Taking the Pro out of Pro Tools

I just bought a used Mbox “Classic,” that’s what I call the original vertical Mboxes. It was a total deal. I was so happy that I was about to add Pro Tools compatibility to my rig. It was going to be great. But it was also going to take me hours to get it to work. The first place I went for help was Digidesign’s website.

Oh my god! How many versions of Pro Tools are there?!? Just finding the correct version took me way longer than it should have. Then I found that each version had different compatibility issues with different versions of Mac OS and different Macs. Check out the Pro Tools LE Version Compatibility Grid for Mac OS X to get an understanding of what I’m talking about.

I was having lots of problems. The biggest was that none of my software could see the Mbox, even though my System Profiler knew it was there. Why?!? Well, I soon found the following recommendation on Digidesign’s support pages: “Do not use Apple’s automatic Software Update or the Mac OS X 10.4.9 Delta Update. Instead, install the Mac OS X 10.4.9 Combo Update for Intel-based or PowerPC-based Mac.” Excuse me? Is Pro Tools the most important application on my computer? It seems Digidesign feels it is, and that I should change my computer use habits to keep Pro Tools running smoothly. Argh!

I finally found the software update I needed to run on my specific machine with my specific version of OS X. Success… almost. Although things did run, the first time I closed my test Pro Tools session I got a kernel panic message. For those of you who don’t know, this is like the Mac’s version of the “blue screen of death.” After restarting my computer everything seemed to be okay. Even though Digidesign doesn’t officially support the version of Mac OS I am running (v10.4.10).

Despite all my troubles, I’m happy to have Pro Tools running. The thing is, Pro Tools is to recording studios as Word and Excel are to offices. There are other options out there, and some might be better for your specific needs. But compatibility is king and sometimes you have to go with the majority. Or as I see it, I like to have the option.

Wow, I ranted so much I got a little off topic there. Regardless, I want to end by saying that I have been running Logic Pro 6 since it was released in January of 2004 with a MOTU 828mkII and I’ve never had big issue upgrading thought the decimal upgrades of my OS. And when there’s a new version of Mac OS X, such as the imminent release of Leopard 10.5 this October, I know that MOTU and Apple will have updates ready within weeks, or even days. As it is the software and hardware still work with my machine, and it’s never been challenge to keep them up to date. Let’s hope my next Pro Tools upgrade will be just as painless. -mc