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  • VSL keeps locking up

    J
    J
    Hi I am running VSL Special Edition on the brand new top spec i7 Quad Core mac, with 8Gb of RAM. I am running it in Logic 8. At the moment I am helping my niece with her A'level music composition. Only 9 tracks are required; a handful of woodwind, some strings and timps. Whilst fiddling around with it...jumping between articulations and changing tracks, it tends to just jam. I get the spinning beachball and invariably have to force quit. I didn't really expect to have this kind of the problem considering I am running it on one of the fastest macs available. But it is happening! Is it a problem with Logic 8? Possibly. Problem with the computer? I doubt it. However I am using a Firewire 400 Lacie 500Gb external drive to store the VSL library. Could it be that I really need to buy a Firewire 800? Additionally, because there is no Firewire 400 sockets in the new macs, I am having to daisy chain my FW Audio Interface through the external drive. So if I did get a FW800 drive, I would have to by a USB interface so as not bring down the performance of the FW800 by daisy chaining it with a FW400. Comments and advice would be greatly appreciated. Thanks
  • cmC
    VSL Team
    cmC

    welcome Jonathan,

    there are known issues with certain firewire audio interfaces (like the digi) if they are daisy-chained with a firewire harddisk from which you stream sample content.

    you could try to change the order of daisy-chaining or use different firewire ports for the audio device and the harddisk (there are cables from 800 to 400 if necessary) or update your audio device driver.

     

    for the i7 the best solution would be of course to have the samples on an internal sATA drive ....

    (btw: why does it have 8 instead of 12 GB to make use of the triple channel memory speed?)

    christian

    and remember: only a CRAY can run an endless loop in just three seconds.
  • J
    J

    Hi

    thanks for your quick response and suggestions. i am using a focusrite saffire le interface. The i7 only has one single 800 port, so i am already using a 400/800 cable to connect the external HD. 

    i dont understand your query about my choice of memory. Could you explain it to me please?

    Thanks

    Jonathan
  • cmC
    VSL Team
    cmC

    wait ... only 1 FW 800 port, is this the iMac? if yes, then forget my comment about memory - there is nothing you can do ... i had the i7 macPro in my mind ...

    then it is definately a problem with the audio device driver taking all the bandwidth of the firewire bus - ask focusrite for a supported configuration alongside with a FW harddisk on the same bus (eg. digidesign apparently specifies a certain splitter).

     

    such splitters (FW 800 in to 2 x FW 400 out) are hard to find but helped other users in the past to solve this kind of issues.

    sorry for having no better news - maybe your internal disk is big enough to place the sample content there ... not an ideal solution, especially if you need to record then to the same disk ...

    christian

     

    btw: its a shame those modern macs still don't have an eSATA port, that would be a serious and fast solution ...

    and remember: only a CRAY can run an endless loop in just three seconds.
  • J
    J

     Thanks Christian, you are very helpful

    But what exactly do you mean by this supported configuration alongside with a FW GD on the same bus. What does that mean exactly?

    Jonathan
  • cmC
    VSL Team
    cmC

    obviously daisy-chaning the harddisk and audio interface does not work in the configuration you have.

    this problem is also known for the digi002/003 but a fellow user mentioned digidesign specifies a certain configuration (IIRC with a glyph drive) ás working configuration - unfortunately i don't know details.

    this is 99% a driver (or firewire controller) issue since similar configurations eg. with an RME fireface are working.

    christian

    and remember: only a CRAY can run an endless loop in just three seconds.
  • J
    J

    Would i solve all my problems if i installed all my software instruments and samples on the internal drive and record all my projects on to the external?
  • C
    C
    last edited
    last edited

    @Jonathan Price said:

    Would i solve all my problems if i installed all my software instruments and samples on the internal drive and record all my projects on to the external?

    I do not recommend this.  The system drive is doing a lot of other things that you don't even know about which take up resources and will get in the way of streaming.  Page files etc are located on this drive and will/can have an affect on your performance.  Christian has already given you the best way to fix this, an internal second drive.  That will be a very inexpensive upgrade and yet will yield you the best results.

    This way you can also keep your firewire drive to do backups on it (to keep a spare copy of your samples, projects and important files).

    Maestro2be
  • cmC
    VSL Team
    cmC

    Jonathan  did not confirm so far, but it reads as if his i7 is an iMac ... so no chance for a second internal disk.

    it could be worth to try moving the samples to the internal disk and record to the external, but i fear the same effect would appear for recording as it now happens for streaming .... besides this a setup far away from an ideal situation ...

     

    possible solustions (this are either-ors, not ands)

    - get working drivers for the audio device (not blocking the firewire bus)

    - get this 800-to-400 splitter (google for the dididesign recommendation)

    - use a USB harddisk (should be enough for the special edition)

    hth, christian

    and remember: only a CRAY can run an endless loop in just three seconds.
  • J
    J

    Thanks guys for all your thoughts and suggestions. Yes you are right Christian that a 2nd HD is not an option. I am thinking that the best answer would be to buy a good USB interface, such as the M-audio Fast Track Ultra 8x8 USB 2.0, so as not to interfere with the firewire, leaving it solely to the Lacie HD. Also gives me the option of buying a new FW800 HD to replace it maybe. Surely this would be the best option? So i would keep all my Software instruments and samples on the external, and also record to the external, and leave the internal to run logic and the system.
  • cmC
    VSL Team
    cmC

    just one last comment: streaming from (read data) and recording (write data) to the same drive will also significantly decrease your overall performance - i would rather prefer the internal disk for recording then ...

    christian

    and remember: only a CRAY can run an endless loop in just three seconds.
  • J
    J

    I am sure you are right there. That makes a lot of sense actually. will keep you posted on how i get on with fixing things. 

    Thanks again

    Jonathan