• Registered: 2011-05-19
  • Posts: 44

Topic: HDSP 9652 PT9 Window7 - random I/O loops problem

Hello guys,

after enjoying for few months a very smooth system with Windows 7 32 bit,
Pro Tools 9, HDSP 9652 connected with SSL Alpha Link Madi AX (24 channels connected via ADAT, clock via BNC, SSL Master, RME Slave)
today during a mixing session I had the weirdest problem:

completely random feedbacks loop on completely random channels.

Opening the RME mixer shows signal loops in again, random channels, 5/6, 11/12, 7/8 etc..
I noticed because on one channel I had one of my 1073 hw eq in insert and while playing the mix
i was hearing click and pops. Muting all channels revealed them coming from ch 7, bypassing the hw made it stop.
So at first I thought it was a problem with the hw itself but soon I realized that it was doing it on several channles.

I deleted preferences on PT, I restarted the machine several times, I loaded default setting I/O on PT
I opened a totally new PT project with default setting (after deleting preferences and database)
with just one stereo channel and the master channel and still, the RME mixer is showing loops everywhere and
as soon as I put an hw insert involving one or more of those channels audio is cut out intermittently,
plus clicks and pops like no tomorrow..

Absolute nothing changed in the system since yesterday (which was fine),
it was the same project, the same mix (altho' like I said I tried in other projects, both existing and new)
24 hours difference and the problem popped up..

What this could be cause by? Drivers? W7? PT9?
I'm in the middle of a mixing session for an album and this *definitely* it's gonna be a major problem.

When I first installed the system/PT9 I had the same problems at first, which magically disappeared on their own
It seemed PT, I say this because looking at the RME mixer all the loops/feedback disappear as soon as you close PT.
Meaning, definitely there's no hw connection problem, no hw loop (the system ran smoothly for months anyway),
it's definitely software related. Seemed like PT I/O were somewhat messed up but like I said,
everything was mapped perfectly and they just went away on their own.
Now I can't relay on luck here, I need to find the source and solve the problem hmm

Any help would be much appreciated

thank you all in advance

  • Registered: 2011-05-19
  • Posts: 44

Re: HDSP 9652 PT9 Window7 - random I/O loops problem

Anyone?

  • vinark
  • DAW Mastermind
  • Offline
  • Registered: 2009-06-05
  • Posts: 2,671

Re: HDSP 9652 PT9 Window7 - random I/O loops problem

I don't work with protools but I read ina forum here that after updating PT or a driver you need to completely reinstall PT from scratch. You could try that....I know not attractive.

Vincent, Amsterdam
https://soundcloud.com/thesecretworld
BFpro fs, 2X HDSP9652 ADI-8AE, 2X HDSP9632

4 Reply by NewtoRME (edited by NewtoRME 2011-08-04 18:47:19)

  • Registered: 2011-05-19
  • Posts: 44

Re: HDSP 9652 PT9 Window7 - random I/O loops problem

I didn't update anything, absolute nothing is changed from the day before when everything was ok

this is what I get when opening PT, NO playback and NO signals of any kind are going on
nor in the hw domain nor from PT

http://img820.imageshack.us/img820/7426/wtfvh.jpg



I tried disconnecting the BNC cable and clocking RME/SSL via Adat, the problem is still there
both with RME or SSL as master.
So this could suggest is not a clock problem.

Some setting in the totalmix? It's default preset one in all the tests.
Reinstalling RME drivers? All this makes very lil sense to me

5 Reply by MC

  • MC
  • MC
  • Administrator
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  • From: Germany/Thailand
  • Registered: 2007-04-06
  • Posts: 24,913

Re: HDSP 9652 PT9 Window7 - random I/O loops problem

Remove the HDSP 9652, clean its PCI gold contacts with a rubber pencil/eraser and reinsert it.

Regards
Matthias Carstens
RME

MC's Website

  • Registered: 2011-05-19
  • Posts: 44

Re: HDSP 9652 PT9 Window7 - random I/O loops problem

Hey Matthias,

thanks, I'll try that and report

  • Registered: 2011-05-19
  • Posts: 44

Re: HDSP 9652 PT9 Window7 - random I/O loops problem

Ok I cleaned up the contacts as suggested, and since they looked pretty clean and oxide free
I also swapped the card on a different PCI slot to see if anything changed and while doing all of the above
I might found the real problem, now, it's saturday so I can't check it out but I found out ONE ADAT cable
connecting the RME to the ALPHA seems to be broken.

By removing the card and then connecting everything back i noticed ADAT 2 was showing NO LOCK
in the RME panel, so i checked the connections and they were inserted correctly,
i then started swapping the ADAT cables and after trying all the possible combination
it was obvious that ONE adat cable wasn't passing signal (put it in the ADAT 1 was breaking that group of channles,
putting in ADAT 2 was breaking that one while the 1 was ok, and so on..)

So, for sure that cable is faulty, but looking at the picture I posted you can see
the feedbacks are not limiter to the first, or second or third 8 groups of channels,
meaning, not limited to an ADAT group only.

My question is (just out of curiosity since on Monday when I get a new cable I will have proof/answer ):
could that one faulty cable be the cause of the feedback problems? on the other channels as well?
Could that cable mess up the whole system?

  • Registered: 2011-05-19
  • Posts: 44

Re: HDSP 9652 PT9 Window7 - random I/O loops problem

Just in case someone else runs into the same problem,
it was the adat cable, it was messing up everything.