DigiDesign Mbox 2 Micro Getting Started Manual page 36

Enabling DMA
Enabling your computer's DMA (Direct Memory Access)
frees up CPU bandwidth so the computer can do other
Pro Tools tasks.
In most cases the DMA option will already be set cor-
rectly, as Windows XP detects and activates DMA mode
by default.
To enable DMA for any IDE hard drives:
Choose Start > Control Panel.
1
In Classic View, double-click System.
2
Click the Hardware tab.
3
Under Device Manager, choose Device Manager.
4
In the Device Manager window, double-click IDE
5
ATA/ATAPI controllers, then double-click the Primary IDE
Channel for your IDE hard drive.
Click the Advanced Settings tab.
6
For each device, set the Transfer Mode to "DMA if avail-
7
able," and click OK.
Repeat steps 5–7 for any additional IDE Channels.
8
Close the Device Manager window and then the Sys-
9
tem Properties window.
Disabling System Standby and Power
Management
When using Pro Tools, the Windows System Standby
power scheme must be set to Always On. This helps pre-
vent long record or playback passes from stopping due
to system resources powering down.
28 Mbox 2 Micro Getting Started Guide
To configure Windows Power Management:
Choose Start > Control Panel.
1
Double-click Power Options.
2
Click the Power Schemes tab.
3
From the Power Schemes pop-up menu, select Always
4
On.
Click OK.
5
This sets System Standby, System Hibernate, and "Turn
off hard disks" to Never.
On AMD processors, be sure to check and dis-
able Cool N'Quiet in the System BIOS (in the
Cool & Quiet Configuration section). Refer to
the manufacturer's documentation for instruc-
tions on disabling this power option, if neces-
sary.
Disabling ClearType Font Smoothing
When using Pro Tools, the Effects "Clear Type" setting
must be disabled.
To disable ClearType font smoothing:
Choose Start > Control Panel.
1
Double-click Display.
2
Click the Appearance tab.
3
Click Effects.
4
Deselect "Use the following method to smooth edges of
5
screen fonts."
Click OK to save your settings and close the Effects di-
6
alog.
Click OK.
7
Restart the computer.
8