Playback problems on a dual-800 Mac...HELP!!

I have an Mbox, I'm using Pro Tools LE v6.1 on a Mac G4, dual-800mhz, with 1 gig of RAM on OS X (10.2.6) Description of problem: During Playback...sometimes during record...loud static will errupt. The tracks don't appear to be damaged, rather, the playback seems to not be able to operate accurately. I tried this on a dual-gig system and everything worked fine. My system is a dual-800 with 1 gig of RAM, so everything should be sufficient. I also raised the cpu level to 99%, which should have dedicated an entire processor to ProTools. Actions required to reproduce the problem: I played the ProTools demo session, and it will not playback after 40-55 seconds. It seems as if there's some kind of threshold for effects/tracks/information and it just spits out loud static and noise. Troubleshooting already attempted: I increased the cpu level to 99%, lowered the DAE playback buffer, and raised the h/w buffer size to the max (1024 samples). I also moved the files to another internal ATA drive, and restarted my computer. I disconnected from the internet, made sure no other applications were running, and disabled my screensaver. Please HELP!! I have a project due in a few days, and I bought this Mbox specifically for this project and it's just not working correctly! thanks, Louis

Have you tried running the firmware updater for the Mbox? Also - have you gone thru all of the suggestions in the 6.x troubleshooting post at the top of every forum?

I just tried the firmware update...nothing. I went through the troubleshooting steps, and did every single one, and still this happens. This is utterly ridiculous and frustrating...and even more so that I can't call tech support!!! What kind of company sells you a product then washes it's hands of their customers and directs me to use their forum "of other users?" This can probably be fixed in 5-15 minutes on the phone with a knowledgable tech person! UGH!! This project is due soon, and I'm at the point where I'm either going to throw this damn thing out the window or just take it back and never think about this damn company ever again. I have dual-800 processors. People have been running ProTools for YEARS with a lot less power. completely frustrated, Louis

Here's the solution I discovered...abandon OS X!! I took my old mac 450 (750 megs or RAM!!) out of the closet, booted into OS 9.2.2, and install ProTools 5.2.1 on it. It worked perfectly!!! So frustrating! I guess ProTools 6.x for OS X just isn't completely ready for prime time. ugh! And I STILL haven't heard back from my tech support e-mail to Digidesign. Louis