Playback problems with Mbox3 PT8.04 on W7 x64

Hi Everyone, Summary: After a minute or so my audio playback gets pops, crackles, distorts and eventually stops altogether using an Mbox3 with PT8.0 on a Dell Notebook with W7 64bit. I've been a LE user for years and decided to finally retire the original MBox and take the plunge into W7 64bit. After a lot research I decided to go for a new Dell XPS15 notebook even though some friends warned me not to. It has good specs with 8Gb ram and fast processor, 7200 rpm drive, etc. Full details are below. I get the Mbox3 for Xmas. :-) I was delighted until I started running sessions and the playback problems started. :mad: I can fix things up temporarily by adjusting the Playback settings only for the same thing to happen again. i) will purchasing PT9 miraculously fix my problems (something tells me not)? ii) I know I should have got a second hard drive but I had been recording with earlier versions of PT on other Notebooks that only had a single 5400 rpm drive. Should I go out tommorrow and buy a 7200rpm eSATA ext drive? I've spent the last 24 hours researching to see if anyone had anything similar. Some of the optimization techniques I'm aware and I'll try as a last resort. It's a clean install straight from the DVD with no 3rd party plugins yet even though I'd like to install them if I can get the programme working. I hope someone can help. I can't afford to ditch the computer and if I can I'd rather keep using Pro Tools. Cheers, Joe ------------------ SiSoftware Sandra Computer Model : Dell XPS L501X Processor Model : Intel(R) Core(TM) i7 CPU Q 840 @ 1.87GHz Speed : 2GHz Cores per Processor : 4 Unit(s) Threads per Core : 2 Unit(s) Type : Mobile, Quad-Core Integrated Data Cache : 4x 32kB, Synchronous, Write-Thru, 8-way, 64 byte line size, 2 threads sharing L2 On-board Cache : 4x 256kB, ECC, Synchronous, ATC, 8-way, 64 byte line size, 2 threads sharing L3 On-board Cache : 8MB, ECC, Synchronous, ATC, 16-way, Exclusive, 64 byte line size, 8 threads sharing Computer Platform Compliance : Intel Centrino Mobile Technology Mainboard : Dell 00YWG2 BIOS : Dell A04 11/26/2010 Bus(es) : X-Bus PCI PCIe IMB USB i2c/SMBus Multi-Processor (MP) Support : No Multi-Processor Advanced PIC (APIC) : Yes Total Memory : 8GB DDR3 SO-DIMM Chipset Model : Dell Core (Clarksfield/Lynnfield) DMI Front Side Bus Speed : 2x 2.4GHz (4.79GHz) Chipset Model : Intel Core Mobile (Clarksfield) UnCore Front Side Bus Speed : 2x 2.4GHz (4.79GHz) Total Memory : 8GB DDR3 SO-DIMM Channels : 2 Memory Bus Speed : 2x 665MHz (1.33GHz) Memory Module(s) Memory Module : Hynix (Hyundai) HMT351S6BFR8C-H9 4GB DDR3 SO-DIMM PC3-10700S DDR3-1334 (9-9-9-25 4-34-10-5) Memory Module : Hynix (Hyundai) HMT351S6BFR8C-H9 4GB DDR3 SO-DIMM PC3-10700S DDR3-1334 (9-9-9-25 4-34-10-5) Video System Video Adapter : NVIDIA GeForce GT 435M (96 SM5.0 1.3GHz, 2GB, PCIe 2.00 x16) Graphics Processor OpenCL Processor : NVIDIA GeForce GT 435M (96SP 2C 1.3GHz, 2GB) Compute Shader Processor : NVIDIA GeForce GT 435M (96SP 1.3GHz, 2GB) Storage Devices SAMSUNG HM640JJ (640.1GB, SATA300, 2.5", 7200rpm, NCQ, 16MB Cache) : 596GB (C:) (R:) (S:) HL-DT-ST DVDRW/BDROM CT30N (SATA150, BD-R, DVD+-RW, CD-RW, 2MB Cache) : N/A (D:) Logical Storage Devices RECOVERY : 15GB (NTFS) Recording (R:) : 50GB (NTFS) @ SAMSUNG HM640JJ (640.1GB, SATA300, 2.5", 7200rpm, NCQ, 16MB Cache) My Documents (S:) : 240GB (NTFS) @ SAMSUNG HM640JJ (640.1GB, SATA300, 2.5", 7200rpm, NCQ, 16MB Cache) OS (C:) : 292GB (NTFS) @ SAMSUNG HM640JJ (640.1GB, SATA300, 2.5", 7200rpm, NCQ, 16MB Cache) Optical Drive (D:) : N/A @ HL-DT-ST DVDRW/BDROM CT30N (SATA150, BD-R, DVD+-RW, CD-RW, 2MB Cache) Peripherals LPC Hub Controller 1 : Dell HM57 LPC Interface Controller LPC Legacy Controller 1 : Winbond W83687THF Audio Device : Dell P55/PM55/3400 High Definition Audio Audio Codec : Realtek Semiconductor High Definition Audio Audio Device : Dell 0BEAh Audio Codec : nVidia 0014h Audio Codec : nVidia 0014h Audio Codec : nVidia 0014h Serial Port(s) : 3 Disk Controller : Dell P55/PM55/3400 6 port SATA AHCI Controller USB Controller 1 : Dell P55/PM55/3400 USB2 Enhanced Host Controller USB Controller 2 : Dell P55/PM55/3400 USB2 Enhanced Host Controller USB Controller 3 : Dell uPD720200 USB 3.0 Controller SMBus/i2c Controller 1 : Intel 801xx/63xx SMBus Network Services Network Adapter : Realtek PCIe GBE Family Controller Network Adapter : Bluetooth Device (Personal Area Network) Wireless Adapter 1 : Intel(R) Centrino(R) Ultimate-N 6300 AGN (802.11g (ERP), WEP n-bit, 54Mbps) Operating System Windows System : Microsoft Windows 7 Ultimate 6.01.7600 Platform Compliance : x64

Dells have been problematic! I definitely recommend an eSata drive!

For openers I'd suggest disabling drive indexing. Because its a laptop, make sure the USB ports can't shut down on you. Avid recommends a USB2 or USB3 external drive although there's certainly nothing wrong with eSATA. Just make sure it isn't one of those "green" models that shut down when they aren't being accessed.

I just hope the second drive will solve the problem and that it's not something else. Cheers, Joe

Just to give a quick update, it's doesn't seem to be a problem with Pro Tools 8.04 but the Mbox3 itself conflicting with something on my computer. Even when I use Mbox as the audio device for other audio software, even Windows Media Player, the same thing happens - pops, clicks, distortion and eventually the sound disappears itself. Any ideas please???? I'm just going to keep experimenting with disabling other devices to see how I go. Cheers, Joe

Hey thanks for the fast response, some of these mods don't apply to W7 but more XP/Vista. I've tried some of them already and I'm currently in a long process of disabling various things to see if that helps. If all else fails I will do a dual boot set-up with a skeletal OS just for Pro Tools, I don't really want to though. Something tells me there is something inherently incompatiable with my Notebook and the Avid MBox... Cheers, Joe

My problem is still not sorted but now there is a new one... Playback is SLOW when I open previous sessions on both my new machine and my old laptop (which otherwise was working perfectly with the new Mbox). I've read on some other threads that some of the first Mboxs shipped were faulty and require replacement, is this true?????? :(