Why is PT 9 so unstable?

[AdamPT8]

Originally Posted by KMcK

How much RAM do you have?

What connection (USB/FW400/FW800) are you using for your hard drive and how did you format the drive when you first got it?

Originally Posted by basslik

I suspect budget ram.

4GB Ram
2.53 Ghz Intel Core 2 Duo

I'm using FW800 to connect the HDD, all my projects go on this HDD with the audio files etc and all my plugins go on the system drive. I formatted it for Mac when I first got it.

Nothing has changed in my setup from before I upgraded from LE8 and I didn't get these problems then. Maybe I'm going to have to do a complete reinstall of OSX and Pro Tools, but I would expect it to work fine rather than having to do that.

[garnoil]

Originally Posted by DigiTechSupt

If you're running out of RAM, that's likely the cause. Pro Tools is still a 32 bit app and you can generally use between 2.2 and 2.7GB of RAM before it gets into possible problem territory.

If you're getting close to those limits, you can quit and relaunch, which will generally flush unused RAM, or do things like remove unused regions, region groups, automation or anything not specifically needed in the session to reduce the RAM usage.

Until Pro Tools goes 64 bit, RAM usage limitations are going to be problematic.

Yes, I know, we've communicated about that before, but for anyone doing serious film work I don;t know how you can call PT "stable" (especially if one has to re-load the session or re-boot every 4 hours or so). There are many other bugs that make it very un-stable, an tech support is aware of these as well, because we (people doing film sound) have posted about that.

[lexaudio]

Originally Posted by Digiwave

You seem to have just stated the obvious to alot of people, and especially to me.I have a PT partition and do not use browsers or any kind of software in the background while using pro tools.I have used PT9.0, 9.0.1, 9.0.2 to go back to 9.0, the same with OSX versions.
Whatever I try doesnt seem to work and i know a alot people who have the same problems.I had the same issues with 8 until 8.4 came out and finally got it stable...then...yup ...along came 9 and it started again, not only that I had to surrender my 8 authorization so I cant even go back!!

If you have no problems with PT9 congratulations iam very jealous

Are you trying to run sample libraries on your system? Scoring?

Go back to 10.6.3. Install full PT 9.0 and audio driver.
Nothing else. Launch PT. Any problems?

Good, continue adding devices and drives one by one. Until it gives you a problem.

Last device that hangs PT, there's your problem.

If you are running sample libraries and running out of RAM, get VE Pro and run that outside PT.

If you are doing something else, what is it? I've never run into RAM issue and only have 2gigs, and it has been fine since V7.4.2.

LEX

[KMcK]

Originally Posted by garnoil

Yes, I know, we've communicated about that before, but for anyone doing serious film work I don;t know how you can call PT "stable" (especially if one has to re-load the session or re-boot every 4 hours or so). There are many other bugs that make it very un-stable, an tech support is aware of these as well, because we (people doing film sound) have posted about that.

I do serious film work every day, 11 hours a day, sometimes more. Currently in week 2 of a 3.5 week Dub for a big fall release for a major studio. 64 physical outputs of music, over 140 tracks in some reels, and PT9 is extremely stable, I would say even moreso than any version of 8 that I previously used. I haven't had any crashes (well, one crash related to Eucon, but it was the OS that crashed not PT) and I'm using a somewhat older (2008) Mac Pro with a sh*ty graphics card and PT9 is still working like a champ.

I did have some issues when I briefly tried out HD Native, but since going to TDM (HD3) it's been rock solid.

[DigiTechSupt]

Originally Posted by AdamPT8

Hi, do you have any possible ideas on my problems?

Post below

http://duc.avid.com/showpost.php?p=1782471&postcount=7

I replied in your other thread.

[tblythe.sound]

Originally Posted by KMcK

I do serious film work every day, 11 hours a day, sometimes more. Currently in week 2 of a 3.5 week Dub for a big fall release for a major studio. 64 physical outputs of music, over 140 tracks in some reels, and PT9 is extremely stable, I would say even moreso than any version of 8 that I previously used. I haven't had any crashes (well, one crash related to Eucon, but it was the OS that crashed not PT) and I'm using a somewhat older (2008) Mac Pro with a sh*ty graphics card and PT9 is still working like a champ.

I did have some issues when I briefly tried out HD Native, but since going to TDM (HD3) it's been rock solid.

Which version of OS X are you using and which version of PT (9, 9.0.1 9.0.2)? I'm going to be reinstalling OS X again today and I'll use which ever version everyone seems to have no problems with.

I too work in film but PT has been crashing on me 4 or 5 times daily.
If I'm just cutting, PT works fine (not counting it taking 5 minutes to load) but as soon as I try and set up my peripherals to start using Kontakt or Structure to alter sounds via MIDI controller, PT crashes.

I know it's not my RAM because I've got 16gb (installed by apple when I got the computer so not the budget stuff) and I'm not running any other programs in the background. I only use this particular computer for audio work. I'm using all brand new equipment - iMac 27', i7 - 2.93 Quadcore - 16gb of RAM - with a Digi 003R. I can't see my setup being the problem. Kontakt works fine, Logic works fine, even CS5, Final Cut & Media Composer worked fine when I still had them on the computer so it's not the computer.

First I thought maybe it was Media Composer, FC, or CS5 causing issues so after I reinstalled OS X the first time, I didn't install any of these...but stil had the same problems.

I've checked all my plug-ins via compatibility grid, setup all preferences correctly and etc.

I'm not here to argue over whether PT is unstable or not, I just want to get my setup working.

Any advice would be invaluable at this point.

[Goetterfunke]

Originally Posted by DigiTechSupt

I beg to differ - Pro Tools is very stable for a vast majority of people.

In every case I've personally dealt with there's always *something* else contributing to the instability - incompatible plug-ins, configuration issues, hardware issues, bad RAM, etc.

While no software is free of bugs, there's no supporting evidence that Pro Tools is inherently unstable.

Yes, you seriously have to beg ..... PT9 is not ready.

[Shifted Music]

the problems I have been having get resolved usually by trashing and restarting pro tools and none of the issues I have seem to be absolutely repeatable so its VERY difficult to find the culprit. I have had serious crashes with some plugs and without those.. so i put them back in, things are fine for a while then different session goes down. remove those. then it goes down in a different way... the put them back in. The process is driving me nuts.

There must be some other related things that those of us with problems have that others don't.

there must be something interfering but in my case I don't think its a plug in.

I was pretty stable for a while. . but I as just getting into pt9 and mostly mixing songs that were all audio. a few crashes here and there started as I embarked on new projects. Structure issues. . some other VI's at times were suspect..

I just removed my little kensington usb hub. My sig has my full system details... Anything look familiar to those with or without problems?

[KMcK]

Originally Posted by tblythe.sound

Which version of OS X are you using and which version of PT (9, 9.0.1 9.0.2)? I'm going to be reinstalling OS X again today and I'll use which ever version everyone seems to have no problems with.

OS 10.6.6, currently on PTHD 9.0.2 but all versions of 9 have been fine for me.

Originally Posted by tblythe.sound

I too work in film but PT has been crashing on me 4 or 5 times daily.
If I'm just cutting, PT works fine (not counting it taking 5 minutes to load) but as soon as I try and set up my peripherals to start using Kontakt or Structure to alter sounds via MIDI controller, PT crashes.

What kind of peripherals? I use Kontakt and some other VI's a little bit here and there, but my only MIDI controller on my big rig is a little Akai 25 key USB dealie that's smaller than the keyboard I'm typing on. And 5 minutes to lauch is crazy, from clicking on the icon in the dock to being full open and ready to load a session mine takes 30 seconds to load, and that's on a 3 year old Mac Pro with A LOT of plug-ins installed.

Originally Posted by tblythe.sound

I know it's not my RAM because I've got 16gb (installed by apple when I got the computer so not the budget stuff)

That doesn't mean one of the chips can't be faulty. Bad RAM is a very hard thing to pin down, it almost never affects an application the same way twice, and may not rear its head at all if that particular bad chip isn't coming into play with other apps. Have you run the extended hardware test DVD that came with your iMac? (grey DVD disc, hold down C with it in the drive as you boot up). It will take a while to run, but can help determine whether everything is hunky dory with your computer's insides.

[Goetterfunke]

I get the feeling the crashes are caused by PT9 not properly redrawing graphics or using the apple side video effects properly:


Thread 0 Crashed: Dispatch queue: com.apple.main-thread
0 com.apple.CoreFoundation 0x96372363 CFDictionaryGetValue + 83
1 com.apple.CoreFoundation 0x963ede87 CFAttributedStringSetAttribute + 343
2 com.digidesign.framework.DFW 0x03132a51 DFW_CocoaUtils::CreateDFWImageRefFromNSImageCopy(N SImage*) + 1527
3 com.digidesign.framework.DFW 0x030db20f DFW_PainterQuartz::GetCTLineRefFromString(char const*) + 373
4 com.digidesign.framework.DFW 0x030dbe55 DFW_PainterQuartz::MeasureStringWidth(std::string const&) + 27
5 com.digidesign.framework.DFW 0x03111fe0 TNumericEntryText::GetStringWidth(std::string const&) + 166
6 com.digidesign.framework.DFW 0x03113e51 TNumericEntryText::ImageText(short, short, _CRect&) + 1635
7 com.digidesign.framework.DFW 0x0311378a TNumericEntryText:raw(VRect const&) + 1392
8 com.digidesign.framework.DFW 0x0301e833 TView::HandleDraw(VRect const&) + 165
9 com.digidesign.framework.DFW 0x0301e994 TView::HandleDraw(VRect const&) + 518
10 com.digidesign.framework.DFW 0x0301e994 TView::HandleDraw(VRect const&) + 518
11 com.digidesign.framework.DFW 0x0301e994 TView::HandleDraw(VRect const&) + 518
12 com.digidesign.framework.DFW 0x0301e994 TView::HandleDraw(VRect const&) + 518
13 com.digidesign.framework.DFW 0x030ec2b2 DFW_PainterOpenGL::CreateOffscreenPainterQuartz(Cm n_Rect<long> const&) + 43082
14 com.apple.AppKit 0x9900d82a -[NSView _drawRect:clip:] + 3510
15 com.apple.AppKit 0x9900c4c8 -[NSView _recursiveDisplayAllDirtyWithLockFocus:visRect:] + 1600
16 com.apple.AppKit 0x9900a9e7 -[NSView _recursiveDisplayRectIfNeededIgnoringOpacity:isVis ibleRect:rectIsVisibleRectForView:topView:] + 711
17 com.apple.AppKit 0x9900b9c3 -[NSView _recursiveDisplayRectIfNeededIgnoringOpacity:isVis ibleRect:rectIsVisibleRectForView:topView:] + 4771
18 com.apple.AppKit 0x9900a55b -[NSThemeFrame _recursiveDisplayRectIfNeededIgnoringOpacity:isVis ibleRect:rectIsVisibleRectForView:topView:] + 265
19 com.apple.AppKit 0x99006ea2 -[NSView _displayRectIgnoringOpacity:isVisibleRect:rectIsVi sibleRectForView:] + 3309
20 com.apple.AppKit 0x98f67a57 -[NSView displayIfNeeded] + 818
21 com.apple.AppKit 0x98f30d40 -[NSWindow displayIfNeeded] + 204
22 com.apple.AppKit 0x98f6228a _handleWindowNeedsDisplay + 696
23 com.apple.Foundation 0x93b7c8d4 __NSFireTimer + 141
24 com.apple.CoreFoundation 0x96396adb __CFRunLoopRun + 8059
25 com.apple.CoreFoundation 0x96394464 CFRunLoopRunSpecific + 452
26 com.apple.CoreFoundation 0x96394291 CFRunLoopRunInMode + 97
27 com.apple.HIToolbox 0x93842e04 RunCurrentEventLoopInMode + 392
28 com.apple.HIToolbox 0x93842bb9 ReceiveNextEventCommon + 354
29 com.apple.HIToolbox 0x939cb084 _AcquireNextEvent + 54
30 com.apple.HIToolbox 0x939c0d40 RunApplicationEventLoop + 228
31 com.digidesign.framework.DFW 0x031500f9 DFW_EventLoop::RunApplicationEventLoop() + 11
32 com.digidesign.framework.DFW 0x0303766f TApplication::Run() + 45
33 ...gidesign.framework.ProTools 0x01dc5ef3 LaunchProTools + 4774
34 com.digidesign.ProTools 0x0000f5a2 0x1000 + 58786
35 com.digidesign.ProTools 0x0000e5b7 0x1000 + 54711
36 com.digidesign.ProTools 0x0000e4e5 0x1000 + 54501