Frequent spinning pinwheels, freezes, disk errors - worse since 2020.12

[catsynth]

Hi all-

I've noticed a rather dramatic increase in spinning pinwheels of death complete freezes of audio and UI for over a minute, and AAE -9073 (disk errors). I've always gotten a few, but now it's every time I run Pro Tools, and it gets worse the longer it is running.

It seems to have gotten worse this January when I upgraded to 12.2020 but not sure if it's really PT or perhaps a disk problem. Thoughts on how to diagnose and resolve?

macOS Mojave 10.14.6
Mac Pro 2013 (the "trash can")
Avid HDX PCIe card
Sonnet Echo Express III TB2
Pro Tools 2020.12
Glyph 2TB firewire drive (with Apple Thunderboard<->FW adapter)

Thanks!
-Amanda

[ArKay99]

Do you record to an SSD? Is it 'old'? 5 years or so? SSD's have a limited amount of write cycles. When they get close to the end of life they take a looong time to record to, show disk errors, etc. You might want to check that out.

[Obsidian Dragon]

My first reaction is to delete preferences and restart. When you upgraded to Protools 2020.12, did you write over the previous version, or did you delete the previous version and install a fresh version of Protools? I often recommend a fresh install. I see you are still running Mojave, which is getting a bit old and was not the best version for Protools. Consider upgrading to a more recent OS (but not Big Sur, as that is not certified for Protools yet). Drives (SSDs) are relative inexpensive nowadays, so the easiest way is to start with a fresh drive and install a new OS and Protools (keeping your old drive as a fallback option). Are you still recording to your Glyph firewire drive via a Thunderbolt adapter? While firewire was fast for its time, it has since been replaced by much faster drive technologies. Time to consider bringing that up to date with a faster drive solution such as NVME drives. Hopefully these suggestions will help reduce/eliminate the issues your are seeing.

[catsynth]

Thank you for the suggestions!
I am particularly suspicious of the Glyph drive, as today I am also observing issues with other applications. I will look into replacements, preferably Thunderbolt or something else high-speed.

In terms of the OS, I stayed on Mojave because I heard there were issues with video support in PT on Catalina, and I do a lot of video work these days. If that is no longer a problem, I will definitely look into the upgrade.

-A

[Obsidian Dragon]

Originally Posted by catsynth

Thank you for the suggestions!
I am particularly suspicious of the Glyph drive, as today I am also observing issues with other applications. I will look into replacements, preferably Thunderbolt or something else high-speed.

In terms of the OS, I stayed on Mojave because I heard there were issues with video support in PT on Catalina, and I do a lot of video work these days. If that is no longer a problem, I will definitely look into the upgrade.

-A

There were initial video support issues with Catalina so it depends on the software applications you are using. Final Cut Pro X was working from day one. Protools 2020.11 (I think it was that version) has since fixed the issues. I can't speak for other applications. If you go with what I suggested, a new SSD for the system drive, you can keep the previous drive as an alternative boot drive to ensure you don't lose compatibility with your other applications.

[Farhoof]

Originally Posted by catsynth

Hi all-

I've noticed a rather dramatic increase in spinning pinwheels of death complete freezes of audio and UI for over a minute, and AAE -9073 (disk errors). I've always gotten a few, but now it's every time I run Pro Tools, and it gets worse the longer it is running.

It seems to have gotten worse this January when I upgraded to 12.2020 but not sure if it's really PT or perhaps a disk problem. Thoughts on how to diagnose and resolve?

macOS Mojave 10.14.6
Mac Pro 2013 (the "trash can")
Avid HDX PCIe card
Sonnet Echo Express III TB2
Pro Tools 2020.12
Glyph 2TB firewire drive (with Apple Thunderboard<->FW adapter)

Thanks!
-Amanda

What PT version were you running before the upgrade to 2020.12?
I've seen a major increase in errors since 2019.5, though only on our HDX rigs.

[catsynth]

I think 2020.10? I've been mostly upgrading as new versions come out. Which errors have you been seeing with HDX?