Power Macintosh G4 - Mbox Requirements

Power Macintosh G4 — Mbox Requirements

All G4 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 LE 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 for G4 - AGP Video (Sawtooth), Stealth Port for Dual Processor G4s, or Griffin g4Port 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

Digidesign supports the following MIDI Interfaces for use with the Power Macintosh G4 and Pro Tools LE 5.2:

  • Digidesign MIDI I/O (USB)
  • MOTU Fastlane (USB)
  • Opcode MIDIport32 2x2 (USB)
  • AMT8 (USB/Serial)

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 Accelerator (Host Bus Adapter) 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.

The following SCSI HBA cards are qualified with the PowerMac G4 desktop models with Pro Tools LE:

Digidesign SCSI|128 Kit (includes ATTO EPCI-UL3D Dual Channel Ultra3 SCSI Host Bus Adapter)

Digidesign SCSI64 Kit (includes ATTO EPCI-DC Dual Channel Ultra/WIDE SCSI Host Bus Adapter)

ATTO EPCI-DC (Dual Channel Ultra/WIDE SCSI Host Bus Adapter)

ATTO EPCI-UL2D (Dual Channel Ultra2 SCSI Host Bus Adapter, discontinued)

ATTO EPCI-UL3D (Dual Channel Ultra3 SCSI Host Bus Adapter - Model # EPCI-UL3D-000)

Note: The 66MHz version of the ATTO EPCI-UL3D (model # EPCI-UL3D-066) is not supported for use with Pro Tools systems, regardless of whether your Pro Tools system is installed on a 33 MHz or 66 MHz PCI bus. The 66 MHz version is tuned for performance on a 66 MHz PCI bus. However, when Pro Tools is installed in a 66 MHz PCI bus, it reduces the speed of the PCI bus to 33 MHz. As a result, you will receive superior performance with the 33 MHz UL3D, because it is tuned for a 33 MHz PCI bus.

Recommended ATTO settings for approved SCSI Host Bus Adapters with Mbox:

  • From the Sync Rate pop-up menu, select "20 (10)" (20 MB/sec at 10 MHz)
  • From the PCI Burst Rate pop-up menu, select "32"

Adaptec Power Domain SCSI HBA 2906 with the following requirements:

Notes:

  • Adaptec 2940UW and 3940UW cards with G4s are unsuitable for full Pro Tools performance. Due to PCI bus related issues the Adaptec 2940UW and 3940UW SCSI HBA cards are unable to provide full Pro Tools performance. Additionally, Adaptec has discontinued these cards, and as a result there will be no future engineering support from Adaptec.
  • Optional SCSI HBA cards bundled (by Apple) with some G4 computers are not compatible with Pro Tools due to the lack of NVRAM to store the desired SCSI transfer rate.

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.

  • The 2001 and 2002 "Quicksilver" G4 models require OS 9.2, 9.2.1, or 9.2.2 to run Pro Tools. Users should not attempt to install OS 9.1, or run OSX, (including Classic mode), with Pro Tools on these machines.

  • The Quicksilver G4 models have been tested with the Mac OS as shippped from Apple on these machines, with a dual boot system which includes both OS 9.2.x and OS X. On these dual-boot systems, it is absolutely necessary to boot from OS 9.2.x in order to run Pro Tools. Although you cannot use Pro Tools with OS X or in "Classic" mode under OS X, it is not necessary to remove OS X from these "Quicksilver" G4 computers.

  • Pre-Quicksilver models did not ship with a dual-boot system of OS 9 and OS X pre-installed by Apple. 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 on pre-Quicksilver G4 models.

  • 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 Hubs

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.

Dual Processor G4 Models

Although Mbox and Pro Tools LE are supported on Dual processor G4 models, Pro Tools 5.x does not utilize the second processor in Apple Dual Processor CPUs. If problems (such as -6042 errors) occur when using Pro Tools on a Dual Processor CPU, Digidesign recommends the following: Download and install ApplePCI - Apple Multiprocessor and G4 PowerBook Expansion Chassis Fix

Power Macintosh G4 version history and specifications are also available at www.everymac.com and www.applespec.com

Incompatibility with older SampleCell II Cards

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