Other possible causes include old audio drivers, settings that give full control of your audio device to another program, or other applications using the audio hardware in the background. In this article, we will discuss different ways to solve this error.
1. Force the Playback Engine Window
Before proceeding to other solutions, check whether you can force the Playback Engine window to appear during the initial splash screen of Pro Tools. Note: Running Pro Tools with administrative privileges can also help. To do this, right-click the Pro Tools launcher and select Run as administrator from the context menu. Several users who encountered the error -6117 have resolved the issue by pressing the “N” key immediately after launching Pro Tools. This method should bring up the Playback Engine window, allowing you to select your AVID device. If you see this screen, select your Avid device, click OK, and check whether Pro Tools loads correctly.
2. Install the Audio Interface Driver
The most frequent cause of this error code is a missing or outdated audio interface driver (commonly, an Avid interface driver). To ensure compatibility and performance, you should always use the latest version of your audio interface driver.
3. Install ASIO4All
If a dedicated driver does not exist for your audio interface model or you are using your computer’s built-in audio hardware, installing ASIO4All is the recommended solution. ASIO4All emulates the ASIO protocol, enabling your digital audio workstation (DAW) to communicate efficiently with your audio hardware even if an official driver is unavailable. Many users have found that installing ASIO4All not only resolves the Pro Tools error but also improves audio latency.
4. Disable All Sound & Recording Devices (PC Only)
On Windows systems, conflicts between the ASIO device and built-in sound devices can cause error -6117. Several users have reported success with this workaround: temporarily disable all sound and recording devices before launching Pro Tools. Once Pro Tools launches successfully, you can re-enable your sound devices while the program is running.
