Our answers agree. There’s different methods of MIDI timing: MIDI Clock and MIDI Time Code, and MMC (MIDI Machine Control) is a different beast entirely.
MIDI Clock is a low resolution (relative to the internal timing of any DAW), tempo-based message. It also includes start (from the beginning), stop, and continue (from where stopped) messages, as well as a certain number of pings every quarternote (24, I think) that other MIDI-clock friendly programs can count and follow. This is what I’ve had Max chasing.
MIDI Time Code gives an absolute timing reference (i.e. saying we’re thirty seconds into the song instead of MIDI Clock that just follows ticks). It’s more sophisticated, but the Octopus can’t generate (or follow) it.
The Octopus does not generate any MMC messages.
I had translated your post (MMC from Octopus) to mean, "Can you get a DAW to follow the Octopus?" Yes, you can. I don’t have a copy of ProTools, but I have had Max following the Octopus. It works. But Ripe pointed out that you didn’t ask "Can you have the Octopus generate start, stop and continue messages?" (which it can – in MIDI clock), but rather, "Does it generate MIDI Machine Control messges?" (which it does not). So he was right, I overlooked that.
Further, Ripe is pointing out that MIDI Clock is not all that precise. He’s right. I had slight irregularities between Max and the Octopus. He’s saying if you’re using a serious rig like ProTools, you probably want MIDI Time Code, which not many hardware sequencers generate.