Tascam MMP-16 Tips & Technique Manual - Formatting Macintosh Disks

                  TASCAM  MMR/MMP  V 3. 0      Tips For Pro Tools Users

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Tips for Pro Tools and MMR/MMP Users

Formatting Macintosh Disks

The MMR-8 and MMP-16 cannot format disk drives as Macintosh HFS (Hierarchical File

System) volumes, so a drive must first be formatted as a Macintosh HFS volume using a

Macintosh computer before the drive can be used with the MMR-8 or MMP-16. If a non-

Macintosh formatted drive is mounted, the MMR/MMP will not allow Pro Tools or OMF as a

choice for recording, backup, or file export to that disk. Users are advised to follow the

recommendations of Digidesign for formatting disk drives for use with the Pro Tools system and

with the MMR-8 and MMP-16.

Macintosh File System Errors

Various types of file errors and inconsistencies can sometimes accumulate on a Macintosh drive.

Although the MMR-8 and MMP-16 can read and write data on Macintosh HFS volumes, it is of

critical importance that any Macintosh disk used be free of file and format errors. When the

MMR/MMP unit scans the SCSI bus for available drives and sees a Macintosh volume, it will

look for file errors on the disk. If errors are found, the volume may not load at all. In some cases,

the volume may load but only a few files will show up in the drive directory. If a disk is found to

have file system errors, the MMR-8 will not allow recording, backup, or export to that disk and

track arming will be disallowed.

Fortunately, commercially available disk repair utilities such as Norton Disk Doctor can locate,

and in many cases (although not all) can repair the disk and rectify the errors.  If a Macintosh disk

connected to an MMR-8 or MMP-16 has problems such as:

§ disk volume will not mount

§ files appear to be missing

§ the MMR-8 will not go into record

then connect the disk to a Macintosh computer and use a Macintosh disk repair utility to locate and

repair any errors. If the errors cannot be fixed by the disk repair program, then the drive will need

to be re-formatted on a Macintosh computer before it can be used on the MMR/MMP.

Using Macintosh Disk Volumes with Partitions

Macintosh drives may be divided into logical partitions of various sizes sharing the same SCSI

address on the SCSI bus. The MMR/MMP will find all valid Pro Tools Session files regardless of

which partition they are on. Once a track is loaded on the MMR, any new audio recorded on that

track will be stored to the same drive and partition as the loaded track. When the MMR is first

booted, new MMR Projects (created by accessing Setup Menu 800 and storing a new Project

name) recorded to a partitioned Macintosh disk will automatically be stored to the partition on that

SCSI drive with the most available free space. This means the Project folder, Session file and all

audio files will be stored to that partition. When a project is loaded from any partition, all

subsequent new projects will be recorded to that partition until a project is loaded from either a

different partition or a different drive.  In other words, the MMR will record to the drive and

partition from which the current project was loaded.  Rebooting will return the MMR to its default

record drive, and to the partition with the most available space on that drive.