Help! older HD3 system problem - 1122 errors

[sleepingtiger]

Maybe one of you Pro Tools gurus can help me with this...

I've installed an HD3 system in an old Mac G5 (dual 1.8). The system includes one Core, one Accel and one Process card installed in that order. My interface is a Lynx Aurora 16. Everything functions perfectly once I can get it booted up but it takes about a half hour to get it going at the beginning of each day. I repeatedly get 1122 errors and an occasional 1115 error until I finally get Pro Tools to launch. With each attempt I trash prefs, databases etc (I have the app that does this), unplug everything from the wall, re-plug and try again and repeat until eventually Pro Tools will start up. Once I get it started at the beginning of the day I can't replicate the problem until the next day. In other words, I can turn off everything, unplug everything and let it sit and then a while later fire everything back up and it will work fine. But the next day the troubles start again fresh...

I've searched all over for a solution and from what I gather it looks like the problem centers around the initialization of the PCI bus in the computer. Here's a quote from a post on the DUC that I found helpful:

"Some G5s have a different timing than previous ones for initialising the PCI bus. Digi will likely swap your cards with cards that can deal with the timing."

I've also found other posts that say "just send it to DIGI" but, obviously, that's impossible now. Do any of you have a solution? Do I just need to keep trading out cards until it works? I have a feeling that there's probably a simple hack that would fix it but I don't know where to start.

Any help would be greatly appreciated!

[Chief Technician]

Originally Posted by sleepingtiger

With each attempt I trash prefs, databases etc (I have the app that does this), unplug everything from the wall, re-plug and try again and repeat until eventually Pro Tools will start up. Once I get it started at the beginning of the day I can't replicate the problem until the next day. In other words, I can turn off everything, unplug everything and let it sit and then a while later fire everything back up and it will work fine. But the next day the troubles start again fresh...

I've searched all over for a solution and from what I gather it looks like the problem centers around the initialization of the PCI bus in the computer. Here's a quote from a post on the DUC that I found helpful:

"Some G5s have a different timing than previous ones for initialising the PCI bus. Digi will likely swap your cards with cards that can deal with the timing."

This seems reasonable given your description.

Originally Posted by sleepingtiger

I've also found other posts that say "just send it to DIGI" but, obviously, that's impossible now.

What makes you think that is impossible? Do you know for certain that Avid can no longer repair these cards? That seems unlikely given that these cards work with Pro Tools v10.

[sleepingtiger]

Well, I suppose that I don't know for sure but it seems very unlikely considering that these are older PCI-X cards that were manufactured by Digidesign and I purchased the whole system, other than the software, used. The only way I see to find out is to purchase an $80 support ticket which doesn't seem worth it considering the likelihood.