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Firewire Hard Drives with Pro Tools
Avid MediaDrive rS80 & DigiDrive FireWire 80 Requirements
Pro Tools System Compatibility
MediaDrive rS80 & DigiDrive FireWire 80 drives have been qualified
with the following Mac & Windows systems:
- Pro Tools|HD Systems (with Pro Tools 5.3.1 or higher)
- Pro Tools|24 MIX Systems (with Pro Tools 5.1.1 or higher)
- Pro Tools LE Systems (with Pro Tools 5.1.1 or higher)
Macintosh System Requirements
CPU
- All G5 models
- All G4 desktop models with AGP graphics cards (pre-AGP Graphics desktop
models are not supported)
- PowerBook G4 models: 450, 500, 550, 667
and 800 MHz models are qualified for up to 48 tracks of 24-bit/96 kHz
audio with 4 DigiDrive FireWire or MediaDrive rS80 drives with Pro
Tools|HD
version 5.3.1 on Mac OS 9.2.2. and Pro Tools 6.1/6.2 on Mac OS X 10.2.6
or 10.2.8
Mac OS 9 System Software
- Mac OS 9.1 or higher, 9.2.2 recommended
- Firewire Enabler (version 2.7 or higher)
- Firewire Support (version 2.7 or higher)
- FireWire Enabler v2.7 and FireWire Support v2.7 are Mac OS Extensions
included with OS 9.1. run the Software Update Control Panel to update
to the latest version of these extensions in OS 9.1 or higher. Both
of these extensions must be enabled in your System Folder/Extensions
folder in order to mount and use firewire drives.
- If you are running a non-English version of the Mac OS, you may need
to download
the version 2.5 FireWire extensions
- Supported formatting utility: Mac OS "Erase Disk" command
- Select firewire drive (highlight drive icon on desktop)
- Go to the "Special" menu in the Apple OS menu bar
- Choose "Erase Disk" command
- Choose Mac OS Extended (HFS+)
- Note: partitioning is not an option using the Erase Disk command
in Mac OS 9. To increase performance and improve seek time, Digidesign
recommends that you allocate a portion of your hard drive for recording.
In Pro Tools, Choose Setups/Preferences and click Operation. Under
the Open Ended Record Allocation option, select Limit To and enter
a number of minutes to be allocated.
Mac OS X System Software
- Pro Tools 6.2.3 and 6.4 for Panther requires Mac
OS 10.3.2
- Pro Tools 6.1/6.2 for Jaguar requires Mac
OS 10.2.6 or 10.2.8
- Pro Tools 6.0.x requires Mac OS 10.2.3, 10.2.4, 10.2.5, or 10.2.6
- Supported formatting utility: Disk Utility, included with Mac OS
X
- Open from the following location: Applications->Utilities->Disk
Utility, or in the Apple Menu when booted from the OS X installation
CD.
- Select FireWire drive from the list on the left
- Choose either the Erase or Partition tab
- Choose Mac OS Extended*
- If you plan on using your drive on both Mac OS 9 and Mac OS X,
check the box next to "Install Mac OS 9 Drivers".
- Note: partitioning is not an option using the Erase command. To
increase performance and improve seek time Digidesign recommends
that you allocate a portion of your hard drive for recording. In
Pro Tools, Choose Setups/Preferences and click Operation. Under
the Open Ended Record Allocation option, select Limit To and enter
a number of minutes to be allocated.
*Also known as HFS+. Do not choose Mac OS Extended (Journaled) for record
and playback drives:
Disk Performance and the Mac OS X 10.3 Journaled
File System
Mac OS X 10.3 incorporates a journaled file system, which will automatically
log any file modifications. If your computer crashes badly enough to
require a restart (or a restart from a power failure), the OS will then
use the journal to aid in fixing any disk problems caused by the crash.
Because any write to the disk will also incur a journal update, this
will slightly slow down disk performance.
Mac OS X 10.3 ships with journaling on by default. Digidesign recommends
that customers format their media drives (record and playback drives)
with journaling turned off. If you are using Apple's Disk Utility program
to format drives, choose "Mac
OS Extended" format, instead of "Mac OS Extended (Journaled)".
If you wish to turn off journaling on your boot drive as well, perform
the following steps:
- Run the Apple Disk Utility
- In the main window, select the boot volume
- From the File menu, choose "Disable Journaling"
Note that this will slow recovery if your system has to be rebooted
to recover from a kernel panic or power failure.
Third-party Drive Utilitites Not Supported
While third-party drive format utilities may work on the owner's CPU
where that application's software and extensions are installed, the
best way to ensure compatibility on all Macs with firewire drives is to
use the Apple Erase Disk function in Mac OS 9 for formatting, or the Mac
OS X Disk Utility. If you plan to also use your Firewire drive
on other machines that may not have the same third-party drivers, your
drive may not mount on that machine, or you may experience DAE or system
errors.
- If you plan on using your drive on both Mac OS 9 and Mac OS X, check
the box next to "Install Mac OS 9 Drivers" when formatting
or partitioning using the Mac OS X Disk Utility.
- Supported file format: Mac OS Extended (HFS+)
- HFS standard formatting will result in finder copy problems with
files over 2 GB
- For additional information see the Digidesign
Storage Guide in the Technical Document
Library of the Support/Tech Support section of the website. (printed
manual included with the DigiDrive FireWire 80)
Windows System Requirements
- Digidesign Pro Tools TDM or LE system
- Digidesign-approved Windows-based computer with Firewire capability
- Qualified FireWire PCI
& CardBus Cards for DigiDrive FireWire 80 & MediaDrive rS80
on Windows Systems
- FireWire drives are not supported on systems that also have a PCI
expansion chassis attached
- Note: When used with Windows 98 SE or Windows Me, a third-party disk
utility such as PartitionMagic®
is required to format the drive before it can be used
- For additional information see the Digidesign
Storage Guide or previous DigiDrive
FireWire Guide in the Technical Document
Library of the Support/Tech Support section of the website. (printed
manual included with the DigiDrive FireWire 80)
General Technical Specifications
Performance Expectations
- Supported track count (per drive) with Pro Tools LE systems: 32 tracks
per drive at 48 KHz/24-bit . Two drives required
for 32 tracks at 96 KHz/24-bit .
- Supported track count (per drive) with Pro Tools TDM systems: 24 tracks
per drive at 48 KHz/24-bit
- Maximum 2 drives for a total of 48 tracks (Pro Tools|24 MIX systems)
- Maximum 4 drives for a total of 96 tracks at 48 KHz/24-bit (Pro Tools|HD
systems)
- Digidesign has qualified configurations containing a maximum of four
DigiDrive FireWire drives daisy-chained to a Pro Tools workstation using
Digidesign supplied cables. (more than 4 drives may result in -6042
errors on all systems)
- Individual user experience regarding track count and performance
may vary depending on edit density and available CPU cycles. (things
like automation, RTAS plug-ins, or other CPU-dependent processes)
- For more information, see the Hard Drive Requirements specific to
your Pro Tools system in these Digidesign Compatibility
Documents
Additional Configuration Requirements & Guidelines
Keep in mind the following when configuring DigiDrive FireWire &
MediaDrive rS80 drives:
- The FireWire cable between the Pro Tools workstation and the first
drive (or between any two ports) cannot exceed 14.76 feet (4.5 meters).
- The total FireWire cable from the system to the last drive cannot
exceed 236 feet (72 meters).
- A 12-inch (30.5 cm) FireWire cable ships with each DigiDrive FireWire
drive to daisy-chain the drives.
- Either FireWire connector on the drive can be used to connect to
the system and other drives.
- Maximum compatibility is achieved when your system has dual FireWire
ports. Daisychain DigiDrive FireWire drives to one port and use the
other port for cameras and video decks.
- DigiDrive FireWire & MediaDrive rS80 drives do not require a
terminator.
- Although firewire drives can be hot-swapped without rebooting the
host computer, it is necessary to quit Pro Tools before swapping drives
and then re-launching Pro Tools.
- If your Windows CPU does not have an IEEE 1394 (FireWire) port built
in, you will need to install a PCI-to-FireWire card. Digidesign has
tested the "SIIGnifficantly Better 3-port PCI" FireWire card
from SIIG with good results. While other Windows Firewire cards may
work, Digidesign cannot guarantee results or performance on all cards.
With any multi-port card, connect to the first port if at all possible.
- In order to use Mac formatted drives on Windows systems, MacOpener
is required.
- Windows formatted drives will not be recognized as audio drives by
Pro Tools on the Mac.
- It is highly recommended that you not spread audio files from one
session across different types of storage (i.e. SCSI, FireWire, IDE/ATA).
This is not possible on Pro Tools HD systems, and may cause bus problems
on other Pro Tools systems. On the other hand, you may see improved
performance if you store QuickTime video files on one type of drive
and play the audio off another. This is because QuickTime video results
in high bus traffic, while audio requires a lot of drive seeking. So
storing QuickTime video files on your FireWire drives and audio on your
SCSI drives may provide better performance than having audio and video
playing together over the same bus.
- The DigiDrive FireWire 80 & MediaDrive rS80 (as well as other
firewire drives) are not qualified for use with AVoption or AVoption|XL.
AVoption and AVoption|XL require SCSI storage for recording and playback.
However, you can use the DigiDrive FireWire 80 to back-up your video
storage SCSI drives.
- For additional information see the Digidesign
Storage Guide in the Technical Document
Library of the Support/Tech Support section of the website (printed
manual included with the DigiDrive FireWire 80 & MediaDrive rS80)
and the DigiDrive
FireWire 80 SPECS in the Products/All Products database.
Other Firewire Drives
Although not fully tested and supported with Pro Tools systems by Digidesign,
you may be able to use firewire drives from other manufacturers with similar
results, given the same guidelines noted above. To date only Firewire
drives with the following specifications have performed well with Pro
Tools systems:
- Oxford 911 Firewire bridge chipset
- 7200 RPM drive
Check with the drive manufacturer to verify that their drive has the
"Oxford 911" or comparable chipset & drive speed of 7200
rpm.
Additional Notes for Macintosh System Compatibility
and Portability
While third-party drive format utilities may work on the owner's CPU
where that application's software and extensions are installed, the
best way to ensure compatibility on all Macs with firewire drives is to
use the Apple Erase Disk function in Mac OS 9 for formatting, or the Mac
OS X Disk Utility as outlined above. If you plan to also use your
Firewire drive on other machines that may not have the same third-party
drivers, your drive may not mount on that machine, or you may experience
DAE or system errors. The guidelines listed previously on this page for
the DigiDrive FireWire 80 will generally yield the best results when using
Firewire drives with Pro Tools.
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