computer genius

[gigpiglet]

as some of you may know - i have an issue with AVID media composer and AVID pro tools
they won't behave together on the same computer
end of story
both professional, expensive, and purchased legally (at great cost as I'm sure you understand) products - from the same manufacturer - but no you can't have them both installed on your computer

I'm looking for options to not run a second computer in the second room (the count of mac towers at my place is getting ridiculous)

my thoughts

1 - create two separate user accounts, so when you turn the computer on you log in at either PT or MC

2 - install a second boot drive. install PT on one and MC on the other, and choose which drive you boot off

3 - partition the main boot drive (which is an SSD that only runs system, no audio/ video etc) so it would "appear" as above - one partition with PT one with MC

are any of these options likely/ possible to work so that i can have PT and MC running on the same computer (never simultaneously, i just want them both installed and be able to use one or the other, depending on if the room is being used for audio or video)
at this point any option that saves another computer (and hence switching keyboards/ screens/ monitors/ etc) is worth a shot, but appreciate some input before i start formatting/ buying new drives for no reason.

thanks

[TimC]

You can safely go option 3.
Don't need to reformat - just use disk utility to create a big enough (with some extra room) partition. I partitioned my SSD with no need to re-install so as to run 10.6.8 and 10.8.5.
Make sure you hide each disc in the opposing disc's spotlight prefs to stop it journaling if you have big files there..

The other options I tried before I did this and had issues:
Option 1 made some weird permission/ownership things and some preferences still transferred between accounts. This option is fine for email and your background image..
Option 2 When I was doing this I got a lot of hangs - I think having 2 diff OS (10.5 + 10.6) made some weird data things happen.

If you wanted to run 2 computers simultaneously you could get a KVM switch so you only needed the tower and not the rest...

Gareth gimme a call if you want me to talk you through it..

[Linear]

It's easy - and yes option 3.

We run 2 mac pros running identical setups.

4 partitions - one running Logic 9, one running PT9, one running PT10 and one just running mac OSX.

If your computers get used by external engineers/producers, then install everything, get it all running and use CCC to backup all the partitions. That way if someone comes in a fcuks everything up, you can just start a fresh in usually less than an hour.

PT usually lags operating systems (and logic being owned by apple doesn't). so you can upgrade for logic and leave PT as-is.

We also give everyone separate logins on each partition, so users can mess with settings/mouse configurations/wallpapers/shortcuts and it doesn't affect everyone else.

It's easy - if you wanna see it working let me know.

Chris

[gigpiglet]

thanks for the replies guys
i know it "looks" easy
but the specific problem here (and what i was hoping someone may have either dealt with - or know more about computers than me to hazard a guess) is that Avid Media Composer, and Avid Pro tools, cannot be installed on the same machine.
I've fought all the battles and done all the stuff… avid has (finally) issued a "knowledge base" saying so.
avid core audio (used in PT) crashes MC
and vice versa

so to clarify, will option 3 (a partitioned boot drive - one partition with PT and one with MC, chose which one you want to use when you boot up) allow me to run both programs, even though its very well proven they can't be co-installed?

ie: if PT crashes MC, will it being on a separate partition (but still on the same computer obviously) still bone me?

[Text_Edifice]

It shouldn't bone you because you're running essentially the partitions as separate 'machines'.

[Linear]

yeah that's right - as far as OSX is concerned it's a different computer.

you can go so far as to 'eject' the partition I believe, so it won't even see the drive. but i'd say that wouldn't be necessary, I've installed new and old (and hence incompatible) stuff on different partitions and it hasn't mattered at all.

installing the on the same partition under different logins is different however - as any application installed on one users login will be installed on the others.

think through your partitioning too, it's difficult to change partition sizes after the fact. i'm pretty sure i just split the 500GB system drive into 4.

Chris

[gigpiglet]

great!
thanks guys.
a new "to do" for this weeks list.
;-)

[audioio]

There have been a few posts on the Avid DCI mailing list about this. Unfortunately as this is not an issue that bothers me, I deleted them. But the solution is apparently the order in which one installs MC and PT... then they play together. If I remember correctly, MC goes first. (OTOH, if you know you installed MC first and it's not working, then it could be the other way round. Or, rather than doing an upgrade, try a clean uninstall first.) So, if you can be bothered or want them to co-exist, maybe clean uninstall both, install MC then install PT.

[gigpiglet]

hi david
thanks for that - it is true of MC 6
but media composer 7 (the current one) which i was "forced" to buy when i had a computer die mid job - bought a new comp that day - and had install and keep working (which was my big upgrade of all the machines to 4.1 builds)
BUT - later found out that mc7 can't be installed with tools at all..
and of course avid won't let me "roll back" or licence and old version or whatever
so I've been trying to find a way!

I'm going to try the disk partition next week.
sounds very promising

[ether]

If you need any spare external drives to test on G., I've got plenty you can borrow. Let me know and I'll bring them on Thursday.

Also got a clean Macbook Pro that you can test on if needed.

Partitioning's pretty simple these days though.

[gigpiglet]

thanks aj
plenty of spare drives here though
i forgot you were dropping by thur!
just put it in my diary