I am thinking it most probable that my issues are due to user error more than my powerbook

Thanks so much for your assistance and please let me know of any further thoughts.

[JFreak]

the best you can do is to buy an external reverb - i have a t.c. electronics m300 (yes, the cheapo model) and it has wonderful sound & it releases A LOT of cpu respurces for other protools use. i STRONGLY recommend you try this first. you will get as good vocal sound as you ever wish, and if you need to put in another reverb for drum kit, that still saves 50% of the reverb processing.

another thing... the lacie d2 case is fine as it is, you can get more performance and storage by opening it (voids warranty!) and replacing the hard drive with a bigger and faster one. if you do this, know that you're on your own in the future, and please, buy a drive that has 8mb buffer.

as for hardware, that is basically it - my setup runs fine with dae level 2, so if these are of any help, good for you.