Building myself a Windows XP DAW PC

[DrNomis_44]

Best of luck, Doc.

Cheers mate, I'll keep you updated on how it all goes.


Update:


Installing ProTools LE 6.4 on the Compaq PC seems to have fixed the Digi001 Driver problem, unfortunately, it has created a new problem, whenever I try to launch the Protools LE software, I get a Blue Screen of Death and the PC re-boots, looks like I will have to download and install the latest PACE anti-piracy update file to fix it (I know cause I've had to deal with this before), geez, whoever thought up this system seriously needs to re-think it, why have an anti-piracy system if it renders ProTools LE, and your PC practically unusable?, I dunno.


Update 2:


I managed to find the PACE update file I needed on one of my external HDDs, installing it completely fixed the Blue Screen of Death issue, and ProTools LE appears to launch correctly, now, all I need is a valid authorization code to be able to use the software for recording, there's one more problem to resolve now, I still can't get the Digi001 to play back sound cleanly in FL Studio, all I get are loud clicks in the headphones, even if I set the buffer setting to it's maximum length, I still get the loud clicking-popping sounds, funnily enough, Device manager now reports that the Digi001 is working correctly when it clearly isn't, I'm seriously wondering if it's a device firmware issue....hmmmmm....


Update 3:


Just tried installing the driver for my Scarlett 2i2 usb Audio Interface on the Compaq PC and it is working perfectly, so I reckon the Digi001 is faulty in some way because I can't get the audio to work even though Device Manager says it is working.

[DrNomis_44]

So, seeing as I'm having no luck at all with the Digi001, I might just cut to the chase, do a complete reformat/re-install, and then see if I can get the Saffire Pro40 working with the Compaq PC, then I can see if the Digi001 still works with my old G4 Mac.

[Simon Barden]

USB devices are normally class-compliant, even if they do have better drivers available as well. It's nothing like trying to get a PCI card to work, especially one that was primarily designed for a Mac.

[DrNomis_44]

USB devices are normally class-compliant, even if they do have better drivers available as well. It's nothing like trying to get a PCI card to work, especially one that was primarily designed for a Mac.

The thing is, I have been able to get it to work on a PC platform before, a few years ago I built a PC that used a 3.2Ghz Pentium 4 CPU, and 2Gb of ram, and the Digi001 functioned fine with it, it was running Windows XP Service Pack 3 at the time.

[Simon Barden]

Well, I suppose there's nothing to say that something can't have gone wrong with it, though I doubt it's got many electrolytic caps on it to dry out.

[DrNomis_44]

Well, I suppose there's nothing to say that something can't have gone wrong with it, though I doubt it's got many electrolytic caps on it to dry out.

Maybe the best thing I can do is leave it till tomorrow and have another crack at it in the morning when I've had a good sleep, I may have overlooked something.

[DrNomis_44]

Update:

Okay so here's the plan for today, first I'm going to back up all the wanted files that's on the Compaq PC onto an external HDD, then I'm going to do a complete reformat/clean install of XP Pro Service Pack 1 (I just burnt myself a brand-new installer disc) and then I'm going to take it up to Service Pack 2 and see if I have any better luck getting the Digi001 working properly, apparently Avid do not recommend installing ProTools LE on a PC running XP Service Pack 3 due to it not being officially supported, so I'm led to believe, but I'll have a look on the Avid website just to be sure.


My reasoning is that there's probably some weird software incompatibility issue between the Digi001 ASIO Driver software, and it's installer, and XP Pro Service Pack 3, so I'm doing the clean install as a troubleshooting test/exercise.


Now this webpage is interesting, it has a table showing what operating system is compatible with different versions of ProTools:

http://avid.force.com/pkb/articles/e...tibility-Chart


It says that ProTools LE 6.4 is compatible with XP Pro or Home Service Pack 2, and I've been trying to get it running on XP Pro Service Pack 3, so it looks like Service Pack 3 is not officially supported, lets see what windows operating system is compatible with the Digi001 driver software (Asio 6.1.1)....interesting, it doesn't say anything other than being compatible with Windows XP.

http://archive.digidesign.com/download/asio/

[DrNomis_44]

I've got my two cats keeping me company while I work on the Compaq PC, they are not far from me, Holly just jumped up onto the kitchen bench and she proceeded to rub her face on the side of the monitor, she's being a bit of an attention-seeker at the moment, maybe she's trying to tell me that I'm going about working on the computer all wrong.....hahahaha.

[DrNomis_44]

Hmmmmmm....well things went a bit pear-shaped that time, I installed the motherboard's chipset drivers and everything went well, then I installed the graphics card driver and that's when things went awry, the graphics card driver installed but Device Manager reported that a PCI device wasn't working, I'm going to try again with a fresh XP SP2 install and see if that fixes things.

[DrNomis_44]

Update:


Okay, after spending the best part of yesterday afternoon getting XP Service Pack 2 installed, I find that Windows Update couldn't connect to the internet with Internet Explorer, but strangely enough, I could get online with Mozilla Firefox, so, in order for me to get all the drivers installed and get Windows Update to work, I've got no choice but to upgrade the Compaq PC up to XP Service Pack 3, in that case, I'm going to forget about installing ProTools LE 6.4 and ditch the malfunctioning Digi001 and it's PCI card and just go with the Saffire Pro 40, and some other DAW software.