Motu DP and anything but Catalina / Best last OS for Motu DP?

[JSmith1234567]

Hi!

Rather than hijack the Catalina thread, what do people think is the best, snappiest last OSX version for running DP?

And also Kontakt and VE Pro Server.

I am running a “trash can” Mac Pro from (2013? 2015? I can’t remember?).

Thanks!

[mikehalloran]

All MP 6.1s are 2013 no matter when they were built.

DP 11.23 runs fine for me over Ventura as it did over Monterey. I have a 2012 MacBook Pro running Catalina but it’s a test machine so most of my VIs are not installed on it.

Some of us found that removing certain cache files made a huge improvement, myself included. /Users/(user)/Library/Preferences caches do not rebuild during a Safe Boot like HD/Library/ cache files do.

Open the following folder;

/Users/(account name)/Library/Preferences/com.motu.MotuAudioSystem/

Delete these files (you may not have all three): Audio Unit Info Cache 64-bit, VST3 Info Cache v2 and VST Info Cache 64-bit . Remove the 32 bit versions also. I also found AudioDesk caches going back to the 1990s in there.

Reboot, relaunch and DP will rebuild those cache files. Depending on what plug-in preferences you have set.

DP 11 launched much faster and stopped crashing regularly (except right after updating a number of plug-ins).

[JSmith1234567]

All MP 6.1s are 2013 no matter when they were built.

DP 11.23 runs fine for me over Ventura as it did over Monterey. I have a 2012 MacBook Pro running Catalina but it’s a test machine so most of my VIs are not installed on it.

Some of us found that removing certain cache files made a huge improvement, myself included. /Users/(user)/Library/Preferences caches do not rebuild during a Safe Boot like HD/Library/ cache files do.

Open the following folder;

/Users/(account name)/Library/Preferences/com.motu.MotuAudioSystem/

Delete these files (you may not have all three): Audio Unit Info Cache 64-bit, VST3 Info Cache v2 and VST Info Cache 64-bit . Remove the 32 bit versions also. I also found AudioDesk caches going back to the 1990s in there.

Reboot, relaunch and DP will rebuild those cache files. Depending on what plug-in preferences you have set.

DP 11 launched much faster and stopped crashing regularly (except right after updating a number of plug-ins).

Hi Mike thanks for these tips.

Whenever I bought a new Mac for years, I had all of these things I knew to do immediately in preferences to speed it up, but that was pre-OSX, so these kind of tips for the "modern age" are very helpful!

[JSmith1234567]

All MP 6.1s are 2013 no matter when they were built.

DP 11.23 runs fine for me over Ventura as it did over Monterey. I have a 2012 MacBook Pro running Catalina but it’s a test machine so most of my VIs are not installed on it.

Some of us found that removing certain cache files made a huge improvement, myself included. /Users/(user)/Library/Preferences caches do not rebuild during a Safe Boot like HD/Library/ cache files do.

Open the following folder;

/Users/(account name)/Library/Preferences/com.motu.MotuAudioSystem/

Delete these files (you may not have all three): Audio Unit Info Cache 64-bit, VST3 Info Cache v2 and VST Info Cache 64-bit . Remove the 32 bit versions also. I also found AudioDesk caches going back to the 1990s in there.

Reboot, relaunch and DP will rebuild those cache files. Depending on what plug-in preferences you have set.

DP 11 launched much faster and stopped crashing regularly (except right after updating a number of plug-ins).

Hey Mike, would this deleted cache file advice be pertinent to Big Sur also?

Thanks!

[mikehalloran]

Hey Mike, would this deleted cache file advice be pertinent to Big Sur also?

Thanks!

Yes. Worst case is that it changes nothing.

Caches store data designed to make an app load faster and more efficiently. If there's anything corrupted, it gets in the way and has the opposite effect.

Once deleted, caches, like preferences will rebuild which takes a little time after being deleted but just the once. You will have gotten rid of any old crap in the mean time. Figure that 64 bit cache files in that folder can go back to DP 8 over Snow Lion 10.6.8 if your Mac is that old. If you changed Macs and used Migratiion Assistant (as I did), well... my folder had cache files created 25 years ago in AudioDesk and DP 2.7x on my Beige G3. YMMV

Deleting those files is now on my Things To Do Once a Year List.

One thing you do not want to do is use any of those crapware apps that can delete all the caches in the /Users directory. The reason that Apple doesn't make this function normally available to users is simple: Your Mac will run slower if apps have to rebuild those files every time you launch them.

[bayswater]

Some of us found that removing certain cache files made a huge improvement, myself included. /Users/(user)/Library/Preferences caches do not rebuild during a Safe Boot like HD/Library/ cache files do.

Open the following folder;

/Users/(account name)/Library/Preferences/com.motu.MotuAudioSystem/

Delete these files (you may not have all three): Audio Unit Info Cache 64-bit, VST3 Info Cache v2 and VST Info Cache 64-bit . Remove the 32 bit versions also. I also found AudioDesk caches going back to the 1990s in there.

I got curious about this and had a look at the folder. All of the files in it are dated in 2023, although I've never looked at it before, and the system was set up in early 2019. I have no VST or VST prefs here (I delete any VSTs, don't used them). The mod date looks like the last time I update DP to 11.23.

Does this seem odd? Could it be that DP 11 is now overwriting the older files when it updates? Or forces an update when new plugins are installed and checked? I noticed that the first launch of DP 11 took forever and never opened the welcome window. Second launch was normal.

[mikehalloran]

I got curious about this and had a look at the folder. All of the files in it are dated in 2023, although I've never looked at it before, and the system was set up in early 2019. I have no VST or VST prefs here (I delete any VSTs, don't used them). The mod date looks like the last time I update DP to 11.23.

Does this seem odd? Could it be that DP 11 is now overwriting the older files when it updates? Or forces an update when new plugins are installed and checked? I noticed that the first launch of DP 11 took forever and never opened the welcome window. Second launch was normal.

My files show a create date Oct. 14, 2023, when I did a clean install of DP. They show an update of 10/27/2023 when I downgraded to Kontakt 7.6.

On my my 2012 MBP, the create date shows 10/11/2019, probably the date I removed my dad's HDD and installed an SSD. My Modified date is 2/23/2023. So...

I updated UVI Workstation and Kontakt 6, shut down and rebooted, fired up DP 11.23 and, after verification and a few more reboots, the Modified date is today but the Create Date is unchanged as expected.

Then I timed the results: Cold launch after reboot: avg. 3min 45sec. Warm launch after quitting, average 1min 05sec. Not bad... this is what the cache is supposed to speed up.

Then I deleted that 4 yr, 9 month Audio Unit Info Cache 64-bit. After re-verifying all of my AUs, the Create and Modified Dates are today's as expected. After a few more reboots, I ran new times. Cold launch after reboot dropped to 3min 3sec—respectable from a SATA III SSD but a warm launch is now averaging 17–20 seconds.

Yea, this needs doing more often.