Power Mac G5 — Mbox Requirements

With Pro Tools LE 6.4 for Mac OS X 10.3 (Panther)

Supported Power Mac G5 Computers

Dual Processor

  

Single Processor
Dual 1.8 GHz Power Mac G5
(first generation)		   1.6 GHz Power Mac G5
Dual 2.0 GHz Power Mac G5
(first generation) 		  1.8 GHz Power Mac G5
(first generation)
Dual 1.8 GHz Power Mac G5
(second generation model M9454)		    
Dual 2.0 GHz Power Mac G5
(second generation model M9455)		    
Dual 2.5 GHz Power Mac G5
(second generation model M9457)		    

Not Tested:

  • Single 1.8 GHz Power Mac G5 (second generation model M9555)

Specifications

Additional Requirements

System Software

iLok Authorized Plug-Ins

Audio Storage Requirements for Record and Playback:

SCSI Accelerator Cards

MIDI Interface — USB Only

Dual Monitor AGP Graphics Cards

All single or dual monitor cards which ship as standard equipment with qualified Apple Power Mac G5 models at the top of this page are supported with Pro Tools 6.4.

Maximum Performance Guidelines

  • Recording to the system startup drive is not recommended or supported
  • A separate internal or external dedicated audio drive is highly recommended for maximum performance and track count

Known Issues

  • The Movie Offset feature affects both the QT Movie output to DV and the Onscreen movie
  • If users want to use Japanese fonts in their sessions, they will not be able to use HFS (standard) drives – only HFS+ formatted drives
  • Sometimes when opening a session that was based on a PT 3.2 format session, the following error may occur when Restoring IO paths: Time type mismatch occurred in "Time_Typed.cpp" line 370. A reboot may be necessary if this occurs
  • System instabilities and performance issues can occur when using MIDI control surfaces in conjunction with Pro Tools 6 and 3rd party MIDI interfaces. For best multiport MIDI performance, we recommend using Digidesign's MIDI I/O.
  • The Mbox will not function if any Digidesign PCI cards are installed in the CPU. (Digi 001, Audiomedia III, TDM cards, SampleCell)
  • Pro Tools LE core systems cannot be combined, and multiple units are not supported. For instance:
    • A Digi 002 and Mbox cannot be used together on the same computer
    • 2 Mbox units cannot be used on the same computer
    • Digi 002 faders cannot be used with any other system, including the Mbox.
  • Pro Tools 6 does not work in the OS 9 "Classic Mode". You must choose Mac OS X as your Startup Disk.

Important: Energy Saver Settings for Power Mac G5

For optimal Pro Tools performance, you must set Processor Performance (located in System Preferences > Energy Saver > Options) to Highest.

Apple's Mac OS help documentation provides the following info on Energy Saver Processor settings:

  • The PowerPC G5 processor in your Power Mac G5 can run at various speeds. The default setting for this feature is "Automatic", which allows the system to run the processor at full speed when required, and at a lower speed during periods of light processing activity. Certain real-time applications, such as audio creation or gaming, may perform optimally when us-ing the highest processor performance setting. You can change the processor performance setting in the Energy Saver pane of System Preferences.

Download Updates

Additional Information

See also: Getting Started with Mbox and the Pro Tools LE 6 Read Me documents in the Support > Tech Support > Technical Document Library and included with new systems.

Digidesign Compatibility Documents Index