I am on Xpress Pro 5.6.4 on a G5. Recently my Avid isn't reccognizing my external hd (WD). when I try to open Avid I get "An error occurred creating the Database file for the directory 'Avid HD 2:Avid MediaFiles:MXF:1". Exception:  "Sys_ERROR". So I hit go and get "Media will be unavailable in the midia directory Avid HD 2:Avid Media Files: MXF:1." This drive has always worked and is reccognized on the desk top but Avid won't access it anymore. I downgraded my QT to 7.1 and my OS X to 10.4.6. Can't seem to get my mind around this one. Any questions or suggestions?

Does check permissions turn up anything fishy?

Just delete your two index files on that external drive and see if avid will create them from scratch.  maybe something is corrupted with the index file and not letting avid write to or over it.

If you haven't already, dump the msmFMID.pmr and msmMMOB.mdb database files inside your "1" directory, as they may be corrupted.  Open Avid and see if it has any luck rebuilding the database files from scratch. 

If the drive stopped working after you recently imported / captured media, try removing that media from the "1" directory and opening Avid to determine if that's the root of the problem. 

You should also go to disk utility and verify your drive to see if there are any permissions errors.

To be on the safe side though (and also to troubleshoot the cause of the problem), if you have extra drive space anywhere copy all your media to another drive as a backup in case things start to get particularly ugly.

Thanks for the quick response. I can't open the hard drive from the desktop, only from applications. I am a bit of a tech idiot too. Can't find any "Check Permissions" or index files assoicated with the hd.

Ok, Im in the hd on the disc utilities and there is nothing listed. Should I select Repair Disc in the First Aid or go to the restore option?

Disc utility reports no repairs were necessary and the drive was verified. I'll dig around a bit more and see what I can turn up.

I'd be willing to bet you've got a piece of corrupt media.  I've had this happen to me several times.  It's usually a piece of media created on the same day that you experienced the problem and it's usually a render.  Try removing the latest media you created (sort it by date and take off the most recent files.  I usually take off everything that was created around the same time).  You can drag it into a folder on another drive if you don't want to trash it.  Then throw out the MSM and relaunch.  Hope this works for you.  Gregg