OK--possible HEAT bug?

[bashville]

I start ProTools. Once it boots, I see even without loading a session that the Heat plug has loaded, because it appears in the options menu.

If I reset my Legacy port in the hardware setup (something I have to do once per power-up with my ADAT I/O), the "Activate HEAT" command no longer appears in the Options menu. And it doesn't appear when I load a sequence either.

If I quit ProTools and then relaunch it, HEAT has loaded again--and since I don't have to reset my Legacy port this time, it stays on and is available now when I load my session.

Why would HEAT just go away? I've trashed the DAE prefs while troubleshooting this, and there's no change. Once I've gone through this process, HEAT works fine. I wonder if other people using the Legacy port have noticed this?!

thanks for any feedback

[bashville]

Just sayin'--

No other Legacy ADAT users running HEAT?

I played around a fair amount with this yesterday. I was actually reconfiguring my system to eliminate the Legacy device. But in the midst of all that, whenever I had to reset the expansion port in the hardware window, poof, the Heat option went away. If you restart the app (not the computer) you get it back.

I seem to recall various threads on the DUC about the quirks of using the ADAT bridge, so I figured there must be some other people experiencing this already. Not a problem for me now, but a heads up to look out for it--

[sunburst79]

Interesting that no one else has stumbled across this behavior sooner.

[bashville]

Yes--and it begs the question of course is it just me? Since it's not a showstopper for me now, I'm not going to bother debugging and looking for conflicting plugs. It just seems like it might be, you know, important to people to know either way....

[DigiTechSupt]

Can you give us the specifics of your system and Pro Tools version?

[bashville]

MacPro Intel Quad at 2.8 GHz. 10 gig RAM. System 10.6.5. Latest PT9.01. 24-channel D-Command.

Magma 4-Slot Expansion with Pericom Chip. Running PCI cards in chassis through PCI-E adapter card in Mac. Core card plus 3 Accel cards.

Was running 192 interface with ADAT Bridge. No problems since I removed the legacy unit from the system.

Other plugs include Waves Mercury, McDSP Classic. URS Channel Strip Pro. Ivory, Stylus, Omnisphere, NI Komplete. Revibe, Impact, MDW EQ's, most Massey, etc.

Write me if you need any other info....

Kevin

[DigiTechSupt]

Which exact 4 slot chassis is this?

I don't have a 4 slot to test with and I can't repro with cards in the computer, so I'm wondering if it's something about your chassis causing the problem...

[bashville]

Originally Posted by DigiTechSupt

Which exact 4 slot chassis is this?

I don't have a 4 slot to test with and I can't repro with cards in the computer, so I'm wondering if it's something about your chassis causing the problem...

Well like I say I've reconfigured without the Legacy interface, so there are no more problems for me. I had a number of consistent issues with the ADAT bridge that I was always able to work around. But this issue with HEAT deactivating meant I had to do one more app-start in my routine, and I decided it wasn't worth it anymore.

It's the final 4-slot PCI expansion unit that Magma made. If you followed that issue at the time, the important thing about it was that it contains the "Pericom" chip, vs. whatever was in the earlier generations. The presence of that chip, along with of course a host PCI-E card, made this chassis work with any PCI-E machine. It's been officially "incompatible" for a long time on the Digidesign list. But there hasn't been one issue I've had with ProTools since 7.4 (since I've been using the chassis) that hasn't turned out to be a problem with software, not hardware.

I initially went with it because I got a deal, and the tech guys at Magma basically said it was worth a go--that if the cards in it pass Digitest that there shouldn't be a problem. I've always found that to be true, and it still is. The #1 cause of any issues I've ever had on the ProTools platform have been plug-in related. So the majority of my suspicion as to the problem in this case falls on the newly installed plug--which was the HEAT software. I had been running 9.01 since you released it with no issues besides my usual work-arounds with the ADAT bridge. (And I've had to do those workarounds ever since I bought it, so no change there).

If no-one else using Legacy gear is having this issue, then I'm willing to concede it could be my chassis, if that's the main difference between my system and others. But I've been running PT since I bought version 6 in I think 2002, and I can usually chase problems down pretty well. The chassis has consistently rocked. (Knock on wood).

Have you just tried it yet with any Legacy interface hanging off the back of the 192, chassis or no? I'd be curious. Then the ADAT bridge in particular, which I know was also discontinued. It's probably not worth your time if it's only the ADAT bridge, but I'd be real curious if it did it with older 888 interfaces.

thanks for the interest--

[bashville]

Set up a system, chassis or not, with a 192, then any Legacy interface attached to the back of the 192. Get everything the way it's supposed to be in the hardware setup. Close the app. Now relaunch the app. Before you do anything else, check in the Options menu if you see the "Activate HEAT" selection at the bottom of the menu. If you do, it will of course be greyed-out if you don't have a file open.

Now look in the Hardware Setup. If everything is the way it's supposed to be, click on one of the banks to the left that represent the Legacy channels. Then in the drop-down window at the top, change the selection to "No Interface", then back to the proper Legacy selection, so it looks the way it supposed to again. Close the hardware setup. Now before opening any session, check the Options menu again. If you have the problem I was experiencing, the "Activate HEAT" option will have disappeared. And if I loaded a session, I couldn't use Heat for that session.