MP 1,1-5,1 3,1 freezes after 1/2 hr on every OS except snow leopard which is rock solid...

[Tex Tiles]

This last while I have been trying to update to newer OS for my music protools system on the 3,1 which I have been running 10.6.8 since new. Only used for music not for internet or anything else. I kept my 10.6.8 partition and it runs rock solid and fast with all my software.

I was successful in installing different OS's on different partitions and drives, however they all after some time (usually 1/2 hr or so) freeze and crash. This includes 10.11.6 (el capitan) which is the last supported OS for 3,1. I did successfuly (with guidance from you guys) install the OCLP monterey, and big sur, and they run fine but freeze and crash after a while.

I thought it was the OCLP efi that was buggy and causing the freezing but right now I have just the el capitan (10.11.6) by itself in the machine which was an approved OS and it too freezes and crashes without any efi disk in the system so I don't think now that it is an efi issue.

I do have Mac Fan Control running but I have to or else the fans run too high even when cool. (I have always had Mac Fan Control on my different computers and never had an issue with it...?)

I actually have two 3,1s and they both do the same thing with the ssd or hds swapped, so I don't think it's a hardware issue, and the 10.6.8 OS is rock solid on both machines.

I have tried removing everything except the drive and OS and then protools and it runs great and then freezes and crashes. I removed the bluetooth and wireless as well and it is the same. It's driving me nuts.

 

[Macschrauber]

What GPU is in?

My wildguess is that this is one without a driver in Snow Leo. So it runs unaccelerated in Snow Leo.

If so, the GPU could be the culprit.

Also you should check temperatures and if the heat sinks are on place.

 

[Tex Tiles]

What GPU is in?

My wildguess is that this is one without a driver in Snow Leo. So it runs unaccelerated in Snow Leo.

If so, the GPU could be the culprit.

Also you should check temperatures and if the heat sinks are on place.

Thank you Macschrauber. They both have the stock Radeon 2600 GPUs. (I have two 3,1s)

Wouldn't El Capitan run unaccelerated too as it was supported on these machines...? The freezing is happening on El Capitan, Big Sur (OCLP) and Monterey (OCLP)

If buying a GPU was the actual solution I will gladly do it but I hesitate to put too much money into a sinking ship.

The complication for me is that it is full of UAD pci DSP cards and I need backward compatibility (dual boot etc)

On the temperatures nothing seems to be overheating, it just seems like the other OSs aren't interpreting them and the required fan speed accurately. You barely notice the fans on Snow Leopard. I know that on the other OSs it defaults into blasting until mac fan control launches.

I read somewhere that the system defaults into blasting as a protective measure when it doesn't have accurate info on temp etc. I would understand this on the OCLP OSs as they weren't designed for these particular machines, but El Capitan should be ok as it was. However the El Capitan installer was from a MacBookPro and I thought that the installer was universal, but perhaps it is not?

 

[Macschrauber]

Thank you Macschrauber. They both have the stock Radeon 2600 GPUs. (I have two 3,1s)

Wouldn't El Capitan run unaccelerated too as it was supported on these machines...? The freezing is happening on El Capitan, Big Sur (OCLP) and Monterey (OCLP)

If buying a GPU was the actual solution I will gladly do it but I hesitate to put too much money into a sinking ship.

The complication for me is that it is full of UAD pci DSP cards and I need backward compatibility (dual boot etc)

On the temperatures nothing seems to be overheating, it just seems like the other OSs aren't interpreting them and the required fan speed accurately. You barely notice the fans on Snow Leopard. I know that on the other OSs it defaults into blasting until mac fan control launches.

I read somewhere that the system defaults into blasting as a protective measure when it doesn't have accurate info on temp etc. I would understand this on the OCLP OSs as they weren't designed for these particular machines, but El Capitan should be ok as it was. However the El Capitan installer was from a MacBookPro and I thought that the installer was universal, but perhaps it is not?

El Capitan has Drivers for the HD2600 as this is the last officially supported OS for the MP3,1

Compatibility: DirectX 9.0, OpenGL 2.0. macOS 10.5.1 - 10.11.x.

see the sticky GPU thread.

But, as the 2600 has support for Snow Leo, it could be something else.

I'd start with the Apple hardware test, checking Ram. Of course you should check the Ram Risers for red lights.

 

[Tex Tiles]

El Capitan has Drivers for the HD2600 as this is the last officially supported OS for the MP3,1

Compatibility: DirectX 9.0, OpenGL 2.0. macOS 10.5.1 - 10.11.x.

see the sticky GPU thread.

But, as the 2600 has support for Snow Leo, it could be something else.

I'd start with the Apple hardware test, checking Ram. Of course you should check the Ram Risers for red lights.

Thanks for the troubleshooting ideas Macschrauber, I ran the Apple hardware test as per your suggestion and it came up fine. I would think that ram problems would show up in Snow Leopard too, but this is not the case and Snow Leopard is rock solid.

I think I must be missing something fundamental here in the OSs or their implementation, as I have two 3,1s both doing the identical problems with the same hard drives and OSs being swapped.

Both run fine on Snow Leopard, but freeze and crash on the El Capitan, Big Sur and Monterey drives.

All these systems are running Protools.

I do notice on Console in the logs usually right about the time when it freezes and crashes it does a "ASL Sender Statistics". I don't know if this has anything to do with it.

I have been running Protools on a loop and just letting it run to try to replicate it and it will crash sooner or later one way or the other.

I tried to re-install El Capitan from the app store but it gave me some bs "403 Error"

Was the El Capitan installer universal? I used the installer from my macbook pro, but if they aren't universal anymore like they were in the old days it would be a different installer for each type of machine ... (?) and that might explain some of the fan issues etc. I suspect this might be my problem, at least with El Capitan.

 

[helmetguy]

Which version of Pro Tools are you using? If it's an older version, it may have issues with newer versions of macOS.

Pro Tools Operating System Compatibility Chart

 

[Tex Tiles]

Which version of Pro Tools are you using? If it's an older version, it may have issues with newer versions of macOS.

Pro Tools Operating System Compatibility Chart

Thanks hlemetguy for the response and suggestion, yes it is the correct versions of Protools on each system.

One thing I am going to try is I suspect it may have something to do with the online cloud authorizations for PT and other plugins etc. I am going to purchase a hardware iLok 3 to try with a harkware iLock so that I can test it without the online business.

The Snow Leopard system I have is the only one that is hardware iLok (older ilok) authorized, so that on isn't constantly calling etc over the internet. Historically I would always have my studio computers not on the interwebs at all, only for music. I'd say on this old computer the cloud activation thing-a-mijig may possibly be a culprit.

 

[Tex Tiles]

By the for anyone reading this the way it turns out the El Capitan installer is universal. I'm not
sure about the newer OSs as they become more and more bloated.

 

[Tex Tiles]

So I have been unable to figure this problem out. I can't run El Capitan 10.11 or higher on either of my 2 x 3,1 macpros.

I have multiple different drives with installs of El Capitan, OCLP Monterey, and others and anything from El Capitan and up freezes and crashes both 3,1s. Symptoms are identical on both machines (with drives swapped).

Below El Capitan the OSs run fine and solid.

If this was a gpu issue, it would only be above 10.11 I think because it was the last supported OS for 3,1. (??)

I hesitate to invest in new upgraded gpu if it is not a gpu issue, and I am just running music programs on this mac, so don't need fancy gpu.

I have tried taking everything out except keyboard and mouse etc and it makes no difference. El Capitan and above run for usually about 15 minutes and then freeze and crash. Other than freezing and crashing El Capitan and OCLP Monterey work seemingly normal... but the crashing makes it unworkable.

It is not a Protools issue as even with just the OS installed, running a web browser etc it freezes and crashes after 15 minutes or so.

Any wisdom greatly appreciated.