DP Crash when upper limits of ram reached

[artsoundz]

Dp.5- G5 quad- 4gigs ram MOTU 828

Has anyone had the problem of Dp crashing when the ram is filled to the brim? such a pain. I understood that 4 gigs of ram was the limit. Should I add more? thanks, guys.

[Frodo]

Keep in mind:

DP, like all apps threading now at 32-bit, can access 4GB.

If you have 4GB installed, you are also running OSX which uses half a GB by itself. So DP on a machine with 4GB is only able to use roughly 3.5 GB, maybe less.

Virtual Memory has a mysterious but clever way of funneling in a lot more RAM than you have installed. For example, I've got 9GB on my MacPro, but it's work well with more than 11GB of data on standby.

However, there are many other reasons for DP to crash. For one thing, you've got a Quad-- double that of the Duals. 4GB on my G5 PPC Dual was better than 2GB, but the machine just worked better with 6GB installed. FWIW, there was little difference on the G5 with 8GB than 6GB-- don't know why.

One recurring problem with any Mac with any DAW is the firewire bus. You're running an 828-- there are a lot of threads in the MOTU Hardware forum that tackle the issue of the 800 series interfaces. One thing to keep in mind is that no matter how many FW *slots* you have, all of them bottleneck into a single bus. FW800 devices will only run with 400 performance if a 400 device is also connected. Bandwidth is therefore shared. Many people have experienced FW data logjam where DP is looking for data but that data cannot get to DP quickly enough.

I hope HCMarkus can chime in here for you. He has a Quad and seems to have dealt quite well with all of it's workarounds. He's running a lot of stuff, but he also is quite pleased with the improvements since adding an eSATA host card and 2 or more Raptor 10k hard drives.

Somehow, I think FW is probably a bigger problem for you than RAM at the moment. One inexpensive solution is to get a firewire host card and run your 828 and hd's from that rather than from the Quad's built-in fw ports.

But even before you spend any money on hardware-- are you running DP 5.11? That is almost a necessity now. 5.0 through 5.10 had their stability problems. 5.11 is solid.

Just a thought...

[artsoundz]

Thanks so much for taking the time to post that substantial reply. VERY helpful and I'm intrigued w. the card idea. Any specifc card suggestions?
Again, thanks for your help, Frodo.

[Frodo]

Hey! Happy to help!

Sonnet has always made reliable peripherals for Mac:

http://www.sonnettech.com/product/tempo ... ess34.html

This esata card has outstanding performance. All you'd need would be an external SATA hard drive, such as the G-Technology G-Drive Q:

http://www.g-technology.com/Products/G-DRIVEQ.cfm
http://www.macdeveloperjournal.com/2006 ... /index.php

There are lots of other good eSATA drives in enclosures out there, so shop around for the best deals.

Pros: killer performance
Cons: tends to be more expensive for MBPs-- $100+

http://eshop.macsales.com/item/Sonnet%2 ... TAIIE342P/

There are firewire cards as well. Even though you already have firewire ports, putting a firewire card on the PCMCIA slot gives you a different bus-- diverting data traffic, and therefore increasing your throughput. These cards can be had for as little as $20.

http://eshop.macsales.com/item/Other%20 ... /PCMCIA2P/

Shop around for the best deals on comparable hardware. The links above are only references. (Neither do I work for any of these companies!)

[artsoundz]

wow- thanks. very generous. Do you do yardwork?

[Frodo]

wow- thanks. very generous. Do you do yardwork?

As a matter of fact, I do-- but @ $50k/hr!!

[Shooshie]

Of course, Frodo can do a couple of acres of yardwork in about an hour. He's go those shortcut keys, and all that.

Shooshie