XP Media Center Edition

[aerorockjax]

If you want to use your computer for recording, don't use xp mce for your os!! If your in the market for new pc be aware many prebuilt brand name computers come preloaded with xp mce which you don't want!! You want XP Pro (home edition is ok too). Heres links with info:

 

http://www.sweetwater.com/support/ts/detail.php?Index=30163&keyword=Digidesign

 

microsoft forum thread1

 

microsoft forum thread2

 

If anyone has knows anything about definate fix for incompatibilities with the xp mce operating system i'd be very interested and know some others who would too.

[Phil O'Keefe]

So far, the outlook for XP Media Center Edition does not look promising from what I've seen and heard - at least not as far as personal or professional DAW recording is concerned. It seems to me that MCE is intended as a "home entertainment" market probe by Microsoft, and as a stopgap product release between XP and the upcoming 64 bit Win Vista. Kinda like Win ME "bridging" the gap between 98se and XP. Some would say "London bridging" - Win ME generally is considered to be about as bad as MS has ever done on a OS release in recent memory. Anyway, with Vista coming out, I doubt we'll see many - if any - DAW companies addressing that OS as a viable platform... not when "the next big thing" is already announced and on the horizion, and not when XP is 1) still available 2) generally stable 3) already "mature".

 

But the advice to be wary, and to be aware of OS issues is excellent - thank you for posting about that.

[AudioMaverick]

I've had no issues with Audition and the Delta-1010s.

 

Media Center is an add on to the XP engine. Just shut down the services, and don't launch the green icon. For Media Center Edition, Microsoft takes the XP-Pro kernel and disables the ability to join the PC to a domain. But, the NTFS encryption and user security is still funtional, as well as software RAID.

 

Microsoft must have felt guilty about all the *features* they pulled from "Vista". They are tossing Media Center into it, so it looks more robust. At a Microsoft conference I was at last month, the presenter said the current Vista build won't fit on a single DVD (he didn't indicate if that was single layer). It is suggesting there will be a lot of background processes running and interfering with realtime processing. I guess they are going to be leaving that to MAC...?

 

Phil, if you want to try it, I'd like to see what the issue is. Drop me a PM and I'll be happy to set up a media Center PC to test on. The only thing I have from the Sweatwater list are the Deltas. If you have one of the software packages, we are in. Since my ears aren't recovering very well, I am going to get that MCSE that I have been avoiding. Sounds like a decent challenge, and opportunity to help the recording community...

[Joe Cole]

I have also heard of an other version of XP, which MS "developped" to combat Linux in Asia.

 

XP Essentials... or something similar.

 

Basically, it is a stripped down XP. The concept seems ripe for DAW's, no?

 

Anybody else heard of it?

[blue2blue]

 

Originally posted by AudioMaverick I've had no issues with Audition and the Delta-1010s. Media Center is an add on to the XP engine. Just shut down the services, and don't launch the green icon. For Media Center Edition, Microsoft takes the XP-Pro kernel and disables the ability to join the PC to a domain. But, the NTFS encryption and user security is still funtional, as well as software RAID. Microsoft must have felt guilty about all the *features* they pulled from "Vista". They are tossing Media Center into it, so it looks more robust. At a Microsoft conference I was at last month, the presenter said the current Vista build won't fit on a single DVD (he didn't indicate if that was single layer). It is suggesting there will be a lot of background processes running and interfering with realtime processing. I guess they are going to be leaving that to MAC...? Phil, if you want to try it, I'd like to see what the issue is. Drop me a PM and I'll be happy to set up a media Center PC to test on. The only thing I have from the Sweatwater list are the Deltas. If you have one of the software packages, we are in. Since my ears aren't recovering very well, I am going to get that MCSE that I have been avoiding. Sounds like a decent challenge, and opportunity to help the recording community...

 

 

This seems consistent with what I've read.

 

I've got a refurb beater box (P4-2.8HT) in transit that has WMCE on it... we'll see. I didn't really get it to be my primary... more as an occasional network server. I have a 1/4 TB of stuff on my old desktop -- which appears to be in the grip of some bad mobo hoodoo... [it's a P3-500... much as I loved that old machine its time has come... and gone]

 

 

 

[seclusion]

Maybe not all is bad for the audio community and Vista...

Check out this thread over at http://www.northernsounds.com/forum/showthread.php?t=43407

Gary Garrtian a well respected sample producer was at a MS workshop totally geared for audio... At least MS is realizing the possibilities! It's a great read.

Later

Brian

[AudioMaverick]

Blue, I'll be waiting to hear/read what you come up with.

 

If you want to put in a software RAID-5, I ran across a Tom's Hardware article. It requires a HEX editor to make a minor change to the Disk Manager files, and replacing the originals from the boot console. It only works on XP-Pro (and MCE). But, works very well. Let me know if you are interested in the tweak. There is a small change to the SP2 files. But, easy to follow.

[AudioMaverick]

 

Originally posted by Joe Cole I have also heard of an other version of XP, which MS "developped" to combat Linux in Asia. XP Essentials... or something similar. Basically, it is a stripped down XP. The concept seems ripe for DAW's, no? Anybody else heard of it?

 

 

Yes, XP Essentials is ONLY availabel in Asia. It was supposed to be selling for somewhere around $50/US. But, is not going to be offered outside of the Asian contenent.

 

I agree that it would have a big market over here. Just think.. no IE browser to worry about. No need for security updates! And, virually every accessory missing. Just add your own necessary stuff. It would have to be the lowest overhead Windows OS on the market, today. Oh well...

[Phil O'Keefe]

I agree that it would have a big market over here. Just think.. no IE browser to worry about. No need for security updates! And, virually every accessory missing. Just add your own necessary stuff. It would have to be the lowest overhead Windows OS on the market, today.

 

Is it driver compatable with XP Home / Pro? If so, I'll pay the next person I find who's taking a trip to Asia to pick me up a copy!

[Billster]

Originally posted by Phil O'Keefe I agree that it would have a big market over here. Just think.. no IE browser to worry about. No need for security updates! And, virually every accessory missing. Just add your own necessary stuff. It would have to be the lowest overhead Windows OS on the market, today. Is it driver compatable with XP Home / Pro? If so, I'll pay the next person I find who's taking a trip to Asia to pick me up a copy!

 

Good idea, Phil - HaHa! Vista delayed again.

[blue2blue]

AudioMaverick

 

Well, the beater box is due today through Friday. I'll get back to you on the RAID-5 thing. (RAID categories are one of those things I've decided to look up when I need to rather than store. It's a small economy but every bit, you should pardon the expression, counts.)

 

I'll admit that this purchase was a bit of a spur of the moment thing. For some reason known only to my personality fragment governing council, the tech purchasing officer had apparently gone fishing and the civilians left in charge of the purse strings fell prey to "refurb auction fever" (at Dell, not actually an auction, but those who occasionally buy refurbs online may know what I mean).

 

So it's a bit of a pig in a poke that I'm going to have to probe (uh... not sure I like the way THAT sounds)... right now I don't even know where I'm going to put it after I get it set up. (I'm really looking forward to spending a few hours peeling all the crapware out. Oh, yeah, and learning about MCE. Buying stuff's supposed to be fun. This sounds like a bit of a drudgefest. )

[AudioMaverick]

Yep, Phil... It is "XP home" stripped down. The Kernel is exactly the same. I wonder how one can get around the IP thing during activation... You might have to make an international Dial or VPN into an Asian ISP to clear.

[blue2blue]

The Great Adventure has begun. UPS just dropped a box the size of half a refrigerator off.

 

It was, of course, a quick setup. I did have to pop the hood before booting just to see how things were laid out. It's fine. At least at first blush. Only two PCI slots but I was braced up for that. One of them's got a MODEM in it. A MODEM. Anyone want a MODEM? I'll email it to you... er... Anyhow, I don't have a hardwire phone line so it seems as peculiar as a Victrola crank.

 

 

BIG GRIN...

 

So I plug in my 19" CRT and the throwaway keyboard that came with the box (and I really mean throwaway... it's really amazing looking. It looks like something you'd get at a 99 cent store) and the (decent) Dell mouse and push the button on the box.

 

Damn. It didn't come on.

 

I look at the monitor and the power light is off. I thought I turned it on so I hit it... all of a sudden a DELL EULA agreement is on the screen fullblown, or at least the DID YOUR READ DO YOU AGREE (I didn't; I did)...

 

And I realize the computer IS on. I just don't HEAR it.

 

I listen again, and sure enough, I do hear it, but it's darn quiet, not a whole lot louder than my laptop.

 

Of course, this is the golden moment when there's only a half GB of RAM, one HD, one DVD-ROM and no peripherals besides the whisp of modem sitting in the PCI slot.

 

[The 80 GB Seagate drive is apparently a SATA. Two SATA ports and only one IDE... but I guess they have adapter cables, no biggie. There are two PCI and one PCI-Extended slots. No Firewire. WHy would you want Firewire on a Windows Media Center Machine, yeah? It's ONLY PART OF THE MIN MCE SPEC!!!]

 

So, you know, it's Camelot, cooling/quiet-wise.

 

But, damn, it is really pretty quiet.

 

Part of the reason may be the weird case. It's got this big hole in both sides of the case right behind the front bezel , about 7 x 4", serves as an air intake. Never seen anything like it. Whatever, if it helps run this thing with this low a fan noise you can fill it full of holes for all I care. Swiss cheese the damn thing.

 

 

Oh... this thread's about WMCE, huh?

 

More soon.

 

 

_______________

 

UPDATE

 

 

BIG OPEN MOUTH EDVARD MUNCH OHMYGOSH...

 

 

OK... now I expected a bit of bloatware floating on top of my first boot.

 

After doing a Windows auto update and rebooting I have -- GET THIS -- a RAM footprint of 268 MB... compared to 114 MB or so on my [nicely tuned but not entirely tweaked down] laptop.

 

But, you know, with 62 processes running, you'd expect some RAM usage.

 

Just sitting there.

 

UN-FRIGGIN-BELIEVABLE.

 

 

No wonder Joe Consumer thinks Windows is slow when he buys a box from a Dell, HP, etc.

 

As it stands now, Windows comes up quickly -- but then crapware takes another two minutes loading.

 

 

Stunning.

 

____________________

 

[but I'm still delighted by the relative quiet. I can certainly live with this thing, noise-wise. At least as it's running now. And after a couple years of looking at a 15.4" laptop screen, the 19" of my old CRT seems gargantuan. Of course, so does the darn case. And I already know that even at 85 Hz refresh, CRT's bug me.]

____________________

 

 

UPDATE 2 -- I made a quick pass through add/remove, but didn't get all the way through before feeling the compulsion to reboot. Down to 168 MB and 43 processes. I'm thinking I can easily shave off another 40 plus MB and 20 processes or so in another pass or two. Bring on the crapware. I am a warrior.

 

_____________________

 

UPDATE 3 -- 21 processes - 113 MB. Ha! I've barely even nosed into the services. And I'm still feeling its relative quietness. The simple spinning of the drive seems to be a substantial part of the overall noise of the machine. Of course, as noted, its not carrying any kind of hardware load.

 

Some days you eat the bear.

 

 

With regards stripping out the crapware: It's simply stunning how much faster even simple GUI activity seems with it all gone.

_____________________

 

UPDATE 3b -- Now that things are a little quieter, I can tell this thing is here. But it's pretty darn quiet. And though I dissed the keyboard earlier, it's not really so bad. It has a nice active feel.

 

 

Back on the MCE track... (sorta)

 

I had a nasty close call with the version of MusicMatch Jukebox that came with this. It's "10.1"... I tried to log into my On Demand subscription and it popped up a "update consent" screen... I read some semi-small print and noticed that once my accounte was "updated" it would ONLY work with MM JB 10.1... I checked my laptop it was 10.0 and change. I upgraded but the version number didn't change up. I UNINSTALLED MM JB (losing all my settings and library entries) and re downloaded the latest version it was STILL 10.0!!!

 

So if I had updated the account I wouldn't have been able to use it on my laptop, still my primary machine. And NO WAY to apparently update that machine. As it was I lost my settings and all my media pointers and bookmarks -- which was REALLY annoying.

 

So I UNINSTALLED this odd duck "10.1" from the new box and downloaded the current ver from the website (10.0xx) and installed IT, crossed my fingers and entered my log in. IT WORKED. So I just barely dodged that bullet. If I hadn't I would have ended up HAVING TO USE MMJB 10.1 -- but apparently having no way of getting it on my old machine. Wow. That's a stupid Catch-22 from the nice folks who bought MusicMacth (Yahoo).

 

So it turned out to be some MusicMatch/Yahoo issue -- not an MCE issue.

 

So far, things are pretty ducky.

 

And for once, that might be all it's quacked up to be.

 

_______________

 

UPDATE # whatever

 

Dell update...

 

OK... NOW I know why people end up hating Dell.

 

I didn't realize these things don't ship with a Windows Re-installation disk stock. You can order one for $10 but I didn't see that. No prob. Thing was only $343 before S&H&T...

 

So when I realized what was up I called up Dell trying to get it. I talked to 12 customer reps before I got someone who got me through to someone who APPARENTLY knew how to find out how to get me one. (The hard way, perhaps, his supervisor told him to send it to me N/C. I'm thinking he might have mentioned he was Dell contact #13...)

 

Natch, that was close to TWO FREAKIN' HOURS (with a 20 minute break to re-establish a calm, reasonable demeanor).

 

And the last guy was, indeed, very careful and solitous (not all of them were -- or even helpful. The one guy I talked to who sounded like an American was downright rude. By and large, everyone's English was fine and most folks were polite. But it was ENORMOUSLY frustrating being bounced around in apparent circles.)

 

I finally called the Customer Service line and approached it as a serivce issue and got good results after two people. It wasn't fast but they were careful and thorough. Of course, I pointed out that these guys were the 12th and 13th reps I'd talked to. And that this was the third machine I'd purchased through them but it was looking very much like it might be the last. But at least THESE guys were taking me seriously.

 

Still the whole experience was absurd.

 

The trite descriptive Kafkaesque was beginning to apply...

 

I can't believe a company that used to seem so smart could SCREW THEMSELVES so bad with a phone support system that seems almost designed to frustrate the customer.

 

Unbelievable.

 

 

Are you listenin', Michael Dell?

 

Yah... I didn't think so.

 

 

--------------

 

But I DO like the machine. Beater box though it is.

 

 

And, back on point, SO FAR Win MCE hasn't been a problem. BUT I haven't installed my Echo Mia and I'll have to wait 'til I get a FW card to use it with my MOTU 828mkII.

 

So the jury's still out on the key counts...

 

 

____________

 

[Dell] UPDATE: I guess I MUST have got through to the last guy I talked to at Dell, yesterday afternoon. My disk was waiting for me when I got home early this afternoon.

 

It doesn't get me back the extremely frustrating hour plus I spen on the phone with the SALES staff at Dell... I realize now that I should apparently have gone straight to Customer Support. I talked to someone today who said he thought that their Sales phone organization if FAR worse than their support staff. The sales staff is apparently under a gread deal of pressure... or incentive... so I'm sure that was one of the reasons I got buckpasssed back and forth.

 

But, anyhow, I guess the SUPPORT people made it as right as they could...

 

But, after three system purchases through Dell, I guess I can finally say I've had a (minor) horror story.

[aerorockjax]

Bump. Thanks blue2blue for the updates.

[blue2blue]

Yah... I was writing them on faith that someone might actually read 'em... and then, of course, I was writing part of it to blow off steam.

 

 

I'll post one more update [in a fresh post so it bumps] when I get my FW card later this week. At that point, I'll bring Sonar over to the new box and that'll be the test of fire.

 

I made a point of buying a FW card with a Texas Instruments chip set, since my MOTU 828mkII is apparently fussy about chipesets. (I guess I lucked out with the FW built into my Dell Centrion notebook.)

 

But -- SO FAR -- my stripped down WMCE looks VERY MUCH like the stripped down XP Home running on my laptop. (Except for SP2, which I've avoided on the laptop. We'll have to see.)

 

 

PS -- I learned one thing, anyhow... DVD-ROM drives apparently like to be the master on an IDE controller. When I hooked in one of my old HD's (only one IDE [master+slave] but three IDE devices... SATA drives are so damn cheap, t hough, I may just buy a big one and toss it in one of my SATA channels and move the data from one or more of the old IDE's. We'll see. I'm just trying to keep my cheap beater box from expanding into a big expenditure.

 

Happily, I was able to get some RAM pretty cheap at a local store. They actually beat a lot of online retailers. (THAT made me nervous, but you know, it seems to spec out and it seems to work.)

 

And I picked up a little 802.11g WiFi USB dongle thingie so I got rid of the Cat-5 I'd run under my runner rugs... So, it's coming together.

[blue2blue]

Quick update: all audio gear drivers in place; working; Traction and Sonar installed and working; post boot RAM footprint still under 120 MB

 

 

I think I'm pretty well satisfied that aside from the typical stuff, that Windows MCE is just fine -- as long as you're somewhat diligent about getting rid of background apps and services that aren't needed (as you have to do with any Windows install for optimal performance -- ESPECIALLY a prepacked box from a vendor like this one.)

 

[And -- actually -- I haven't really trimmed out the MS fat, mostly just 3rd party stuff and the typical MS bloat background apps like MS-Messenger and so forth. But I haven't gone through all the OS services with anything approaching a fine-tooth comb, using tweaking guides like the ones you'll find at TweakXP and MusicXP.]

 

 

To sum up:

 

I now have my Echo Mia PCI card (a 2/2 +digital i/o interface), a Firewire card hooked up to my MOTU 828mk2 (a 10/10 + ADAT interface), and the integrated SoundBlaster all running properly (AFAIK).

 

Traction and Sonar are installed and running.

 

And, while it's not really appropriate to use two such different machines for comparison (my 1.4 gHz Centrino notebook, apparently roughly equivalent to a 2.4 gHz P4 but with much different optimizations) I think it's encouraging that the CPU meter in Sonar on the WMCE machine was running around half [or a little more] what it was on the XP SP1 laptop with Mr Ray 73 and the Perfect Space convolution reverb running.

 

[Although I had a rough few minutes when I first tested that -- since I'd forgotten to get the Sonar 5.01 update that fixed a bunch of stuff but, pertiently, the CPU meter -- which before the update was spiking high into the upper reaches, looking like more than double. But THAT was just false reporting. Now that the new machine has the right update, I'm greatly heartened by the apparent performance boost, which I wasn't necessarily expecting, and is probably due to the new machine, rather than any new optimization in WMCE (JUST a guess, mind you! )]

 

 

So, while I may come back and post a final update as I wrap up the move, I think the answer at this point is that WMCE seems to be an entirely reasonable candidate for audio work. BUT -- dang, I can't say this loud enough: YOUR mileage may vary!

 

 

 

___________

 

One very peripheral word of advice that I always seem to forget:

 

If you're using a machine that's on your network using the older 802.11 B Wi Fi interface and you need to move a lot of data around your neworkd -- put that machine on a direct ethernet connection to do the transfer if practical.

 

802.11 B has theoretical upper limit of 11 mbps -- but I was consistently getting an effective transfer rate on sustained xfer of only 2.5- 3 mbps on the 802.11b machine. (Happy to report that the new box's 802.11 G is much quicker, though I didn't actually compute the throughput.)

[wondergoat77]

www.musicxp.net

random website to help your computer perform better with xp. this website has lots of stuff you can do to turn off unneeded stuff that uses up memory.

[blue2blue]

A great resource (which I actually mentioned in my rather rambling post above... one is easily forgiven for missing it in the avalanche of verbiage that always seems to fly out of my keyboard [DAMN those typing lessons!])

 

Anyhow, both www.musicxp.com and www.tweakxp.com are valuable resources for those wanting to cut the bloatware from "typical" windows installs. ("Bloatware" to me signifying perhaps meaningful or useful pieces of software that you'll probably never need but that will be loaded everyday, dragging down your machine, anyway, just in case, SOMEDAY you might...)

 

 

 

And, as I pointed out, above, Windows, by itself is bad enough... but when you buy a box from a major vendor like Dell, HP, etc, they REALLY shoot themselves in the foot by loading them up with crapware -- and by "crapware" I mean stuff that REALLY has little or no value other than making sure you'll have to fight off annoying "special offers" from people like AOL, Earthlink, and RealAudio and the rest... but which -- unless removed -- can amount to such a burden that your machine might -- like a whole generation of low-end Compaqs a few years back -- crash just sitting there.

[blue2blue]

Did I say "valuable resource"?

 

I meant invaluable resource.

 

 

I just got done with MusicXP.com's optimization suggestions (or at least most of them... at this point you'd pretty much have to pry System Restore out of my cold dead fingers... it's just saved my backside too many times... but I made sure it was only setting points once a day per the MusicXP suggestions).

 

 

By laying them all out in a line, giving brief abstracts and then a clickable more info option for each suggested tweak is an EXCELLENT way to go through and make the changes you want.

 

Very, VERY helpful site!

 

 

I knew it was good -- but I'd forgotten how good it is!

 

 

Damn, I wish they had stuff like this back when I started doing multitracking on my pc in '96!

 

_______________________

 

UPDATE PS: All the MusicXP tweaks were quite straightforwrd (although anyone who's not just a LITTLE nervous poking around in the registry, should be. [None of this sissy "Are you really sure you want to screw your system into the ground?" stuff for Regedit! You change a letter or number and IT'S CHANGED] But the instructions are clear and easy enough to follow.)

 

The only really irritatingly complicated tweak I've had to do so far was to get rid of "ctfmon.exe" which is some stupid Windows office "utility" that MS thought was cool enough to install it without asking when I put my copy of Access 2003 on my machine, sucking up around 3 MB of RAM, which would seem to indicate ancillary drains on resources, CPU. I googled it and found info on MS's site about removing it, which took about 6 or 7 steps, if I recall. It was late and I was a bit annoyed... but you know how it is when you're bringing a new primary work machine up... if you don't keep plowing ahead your work just gets farther and farther behind... I've actually scheduled new machine/builds and so on at times when I knew clients would be slow or key people would be out of town or factories shut down for Christmas week, and so on.]

 

[Phil O'Keefe]

One of them's got a MODEM in it. A MODEM. Anyone want a MODEM?

 

And I'll bet it was a dial-up modem at that.

 

Seriously, great job on this Blue.

 

And I feel your pain with the automated phone menus/ tech support "help" at a lot of companies. I'm glad you didn't see me a couple of days ago - we were having problems with our cable modem, and I called the company and followed the menus exactly, but it kept dropping me into cable TV problem solving... after getting bounced around in a loop for the third time, I lost it and started yelling back at the automated voice... it didn't help, but I felt a lot better, and if anyone ever "monitors this recorded call to assure quality service", they're gonna get an earful.

 

I finally got through to a guy in TV who transfered me to Internet. But I really HATE getting bounced - especially when I know I asked for the right department to begin with.

[blue2blue]

Er... uh... yes... a dial up modem for the POTS (plain ol' telephone system). I do realize I have a cable modem sitting in the other room.

 

On the customer sales/support phone system thing -- it wasn't the system that was bugging me out -- it was the PEOPLE... but, like I said, once I got out of the SALES tel system and into the CUST SUPPORT system, things got fixed in a moderately straightforward and amazingly timely manner [less than 24 hours later I had the disk I'd been trying to buy, shipped N/C. There went the profit margin on THAT $343 refurb box. ]

 

 

Anyhow, thanks much for the nice words, Phil.

 

As many of you probably already suspect, I post as much as a form of self-therapy (no matter how misguided) as anything else. But if someone might get some amusement or -- possibly correct -- information -- or just that little "there but for the grace of God go I" bump... it helps me feel less like a drain on the world.

 

And, of course, ranting, spouting and droning is far less guilt-inspiring in a context where folks can just skip over some 2000 word treatise on whatever minor aspect of life has caught the obsessions center of my brain that day...

 

But it's nice to get some positive feedback, too. Sometimes I find myself kicking myself around for popping off so often in the company of people who are out there every day doing it as a commercial enterprise and, at this point, have a lot more practical experience accumulated than I ever did... even if I do go back to the dawn of the age of recording. (Give or take.)

 

Mmm. Cup of coffee sounds pretty good right now...

 

[AudioMaverick]

Blue

[blue2blue]

Actually, mine's a relatively lowly E310 (when I say "beater box" I mean it ) but it has that same huge holes at the front of the sides (almost tempted to put up a picture but it's too damn early to go through that... ) and that seems -- on mine -- to keep the noise level relatively low.

 

Now that I've lived with it as my primary (still moving software, though, not my favorite thing) I can pull its signature sounds out of the general background noise of my small apartment a little better.

 

And then -- because the most natural spot for the box (particularly given the criminally short monitor cable on my 19" Mag CRT) is under my "desk" (the dining room table which is actually in a corner of the living room -- it's a living-by-the-beach tradeoff) is ALSO one of my cats favorite shedding, I mean, sleeping spots (if he's not in constant danger of being kicked by random movements of my feet, he's not happy) -- because of that, I ended up raising the case off the floor 8" by sticking one of my old bookshelf speakers under it.

 

Unfortunately, the speaker box acts somewhat as a resonator, doesn't do much to amplify the fan noise, of course, but the low thunk of head seeks from the 80 GB Seagate drive that came with the Dell are pretty loud. The head seek noise from my older 160 GB Western Digital seems to be considerbaly less.

 

But then I have a, er, creative mounting of that drive -- since I didn't have whatever kind of drive rails I'm supposed to be using in this to get it in the necessary 5 1/2" bay. (The 'old fashioned' generic ones I have don't work... no screw holes in the new chasis for them. Although the old rails are part of my 'creative solution.' Suffice it to say there is a bent up, used gift card acting as a support for the WD. The Seagate SATA drive is in a separate two slot 3.5" bay toward the bottom of the case.)

 

 

Be sure to let us know if you try PT with WMCE.

 

Obviously, my experience is only part of the story. As we all know, just because one program seems to work okay in an OS doesn't mean that all similar programs will.

 

(And -- frankly -- I have NOT done any heavy lifting audio work with the new machine. I'm not worried, based on what I've seen. But I haven't tested any big projects. And, for that matter, by today's standards, I don't really do big projects. I think I've rarely if ever crossed up into 30 or more tracks.)

 

 

___________

 

PS... I'm glad I didn't read your two bad-customer-support scenaria before I bought this. Those are BAD behaviors for s company who used to base their sales appeal on service. Very bad.

 

A far cry from the missing rubber foot from my laptop that they Fed-Exed to me the next working day... way too much like my own runaround on the sales phone system before I got to customers service.

 

I can tell you if customer service hadn't addressed my issues as they did, it would have been VERY, VERY hard for me to ever recommend a Dell. As it is, any reco's will have a big asterisk.

 

I hope Dell gets their act together, because it used to be nice to have a somewhat safe answer to tell folks who are just looking for a reasonably priced box or notebook.

[aerorockjax]

http://www.protoolstraining.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=171&sid=769b95ba04781adf9ba4169c4207614d

Related thread regarding protools and mce.

[blue2blue]

If I had an investment in Pro Tools, I would probably bend over backwards to cross T's and dot I's (t's and i's? You can't cross and dot the caps, I realize...) in order to provide a 'textbook' environment for it -- if ONLY to make sure I qualified for support.

 

But, I hope it goes without saying that one guy futzing around with WMCE with a particular and limited set of tools can't be considered anything more than a few points of data.

 

 

There could EASILY be some small change in WMCE that I haven't found that screws with PT.

 

OTOH, Digi takes the "underpromise" rule of thumb (in softare design) to heart when it comes to hardware support...

 

Still, If I was a Pro Tools guy, I might EXPERIMENT (if I even had a good reason to and I don't think buying a cheap beater box is probably that for most folks) but I would NOT bet the farm on getting PT to work with an OS they pointedly don't support.