memory management

[stainless]

no... this is not an Alzheimer's question.....

Ram = 16

Mac tells me I'm only using 3+

DP Audio Performance shows me almost maxed out ...and it's "quit unexpectedly" a couple of time


but only when I'm editing.....

not using a lot of plugs, some UA (3) and a few DP.... I'm guessing cache is holding all the split's... but even after I merge... the memory usage doesn't improve...I've tried stripping all plugs, but not much happens..... CPU usage is quite low... any suggestions?

the template I'm using is a bit large... but relative empty

Mac OSX 10.6.x dual quad, 4 HD's, 16 RAM, 2 UAD solos

thanks for any suggestions

[MIDI Life Crisis]

My guess: Mac OS 10.6.

I don't want to go around the block again as there are several threads on this and the discussion gets heated and uncomfortable.

MY UNDERSTANDING is apps in 10.6 or lower only address 4 GB of RAM. If someone else has a better answer I'm certain they will jump in.

[mikehalloran]

It's a good idea to update your signature to tell us a) what version of the Mac Pro you have b) your OS c) if you are running DP 8 32bit or 64bit.

If your MP is too old to be running 64bit, your OS is running 32bit and/or DP 8 is running 32bit, that's why.

It is possible to run DP 8.05 64bit over OS 10.6.8 on an MP that is capable of doing so (the early ones cannot, however, if your MP is 1.1, you need a newer Mac to solve this).

DP 8 needs to be running 64bit to address more than 4G Ram. As MLC has put it, there are many threads on this subject. Plenty to search and understand and compare with your setup.

[stainless]

Model Name: Mac Pro
Model Identifier: MacPro5,1
Processor Name: Quad-Core Intel Xeon
Processor Speed: 2.4 GHz
Number Of Processors: 2
Total Number Of Cores: 8

10.6.8

I have the latest version of DP 8

I am currently in 64 bit mode

I've looked at the threads on upgrading to Mavericks.... a bit concerned to do this in the midst of CD project... the e-mail issue issue isn't much of a concern... just don't have time to get involved in clean installs and all that at the moment

I'll update my signature shortly

[mikehalloran]

I don't believe in clean installs. Neither do I believe in upgrading in the middle of an important project.

[Shooshie]

I don't believe in clean installs. Neither do I believe in upgrading in the middle of an important project.

Not sure I have a belief either way, but I quit doing clean installs a while back, when it became very hard to find the complete installer to download. I haven't noticed any adverse effects. Periodically I do a Safe-Boot and let the Apple routines reset things and clean up the logs. Plus, I repair permissions after there has been a lot of "shaking up" of my main drive, and I physically go remove extensions and preference frames that are obsolete, and for which I cannot find an uninstaller.

I used to run a very clean system back in the classic Mac days, but OSX is a little more convoluted than is possible for me to keep track of, so I've simply put my faith in Apple to do that for me, and I've learned to quit worrying about it. It seems to work just fine without my having to be in control of it. Such wasn't the case in the Classic MacOS days, but those days are long gone.

By the way, Mavericks has fixed a long-standing problem involving hi-res icons both on the desktop and in the Dock. Essentially they'd go all blurry and lo-res on you after a while. I spent countless hours over the past few years trying to find a way to fix that. There's a script you can paste into the Terminal — in fact, two of them — that will temporarily fix the problem if you log out and back in occasionally. Also, Safe-Boot would fix it temporarily. But the basic problem was unfixable without upgrading to Mavericks. So far, my icons have all remained at full-resolution without any problems recurring. I think Mavericks is possibly the best OS that Apple has put out in many years. There are a few minor details yet to fix, but it seems pretty good.

As for memory management, Mavericks seems to have that down very well.

Shooshie

[mikehalloran]

One thing that I have found is that many uninstallers no longer work completely. Izotope comes immediately to mind but they're not the only ones.

For kicks, three weeks ago I decided to remove DP 5 and 6 just to see what would happen. It hosed DP 7.24 completely and took me awhile to put Humpty together again. Old 5 & 6 files weren't affecting anything.

Most old stuff is benign and when it isn't, crash reports and Console are good for troubleshooting. I finally got rid do old versions of a Finale when the 2006 Help files were choking Time Machine. So I do basic house cleaning to reclaim drive space but trying to remove all supporting files is no longer a time worthy pursuit.

So, there is a Roxio .kext and Bresink files that cause OS 10.8.2 and later to crash but otherwise, I remove problems when I find them - unless I get curious...

[Steve Steele]

no... this is not an Alzheimer's question.....

Ram = 16

Mac tells me I'm only using 3+

DP Audio Performance shows me almost maxed out ...and it's "quit unexpectedly" a couple of time


but only when I'm editing.....

not using a lot of plugs, some UA (3) and a few DP.... I'm guessing cache is holding all the split's... but even after I merge... the memory usage doesn't improve...I've tried stripping all plugs, but not much happens..... CPU usage is quite low... any suggestions?

the template I'm using is a bit large... but relative empty

Mac OSX 10.6.x dual quad, 4 HD's, 16 RAM, 2 UAD solos

thanks for any suggestions

"DP Audio Performance shows me almost maxed out...CPU usage is quite low"

Huh? What's maxed out? The buffers? If so, raise them to 1024 and see what happens.

Which MacPro? If it's 1,1 check out this article.

http://forums.macrumors.com/showthread.php?t=745003

If it's 2008 or above then you should be in 64-bit assuming you're running DP8. (Check the Get Info on DP in 10.6 to make sure 32-bit is not selected).

What version of DP? That's crucial to me understanding your issue issue.

10.6 is Snow Leopard. That's the first "serious" 64-bit OSX. If you're running DP8 in 64-bit mode then 3GBs is trivial.

The Audio Performance window tells nothing of memory management, other than the buffers. Check both the Hardware Driver and Studio Settings to make sure nothing weird has been set. They both deal with buffer settings. The Activity Monitor could be very helpful at this point. On the Memory page, are you seeing a lot of swapping?

More RAM and/or an SSD will always help.

I'm of the mind set that you never update an OS in the middle of an important project. That's the IT way.

However, Mavericks is great. Smooth sailing here. Unless you have a MP 1,1. If so, I'd stay were you are. Don't think 1,1 can run Mavericks.

You could have a corrupted drive that DP's trying to write to during edits. Doubtful.

What is you buffer size? If you're just editing don't be afraid to raise it to 1024. I keep DP at 1024 (or 512) unless I'm tracking. Makes a HUGE difference. Keeps DP from crashing. Also, don't try to open plugins while DP is playing back, or ask DP to queue up too many tasks if the CPU is under so much load. DP will crash sometimes.

Disable tracks that you aren't using. Don't remove plugins. Make a group of a bunch of tracks that you're not using, then disable them while editing. That will save a ton of CPU. Turn them back on after you've merged.

How big is you template? How many tracks? How many Aux tracks? Instrument tracks? This shouldn't be a big deal.

If you only have a few plugins running, and DP says 3GBs, then you've got to have something loaded up. Do a Save as.. and on the copy start removing plugins one by one while watching both the CPU meter and the mem usage in the Activity Monitor until it all of a sudden drops. That will tell you what's taking up all the resources.

If that doesn't, make sure your buffer is at 1024 and see if there's a change.

Try a blank template from one of the stock templates. Is that spiking the CPU?

Try copying the project to a different drive and running the project from there.

Trash DP'S prefs.

DP using 3GBs of memory is no big deal. I go up to 15GBs all the time on my 2008 MacPro 8 core, 32GBs. But something has to be taking that memory and CPU. A Kontakt library? A huge reverb? A massive synth? 2C Audio's B2 takes half of my CPU with one instance.

It has to be one of those things.

Good luck. Create a signature.

[stainless]

MacPro 2 x 2.4 eight core (2010), 16 GB RAM, 4.5TB, OSX 10.6.8DP 8.05, RME FF800, Audient ASP008, Lucid 8824, UAD2, JBL4623L w/sub, Prism, Avalon, Universal Audio,Aphex, Altex Lansing, AEA, Bellari, and a manx named Georgia

it looks like it's my buffer, which I've been running for a long time at 64 which I suppose I got away with because my templates were small. I'm currently in a project that has a very large template so I can save a take, move to another set of tracks, take another and still see the previous take (s)

I do have Komplete, but it was not in use, nor any other CPU hogs. I can't use IK CSR as they've not upgraded it to 64 bit

I'll raise my buffer and see if that helps

after the project i'll move up to Mavericks

now off to my signature

[Steve Steele]

Your buffer size of 64 is totally the reason why you were having this problem. Set it to 256 or 512 and you'll be good to go.

At 64 you can only get about three instrument tracks and a reverb if you're lucky. Problem solved.

[stainless]

at 128 the issue seems to be resolved! (and now I have 4 tracks AND reverb!!)

and I checked at the IK Multimedia site and they've got CSR working at 64 bits , but you have to use their T-racks plug (which is free)

so,all in all, a very productive day

thanks all for your 'input'

[mikehalloran]

There are those not using Cue Mix who will set the buffer size very low during recording. This makes for near zero latency. You monitor only a few rhythm tracks - no problem. Some of us learned to do this in early versions of DP before Cue Mix was introduced and still resort to it as a time saver in the field.

If you do this, the buffer size has to be increased for mixing as you have found out.

Manx in the sig. Nice touch!

[stainless]

I haven't done much with Cue Mix... perhaps I should

manx's are a very different breed of cat!

[todfiste]

If I up the buffer size for mixing, my audio tracks are out of sync with my MIDI tracks. Since buffer size affects latency, I'm guessing this is expected behavior, yes?

I know that I can first record the MIDI parts as audio tracks and THEN change the buffer size, or use "FINE-TUNING AUDIO I/O TIMING" to sync things up (although that seems like a MAJOR PITA to do). Are there any other options? What would the "recommended" approach be? Thanks!

[Steve Steele]

I haven't done much with Cue Mix... perhaps I should

If I'm tracking an instrument that I need to hear in real time (that I'm playing), and I have a large session with a high buffer size (and maybe want to monitor through plugins), Cue Mix makes it possible. I have an older 896HD so I have to use some creative routing, but that's fine.

There are several situations where you have to use it. Like mikehalloran mentioned, I too, in the old days of DP2 - DP4 before Cue Mix, used to just play and deal with some latency, but I can't get by like that anymore.

Yeah, check it out.