DigiDesign Mbox 2 Pro Getting Started Manual page 18

Enabling DMA
Enabling your computer's DMA (Direct Memory
Access) frees up CPU bandwidth so the com-
puter can do other Pro Tools tasks.
In most cases the DMA option will already be set
correctly, 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 Man-
4
ager.
In the Device Manager window, double-click
5
IDE 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
7
"DMA if available," and click OK.
Repeat steps 5–7 for any additional IDE Chan-
8
nels.
Close the Computer Management window.
9
Disabling System Standby and Power
Management
When using Pro Tools, the Windows System
Standby power scheme must be set to Always
On. This helps prevent long record or playback
passes from stopping due to system resources
powering down.
Sleep (or hibernate) settings are supported
when using Mbox 2 Pro and the Windows
System Audio drivers with an application
other than Pro Tools LE.
10 Mbox 2 Pro Getting Started
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
4
Always 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
disable Cool N'Quiet in the System BIOS (in
the Cool & Quiet Configuration section).
Refer to the manufacturer's documentation
for instructions on disabling this power op-
tion, if necessary.
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
5
smooth edges of screen fonts."
Click OK to save your settings and close the
6
Effects dialog.
Click OK.
7
Restart the computer.
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