Problem with MXO on Macintosh ? at DVinfo.net

Jim McQuaid · April 30th, 2009, 02:03 PM

I'm hoping someone has seen (and solved) the problem I am seeing with the Matrox MXO box. I'm using it to drive a 23" ACD in a color corrected way for 1080HD editing (sony EX1 footage).

I works great for a day. When in desktop mode, the second display is an extension of my desktop. When you boot FCP (6.0.5) it becomes the main output display.

However, after one day or so of operation, you open the same project and the aux display goes dark - no image of any kind. And FCP is hung up - will play about one second of anything and then halts (as long as the MXO is the chosen video output).

Matrox gave me a replacement unit, so I don't believe it's a hardware problem. I'm also running QT 7.6 and the latest MXO driver. This setup promises to be a great way to edit HD except it isn't working! Matrox support has been trying to help, but they don't seem to have a clue. I'm running OS X 5.6 on a Mac Pro from 2008 (2xquad core xeon).

?

Jim McQuaid

James Brill · April 30th, 2009, 04:43 PM

Hmm that's odd since that sounds like the issue everyone had when the new version of Quicktime came out. I would suggest throwing away your Final Cut preferences which can be found in user>Library>Preferences>Final Cut Pro User Data. I know I had to do that when the newest version of the MXO driver came out to actually fix the problem with the 7.5 switch.

Jim McQuaid · April 30th, 2009, 07:27 PM

I tried trashing the preferences.... sigh.

I've found that removing power completely from the device seems to restore its spirits, though for how long, I'm not yet sure. Not just the USB but the AC also.

Weird, however.

Robert Lane · May 4th, 2009, 09:44 PM

Because the MXO is DVI-driven it could be either a software-codec problem on the OSX side or there might be a hardware issue with the DVI port itself. Couldn't hurt to have the hardware checked over by the Genius Bar.

Jim McQuaid · May 5th, 2009, 07:12 AM

Interesting suggestion, but here's my logic, given that the MXO problem is intermittent. The desktop mirror mode (where the MXO is essentially just passing thru the image from the DVI) works fine, always, never a problem. I would expect any hardware problem on the Mac side of the equation to manifest itself always or randomly, not only when I run FCP and drive the aux display in that mode from the MXO.

Codec is certainly a possible issue. I'm working with EX1 1080 24p footage, which required FCP 6.0.5. But I sent some of this footage to Matrox support and it did not cause the problem on their side.... (they cannot reproduce my problem)

Personally, I think it's a small memory leak in the MXO code that - after a day or two - overwrites some piece of the the code that drives the ACD in movie mode (with color correction or interlacing).

April 30th, 2009, 02:03 PM	#1
Jim McQuaid Regular Crew Join Date: Nov 2003 Location: Durham, North Carolina Posts: 61	Problem with MXO on Macintosh ? I'm hoping someone has seen (and solved) the problem I am seeing with the Matrox MXO box. I'm using it to drive a 23" ACD in a color corrected way for 1080HD editing (sony EX1 footage). I works great for a day. When in desktop mode, the second display is an extension of my desktop. When you boot FCP (6.0.5) it becomes the main output display. However, after one day or so of operation, you open the same project and the aux display goes dark - no image of any kind. And FCP is hung up - will play about one second of anything and then halts (as long as the MXO is the chosen video output). Matrox gave me a replacement unit, so I don't believe it's a hardware problem. I'm also running QT 7.6 and the latest MXO driver. This setup promises to be a great way to edit HD except it isn't working! Matrox support has been trying to help, but they don't seem to have a clue. I'm running OS X 5.6 on a Mac Pro from 2008 (2xquad core xeon). ? Jim McQuaid __________________ Check out Turnip Films www.turnipfilms.com

April 30th, 2009, 07:27 PM	#3
Jim McQuaid Regular Crew Join Date: Nov 2003 Location: Durham, North Carolina Posts: 61	Fine idea, but alas... I tried trashing the preferences.... sigh. I've found that removing power completely from the device seems to restore its spirits, though for how long, I'm not yet sure. Not just the USB but the AC also. Weird, however. __________________ Check out Turnip Films www.turnipfilms.com

May 4th, 2009, 09:44 PM	#4
Robert Lane Go Go Godzilla Join Date: Nov 2004 Location: Scottsdale, AZ USA Posts: 2,788 Images: 15	Because the MXO is DVI-driven it could be either a software-codec problem on the OSX side or there might be a hardware issue with the DVI port itself. Couldn't hurt to have the hardware checked over by the Genius Bar. __________________ Robert Lane Producer/Creator - Bike Pilots TV

May 5th, 2009, 07:12 AM	#5
Jim McQuaid Regular Crew Join Date: Nov 2003 Location: Durham, North Carolina Posts: 61	MXO is DVI-driven Interesting suggestion, but here's my logic, given that the MXO problem is intermittent. The desktop mirror mode (where the MXO is essentially just passing thru the image from the DVI) works fine, always, never a problem. I would expect any hardware problem on the Mac side of the equation to manifest itself always or randomly, not only when I run FCP and drive the aux display in that mode from the MXO. Codec is certainly a possible issue. I'm working with EX1 1080 24p footage, which required FCP 6.0.5. But I sent some of this footage to Matrox support and it did not cause the problem on their side.... (they cannot reproduce my problem) Personally, I think it's a small memory leak in the MXO code that - after a day or two - overwrites some piece of the the code that drives the ACD in movie mode (with color correction or interlacing). __________________ Check out Turnip Films www.turnipfilms.com

April 30th, 2009, 04:43 PM	#2
James Brill Major Player Join Date: Aug 2007 Location: Goleta, CA Posts: 299	Hmm that's odd since that sounds like the issue everyone had when the new version of Quicktime came out. I would suggest throwing away your Final Cut preferences which can be found in user>Library>Preferences>Final Cut Pro User Data. I know I had to do that when the newest version of the MXO driver came out to actually fix the problem with the 7.5 switch.