virtual instrument playback issues

[riden1080]

Hello,
I am running pro tools le 8 with a mbox2 mini and using an axiom 25 on a macbook pro running mac os x version 10.5.8
processor: 2.4 Ghz intel core Duo
memory: 2 GB 667Mhz DDR2 SDRAM

I am new to pro tools so i apologize if i'm not using the correct terms

So I recently got Pro Tools 8 le with a mbox 2 mini and an Axiom 25 and at first everything was working fine, no issues what so ever. That is until about 2 days ago when I began experiencing problems with my virtual instrument recordings playback.

I create 1, stereo, instrument track and 1 stereo master fader track. I/O = no in put and analog 1/2 output. (I can email a screen shot if needed)

So I am using my axiom 25 to play the vacuum instrument (or any VI for that case except the mini grand which sort of works but i will get into that later) and I can hear it working before and during recoding, i can also see the notes appear in the timeline as i play the keys on my axiom during recording. the issue arises when i try and playback what i just recorded and there is no sound. During playback as the timeline cursor goes over the recorded notes the volume meter (sorry not sure of actual name but the green, yellow, and red meter that lights up when there is sound) under the instrument tab lights up but the volume meter next to the main Inst 1 tab does nothing and there is no sound.

From time to time i hear something like a click at the beginning of a note but not every time, when this does happen the volume meter in the main Inst 1 tab lights up briefly and shows this sound coming in. However this brief click sound is the only thing that has been making noise.

I have been toying around with this and here are somethings i have figured out...

1) If i set the timeline cursor to say the middle of a note and hit play i can hear the rest of that note but no other notes after it. its as if something at the beginning of each note is preventing its playback.

2) When i go in to edit a note i see a tiny section of a darker shade of blue at the very beginning of every note, if delete this tiny darker blue section of the note i am able to hear the rest of that note, also if i start playback from anywhere after that tiny darker section at the beginning of the note i can hear the rest of the note as well. (i could email you a screen shot if you want of what i am talking about)

3) every VI except the mini grand has these issues, when it comes to the mini grand i can hear the notes but the sound does not last as long as it should. that is visually i can see a note should last a certain amount of time but in playback i only hear just the beginning of the note and it fades out quickly. this sound is longer than a blip but shorter than the note should be. Again if i start playback from the middle of the note the sound plays its correct length, also if i delete the tiny darker shade of blue at the beginning of a note the note plays back as it should.

Things i have done to try and fix the problem...

check my i/o settings(although im not %100 sure how these work), looked at the playback engine(although im not really sure how this works) looked extensively online for similar issues to which i have found none, trashed my preferences, ran an update, un-installed and reinstalled pro tools, and tried different usb cables in different ports.

other notes...

everything worked fine for about a week, the problems started after i plugged in a microphone to my mbox2 mini and recorded an acoustic guitar track. i changed my H/W buffer size when i did this but have since uninstalled and reinstalled pro tools.

i can record and playback audio from a microphone fine, its only the VI's that have the problem.

i can draw in notes with the pencil tools and they playback fine


Thanks for your time, please let me know if you need anymore info or have any other questions.