how to change scsi settings

[Jepse]

To over come PCI is busy, DAE errors etc. I've just increased ram allocation to protools and DAE but have read that there are also problems with scsi transfer rate speeds (should be set to 10?). I have an Atto ultra wide scsi which I currently record on. I'm running protools LE 5.1 on G4 400 with 492ram and don't know how to set tranfer rate.
Also, the memory allocation for the scsi drive is set at 3000 min. 10,000 max. Should this be increased first or as well?

Thanks

Jepse

[DigiTechSupt]

To adjust the ATTO SCSI card settings you will need to use ATTO's Express Pro -Tools utility that is available at no cost on the ATTO website.

You don't mention what version of the Mac Operating system you are using but if you are using Mac OS 9.2 (or 9.2.1 or 9.2.2), you need to use Express Pro-Tools version 2.7 or higher. If you're using a prior version of the Mac OS, Express Pro-Tools 2.3.2 should be fine.

You may also need to update the firmware on the ATTO card for OS 9.2 or greater as well, depending on how old it is. The firmware updater can also be found on the ATTO website at no charge.

Once you're inside the Express Pro-Tools utility/app you will see a window that lists SCSI buses and devices. You should see two buses (bus = SCSI connector on your card) and any SCSI drives you have connected to the SCSI card.

Double click on one of the drives to get to the "Device Information" page.

In the lower right hand section of the "Drive Information" page you should see a setting called "Synch Rate". This should be set to 20 (10). Once you have set this correctly hit the "Apply to All" button at the bottom of this page so that this setting will be changed on all device ID's. You will need to restart your computer for these settings to take effect.

If the Synch Rate was at it's default of 40 (20) (or anything higher than 20 (10)) you will most likely run into -6042 DAE errors.

This is not the only cause of 6042 DAE errors though so you may want to take a look at the Answerbase, here on the Digi website, and look up 6042 for more info and other possible causes.

Also, if you are using Pro Tools LE version 5.1, you should upgrade to version 5.1.1. It should be a free upgrade for you.

Another culprit that causes 6042 error messages is having additional PCI cards in your system such as a second monitor card or similar. These cards can create PCI "traffic jams" and probably should be removed for best Pro Tools performance.

If none of this helps, I'd suggest that you give Digi Tech Support a call for more info.

I'm not sure what you mean when you say you've allocated more RAM to the SCSI drive but allocating RAM to Pro Tools, DAE or the Mac can help Pro Tools peformance but will most likely NOT help take care of 6042 error messages. You may want to reset what ever RAM settings youve made and try the things the Answerbase suggests and/or talk to Digi Tech Support.

I hope this helps,

Jon Connolly
Digidesign Product Specialist

[Jepse]

Thanks Jon, I was able to change the sync rate with your instructions. I had already updated my protools version to 5.1.1 and am still running OS 9.04. My question about ram allocation was probably not clear but in my searches I've found much about allocation of ram for protools and DAE. What I could not find is whether I should increase memory allocation for my SCSI drive as well as my operating system or does it make no difference as long as my operating system allocation has been increased. Currently my operating and Protools allocations are about 80,000 max, but the scsi allocations are currently 3000 min and 10000 max.

Thanks, Jepse

[DigiTechSupt]

Originally posted by Jepse:
What I could not find is whether I should increase memory allocation for my SCSI drive as well as my operating system or does it make no difference as long as my operating system allocation has been increased.

<font size="2" face="Verdana, Arial">There is no way to assign more memory to the Finder or your SCSI drive. The Mac OS takes as much memory as it needs.

As far as DAE and PT LE are concerned, a Preferred setting of 90MB and 70MB (respectively), will be fine. However, be sure and never change the Minimum memory size of either application. If you have, you can set it back to the default setting by typing a 0 into the field and press Enter on the numerical keypad.

Brent