Playback errors Mac os Catalina Pro Tools 2022.10

[walterinbcn]

Hi, we are workig on a Mac Pro 2020, with Mac Osx Catalina 15.7 with Pro Tools 2022.10.

We are experimenting stops in our playback and difficults to do play. When we trash preferences this issue is resolved but reappers in few hours.

Also, we are experimenting HW buffer size errors, but this is not possible because we have an oversized machine and 10GB server.

We are working with video Apple Pro Res 422 Proxy.

Machine:
Mac Pro
Intel Xeon W 12 nuclis 3,3 GHz,
Turbo Boost 4,4 GHz
192 GB (6 x 16 GB) de memoria ECC DDR4
Radeon Pro W5700X con 16 GB GDDR6

[dominicperry]

Server? Do you mean 10GB or 10Gb/s?

Are you pulling all your session files off a NAS or some remote server?
If so, I would start with that. Move everything to a local drive and see if the errors continue.

Dominic

[walterinbcn]

Hi Dominic, thanks for your reply.

Yes, 10Gb/s.

Thanks

[Darryl Ramm]

Originally Posted by walterinbcn

We are experimenting stops in our playback and difficults to do play. When we trash preferences this issue is resolved but reappers in few hours.

If you trash preferences and the problem returns and then trashing prefs again fixes it the problem is likely because something is corrupting the preferences again. You have to troubleshoot what is going on. Trashing prefs is just the first step. And the rule of Pro Tools troubleshooting is always suspect plugins, and they sure could be causing this. As maybe could a corrupt session or just a bug in Pro Tools. Only you have any hope of working this out.

Start by reading the standard troubleshooting steps under "Help Us Help You" up the top od each DUC web page.

Is your system fully optimized, check all that again if you have done it already. I mean do everything, disable WiFi, disable bluetooth etc. for now.

And while troubleshooting I would focus on:

Make sure "ignore errors" is *not* checked as you troubleshoot.

After trashing prefs can you reproduce this with a different session (not a copy or clone or alternative version of the existing session). Can you reproduce starting with an empty session (not from template).

Then focus especially on plugins, moving all .aaxplugin files out of the plugin folder (Pro Tools will automagically put back the core plugins), trashing prefs again, and seeing if you can reproduce the problem, if you can then it is not a plugin problem, if you can it likely was a plugin and you can move them back in batches.

Still stuck create a new admin account and repeat all the tests from there.

For all these, trash prefs frequently and see if they stay OK after doing so.

Also, we are experimenting HW buffer size errors, but this is not possible because we have an oversized machine and 10GB server.

What *exact* error messages are you getting? Copy and past or screenshot if needed, even if not in English.

Having a "oversize machine" and fast Ethernet absolutely does not makes Pro Tools errors *impossible*. Clearly not since you are getting them. Again you need to troubleshoot.

As already suggested exclude the network by dragging a session into the internal ultra-fast SSD. Ideally disable all networking, WiFi and Ethernet and run tests with you disconnected Mac Pro.

A "10Gbit/s server", presumably a NAS server says little useful about the box. What make/model? Does it have SSD? HDD? a combo? What expected performance? What other load is on it? etc. Many NAS boxes are crippled by slow HDD performance, and I've sure seen awful setup or badly administered NAS boxes with software problems or running out of memory etc.. NAS is often fantastic for backups, you need to be much more careful if running sessions from it, and you can't assume it's working OK without checking/troubleshooting. And if session size is reasonable I'd be trying to use a workflow where sessions are copied to local PCIe/NVMe SSD and the NAS is used as an on-line/near-line library, maybe leaving video assets on the NAS.

So back to the rules of troubleshooting, starting with always suspect plugins, and nothing here is inconsistent with you having a very common type experience caused by plugin problems.

Still stuck, provide lots more info...

What sample rate and H/W Buffer sizes have you tried running at?

How large are these sessions, can you roughly describe number of tracks, video, plugins, VIs etc. Many heavy VIs like Izotope etc.?

What audio interface and driver version are you running? Make sure you are not using an aggregate device.

What Disk Cache size have you been running?