PowerBook G4 with CardBus PCI Chassis Requirements

For Pro Tools|HD and HD Accel Systems with Pro Tools 6.9.2/6.9.3 for Mac OS 10.4 "Tiger"

PowerBook G4 Models Qualified With Magma CardBus PCI Chassis

Model & Processor

LCD Screen Size
PowerBook G4 1 GHz
15 Inch Display
PowerBook G4 1 GHz
17 Inch Display
PowerBook G4 1.25 GHz
15 Inch Display
PowerBook G4 1.33 GHz
15 Inch Display
PowerBook G4 1.33 GHz
17 Inch Display
PowerBook G4 1.5 GHz
15 Inch Display
PowerBook G4 1.5 GHz
17 Inch Display
PowerBook G4 1.67 GHz (1st Generation)
15 Inch Display
PowerBook G4 1.67 GHz (1st Generation)
17 Inch Display

Not Tested - PowerBook G4 models introduced October 19. 2005

Not Qualified With Pro Tools TDM 6.9

  • PowerBook G4 867 MHz and lower
  • PowerBook G4 models with 12 inch displays do not have cardbus slots

Specifications

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.

Control Surfaces & MIDI Interfaces

Qualified CardBus PCI Expansion Chassis

  • Magma 4-slot model CB4DRQ (current), CB4DRQ-D1 (discontinued)
  • Magma 2-Slot model CB264 (64-bit/33Mhz 2 Slot CardBus to PCI expansion)
  • Magma 2-Slot model CB232 (current), CB232-D1 (discontinued) (both 32-bit/33Mhz 2 Slot CardBus to PCI expansion)

Not Tested

  • Magma 2-Slot CB2 (discontinued)
  • Magma 2-Slot CB2S (discontinued)
  • Magma 1-Slot CB1H & CB1F

Magma Technical Bulletin - March 21, 2005

Release of PLX CardBus for Pro Tools Users. NOTICE: The Magma Engineering and Compatibility Test Group has determined that some Pro Tools users with Magma CardBus card (PN: 01-04551-02) and the current PCI bridge on the expansion chassis, may experience computer lock-up or clicks and pops in audio when using Playback Engine sizes of 2 or more DSPs. The Magma Engineering and Compatibility Test Group has also determined these issues may be alleviated by swapping out the original Magma CardBus card (PN: 01-04551-02) with a different version of the Magma CardBus card (PN: 01-04551-03).  Click here to download the Technical Bulletin (46 K).

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.

All PowerBook/Carbus Systems on Mac OS X

  • FireWire drives only
  • SCSI not qualified for Mac OS X with cardbus systems

Audio Storage Requirements for Record and Playback:

Firewire Hard Drives

Maximum Performance Guidelines

Performance - Track counts at DAE Buffer Setting 4

  • 90 tracks @48K (2 slot chassis)
  • 88 tracks@48K (4 slot chassis)
  • 48 tracks@96K
  • 16 tracks@192K

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.

2005 G4 PowerBooks & Sudden Motion Sensor

Apple’s 2005 G4 PowerBooks incorporate a technology called "Sudden Motion Sensor" that detects when the system is being dropped or jarred. Apple has posted a support note that recommends turning off SMS if you see skipped frames when using video applications:

Known Incompatibilities & Issues

  • Recording to the system startup drive is not recommended or supported
  • 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. (only if additional MIDI ports are required beyond the 16 in/32 out built into the Digi 002)

Additional Information

Digidesign Compatibility Documents Index