DP 5.13 Drops audio during recording

[prokeds]

My apologies if this is answered elsewhere. I looked around a bit and didn't see my answer so here goes!

I use DP 5.13/828mkii/macbook running OS 10.6 for live multi-track recordings and have done so for years without incident, but one of my projects recently had a large number of drops (over 35), each lasting around .25 sec, on all six tracks. The first one was 14 minutes in, at which point they started coming every 1-2 minutes or so until the 56-minute mark, and then there was one more at around 75 minutes of an 80 minute concert. I had no indication at the time that anything was wrong; no error messages, etc. MOTU tech support suggests checking the FW cable and/or the ports on the back of the 828mkii, and that the problem was probably not software-related.

However, I did record a short (several seconds) clip prior to the beginning of the concert, stopped DP, and started recording again. DP 4 had an issue with crashing when stopping a recording and re-starting it, but I have not experienced this with 5.13.

I have since tried to re-create the problem by setting up a sample session and wiggling the cable/connectors during record, but there were no drops.

Any insights would be welcome! I can't really take the 828 out of service for more than a few days until June because I need it for multiple jobs each week.

Thanks,

prokeds

[Tritonemusic]

Are you using the System drive as your Audio drive and recording onto it? Do you have active plug-ins running while recording? Do you perform any sort of periodic maintenance on your drive(s)? Repair permissions? Defrag? How much free space do you have on your drive(s)?

[prokeds]

I do use the system drive to record, but I don't run any plug-ins. The Macbook was upgraded to a 7200 RPM 500GB HD which had between 250-300 GB free at the time of the project in question. As for running defrag or repairing permissions, it's been a while. I also have Diskwarrior but haven't run that in a while either. I guess now's the time?

Thanks,

prokeds

[mikehalloran]

Disk Warrior will give you little red messages that don't mean anything and will fix nothing in the process. OTOH, it won't hurt.

Do fire up Apple's Disk Utility, click on the hardware and Verify. If you get any red, you need a new drive. Disk Utility is great for putting your drive back together when run from another drive - not from a different partition. Once you have it repaired, replace it and pull your data using the Migrate utility or Time Machine.

Old drives with problems should be replaced ASAP. The reason that you repair them first (if possible) is to give yourself the maximum chance of recovering your data.

When repairing a drive using Disk Utility, only stop running it if the same errors appear three times in a row. Otherwise, run it again and again - 20 times if you have to - until the errors go away. Then replace the drive.

Your problems could also be a symptom of bad RAM.

My favorite diagnostic tool for drives and RAM is TechTool Pro. If you bought Applecare originally, then you have a lite version that is also pretty good - you can update it at Micromat.com . Like DiskWarrior and most other 3rd party utilities, it is useless for fixing anything but it does tell you what's wrong.

This is a screen shot of a drive that Disk Utility repaired. Since it is looking at the hardware, not data, the before and after shots are identical. Notice that the SMART Status is Passed.

[prokeds]

Thanks! The HD passed the Disk Utility verify test, and I repaired the permissions as well. Do you think it's worth setting up a partition to separate the system drive from the audio, even though it would still obviously be the same physical HD? I could also start recording to an external HD instead of the internal. I just want to avoid a repeat of the experience I had with the dropping. Luckily I ran a separate backup recording (as I always do)

Thanks again,

prokeds

[magicd]

If DP isn't giving any error messages, DP thinks everything is going fine. To me, that rules out a problem with the audio interface connection.

Without additional testing, the symptoms do sound to me like a problem with the drive. I doubt that a partition would make any difference. The simple test would be to connect an external drive and record to that. If you get the same symptoms on the external drive, it's unlikely that the internal drive is the problem.

Test with an external drive.

Dave

[prokeds]

Thanks to all. I started using a 5400 rpm external USB drive and it seemed to be working without the dropout issue that I had with the internal. I tested the external HD with techtools and it passed but then on maybe the 6th project or so recording to it the same problem reappeared. .25 sec dropouts on all tracks, maybe 15-20 times throughout a 2.5 hour recording of four tracks plus stereo mix. I also tested the laptop's RAM using Techtools and it passed as well. I ran a bunch of the utilities to clean up the internal drive but have not recorded to it since I started using the external. I have since gotten a 7200rpm G-Drive to use instead, but I'd really like to chase down the source of the problem...

Thanks,

prokeds