VO-BB - 19 YEARS OLD!

[Chrissy]

Chuck Davis set up my new recording equipment for me. Below is part of a post from the Entre Nous section:

"Folks - we ran into a bit of a problem with Chris's P4 equipped Dell PC throwing up a playback buffer error. I've got her working on the finer points of computer config for pro-tools (she's got an mbox mini)...but your suggestions would certainly help!"

The message on my screen reads: Operating system held off interrupts for too long. If this occurs frequesntly, try increasing the "H/W Buffer Size" in the Playback Engine panel (-6086)

Basic spec on my PC is:

P4 (I think it's 3.5gb...Chris could check though)
2gb ram
Integrated Video
80gb main drive
250gb record drive (16mb cache/7200rpm)
Win XP Home/SP2
Pro-Tools 7.0 on M-Box Mini

I tried shutting off the Norton antivirus and Dragon Naturally Speaking while I recorded and played back. I still got the same message. There are no games loaded on the computer.

Anyone have any ideas that can help?

Thanks,

Chris

[Jeffrey Kafer]

1. Go to the Digidesign Support section:
www.digidesign.com/support

2. In the "Support Search" window at the top left of the page, enter just the error code number.
Do not enter the minus sign or anything else, just the number.

For the most complete results, leave the drop down category list at the default "All Categories".

3. Click the Search button. That will bring up all available support information regarding that DAE error.
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Jeff
http://JeffreyKafer.com
Voice-overload Web comic: http://voice-overload.com

[Yoda117]

Okay, it's Mhz, not Gb for the chip speed (Gb is a gigabyte, Mhz is a megahertz and they relate to different things).

My first question is to ask, what model Dell. Some models aren't compatible with PT (check the digidesign website for a detailed list).

Next, if the motherboard was replaced, you need to know. The chipset in the mobo needs to be compatible with digidesign's specs. More often than not, I find that to be the main issue in HW compatibility.

The next thing would be to check the size of the swap/page file set in XP (a page file is basically a virtual amount of memory that XP uses by swapping data between your RAM and HDD).

If we're lucky it's a problem within PT itself & can be fixed as follows:

1. Choose Setups –> Playback Engine. (The Playback Engine dialog box opens)

2. Select the setting that you want from the H/W Buffer Size drop-down list.

3. Click OK to accept the setting and close the dialog box.

If not, then here are some other solutions to related buffer issues... they might work, but it's a roll of the die.

Go to control panel,system, and click on the advanced tab. Click on settings in the peformance area. Click on adavanced then in virtual memory click change. Click "no paging file" then OK. Restart your computer(digi recommends 1024 for paging file, but if you have a several Gb of RAM you should be golden).

If you are using a control surface that is not compatible with PT (a mixer perhaps) and it is not in the recording chain BEFORE the mBox, get rid of it and give PT a whirl.

Hopefully the info and suggestions help
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[Deirdre]

Dang-- you guys are a gold mine.
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[KaraEdwards]

Make sure to listen to the guys above before listening to me...they are WAY smarter when it comes to this stuff! That said, you may want to check your anti-virus and also make sure to turn off the 'update' feature on your computer.

When I get that error, it is typically because the computer or some program tried to update. A quick re-start usually fixes the issue.
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Kara Edwards
http://www.karaedwards.com
kara@karaedwards.com

[Edo]

Just a thought... for your problem rang a bell. I found this in an e-mail conversation from just over a year ago when I was trying to help someone with similar issues. I had a chat with a Digidesign Tech Rep... and he said:

Random 6086 errors in Pro Tools, especially after all other troubleshooting has been attempted have been known to be caused by bad RAM modules. Removing or replacing modules may assist in locating the problematic module.

Just my € 0.02

Good luck!

[Jeffrey Kafer]

Good idea, Edo. Bad RAM is often a problem with sensitive applications. And luckily, it's also cheap to swap out modules (relatively cheap, anyway).
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Jeff
http://JeffreyKafer.com
Voice-overload Web comic: http://voice-overload.com

[Chrissy]

Thanks for various suggestions. Kara trust me I know lessa than you do. I'm a beginner( actually what's before beginner--pre-beginner). I need to wait until my tech savvy daughter gets here to help me try these options.

I will keep you updated.

Chrissy

[CarynClark]

Actually, this is the same problem I brought up a couple of months ago. You can do a search for the thread... lots of trouble shooting there.

I added RAM... didn't really make a difference. Also, changed out my anti-virus to AVG antivirus (it was in that thread I mentioned) that was suggested here... helped alot. I still get the error, but not as much.

ProTools doesn't like antivirus software.
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"A positive mental attitude and having faith in your ability is quite different from being irresponsible and downright stupid." - Dave

[Diane Maggipinto]

another rah! rah! for avg
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[Jeffrey Kafer]

[Deirdre]

It plays nice with systems that don't need anti-virus stuff.

I know some folks who keep an internet-free PC for sound editing.
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[Edo]

[ricevoice]

[Jeffrey Kafer]