Dual G5 2.7Ghz, 4Gb RAM, and still my song won't play.

[synchaotica]

I used to run a PC with Pro tools LE 8 and Reason 3 and it was Ok for a while until I began having processor issues. This led me to purchase a second hand dual G5 PowerPC from my friend who runs his own studio and has upgraded to a Quad. The G5 i bought worked very well for my friend and he used to record many live tracks and run heaps of plug ins and UAD stuff with very little trouble.. (He now has a Pro tools HD setup so needed the better computer)

I am running the G5 now with NOTHING except ProtoolsLE 8 and Reason 4. (perfect for my needs) I am not running any third party plug ins through Pro tools except Reason 4.

The trouble is, with perhaps 7-10 stereo audio tracks (some with pro tools chorus or delays) and perhaps a beat running through reason (through Protools as a VI) I am constantly getting CPU messages. 'Your computer is to slow to play.... increase buffer....remove plug ins... blah blah' (these are the same messages I used to get on the PC at exactly the same point in the song so the G5 seems no better than the PC at all)

I just wanted to know if i just simply have to accept that my G5 isn't capable of running Pro Tools properly, or whether there is something in my setup that I have missed. (I have tried using 1 host processor and 2) I have tried all the suggestions from 'Sticky' including trashing my preferences, I have turned off Spotlight. etc. and I have scoured the internet and read as much as I could find and I am now running the freshest install of ProToolsLE 8 possible. I am a little unsure about the exact settings in the DAE Playback and H/W Buffer (nothing I do seems to make any difference at all)

I am running all my Audio from a separate drive although I do have all my filters and plug in on the OS drive with protools (my setup wouldn't let me put these anywhere else)

It seems that others using a similar system to me do not have this much trouble.

I am still getting that darn CPU message.

Please help, I am about to burst with frustration.

My details are as follows....

ProTools LE v8 (latest)
MBox 2 Mini
Reason 4
MAudio Axiom25 midi controller

Hardware Overview:

Model Name: Power Mac G5
Model Identifier: PowerMac7,3
Processor Name: PowerPC G5 (3.1)
Processor Speed: 2.7 GHz
Number Of CPUs: 2
L2 Cache (per CPU): 512 KB
Memory: 4.5 GB
Bus Speed: 1.35 GHz
Boot ROM Version: 5.2.4f1
Hardware UUID: 00000000-0000-1000-8000-00112486E178

Serial-ATA Bus:

ST3160811AS:

Capacity: 149.05 GB
Model: ST3160811AS
Revision: 3.AAE
Serial Number: 6PT35JBT
Removable Media: No
Detachable Drive: No
BSD Name: disk1
Protocol: ata
Unit Number: 0
Socket Type: Serial-ATA
Bay Name: "A (upper)"
Mac OS 9 Drivers: No
Partition Map Type: APM (Apple Partition Map)
S.M.A.R.T. status: Verified
Volumes:
Leopard:
Capacity: 99.07 GB
Available: 59.78 GB
Writable: Yes
File System: Journaled HFS+
BSD Name: disk1s3
Mount Point: /
Jaguar:
Capacity: 49.73 GB
Available: 43.56 GB
Writable: Yes
File System: Journaled HFS+
BSD Name: disk1s5
Mount Point: /Volumes/Jaguar

__________________________________________________ ___

Please let me know if you require any other info.

Thanks

[bongo_x]

PT8 was slow for me on my G5. PT 7.4 was great. Mac OS 10.4.11 and PT 7.4.whatever-the-last-version-was is a good combination for a G5. I did full mixes with that setup until a few weeks ago.

bb

[lemonkid]

You cannot run PT8 on MacOs 10.4.11 Which is the highest Os that you can install on a G5.

Run PT 7........!

[RubyQueen]

Not true at all.

You can run Leopard on G5s, no problem, with PT up to 8.01.

[The Dougfather]

No problems here running 8.0.1 on a G5, the performance is as good, if not better than 7. Leopard works well too.

As your using an mbox have you tried using a different USB port, if your processor isn't peggedand your using only one processor I would be inclined to check for incompatible plugins regardless whether they are in the session or not they can still cause these types of issues.

[econoline]

You might want to try dropping down to PT 7.4. I've been running a dual 1.8 G5 with 3GB of RAM for nearly 6 years with no major problems other than the obvious side effects of running 30-40 track sessions full of plugs. I'm currently using PT 7.4.

[barry1]

Running OS 10.5.8 with pt 8le....2 gig ram...no problems on my G5...and i use alot of plugins and VI!!

[Shifted Music]

I also was on 10.5.8 with PT8 and a 003.

worked fine... I mean some usually stuff here and there. . but I got work done.

I didn't let VI's sit around too long before printing.. But a reason and 2 VIs and some audio tracks would be more that an easy session.

Something is wrong with the system.

I did a lot of trouble shooting and or system configuration to maximize what I could get out of the G5.

I turned off spotlight (using a command in terminal to completely STOP it)

I turned off the dashboard (also using terminal to STOP it from running.)

and al the other set up stuff. . step by step in listed in the trouble shooting section.

[synchaotica]

Originally Posted by lemonkid

You cannot run PT8 on MacOs 10.4.11 Which is the highest Os that you can install on a G5.

Run PT 7........!

I'm running 10.5.8 at the moment. Pro tools works fine. It's the CPU that has problems.

[synchaotica]

Originally Posted by Shifted Music

Something is wrong with the system.

I did a lot of trouble shooting and or system configuration to maximize what I could get out of the G5.

I turned off spotlight (using a command in terminal to completely STOP it)

I turned off the dashboard (also using terminal to STOP it from running.)

and al the other set up stuff. . step by step in listed in the trouble shooting section.

I have tried all this as I specified in my very first post. Thanks anyway.