some Digi HD Expansion Chassis Issues

[minister]

hi,

first, i want to say, yes, i :
repaired disk permissions
made sure all plug-ins are up to date
un-installed PT before installing 7.3.1
deleted all prefs and databases
ran Disk Warrior

system:

G5 2.5 DUAL PPC; OS 10.4.8; PT 7.3.1; HD|3 ACCEL; DIGI 6-SLOT EXPANSION CHASSIS HD; 6.5 G RAM; ATTO SCSI UL3D (in CPU) with latest drivers.

sessions are fairly big feature film mix - 80 tracks, 5.1 routing, ANALOG & DIGITLA hardware insterts, lots of plugs.....

ok, i occasionally lose communication. maybe twice a day (14-16 hour day). i installed 7.3.1 and THEN installed the 7.3r2 for For Pro Tools HD 7.3 Users with Digidesign Expansion|HD 6 Slot Expansion Chassis Only...

why do i lose communication still?


Why does Scrubbing now SUCK?! really like pulling taffy.... EXPANSION CHASSIS REALITY?

thanks!

[FraserTSmith]

Hi , I'm having the same problem , but with 7.2.2 - I researched the problem and it seemed that it was due to 3rd party software esp. Soundtoys and Waves SSL - I'm still waiting for a revised 7.2 which really addresses the lack of communication problem between the chassis and the interface...

[DigiTechSupt]

Do you happen to be using Altiverb or MDW EQ in any of your sessions?

We're currently investigating reports of those plug-ins causing communication loss with the chassis.

[dr sound]

Digi,
I also at times "lose communication". I do not use either Altiverb or MDW in my sessions and I still have the problem. This is MUCH BETTER now then it was in 7.2 when it was happening all the time.

[minister]

Do you happen to be using Altiverb or MDW EQ in any of your sessions?

We're currently investigating reports of those plug-ins causing communication loss with the chassis.

Yes, definitely to the Altiverb; and on SOME sessions(reels in this film) for the MDW.

it is not completely unbearbale, but certainly an annoyance, since it take a few minutes to open these big files.

[garagemusic]

i just bought a Digi Chassis and am having the same communication problem right out of the gate. I'm returning the chassis until this is sorted out....no point in owning something that doesn't work.

G5 Dual 2.7
6 Gigs RAM
10.4.8
Pro Tools 7.2
NO altiverb, no MDW.

[minister]

dr. sound tells us that the communication is better in 7.3.1 you also need to get the r2 revision for the expansion chassis. did you try that?

here's the link : r2

i waited to install the chassis after i went to 7.3.1

also, the scrubbing is REALLY frustratingly SLOW!

[dr sound]

MUUUUUUUUUUUCCCCCCCCCCHHHHHHHHHHHH Better!!
On 7.2 it was a major drag!!!
7.3.1 with the link r2 makes it work .

[minister]

i did hear back from Audio Ease and there certainly is an issue with Alitverb 6 TDM and an Expansion Chassis. RTAS, i am told, is less of a problem and more efficient in 6. however, i have v5.4.9. ... which may or may not contribute. but i see others are not using Alitverb and are having similar behavior.

Audio Ease also mentioned that a playback H/W buffer of 512 was best. smaller, and AV takes too much CPU; larger and the track playback chokes.

speaking of playback buffers, sometimes PT goes POOF! when i try to change the settings. my system is clean and i delete databases, etc. on an all too frequent basis. i suspect the two are related as i did not have this issue before the chassis.

i am sure that the narrow connection from CPU to Chassis is the cause of some of the issues as well. but, i needed the extra power and this is the only way to get it now. it is not a deal breaker, just less than ideal right now.

[Jimmix]

These chasis are trouble.
I think they are not ready for primetime.
Especially on Windows.
Scrubbing sucks, crashing, loosing coomunication, extra hardware buffer.........don't get me started.

I don't get it. I don't understand why Digi went with ethernet. I bet the magma chassis are better but I now have chassi fobia, especially after the some of the issues on older macs and magma or SBS chassis that weren't nearly as bad as these new chassis. Chassis are never transparent. I don't have time to beta test for Digi.

We had 4 of the new ethernet chassis and we made Digi take them all back.

The reeal problem is that HD cards are 66MhZ so they kill the PCI bus. If you want to run any video option that Digi offers with an expanded system (more than HD3) you can't (with out dealing with chassi hell) because on most CPUs the second three PCI slots are tied to the 1394 bus. So when you put an HD card in any of the second three PCI slots it kills the 1394 bandwith; rendering the Video option useless. It is are real design problem. The new video option better solve lots of problems with out being a complete cludge. I have my reservations though.

Jim