Audacity Forum

I'm running Audacity 1.2.6 on a Powerbook G4, 1.67 GHz, 1.5 Gig RAM. Every time I open an AIFF and try to play it, I get this message: "Error while opening sound device. Please check the output device settings and the project sample rate."

My sound device settings never change, whether I'm using Logic, GarageBand, iTunes or Quicktime. I use a Presonus Firebox for audio in and out. I tried switching the sample rates in Audacity, but it didn't work, and I'm not sure why I should have to because every other program works just fine with the Firebox. Can anyone clue me in on what I'm doing wrong?

Thanks!

Andy

One or two more pieces:

Panther/Tiger/Leopard?

Has it ever worked? How old is the install?

Do you ever Verify Disk and Repair Permissions?

Have you trashed the Audacity Preference file?

Trash Mac Audacity Preferences
http://audacityteam.org/forum/viewtopic ... =10#p34670

You know Audacity is at First Birthday if it asks you "English" at the first launch. Let's start there. I'm trying to remember if I ever had to deal with a FireWire audio device.

Do the internal speakers work if you disconnect the FireWire device? It would be good to split the system into parts and see which ones cause trouble. Do you use Vonage or Skype?

Koz

Thanks for the suggestions. I have Tiger on my Mac. Audacity has never worked on it. I tried an earlier version a while back. The new install is about a month old.
I just verified and repaired permissions and trashed the Audacity preferences file. Same deal. It did ask me if I wanted it to speak English, though. Internal speakers work fine. (I didn't physically disconnect the Firebox, but I did change my sound output preferences in the Mac.)
I have a Skype account.

Practically speaking, you have strike one and two right there. It shouldn't make any difference whether or not you have a FireWire device, or VOIP service, but it might. VOIP programs grab the sound system with white knuckles and don't let go. That's how they seem to work no matter what kind of computer tries to run them.

I'm a little more surprised about the FireWire thingy. That should work. It's possible that Audacity can't "chat" with the FireWire system to set the parameters. There is one more panel to check. Go > Utilities > Audio MIDI Setup.

Audacity is a really simple audio program and likes running on a really simple computer.

Koz

I went to audio/midi setup. I did notice that for some reason the default input and output setting were for built-in audio, so I changed that to the Presonus. Restarted the computer and tried it again, with no luck. Just to make sure there wasn't something wrong with the file I tried another AIFF, and then an MP3. Nothing worked. I don't think my computer setup is too complex. I record music on it and I connect to the internet via wireless, and I occasionally create Word documents on it. I can't imagine any of that would make a difference to Audacity.

You mentioned swapping the sample rates around in Audacity, but you never said anything about Audacity's own input/output panel.

Audacity > Preferences > Audio I/O.

One other item is to set everything in the known world to 44100, 16-bit, Stereo. Everything supports that. That's the Audio Compact Disk standard. More than one poster got stuck trying to use exotic sound standards on the theory that everything is going to be Much Better if they do. Not always. I have an admittedly cheap USB microphone that only works at 44100, 16, Stereo on my PowerBook.

Koz

I'm having the same problem with the same Error message. However, the program worked fine a couple of days ago. I am running a new Macbook Pro 2.93 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo and system 10.5.6. I get this error message both with version 1.2.5 and 1.3.7. I have changed the input device in Audio Midi Setup.

<<<I'm having the same problem with the same Error message. >>>

But way not the same computer. Are you trying to talk down a Personus FireBox, too? New Skype account?

Skype and Vonage add a driver layer into the mix of signal pathways which complicates things.

<<<I don't think my computer setup is too complex. >>>

I do. I know no other people using a FireWire sound device and have VOIP service at the same time. That makes you a digital celebrity ... and probably a bad match for Audacity.

Koz

I'm in a similar boat I think. My setup:
iBook mac running 10.4.11
Presonus Firebox
Audacity 1.2
I get the error message no matter what I do, setting everything to 44.1kHz, 16 bit, stereo, etc.
All my other programs (iTunes, Cubase, etc.) have no problems whatsoever with the Firebox.
Did anyone figure this out?