Power Mac G4 (AGP Graphics) — Pro Tools|HD Requirements

For Pro Tools|HD 1, HD 2, HD 3, HD 2 Accel, and HD 3 Accel Systems

With Pro Tools 6.9.2/6.9.3 for Mac OS 10.4 "Tiger"

The following Power Mac G4 models are compatible, but have not been fully qualified with Pro Tools|HD and HD Accel systems with Pro Tools 6.9.2/6.9.3. These G4 models may be able to provide full track count performance, however, they cannot be guaranteed to do so. Your performance and track count may vary depending on the processor count and speed.

Supported Power Mac G4 Computers:

Dual G4 Processor Models
Dual 867 MHz Power Mac G4 MDD
Dual 1 GHz Power Mac G4 QS
Dual 1 GHz Power Mac G4 MDD
Dual 1.25 GHz Power Mac G4 MDD
Dual 1.25 GHz Power Mac G4 FW800
Dual 1.42 GHz Power Mac G4 FW800

Single G4 Processor Models
933 MHz Power Mac G4 QS
1 GHz Power Mac G4 FW800
1.25 GHz Power Mac G4 MDD

Legend:
QS = "Quicksilver" models from 2001-2002
MDD = "Mirrored Drive Doors" models from 2002
FW800 = FireWire 800 models from 2003

Not Tested or Recommended:

  • Single 867 MHz Power Mac G4 and lower
  • Dual 800 MHz Power Mac G4 and lower

Specifications

TDM Ribbon Cable With MDD & FW800

For all Pro Tools|HD Cards, testing on the Apple Power Mac G4 MDD & FW800 models was performed with the HD Core card in the lowest numbered PCI slot. This requires re-bending the TDM cable. This was adopted as the supported configuration as it follows the established conventional PCI slot order for Digidesign cards: HD Core card in the lowest number PCI slot, HD Accel, then HD Process cards in higher slot numbers.

Additional Requirements

System Software

Pro Tools 6.9.2 or higher is required for the Mac OS X version 10.4 "Tiger" operating system. Earlier versions of Pro Tools will not work on Mac OS 10.4.

System RAM Requirements

  • 512 MB minimum
  • 1 GB (1024 MB) or more highly recommended

1 GB or more recommended for sessions with:

  • Large amounts of audio, large DSP engines, high edit density, or large DigiBase databases
  • A large number of installed plug-ins
  • Options like MachineControl and DigiTranslator 2.0

More RAM increases overall system and Pro Tools performance. OS X does not require minimum or preferred RAM settings for Pro Tools as RAM is dynamically allocated.

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.

Supported Expansion Chassis

Storage Requirements

SCSI Accelerator Cards

For maximum track count, Pro Tools|HD systems require the use of a qualified SCSI HBA card. The following SCSI HBA cards are qualified with the Power Mac G4 models listed at the top of this page.

Control Surfaces & MIDI Interfaces

Dual Monitor AGP Graphics Cards

All dual monitor cards which ship as standard equipment with qualified Apple Power Mac G4 models at the top of this page are supported with Pro Tools 6.

Apple 30-Inch Cinema HD

The Apple 30-inch Cinema HD monitor is qualified with Pro Tools systems. However, you should be aware of the following. One of these graphics cards is required for use with the Apple 30-inch Cinema HD:

  • NVIDIA GeForce 6800 GT
  • NVIDIA GeForce 6800 Ultra DDL Card

Due to size of these advanced graphics cards, the adjacent PCI or PCI-X slot will be blocked and reduces the number of available PCI or PCI-X slots from three to two.

Maximum Performance Guidelines

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.

MachineControl & PowerMac G4 "FW800" Models

When using a Power Mac "FW800", MachineControl requires a third party USB Card for use with Keyspan USB serial adaptors. With this configuration, the Keyboard/Mouse should also be connected to the third-party USB card. The following USB PCI cards are qualified for use with the Keyspan USB-to-serial adapter* and MachineControl on Power Mac "FW800" computers:

  • SIIG 2 port USB card
  • D-Link DU 520 (5 ports-4 external 1 internal)
  • Keyspan USB 1 card (UPCI-2)

For more information, see MachineControl 2.0 with Pro Tools 6

* Requires Keyspan USB Serial Adapter X Software Version 1.8 for Mac OS X compatibility. This device is only qualified by Digidesign for use with MachineControl 2.0 software. Neither USB-to-serial or modem-to-serial adapters are supported for MIDI devices with Pro Tools 6.0 and higher on Mac OS X.

Known Incompatibilities & Issues

AVoption|V10

AVoption|V10 is only compatible with Windows XP

AVoption|XL

AVoption|XL is not compatible with Pro Tools 6.4 and higher. Do not install Pro Tools 6.4 or higher on an AVoption|XL system.

Additional Issues

  • Auto Delay Compensation requires a substantial amount of system resources, especially in large sessions. If audio record and playback are failing due to DAE error -9073 when Auto Delay Compensation is enabled, try turning Auto Delay Compensation off for better audio record and playback performance
  • Looping playback on a very large session containing lots of automation, plug ins and sends may cause -9073 errors if Delay Compensation is on. (Item #46815)
  • A regular GUI counter pause when playing back a large number of tracks while using Delay Compensation. (Item #47070)
  • In an 88.2/ 96kHz or 176.4/192kHz session, the number of mixer channels available per non-Accel card DSP will decrease by 50% when using Delay Compensation (Item #47265)
  • Using the long Delay Compensation engine may increase the time that surround routing changes will take (Item #47351)
  • 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+
  • Use of "Continuous Scroll with Playhead" with LCD monitors may result in a flickering gray area located to the left of the session start point
  • 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 JSK synchronizer is not compatible with Pro Tools using Remote Mode (Item #43046)
  • When playing DV video out the FireWire port to a Canopus ADV-100, if the Canopus is connected to a Firewire drive containing a bridge chip made by Initio it may drop frames (flash black) during playback. To correct this, connect the Canopus directly to the CPU's Firewire port. (Item #46806)
  • D-Control requires dual processor G5 model, not qualified with Power Mac G4

Additional Information

Digidesign Compatibility Documents Index