Power Macintosh G4 - Pro Tools FREE Compatibility

All Power Macintosh G4 computers made in 1999 and 2000 have been tested and approved for compatibility.

Power Macintosh G4 version history available at www.everymac.com

Apple G4 Computers Supported:

*Note: Pro Tools FREE will experienced a drop in performance when the USB speakers provided with the G4 Cube are plugged in.

The following 2001/2002 models (and later models) have not been tested for compatibility with Pro Tools FREE:

System Software

• Pro Tools FREE will only work with Mac OS v8.6 & v9.x
• Pro Tools FREE will not work with Mac OS X
• Classic Mode under OS X is also not supported. If you have a dual-boot system with both Mac OS 9 and OS X, you must choose Mac OS 9 as your startup system either in your Startup Disk Control Panel or by holding down the Option key during startup to use Pro Tools FREE. Systems that can only boot in OS X cannot be used.

Optional Compatibility Information

MIDI

Both USB and serial MIDI interfaces work effectively with Pro Tools. Serial MIDI interfaces require either a Mac serial port or a qualified modem-to-serial port adapter. Digidesign currently supports the GeeThree Stealth Port for G4 - PCI Video (Yosemite), GeeThree Stealth Port for G4 - AGP Video (Sawtooth), Stealth Port for Dual Processor G4s, or Griffin Technology gPort (G4 PCI graphics) or g4Port (AGP graphics) installed in the modem port (thereby not using a PCI slot).

When using the GeeThree products with OS 9.0.4, version 1.0.3 or higher of the Stealth Port extension is required, available here: http://www.geethree.com/download.html

SampleCell II

The PCI Matchmaker chip on a DSP Farm must be rev QC or QE (check the end of the line directly below "PCI Matchmaker" on the chip) to be compatible with G4s containing PCI slots*. Cards with rev Q chips can be upgraded. Please contact Digidesign Technical Support to upgrade SampleCell II cards.

Qualified External Diskette Drives

Although not required with Pro Tools FREE installation, an external diskette drive may be required for installation of some Plug-Ins and optional software applications. The following external USB diskette drives are currently supported:

• Imation SuperDisk
• NewerTechnology uDrive
• VST Floppy Drive (model FDUSB-M) Note: Information on VST brand products from SmartDisk has been moved to www.smartdisk.com

Links to software and drivers are available in the Digidesign Support/Downloads/Utilities Section:

• VST Floppy Drive (model FDUSB-M)
• Imation SuperDisk
• NewerTechnology uDrive
• Pace USB Floppy Enabler

Apple's revised USB support allows for booting from a USB drive, therefore you should not boot up your system with an authorization disk inserted in the USB Drive.

SCSI HBA Card NOT Required

Although Pro Tools FREE supports record and playback on a ATA/IDE hard drive, use of a SCSI HBA card (SCSI accelerator card) with a SCSI drive is recommended. For more information you can refer to the Pro Tools LE Audio Storage Requirements page. Optional SCSI HBA cards bundled (by Apple) with Power Macintosh computers are not compatible with this configuration due to the lack of NVRAM to store Pro Tools desired SCSI transfer rate. The following SCSI HBA cards are qualified with the G4s containing PCI slots* listed at the top of this page:

Adaptec Power Domain SCSI HBA 2906 with the following requirements:

• Firmware v1.1
• PowerDomain Control v5.1 with cards set to "Fast-SCSI:10" in the Control Panel
• Current Adaptec drivers are available at: http://www.adaptec.com/worldwide/support/driverindex.html
  Previous drivers are available at: ftp.adaptec.com/mac/scsi/

ATTO ExpressPCI SCSI HBA card EPCI-DC (ExpressPCI Dual Channel Ultra/WIDE HBA, also available in the Digidesign SCSI64 Kit) with the following requirements:

• ATTO ExpressPCI Firmware v1.4.4 f1 or higher, available at: http://www.digidesign.com/download/utility.html or Digidesign/Support/Downloads/Utilities
• ExpressPro-Tools v2.3.2 or higher with Synch Transfer Rate set to 20 (10) and PCI Burst Rate set to 32 bytes
• Note: Mac OS 9.2 requires ATTO ExpressPro-Tools v2.7 or higher, available from www.attotech.com/software or Digidesign/Support/Downloads/Utilities

*Note: Use of a SCSI HBA card requires at least one PCI slot. Apple computers that do not contain PCI slots, such as the G4 Cube, can not use a SCSI HBA card.

Firewire Drives

Although Firewire drives have not been tested by Digidesign with Pro Tools FREE, Digidesign has enough confidence in the performance ability of the latest Firewire bridge technology, the Oxford 911 chipset, to inform Pro Tools customers that Firewire drives are an option when used with the guidelines listed on the FireWire Drive Requirements page.