Plug-in problems - Sempron vs Pentium?

[3over3]

I'm having trouble running one specific instrument plug-in: its timing is irregular, it crashes persistently and seems to be in a MIDI feedback loop (its polyphony meter claims it's playing 2000-plus notes, when it isn't). The plug-in manufacturer's tech support has pointed out that they ask for a Pentium4, and I've got a Sempron, yet the same instrument behaves itself in standalone mode, and all my other Pro Tools VIs (RTAS and VST) behave well.

Could the chip be the issue? Can anyone shed any light on the differences between the chips and whether they could cause the symptoms I'm getting? Am I shooting in the dark trying to fix this?



[... apologies if this has been discussed before - it's not the easiest to search for due to system specs being posted. I'd appreciate being pointed at the right thread if it's an old old old issue!]

[spkguitar]

Well, considering that Pro Tools isn't supported on Sempron processors... I would say that's the issue.

From the compatibility pages:

Not Supported

* Motherboards containing SiS (Silicon Integrated Systems) chipsets
* AMD Sempron processors or Intel Celeron processors
* Intel Pentium III and older Intel processors
* AMD K6, K6-2 or K6-III, K7 processors

Semprons usually have a slower bus speeds, and also a much smaller L2 cache. They are not recommended or supported. AT ALL.

If Pro Tools and "all your other VIs" behave well on that processor, I would consider yourself extremely lucky.

[3over3]

Thanks for the reply. Perhaps I should have declared that I'm on 7.1, for which the Sempron is recommended - also from the compatibility pages (for 7.1):

The following laptop computers are compatible with Digi 002 and Digi 002 Rack with Pro Tools LE 7.0/7.1, but may not be able to achieve maximum track count (48 mono or 48 stereo tracks) with Music Production Toolkit or DV Toolkit 2 optional software for Pro Tools LE:

* Acer Aspire 1360 (VIA K8)
* Acer Aspire 1522 (Athlon 64, VIA K8)
* Acer TravelMate C300 Tablet PC (Pentium M)
* Dell Precision Workstation M60 (Pentium M)
* Dell Precision Laptop M-20 (Pentium M)
* Dell Inspiron 8600 (Pentium 4-M)
* Dell Inspiron 8500 (Pentium 4-M)
* HP Compaq Business Notebook nx8000 (Pentium M)

(link)

I'm using an Acer Aspire 1360 which is Mobile Sempron based. The plug-in itself (it's MOTU MachFive 2) doesn't specify any particular Pro Tools version - it just says it's RTAS.

I suppose that it's just possible that as Digi have dropped support for the chip, so have MOTU - as I say, they prescribe a P4. I'm just confused as the standalone actually functions.

Really - "all my other VIs" do behave well. Honestly. Can't vouch for the programming though...

Can you tell me any more about the cache/bus thing and how it affect plug-ins? I'm fairly technical, but never got too far into chip architecture.

[3over3]

Probably should point out that I'm not using the MPT, either...

[sunburst79]

I'm having trouble running one specific instrument plug-in: its timing is irregular, it crashes persistently and seems to be in a MIDI feedback loop (its polyphony meter claims it's playing 2000-plus notes, when it isn't). The plug-in manufacturer's tech support has pointed out that they ask for a Pentium4, and I've got a Sempron, yet the same instrument behaves itself in standalone mode, and all my other Pro Tools VIs (RTAS and VST) behave well.

Could the chip be the issue? Can anyone shed any light on the differences between the chips and whether they could cause the symptoms I'm getting? Am I shooting in the dark trying to fix this?



[... apologies if this has been discussed before - it's not the easiest to search for due to system specs being posted. I'd appreciate being pointed at the right thread if it's an old old old issue!]

Sempron's are not supported and the Turion's have a issues with not being able to disable system clock from going into the sleep or suspend function which causes unstable clocking....I have no idea what the vintage of your Sempron is but suspect that that may be part of the problem. Disabling " Cool and Quiet" in BIOS may help. along with setting the system power setting to always on.

[3over3]

Thanks, I've run most of the recommended tweaks - I'll check again. The Sempron is definitely supported for 7.1 though - I don't mind losing hibernation. I'm feeling more and more like building a Sunburst Quad...!