An Update from Digidesign on Pro Tools LE + Leopard compatibility March 4, 2008
Posted by ConnorSmith in : Digidesign, Leopard, Pro Tools , trackbackI know we have made a lot of posts on this.. but we have another update from Digidesign. This time its a slightly apologetic message on the front page of Digidesign.com.
Digidesign says that they are working hard to get Pro Tools LE compatible with Leopard, and that they are sorry for our frustration. It is nice to see that they acknowledge that this is a big deal for Pro Tools LE, and that many users are really starting to get antsy.
I can understand the difficulties in making the update stable enough to release, but I am disappointed with one thing: The whole time (since October), Pro Tools users have been asking for some sort of “official” estimate on when the update would be released. This is simply so that we can plan out when to make purchases etc. I feel that if Digidesign took the time to post on their front page about this, they should have at least given us an estimate (something like, “we hope to have the update by the end of [month], but we can not confirm that this will be the exact release date”. Even something relatively vague would be nice, just so we know whether it will be a month, a week, a year, etc. Right now, the only timeline that we can find out is from the forums or from knowledgable pro audio salesmen. The Digidesign representatives on the forums have said they can’t give us an estimate because of some legal issues, but given the fact that so many people are asking, I wish Digidesign’s lawyers would figure out how to give us a decent estimate.
Here is the link to Digidesign’s page.
If you are one of the many Pro Tools LE users who switched to Logic Pro as their DAW in the meantime, be sure to check out some of our “Logic for Pro Tools users” articles. They should help ease the transition.
C
The Studio Files
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I installed PT LE 7.4cs3 on my Intel iMac running 10.5.2 last night (have been holding off until official compatibility but I just can’t wait anymore) and everything seems to be working fine.
However from what a lot of people seem to say I don’t trust it a bit! Are there any common problems that people are having that I can check for? I really need to do some work but I don’t particularly want to have a random crash and lose it all!
I would say, if its working, then don’t jinx it!
A lot of people aren’t having too man problems. I have 7.4cs2 installed on 10.5.1, and here are a few problems:
- an occasional “running out of CPU” or “increase your buffer” error… when CPU usage is at like 10%
- Sometimes (especially after periods of higher processing), Pro tools will no longer play/record, it will just light up the play and stop buttons
- Occasional Core Audio crashes in the OS
- Virtual instruments have poor ram/processing usage (the yellow interface problems were recently fixed)
I (and recommend to you to) just backup my stuff everytime I close Pro Tools. If you have an extra hard drive, just drag your files onto that when you get up from your work. Actually, I would suggest this to anyone, in any situation.
So far, I have had no “neo-assertion” weird hard drive errors, or any corrupted files. In the cases I listed above, just saving, quitting, and restarting fixes it 98% of the time, with the other 2% requiring me to restart the computer.
I too could not wait for Digidesign
and went ahead and installed 7.4 on my 2.2 GHz Macbook as it was shipped with Leopard 10.5.1 (003 hardware). As ConnorSmith said I get the odd “running out of CPU” or “increase your buffer” error, but it’s only happened once or twice in say 30 hours of mixing at a time… Virtual instruments can make little tick sounds every now and then too… After feeling good about my lot I was feeling crafty and decided to update the OS to 10.5.2 BIG MISTAKE !!! (at least in my case, broke almost everything… so now I have a ‘Superdooper’ backup of my stable (touch wood) 10.5.1 and 7.4 LE combination. Much quicker than the pain of a full re-install.. I was shocked that I could not use my new macbook and digi 003 out of the box 
without all the mucking around and crossed fingers… still hurtz that after spending $4K on a new recording rig I have a system whoose OS has had a major update I cannot allow to install, and the only macbook I could buy (in Feb 08) is still yet to be authorised by Digidesign to use with the 003.. I love pro tools like fanboy, but I am confused by all the delays… – for those interested I have 2 GB mem installed in the 2.2 GHz macbook (white, santa rosa chipset) ROCK ON !
Yeah^^
I’ve tried to alert people on our site that 10.5.1 is MUCH more successful running Pro Tools than 10.5.2 is…
Glad you have it working! I feel bad for the people that can’t. It seems to me like iMac owners are having the hardest time getting everything working (just in my own observations).
But, I think you answered your own question about why its taking too long. Notice how buggy core audio is in 10.5.2? I truly believe its much more Apple’s fault that Digidesign still isn’t releasing compatible versions of Pro Tools. Heck, even Logic Pro is having plenty of problems in all Leopard versions… But, in Apple’s defense, the switch to a new operating system plus a whole bunch of new hardware in these new computers can’t be an easy task…
agreed and thank you… soldier on my friend and keep spreading the good word. poor imac users, I feel for them.
Great site, having a look around now…
mim
I’ve got 7.4 LE CS3 / 10.5.2 working on both my Intel iMac and my old G4 PowerBook with pretty much no problems at all!
I’ve no idea what’s gone right, the only thing I can think of is that they have relatively fresh installs of 10.5, prior to which I wiped the HDs, so maybe the fact that there’s never been any sort of PT/Tiger installation on them before has got something to do with it (ok I know that’s more thinking like a Windows user, thank God I don’t have to deal with the registry ;).
Oh well, am not complaining!
Yeah most people with good luck on Leopard have done clean wipe and installs.
I’ll stop talking about it now, so I don’t jinx your setup. Good luck!
I recently installed 7.3 on my 10.5.2 OS. Pro Tools software seems to work but i cant get it to communicate with my project mix i/o. Anyone know any tricks to maybe coax it into working? Anyone have any idea when Digidesign will release the Update for this? Im running m-powerd.
Jason –
Your best bet is to upgrade to Pro Tools 7.4 and downgrade to OS 10.5.1. People are having the best luck with that setup (also, what model of Apple are you using)
If you just bought 7.3 (in the last few months) you can register it on Digidesign.com to get a free amnesty upgrade to 7.4 (and I would suggest using 7.4cs2 if you can, even though cs3 is out)
Good luck!
I have a MacBook with OS 10.5.1 and installed LE 7.4 CS3.
While this works fine with very simple projects and I’m able to fire up the “Filtered Dream” demo I would urge caution in relying on this setup for any paying complex projects that have deadlines.
For example, I’m unable to use the xPand! plugin because the plugin control panel comes up yellow and is illegible.
It’s unfortunate because the primary intended application for this setup (along with an MBox) is portable computer synthesis for live performance. Because my MacBook can not be downgraded to OS 10.4 I’m stuck.
Perhaps I might have better luck with 3rd party plugins but it’s hit or miss. I bought the MacBook/MBOX in December and all I’ve gotten for my effort is rapidly depreciating capital tied up and no results.
Michael –
You can fix the “yellow” versions of Xpand, Strike, Hybrid (etc).
Just go to digidesign.com and download the latest version of those instruments.
OK, this worked. THANKS!!!
By the way I wouldn’t have made a posting without at least trying the latest version which I obtained from
Digidesign | Support | Support & Downloads
After reading your posting I went to:
DigiDesign Products | ProTools & MPowered Plugins | XPand
This location had a more recent version (labelled Leopard Update) which solved the problem.
Digidesign might want to make both locations consistent to reduce customer confusion.
That’s great info, Michael. Thanks!
Sorry that you had to go to the well twice to earn that wisdom, but it will probably help somebody else.
We’ll suggest it to Digidesign
–Damon
I’ve got to say, in terms of having an organised/logical to navigate downloads/support section, the Digidesign website is one of the worst I have come across!
Chris –
Amen to that. I find their website very hard to navigate (and the search bar is inadequate as well)
It seems that from the comments here that people are happy to try and work around these problems, but let me draw your attention to the bigger picture here.
Google the AVID stock price & set the range to MAX.
Look into the future and tell me what you see. It doesn’t look good to me.
The best thing that could happen to Digi right now is to get bought out by Apple and integrated into Logic. The entire PT platform is bloated, the hardware is of questionable quality and the 3rd party options are slim, Digi’s corporate culture and attitude towards their users sucks (at this post indicates), the price point is too high for what you get, and so on.
Don’t get me wrong – I use Pro-Tools LE & HD everyday – but the only thing that makes me stay is the fact that it’s ‘standard’ platform for the audio industry. Not for long I’d wager.
Logic has it’s problems, but at least Apple appears to be more responsive to their users and are making their platform better. Things like elastic audio in PT, while cool, seem more like a pitch to subdue loss of users to Ableton, rather than actually improve on the core reasons most people use PT – record, edit & mix. I’d happily lose elastic audio if it means I can have a stable PT for 10.5 sooner rather than later.
Am I the only one who thinks/feels this is the case?
A lot of people feel that elastic audio in LE was a quick “throw” to the LE users to keep them happy while Pro Tools got a revamp.
I think Digidesign knows that the status quo surrounding DAWs is changing very quickly. Let’s see what happens with this release (which will be a dot release to 7.4) and then 7.5.
Rumors are also floating around that Pro Tools version 8 is well underway. I wouldn’t give up hope until we see what that has in store for us.
Regarding Byron’s comment’s. In the mid 1990′s I was a dedicated user of OPCODE Vision. I loved the product only to have the rug pulled out from under me when they went out of business. So I switched to Pro Tools because it was the “industry standard”. While I’ve heard good things about it I never gave Logic a second look because I don’t have time to learn every tool that comes out.
I’m concerned that Digidesign may not have the resources and/or the business relationship with Apple to maintain the LE product in a timely manner. It’s beyond me why they didn’t prepare the LE release while OS 10.5 was still in beta.
After my experience with OPCODE and my recent experience with Pro Tools LE on OS 10.5, I may give Logic a second look.
I hear you there^^
I would definitely suggest that LE users (if you have the $ and desire) get Logic and start learning. For one, its a great program to have a grasp on, 2) who knows where LE is going in the next 12 months.
Hey fellow “PT WTF !?” So here we are waiting. I am stalling with Ableton myself. I agree with everyone in one way or the other. Yes, you can tinker with 7.4 and have it work. Actually I upgraded Leopard with my brother (distracted by remote features it offers) and never checked for compatibility. I did not have a prob till I used a plug in.
Anyway there is no point in forcing the issue. Just gonna have to wait it out.. the alternative is we tweak/ make it work, and be nervous the whole time wondering if something devastating is gonna happen.