DP6 stability

[BKK-OZ]

...once or twice a year, I run into a customer who has "bad RAM" in their computer. The RAM passes basic hardware tests, but the computer is just not stable. The only way to really isolate bad RAM is to remove it from the computer. I notice one user mentions 18gb of installed RAM. Under OSX, that much RAM is not helping anything, but you certainly have the opportunity to remove all but 2gb and see if stability improves. If not, swap that 2gb out for a different set of RAM sticks and compare.
Dave
magicd@motu.com

+1 on the RAM
I had this problem on my now (largely retired) dual G5. I spent days and days installing and uninstalling apps, plugs, etc. to try to get 'DP' stable, when in the end, it was my bloody after market RAM all along. I finally broke down and got a tech out to look @ my box, and he happened to have some extra DIMMS with him. After explaining my problems and trouble shooting to him, he nodded wisely and reached into his kit bag, pulled out the DIMMS, swapped all of mine out, and voila! problem solved.

Since then, I have set up DP on my new, clean machine (Intel) and I thrash/test it after every new plug (or even other app is installed). Every now and again, I find something that makes my DP unhappy, and when I do, the naughty new toy gets sent to the sin-bin until I can google up a fix.

I have come to the conclusion that the complex dance of interactions with plugs, OS's, apps, hardware etc. can only be approached scientifically and incrementally - start with a clean machine, do a clean OS install, put DP on the machine, test. Add something, test. Add something else, test. When you hit a problem, roll back, and test. Its a pain, but at least now I can run a DP session without bursting a blood vessel every 5 minutes when it crashes.

Right now, I am trying to get the new PodFarm plug to work in DP 6.01. It doesn't, so its in the sin-bin. When Line6 can figure out the problem, it will go back into my DP eco-system, until then, it is banished from my little garden of Eden.

[martian]

is it stable?

hahaha!!!!!

today I have experience more than 11 crashes-so far thats one an hour...

last month - similiar time frames.. zero crashes for 2 weeks..

have I changed my set up? ( at all? this is a pro studio- with a computer just for audio,,,)

what's changed? the wind? my undies? - oh imported some audio from an OMF... ( hang on it was fine doing that last month...)

when it works it's fine..

but just dont count on it.......

[Schtiv]

I'm on about 8 crashes a (10hr) day. DP6.01 also 'unexpectedly quits' every time I close a file. DP5 is super-stable on my system so I'm pretty unhappy that DP6 wasn't better though out. Also 'play selection' can and 'play from selection' freezes DP for upto 30 seconds ... sometimes! Actually I've got a huge list of gripes - but you don't want to hear them do you....? If you're working under any time pressure - retreat to DP5 I say.

[martian]

yeah but no!

5.13 was sort of stable..

i think there may be a third option.. spelt DnuendoP

in the 2 years I have been forced to use DP daily -it's mostly been painful...

4,61 was great..- but lacked the killer clip gain -so was a bit slow for me..

5.X delivered features and shed load of clutter and problems -

( quicktimeplayback offset broken-unable to load -importnt as it wets it's diapers very often - needing to "repair"projects

file corruption... crash on save... ( DP has the flakiest format ever - how often has a -39 meant game over in say Protools?

and before you say it's my computer -ask me WHICH one............. they all suffering!!

this week I have wasted so much time on rebooting and troubleshooting... ( i am adding my hourly rate up and for each lost day I am very close to purchasing a copy of nuendo... I just have to weigh up whether it will go well on my 3 imacs - obviously the mac pro will be fine? ...

as a pro user -i think I deserve pro software....., DP whilst intriguing I am starting to think is for the "pro" at home -

tinker toy an old friend of mine called it ( god rest you Les!) he's probably sniggering up there - told ya!!

[martian]

I'm on about 8 crashes a (10hr) day. DP6.01 also 'unexpectedly quits' every time I close a file. DP5 is super-stable on my system so I'm pretty unhappy that DP6 wasn't better though out. Also 'play selection' can and 'play from selection' freezes DP for upto 30 seconds ...
T

try turning off prerender.....




sometimes! Actually I've got a huge list of gripes - but you don't want to hear them do you....? If you're working under any time pressure - retreat to DP5 I say.

hey I got time.,,

what with all the reboots - and waiting 4mins for my proj to load..

what is killing me is that last month- 6.01 was flawless.....

I mean weeks no crash- ( literally !!!)

we did massive amounts of work - 21 X 22min cartoons... and a feature film.... i was in heaven I thought!!

feel like a jilted bride now!!!

[dpdan]

DP6.01 is rediculously unprofessional.
Pathetic, unusable, did I mention it is not ready for consumers, let alone professionals?

5.13 is perfect.

Dan

[Schtiv]

Yes I agree, it's all rather depressing. I think 5.13 might be perfect if 1) there was a key command to toggle autoscroll on/off 2) I could get rid of those damn tooltips!!! that keep popping up saying something helpful like "Fader" and 3) How about sends that default to off rather than too much - is this really too much to ask? Anyway back to DP5 to get some work done.

[spirit]

Presumably those with problems have tried all the standard troubleshooting procedures? i.e. trashing preferences (for third party stuff as well), repairing permissions, checking the disk. In fact if everything was working perfectly for a month and then stopped working properly- a new install- no applications that had been added in the interim etc. could be considered. Even try on an external drive to isolate the problems (disk authorizations won't work like NI stuff requires- but you can see if the problem remains or if it is something other than DP6)

Standard optimizations for audio daw systems should be considered (digidesign has a list if no one else does). Take all third party stuff (i.e. sampletank which has a somewhat less than perfect reputation) out, even the motu interface drivers could be corrupted. Use only new session files in case any problems are from corruptions in the files which you are using ( which conceivable could corrupt the preferences etc.). If no problems add things back in until you have problems.

Could be a bit of work, but a couple of hours could possibly save considerable time dealing with crashes or learing a different program ( and it's bugs).

With thorough troubleshooting posting problems that remain, along with specific circumstances they occur under is very helpful for ever user who looks here to find out what others know about any problems they might be experiencing.

[monkey man]

Er... that's the spirit, spirit.

[dpdan]

I am so depressed over DP6 I am not going to discuss anything about it anymore, I am so tired of sending movies and screen-pics of crap that is broke to Dave Roberts. I am tired. Having to pay for this "up" grade is obsurd.

I am not using any third part plugins except Altiverb,, that's it. No VST's loaded at all on my Mac Pro 2 x 2.8 Ghz Quad Core Intel Xeon. All I do know is 5.13 works perfectly on the same machine, the only thing pathetic about 5.13 is indeed those unprofessional stupid tool tips. At least I don't have to look at those ugly blue meters, mine are pretty green that progressively turn yellow like most professional meters, of course DP5.13 is a professional program.

My mind is baffled at MOTU and to take so loing to get this crap fixed. I can't even edit velocities in the SE window anymore. It is hard to believe that this used to be the King of MIDI sequencers, now it can't even,,,, never mind...

I said I wasn't going to discuss it anymore.

Dan

[hrw]

Looking forward to the next DP6.xx update. Whatever it is. I tried sooo many fixes on 6.01. I liked the new features of it but... it became waaaaayyyy too unstable on my system ( Mac Pro Quad core 2.66x2 5GB RAM). Crash, crash and crashed so much that i went back to 5.13, which runs like a champion. No issues.
Will def give the next update another go though when it comes along. Hopefully soon....
Through the hard times i am still a dedicated DP fan... but must admit went through quite a bit of heartache with DP6/6.01.
Hope it is rectified for me soon.

[bOing]

NuendoNation.com??? Maybe they'll start a group buy.

[Schtiv]

Here's my pound of flesh - I hope MOTU check the forums:

Similarly, I'm broadly quite a fan of DP - having run StudioVision Pro, ProTools and Logic in the past. But this upgrade is very disappointing. I'm sure some of the new features will turn out to be very useful for many, but I wish MOTU would just get the basics sorted. Many of us just want to get into record and make music - in quite a simple old-fashioned way without screen problems, freezes and crashes - fancy graphics are all well and good (although I'm not convinced in this case) but not to the detriment of basic stability!

General Gripes
Blue readout for level is plain ghastly!
Sequence editor has lost it's 3D-ness.
Waveforms are - most of the time - less clear.
Some track colours turn waveforms white!
Using pastel colours makes soundbites look muted when they are active, and look active when they are muted.
Addition of tabs makes user interface more complicated and hiding tabs also hides the mini menu!
I want a nice clean simple look that's gentle on the eye - I'm a pro-user and often find myself in front of the computer for 10 hours a day.

Mixing board
Mixing board looks cheap - tiring on the eyes.
Why don't the sends default to 'off' as we always, always, have to turn them down. Surely you start with zero send then gradually increase it as you would on a conventional desk.

Long-term issues unresolved
Tooltips - deepy annoying and still can't be disabled

Normally the Option button acts as the modifier key for Zoom. Sometimes this doesn't work and you have to use 'Z' instead. After a spell using 'Z' the sequence window will not revert to zoom with 'Option' - only by closing the sequence and reopening can I get it back. (this tends to result in an 'unexpectedly quit')

There's still no Auto Scroll on/off toggle as a key command & there's no Solo on/off toggle as a key command - unlike other buttons on the control panel. Additionally there's now no graphical autoscroll or solo toggle in the edit windows so you always have to bring the controller to the front to turn them on and off.

Control Panel: MOTU have gone in the wrong direction with the controller making it too big and un-customisable. Unlike the old days with no visual feedback from your reel of 2" the control panel is far less important than it used to be because there is a wiper and graphical readout of bar and time in almost every edit window. We need to be able to shrink it down and put in the corner, or even embed it in a window. Much of the control panel's given over to things you set once such as bit rate, FPS, name!, tempo, meter, clocking etc - complicated tempo tracks for AV & you're going to be looking at the conductor track anyway.

MIDI: So whats going on in the Sequence Editor? - Why can't I hear the notes I'm trying to pitch (audible mode on) - and isn't there a quick filter - all my notes are hiding behind the sustain pedal controll information - perhaps I've missed it.

Miscellaneous: (could be my system? although DP5.13 is rock-solid)
Using Play Selection (region) and play from selection key commands: sometimes you don't hear anything at all/ doesn't play and DP freezes for up to 30 seconds • Increasing the buffer size causes DP to 'uneqpectedly' quit • Closing a song causes DP to 'unexpectedly' quit • Quitting DP still gives me an unexpectedly quit message! • Command Up Arrow/Down arrow doesn't zoom the tracks window.

Comping: Expand to tracks - fantastic! Absorb into takes - Fantastic! Comp tool - far too complicated - much easier to use scissor tool and mute tool

My drives are in top shape, have tried trashing various preferences's etc, I haven't tried turning off pre-render but I will try - although that rather defeats the object!! I've got a good serviced Mac, plenty of memory, and I'm bearly running any plugs - all of which are legitimate ... Waves, Liquidmix, UAD etc - and run fine under 5.13.

OK that's it - I won't go on. Please, please listen MOTU. Schtiv

[kassonica]

Err do you have a manual.

Many of the things you listed in your post have been sorted.

YOU can turn off tool tips

DO you have a manual do you read it.

[FMiguelez]

there's no Solo on/off toggle as a key command - unlike other buttons on the control panel.

Of course there is one. You could even change it if you don't like the default.

Most of your "gripes" have been addressed here, and most of the things you are complaining about are clearly explained in the manual. These things are clearly not a DP issue, but a USER issue.

Read your manual!!