Power Mac G5 — Mbox 2 Requirements

With Pro Tools LE 6.8.1 for Mac OS X

Supported Power Mac G5 Computers

Dual G5 Processors

Single G5 Processor
Dual 1.8 GHz Power Mac G5
(first generation model M9393)		 1.6GHz Power Mac G5
(model M9020)
Dual 2.0 GHz Power Mac G5
(first generation model M9032)		 1.8 GHz Power Mac G5
(first generation model M9031)
Dual 1.8 GHz Power Mac G5
(second generation model M9454)		 1.8 GHz Power Mac G5
(second generation model M9555)
Dual 2.0 GHz Power Mac G5
(second generation model M9455)		  
Dual 2.5 GHz Power Mac G5
(second generation model M9457)
Dual 2.0 GHz Power Mac G5
(third generation model M9747)
Dual 2.3 GHz Power Mac G5
(model M9748)
Dual 2.7 GHz Power Mac G5
(model M9749)

Not Tested with Pro Tools LE 6.8.1 - Power Mac G5 models introduced October 19, 2005

  • Single dual-core 2GHz, model M9590
  • Single dual-core 2.3GHz, model M9591
  • Twin dual-core 2.5GHz, model M9592

Specifications

Additional Requirements

System Software

iLok Authorized Plug-Ins

Although not required with Pro Tools installation, an iLok USB Hardware Key may be required for installation of some plug-ins and optional software applications.

Control Surfaces & MIDI Interfaces

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 6.9.

Hard Drives — Audio Storage Requirements

Although limited recording and playback of audio tracks may be possible using the internal startup drive, a separate dedicated audio hard drive is highly recommended for maximum performance and track count.

Audio Storage Requirements for Record and Playback:

Firewire Hard Drives

SCSI HBA Card for SCSI Drives (optional)

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

Energy Saver Settings for Power Mac G5

Processor Performance

For optimal Pro Tools performance, you must set Processor Performance (located in System Preferences > Energy Saver > Options) to "Highest". Updating your Mac OS may reset this to the default setting: "Automatic". After updating your Mac OS, check to make sure this is set 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 using the highest processor performance setting. You can change the processor performance setting in the Energy Saver pane of System Preferences.

Pro Tools Does Not Support Sleep Mode

In the Macintosh System Preferences, launch Energy Saver, click the Sleep tab, and disable all Sleep features. Set "Put the computer to sleep when it is inactive" to Never. Do not manually put your computer to sleep when running Pro Tools.

Known Incompatibilities & 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.
  • Pro Tools LE core systems cannot be combined, and multiple units are not supported. For instance:
    • A Digi 002 and Mbox 2 cannot be used together on the same computer at the same time.
    • 2 Mbox 2 units cannot be used on the same computer.
    • Digi 002 faders cannot be used with any other system.
  • Pro Tools 6 does not work in the OS 9 "Classic Mode". You must choose Mac OS X as your Startup Disk.

Additional Information

Digidesign Compatibility Documents Index