Increasing/Decreasing H/W Buffer Size...

[TylerJohnson]

Specs:

MacBook 2.2GHz Dual Core, 4 GB RAM running Windows XP Pro via Bootcamp.

Pro Tools 7.3.1 (Mbox 2)

This happened on my last system too, so I thought a system upgrade would fix it, but it didn't:

Whenever I record in PT it will run for about 10-15 maybe 20 seconds then I get "The system is holding off interrupts too long, try increasing the H/W buffer size"

Ok, so I did...same thing. Now it's at maximum and now I get an error telling me to decrease the H/W buffer size...what's the deal?

EDIT: This also happens during playback, seems like I can't go 5 seconds without my system either telling me to increase the H/W buffer size or decrease it.

[sw rec]

My Mbox used to do the same thing til I set up a page file. It's best viewed as "virtual ram" and is in the Windows performance tweaks section when you first set up Pro Tools. I HAVE had some people say it isn't necessary, but it did in fact solve the problem for me.
control panel>system>advanced>performance>settings>advance d. Last thing on the page. Specify both the upper and lower limits for twice the aount of ram in your system. Make sure you follow ALL the setup recommendations.

[spkguitar]

When running XP and PT with Boot Camp on a macbook, the following are absolutely necessary:

• make sure you install the Microsoft Dual Core Hotfix
• you absolutely need an external firewire drive for audio sessions. Running sessions off/on the system drive will cause problems eventually (if not immediately)
• you must disable the network cards (especially the wireless) when using Pro Tools.
• the mbox has to be plugged into the USB port farthest from the screen.