Power Macintosh Blue & White G3 - Mbox Requirements

Power Macintosh Blue & White G3 — Mbox Requirements

All Blue & White G3 Models Supported

Mac OS 9.1, 9.2, 9.2.1 or 9.2.2 required (Mac OS 9.2.2 recommended)

QuickTime 5.0 or higher required with Pro Tools v5.2
The QuickTime 5.0.2 installer is supplied on your Pro Tools CD

MIDI:

Both USB and serial MIDI interfaces work effectively with Pro Tools. Serial MIDI interfaces require either a Mac serial port or a qualified modem-to-serial port adapter. Digidesign currently supports the GeeThree Stealth Port or Griffin gPort installed in the modem port (thereby not using a PCI slot).

When using the GeeThree products, version 1.0.3 or higher of the Stealth Port extension is required, available here: http://www.geethree.com/download.html

External Floppy Diskette Drive

Although not required with Pro Tools installation, an external floppy diskette drive may be required for some Plug-Ins installations. The following external USB diskette drives are currently supported:

  • Imation SuperDisk
  • NewerTechnology uDrive
  • SmartDisk USB Floppy Drive (model FDUSB-M, Color Kit Edition, formerly VST) Note: Information on VST brand products from SmartDisk can be found at: www.smartdisk.com

Links to software and drivers are available in the Digidesign Support/Downloads/Utilities Section:

  • SmartDisk (VST) Floppy Drive (model FDUSB-M)
  • Imation SuperDisk
  • NewerTechnology uDrive
  • PACE USB Floppy Enabler

Apple's revised USB support allows for booting from a USB drive, therefore you should not boot up your system with an authorization disk inserted in the USB Drive.

Hard Drives — Audio Storage Requirements

For information on ATA/IDE, Firewire, and SCSI Drives:
Refer to the Pro Tools LE Audio Storage Requirements page.

SCSI HBA Card NOT required:

Although Pro Tools LE supports a full 24 tracks of record and playback on a dedicated ATA/IDE or Firewire hard drive, use of a SCSI HBA card with a SCSI drive is also supported. Optional SCSI HBA cards bundled (by Apple) with Power Macintosh computers are not compatible with this configuration due to the lack of NVRAM to store Pro Tools desired SCSI transfer rate.

The following SCSI HBA cards are qualified with the Apple Blue & White G3 models with Mbox & Pro Tools LE:

ATTO ExpressPCI SCSI HBA card EPCI-DC (ExpressPCI Dual Channel Ultra/WIDE HBA, also available in the Digidesign SCSI64 Kit) with the following requirements:

— OR —

Adaptec Power Domain SCSI HBA cards including:

  • 2906
  • 2940UW
  • 3940UW
  • 2940U2W

with the following requirements:

Known Issues

Mac OS X and "Classic" mode NOT Supported

  • Pro Tools (any version) will not work with OS X or in Classic mode. It is necessary that you boot the computer in OS 9 when installing or using Pro Tools. In addition, on the Blue & White G3, if you do choose to install OS X in order to create a dual-boot system, you should not install OS X on the same partition or hard drive with Mac OS 9.x that you use as your startup drive for Pro Tools.
  • Whenever updating any operating system, particularly if you are updating Mac OS X for use with other applications, it is recommended that you remove any plug-in key disk authorizations and store them on the floppy disk before upating or installing the Mac OS. After updating the OS, you can then re-install the key disk authorizations after first booting in OS 9

USB Hub:

The Mbox should be connected using a standard USB cable (included) directly to the computer's built-in USB port. Connection of the Mbox to a USB hub or USB port on the computer keyboard is not supported.

Incompatibility with older SampleCell II Cards

While SampleCell II Plus cards are compatible with Mbox, older SampleCell II PCI cards require a chip upgrade.