Anyone know how this works? PT|24 Mix, OS9, PT 5.1.3, AVoption|XL

[flexico]

I know it's old, but perhaps someone here can shed some light. I have a very nice Pro Tools Mix3+ in a 13-slot PCI chassis hanging off a G4 running PT 5.1.3 in Mac OS 9.2.2! It works really well and I'm very happy.

I've recently been given an Avid Meridien III Digital Media Board (0030-03138-01 B) and connecting cable, and since this is the basis of the Digidesign AVoption|XL I thought I might try and make that work, although I know very little about this system. I already have a USD Sync and an ATTO UL3D card too. So, from the digi archives it seems that hardware wise I now just need an "Avid Break Out Box with Analog Video I/O board installed". IF this is correct I may be in luck with that because I've been offered the following:

AVID 0020-00365-01 ' BREAKOUT BOX '
AVID FALCON SDI BOARD 0030-03022-0 + 0030-00382-01
AVID AUDIO SPARROW I/O BOARD 0030-00282-01

Is the above everything I need in terms of hardware?

As for the software it looks like I need to find the AVoption|XL Software as well as DigiTranslator 2.0 for MacOS 9. Any idea where I can get hold of these? And if I can't (since the s/w may be the most difficult bit to secure) what will the hardware be capable of on its own, in the Pro Tools environment or perhaps with an alternative Avid editing s/w?

Thanks in advance. Hopefully some of you have long memories..!

[dreamweava]

i actually used this system up untill only 2 years ago in a studio i used to work at - to be honest I was so happy that it eventually broke down, but it did cause me a complete nightmare.

From what I remember the authorisation for OMF and AV Option (we didn't have XL) were on 3.5 inch floppy disk and you had to load them on a particular USB floppy drive with a particular driver version.
Our video board was a Meridien too if I remember rightly and it was a card that was installed in the expansion chassis rather than in a Avid breakout box. i can't remember too much else to be honest, but when it did go down we had virtually every Pro Tools engineer in london come in to try and sort it but to no avail. Digidesign had absoolutely no idea because they only really care about the latest few versions, although they did manage to source a single digitranslator disc from the US.

When it did work it was ok to use, but waiting a second for fades to render was frustrating. What are you using it for out of interest?

Hope you found something helpful in there....

[flexico]

hey, thanks for your input. I'm not using it at all yet because I only have the Meridien III board, but I like the idea of getting it all up and running to see what it can do. My pro tools rig otherwise gets used for music production and I also do a lot of design and film, so it'd be nice to fool around.

I don't suppose you still have the floppies kicking around at all? I can't think where I might be able to find those. I know someone with an iLok license for AVoption|XL, but that's no good for OS9, I need floppies I think.

[flexico]

Anybody know if I also need a 'dual display board' and a dongle for this hardware? I keep seeing them listed in system configurations. thanks.

[FajitaTone]

dongle yes

[flexico]

OK, thanks. Please bear with me while I get my head around this:

So in addition to the Avid Meridien III Digital Media Board (0030-03138-01 B), Meridien BOB Break Out Box 0020-00365-01 with Falcon Module 0030-03022-01, SDI 0030-00382-01 and Sparrow bob to 888 0030-00282-01, I also need a Dongle? Where does this fit and what does it look like? Any web link I can go to to find info about it?

Presumably this is only required if using Avid software as a front end, not if using Digidesign's AVoption - Correct?

[dreamweava]

Originally Posted by flexico

hey, thanks for your input. I'm not using it at all yet because I only have the Meridien III board, but I like the idea of getting it all up and running to see what it can do. My pro tools rig otherwise gets used for music production and I also do a lot of design and film, so it'd be nice to fool around.

I don't suppose you still have the floppies kicking around at all? I can't think where I might be able to find those. I know someone with an iLok license for AVoption|XL, but that's no good for OS9, I need floppies I think.

No sorry, the studio actually managed to sell it 'as is' i.e not working for a few of grand (pro control included). I packed up the disk drive and all the license discs and gave it to them. Digidesign do have a legacy site with all the versions available to download, although I don't have the link. There could be all the manuals there too! Worth contacting them about....

[flexico]

hey, no probs mate. thanks anyway.

I'll take another look through the digi archives. i know the manuals were online, not sure about the s/w.

On another note, there really should be a mechanism to relax the copy protection after, say, 10 years or so. I have so much excellent productive hardware which should keep going for another 20 years or more, as it has for the last 10 - 15 years providing invaluable service. However the only thing that renders it useless is the CP on the software that I already bought and paid good money for. Surely old MacOS 9 gear is of such little threat to the current product line that older CP-free utilities could be put online so that some of us guys could maybe re-format our hard drives once in a while!