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  #11  
Old 08-02-2020, 03:10 PM
s.d. finley s.d. finley is offline
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Default Re: Unstable iMac Pro

I second not using 'clean my Mac' software. I also second wiping your HD clean and doing a fresh install of the Mac OS and then install the basic PT with avid only plug ins and see how that works for awhile. You are using UA Apollo so go ahead and install all relevant software for that too.
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  #12  
Old 08-02-2020, 03:35 PM
Darryl Ramm Darryl Ramm is offline
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Default Re: Unstable iMac Pro

And I third it... these can do more harm that good.

---

So much crap accumulates on OS X/mac OS. Including random app and plugin preferences, system wide and per user. Stuff that just deleting apps does not lean out. Stuff that "trashing prefs" does not clean out all of.

(Now back to my own Mojave -> Catalina final migration).
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  #13  
Old 08-06-2020, 02:24 AM
splicestudios splicestudios is offline
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Default Re: Unstable iMac Pro

here's an update - I'm going through a list of suggested fixes from Avid.

Today I reset PRAM & NVRAM, as well as the SMC. So far, still no improvement.

I'm trying to avoid the clean install since it will take the machine offline for a day, and I can still get work done even with the many restarts that I have to do as soon as I see the SmartTool stop changing the cursor when I move it around a clip start/end.

One other clue - when it starts to get weird, when I want to apply a plugin to a clip, once I do the dropdown menu for plugins, it will not show the plugins that are in the various categories. In the mix window, when I try to adjust plug-in parameters, the mouse will not function correctly and clicking the plugin will shift the whole plugin from it's position to another position, eg I click on an EQ that's in a, it will drop to b. At this point, I have to restart cos PT is now basically unusable.
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  #14  
Old 08-06-2020, 05:21 AM
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Ben Jenssen Ben Jenssen is offline
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Default Re: Unstable iMac Pro

Quote:
Originally Posted by splicestudios View Post
here's an update - I'm going through a list of suggested fixes from Avid.
Today I reset PRAM & NVRAM, as well as the SMC. So far, still no improvement.
In my view this a type of generic "support" advice from people who really have no clue of the specific problem.

Quote:
Originally Posted by splicestudios View Post
I'm trying to avoid the clean install since it will take the machine offline for a day, and I can still get work done even with the many restarts that I have to do as soon as I see the SmartTool stop changing the cursor when I move it around a clip start/end.
Boot from recovery partition, clean install of Mac OS, and a PT install, need not take more than a couple of hours. And then you'll have an answer if it's been effective or not. Then, of course there's plugins, but if you've stored the latest installer of them, it shouldn't be too long either, depending on the number. I think you're chances are VERY good that you'll be up and running with a smooth system in a few hours. And you'll be thinking; why didn't I do this before.

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Originally Posted by splicestudios View Post
One other clue - when it starts to get weird, when I want to apply a plugin to a clip, once I do the dropdown menu for plugins, it will not show the plugins that are in the various categories. In the mix window, when I try to adjust plug-in parameters, the mouse will not function correctly and clicking the plugin will shift the whole plugin from it's position to another position, eg I click on an EQ that's in a, it will drop to b. At this point, I have to restart cos PT is now basically unusable.
From this, I think there is no question; there's something basically screwed up on your system, and it's not just Protools. In my view, you don't have a choice.


(Added; I missed that you were talking about PT2018 and Mohave. If you have no special reason not to, I'd see this as a good opportunity to get with Catalina and the latest version of PT, which all reports I've seen is that it is a very stable and capable combination.)
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  #15  
Old 08-06-2020, 05:53 AM
splicestudios splicestudios is offline
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Default Re: Unstable iMac Pro

Quote:
Originally Posted by Ben Jenssen View Post
In my view this a type of generic "support" advice from people who really have no clue of the specific problem.


Boot from recovery partition, clean install of Mac OS, and a PT install, need not take more than a couple of hours. And then you'll have an answer if it's been effective or not. Then, of course there's plugins, but if you've stored the latest installer of them, it shouldn't be too long either, depending on the number. I think you're chances are VERY good that you'll be up and running with a smooth system in a few hours. And you'll be thinking; why didn't I do this before.


From this, I think there is no question; there's something basically screwed up on your system, and it's not just Protools. In my view, you don't have a choice.


(Added; I missed that you were talking about PT2018 and Mohave. If you have no special reason not to, I'd see this as a good opportunity to get with Catalina and the latest version of PT, which all reports I've seen is that it is a very stable and capable combination.)
Thank you. Gonna carve out the time to get this done and report back if Catalina and PT 2020.5 give me the reliability that I need!
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  #16  
Old 08-06-2020, 06:53 AM
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Default Re: Unstable iMac Pro

Quote:
Originally Posted by Ben Jenssen View Post
I'd see this as a good opportunity to get with Catalina and the latest version of PT, which all reports I've seen is that it is a very stable and capable combination.
So long as you do a clean install of OS and not just upgarde from Mojave to Catalina
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  #17  
Old 08-06-2020, 07:51 AM
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Ben Jenssen Ben Jenssen is offline
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Default Re: Unstable iMac Pro

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Originally Posted by JFreak View Post
So long as you do a clean install of OS and not just upgarde from Mojave to Catalina
THIS is essential.
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  #18  
Old 08-06-2020, 09:06 PM
splicestudios splicestudios is offline
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Default Re: Unstable iMac Pro

Used the morning to do a clean install. Opted to stay with Mojave since that mirrors what I have on the other iMac. Erased the disk, installed 10.4.6, installed PT 2020.5, Avid Plugin Bundle, UA software, Waves Dorrough and WLM, RX7 (standalone), and.... it's the same. It's the same weird quirks: simple test was to render, and the render was much slower for the same project on an iMac and rendering would stop, SWOD, carry on...

I am starting to suspect somehow the config of 3.2 GHz Intel Xeon W / 32GB RAM / Radeon Pro Vega 56 8GB card and PT/UA/Waves isn't stable. It does run, but it's not smooth and it's not reliable. When I drag a file from the edit page to a track, when I release the mouse, the file often lands somewhere a little left or right of where the mouse click is. It's a Razer mouse, same as home...

Will deactivate Waves and try from there. I'm running out of options here... maybe time to downgrade to a generic iMac with an i7 or i9 processor, which seems to work

Is anyone interested in a slightly used 8-month-old iMac Pro?
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  #19  
Old 08-06-2020, 10:30 PM
Darryl Ramm Darryl Ramm is offline
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Default Re: Unstable iMac Pro

Good work, but just pull all those plugins out of your plugin folder, trash prefs and restart Pro Tools... you need to test if basic Pro Tools with only stock plugins work at all. Run the demo session... should have done that before installing anything else.
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  #20  
Old 08-06-2020, 10:40 PM
splicestudios splicestudios is offline
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Default Re: Unstable iMac Pro

Quote:
Originally Posted by Darryl Ramm View Post
Good work, but just pull all those plugins out of your plugin folder, trash prefs and restart Pro Tools... you need to test if basic Pro Tools with only stock plugins work at all. Run the demo session... should have done that before installing anything else.
Problem seems to be solved - WAVES Dorrough Stereo Plug-In. It was jittery during renders which were slower than the iMac. Deactivated it, and presto - simple promo mixes render at 35x, dragging audio files from the bin to the timeline is butter smooth. I picked today to do this cos it's a quiet day, I have a bunch of heavy editing coming up next week and will be able to figure out if it really is just this one plugin that was upsetting the whole machine.

My deep gratitude to everyone who gave suggestions on how to solve this!
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