Power Mac G4 — Pro Tools|HD Requirements

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

With Pro Tools HD 7.0/7.1 for Mac OS X 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 HD 7.0/7.1. 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 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
1 GHz Power Mac G4 FW800
1.25 GHz Power Mac G4 MDD

Legend:
 MDD = "Mirrored Drive Doors" models from 2002
FW800 = FireWire 800 models from 2003

Not Recommended

  • All models with processor speeds less than 1 GHz
  • All "Quicksilver" models from 2001-2002

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

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.

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.

Incompatible Hardware

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.

Other Digidesign PCI cards are not compatible with Pro Tools|HD Systems

Previous Digidesign PCI cards are incompatible with Pro Tools|HD systems. You cannot combine Pro Tools|HD and these PCI cards, either in the CPU or an expansion chassis. Doing so will cause crashes, or the CPU will simply fail to boot. The following Digidesign cards are not compatible with Pro Tools|HD systems for Mac OS X (or Power Mac G5):

  • MIX Core card
  • MIX Farm card
  • MIX I/O card
  • d24 card (Pro Tools|24 core card)
  • DSP Farm card (Pro Tools III/Pro Tools|24)
  • Digi 001
  • Audiomedia III
  • Pro Tools III Disk I/O
  • Pro Tools Project card
  • Project II card
  • SampleCell II cards

The following Digidesign hardware is also not compatible with Pro Tools|HD systems:

  • Universal Slave Driver
  • Video Slave Driver
  • SMPTE Slave Driver
  • SampleCell II TDM Module
  • 882 I/O
  • 888 I/O

Digidesign Compatibility Documents Index