Pro Tools - Mbox 2 Issue

  • Thread starter Thread starter adam79
  • Start date Start date
A

adam79

New member
'm using Pro Tools 8.0.5 LE w/ a MBox 2 on a Mac running Snow Leopard, 10.6.8. I'm having problems with the MBox 2 being recognized by both Pro Tools and the Mac itself. I have all the latest drivers and firmware installed.
When launching Pro Tools it says that the hardware can't be located. In System Preferences, it shows the MBox 2 as Connected, but it says that it has 0in/0out. So it's connecting, but there is an error in the communication.
I want to try downgrading the firmware back to 1.38, from the current 1.43 release. 1.43 was released to fix a problem w/ DAT machines and isn't a necessary update. This is the only thing I can think of that I haven't tried, but I can't figure out how to do it. The 1.38 installer just tells me that I already have 1.43.
Does anyone have any suggestions? Thanks.
 
Usually if the device shows up but shows 0 I/O it means the correct drivers are not installed.
I know you said they are but digi devices and PT seem to have a history of being picky.

It'd be worth googling and finding the mbox 2 driver package for snow leopard again just to be sure.

Usually firmware can't be downgraded with these things. I imagine that's how it is with the mbox.
 
Steenamaroo said:
Usually if the device shows up but shows 0 I/O it means the correct drivers are not installed.
I know you said they are but digi devices and PT seem to have a history of being picky.

It'd be worth googling and finding the mbox 2 driver package for snow leopard again just to be sure.

Usually firmware can't be downgraded with these things. I imagine that's how it is with the mbox.
Click to expand...

Is there anywhere on the Mac that shows driver information? The only info I can find is the Mbox 2 window in System Preferences, but it just lists the firmware.

There are two different drivers for the MBox 2 on the Avid site; I've tried installing them both, several times, w/o any luck.
 
Utilities - system profiler - usb will tell you what devices are physically connected.
Utilities - system profiler - extensions will tell you what system drivers are loaded.

Utilities - audio/midi setup will tell you what interfaces are recognised ie. Driver installed and working.

If it shows in all three but the I/O is 0 in 0 out in audio/midi setup, I'd still be inclined to think driver issue.
Tried switching USB ports and rebooting?

I see the two versions on their site. They appear to be new.
When I used the mbox 2 I think I was able to find a 10.6.8 specific version, but I can't find it now.
 
Steenamaroo said:
Utilities - system profiler - usb will tell you what devices are physically connected.
Utilities - system profiler - extensions will tell you what system drivers are loaded.

Utilities - audio/midi setup will tell you what interfaces are recognised ie. Driver installed and working.

If it shows in all three but the I/O is 0 in 0 out in audio/midi setup, I'd still be inclined to think driver issue.
Tried switching USB ports and rebooting?

I see the two versions on their site. They appear to be new.
When I used the mbox 2 I think I was able to find a 10.6.8 specific version, but I can't find it now.
Click to expand...

All 3 are there. When I install either of the two drivers, whichever one is installed shows up correctly in the Extensions. For some reason when I install 10.3.3 it is listed as 10.3.5.211. I wish there was a way that I could downgrade the firmware; it's the only thing I can think of that i haven't tried.

I've tried all USB ports and a few different USB cables. I even tried unplugging all the other USB devices except for the MBox 2. I've also done a SMC and PRAM reset w/ the MBox 2 connected; I was hoping it would wipe the firmware.

I'd like to contact Avid support directly, but you need to pay for a support membership and I don't have the money.
 
Oh yeah, here's the other weird thing.. I had Pro Tools installed with this MBox 2 on Leopard before I upgraded to Snow Leopard. After the upgrade it worked fine. My computer was a bit sluggish though, so I did a clean install of Snow Leopard. This is when I started having the problem. When I reinstalled Pro Tools I updated the firmware on the MBox 2. That's why I want to try the downgrade.
 
Sorry Adam, I can't think of anything else.

Well, the only thing is maybe to test the mbox with another computer, just incase it's coincidentally broken.

I don't have time to read this through, but it mentions a downgrade of firmware.
Hopefully it's useful.
 
Steenamaroo said:
Sorry Adam, I can't think of anything else.

Well, the only thing is maybe to test the mbox with another computer, just incase it's coincidentally broken.

I don't have time to read this through, but it mentions a downgrade of firmware.
Hopefully it's useful.
Click to expand...

Yeah, I read that one.. it was a firmware installer for a different Mbox model. For whatever reason, that installer allowed a lower version to be installed over a higher one.
 
I'm checking out the extension files and noticed that there is a DigidesignMBox2.ktext as well as Digidesign.MBox2Boot.ktext. What is the Boot file for?
 
I was reading the 1.38 firmware info and there's one part that suggests removing the MBox 2 .ktext extension file, reboot and reinstall PT. I deleted both the MBox2 and MBox2Boot files during this process and it still didn't work. However, after the re-install, it lists the MBox 2 driver as 8.0.5. That one isn't available on the Avid site.

I might try a clean install of Leopard, and then install PT on that.. to see if it works like it did before (I mentioned this in a few posts back).
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top