9129 and 9093 errors - STILL unresolved

Hello DigiDesign, I've been trawling this forum (as well as the DigiDesign answerbase, google etc.) for weeks now looking for a solution to this problem with ProTools LE 6.4cs & MBOX(1). I have tried absolutely everything I can think of to get ProTools working well enough so that I can actually use it. I am really not sure where to go from here... Basically, no matter what I do, I continue to have playback/recording interrupted by H/W buffer errors 9129 and 9093. Sometimes it happens every few seconds, sometimes it might not happen for 10 to 15 minutes. These errors do seem to occur more frequently over time, i.e. the longer I spend working on a session, the more frequently they occur. My system is as folows (a full SiSoft Sandra System Profile is below): DELL Inspiron 6000 RAM: 1 gig of RAM Hard disk: 60gig 7200 rpm hard drive Processor: Intel Pentium M 740 1.73 GHz (Centrino) Chipset: Mobile Intel(R) 915GM/GMS/PM Express Chipset family OS: Windows XP Service Pack 2 So far I have: formatted the hard drive and restored the system to factory settings 3 times checked to ensure that my chipset is not incompatible with ProTools LE tried disabling all network/wireless cards, as well as any other unneccessary devices tried using a 7200rpm USB2.0 Maxtor OneTouch external hard drive for recording audio tried using a friends Carillon firewire hard drive for recording audio tried using the internal hard drive for recording audio using a friends mbox tried using the internal hard drive for recording audio uninstalled/reinstalled ProTools several times installed ProTools without any plugins updated the MBOX firmware to the latest version updated the PACE drivers to the latest version deleted DAE and ProTools preference files tried disabling ALL non-essential startup services / processes in msconfig tried using Diagnostic mode in msconfig ensured that the hard disk is DMA enabled and is transferring in Ultra DMA Mode 5 (and not PIO) removed all antivirus/firewall/anti-spyware programs tested the hard disks mechanical integrity using a Hitachi testing utility updated the system BIOS updated the chipset drivers defragmented hard disks tried every combination I can think ofof 'CPU Usage Limit' and 'H/w Buffer Size' in ProTools preferences tried changing the undo level down to 4 tried limiting the recording time to 10 minutes adjusted Windows Processor Schdeuling Performance to 'Background Services' adjusted Windows Memory Usage to 'System Cache' tried various virtual memory settings adjusted Windows Visual Effects to 'Best Performance' trie to disable the Microsoft ACPI-Compliant Control Method Battery in Device Manager changed the IDE ATA/ATAPI Controller to 'Standard Dual Channel PCI IDE Controller' - this seemed to make a slight difference for about a day, but gradually the siuation deteriorated. Nothing I have tried has made any difference, with the exception of changing the IDE Controller to 'Standard Dual channel', which seemed to help a little but for a limited time. I bought this laptop primarily to use with ProTools, so I am extremely disappointed to find that it is essentially unusable. Before buying the laptop I made absolutely sure that it was on the Digidesign list of supported Notebooks - however, I notice that it has since been removed. There seems to be a lot of people experiencing similar problems, but a lack of clear-cut solutions from DigiDesign. Please, if you have any more ideas what to do, let me know. Thank you, D ---------- SiSoftware Sandra Processor Model : Intel(R) Pentium(R) M processor 1.73GHz Speed : 898MHz Performance Rating : PR1078 (estimated) Cores per Processor : 1 Unit(s) Threads per Core : 1 Unit(s) Type : Mobile Internal Data Cache : 32kB Synchronous, Write-Back, 8-way set, 64 byte line size L2 On-board Cache : 2MB ECC Synchronous, ATC, 8-way set, 64 byte line size Mainboard Bus(es) : ISA X-Bus PCI PCIe IMB PCMCIA CardBus USB FireWire/1394 MP Support : No MP APIC : Yes System BIOS : Dell Inc. A09 System : Dell Inc. Inspiron 6000 Mainboard : Dell Inc. 0X9238 Total Memory : 1GB DDR2-SDRAM Chipset 1 Model : Dell Computer Corp 82915PM/GM/GMS, 82910GML Host Bridge Front Side Bus Speed : 4x 69MHz (276MHz data rate) Total Memory : 1GB DDR2-SDRAM Memory Bus Speed : 4x 51MHz (204MHz data rate) Video System Monitor/Panel : Default Monitor Monitor/Panel : Default Monitor Monitor/Panel : Default Monitor Adapter : ATI MOBILITY RADEON X300 Physical Storage Devices Hard Disk : HTS726060M9AT00 (56GB) CD-ROM/DVD : SONY DVD+-RW DW-D56A (CD 24X Rd, 24X Wr) (DVD 3X Rd, 3X Wr) Logical Storage Devices Hard Disk (C:) : 53GB (42GB, 80% Free Space) (NTFS) CD-ROM/DVD (D:) : N/A Peripherals Serial/Parallel Port(s) : 2 COM / 0 LPT USB Controller/Hub : Intel(R) 82801FB/FBM USB Universal Host Controller - 2658 USB Controller/Hub : Intel(R) 82801FB/FBM USB Universal Host Controller - 2659 USB Controller/Hub : Intel(R) 82801FB/FBM USB Universal Host Controller - 265A USB Controller/Hub : Intel(R) 82801FB/FBM USB Universal Host Controller - 265B USB Controller/Hub : Intel(R) 82801FB/FBM USB2 Enhanced Host Controller - 265C USB Controller/Hub : USB Root Hub USB Controller/Hub : USB Root Hub USB Controller/Hub : USB Root Hub USB Controller/Hub : USB Root Hub USB Controller/Hub : USB Root Hub USB Controller/Hub : Dell Wireless 350 Bluetooth Internal Card FireWire/1394 Controller/Hub : OHCI Compliant IEEE 1394 Host Controller PCMCIA/CardBus Controller : Ricoh R/RL/5C476(II) or Compatible CardBus Controller Keyboard : Standard 101/102-Key or Microsoft Natural PS/2 Keyboard Mouse : Alps Touch Pad Mouse : Microsoft USB IntelliMouse Optical Human Interface : Microsoft USB IntelliMouse Optical MultiMedia Device(s) Device : SigmaTel C-Major Audio Communication Device(s) Device : Conexant D110 MDC V.9x Modem Printers and Faxes Model : Fax Model : Auto Lexmark Optra E+ on AFRICA Model : Auto Jeanne's Printer on ASIA Network Printers Model : \\BX\hp photosmart P1000 series Power Management AC Line Status : On-Line Battery No 1 : 100% Operating System(s) Windows System : Microsoft Windows XP/2002 Professional (Win32 x86) 5.01.2600 (Service Pack 2) Network Services Adapter : Intel(R) PRO/Wireless 2200BG Network Connection

Isn't ProTools LE 6.4cs and XP SP2 a known problem?? Jazzmandan

I know that 6.4 with SP2 is a problem, as I had the blue screen of death before installing 6.4cs... Could you link me to anything showing that 6.4cs w/ SP2 is a known problem? Thanks man D

<<I continue to have playback/recording interrupted by H/W buffer errors 9129 and 9093>>, Reread your post with a little checking. Seems the SP2 problem, while it continued even with 6.4 cs9 was/is much more characterized by the blue screen or reboot symptom. Sounds like you have already fixed this. So then, can I suggest your 9xxx error is related to the transfer speeds with your hard drive. Looks to me like you have a Firewire external drive. Is the card on the compatible list? or have you tried to record to the internal system disk? Is the internal disk set to DM5? I don't see that you tried to disable the soundcard or network card in the control panel?? Did a quick Goggle on your internal HD, seems at DMA-2, it would be a bit slow compared to the DMA-5 mode which is optimum <<Data Transfer Rate 16.6MBps External Maximum PIO Mode 4/Multiword DMA Mode 2 >>. So we are back to the external drive, what are its specs?? Just some ideas Jazzmandan

I don't see that you tried to disable the soundcard or network card in the control panel?? Slipped these in while you were writting.

yup tried that third point in my list: "tried disabling all network/wireless cards, as well as any other unneccessary devices" thanks keem em comin'

i said in my post that i've also tried two external hard drives - one USB2.0 and one Firewire made no difference whatsoever

d17, Can you play the demo song "Be There" which is supplied with PT? Put it on your internal HD, now be sure that this HD is DMA5 like you claim, remember I looked up the specs and it said DMA 2? Then try it on you external drive. No recording just play back of a Big file. How does this work? jazzmandan