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  #1  
Old 07-04-2009, 11:23 AM
adz999 adz999 is offline
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Default Has the multi-core processor problem been fixed in PT8?

Hi,
In PT7 there is a setting to choose how many of your computer's processors PT uses. On most Macs (definitely G5s) it doesn't matter how many processors you set it to, the performance stays pretty much the same.

If you set it to 1 processor and keep adding tracks until it starts maxing out, and then switch to 2 processors it still maxes out. There's no real difference in performance. But if you open up Termincal and type 'top' you can see the percentage of CPUs being used, and switching the setting in PT *does* change the CPU usage, it's just that PT doesn't do anything useful with the extra power.

See here for an old discussion about it:
http://duc.digidesign.com/showthread.php?t=180132

Digidesign sales claim that neither they nor technical support know anything about this, but everyone else seems to.

Does anyone know if it's been fixed in PT8? I'm guessing not if Digidesign are too stupid to even acknowledge it.
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Old 07-04-2009, 05:57 PM
KamaSutra77 KamaSutra77 is offline
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Default Re: Has the multi-core processor problem been fixed in PT8?

Interesting, and a bit of a concern. I wonder if the nehalem macpros get around this with a different multithreading architecture?
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Old 07-05-2009, 03:49 PM
The Dougfather The Dougfather is offline
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Default Re: Has the multi-core processor problem been fixed in PT8?

Quote:
On most Macs (definitely G5s) it doesn't matter how many processors you set it to, the performance stays pretty much the same.
No true, if i switch between 1 and 2 processors my CPU meter changes accordingly. I generally lose about 25% CPU by dropping to 1 processor.

Bare in mind on a PPC we're talking processors and the new intels, cores, or on the mac pro...both.
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Old 07-05-2009, 05:11 PM
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albee1952 albee1952 is offline
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Default Re: Has the multi-core processor problem been fixed in PT8?

I was under the impression that multi-core processing was directed at RTAS processing. If that is accurate, then I would not expect a big change according to the number of tracks, only the number of RTAS plugins that can be used.
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Old 07-06-2009, 12:33 PM
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Default Re: Has the multi-core processor problem been fixed in PT8?

Quote:
Digidesign sales claim that neither they nor technical support know anything about this, but everyone else seems to.
Who in sales have you spoken to, exactly? I'd like to know who said this as everyone in sales and tech support should know about it.

Quote:
Does anyone know if it's been fixed in PT8? I'm guessing not if Digidesign are too stupid to even acknowledge it.
I would suggest you keep comments like that to yourself, as they are neither considerate, nor accurate.

Now, in your case, if you're talking specifically about number of tracks of playback, the limit is generally going to be set by drive throughput, not processor power.

Quote:
If you set it to 1 processor and keep adding tracks until it starts maxing out, and then switch to 2 processors it still maxes out.
When you say 'maxing out' - are you referring to getting errors (and, if so, what are the error numbers?), showing the CPU is maxed out or something else?
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  #6  
Old 07-06-2009, 06:19 PM
JazzyJ JazzyJ is offline
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Default Re: Has the multi-core processor problem been fixed in PT8?

On my Macbook if I use '2 processors' in the RTAS engine settings I have errors, errors, errors, dropout and the worst performance I've ever had in ten years of Pro Tools systems.

If I choose '1 processor' then everything works fine.


I'm using OSX 10.5.6 and PT 8.0 cs3
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Old 07-07-2009, 12:21 AM
fsb1 fsb1 is offline
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Default Re: Has the multi-core processor problem been fixed in PT8?

Some equivalent here.

My system is running at 40-50% (CPU Meter / PTLE) with 128 samples, 2 RTAS processors and sometimes the error box appears : Increase your buffer size.....

A look at the activity monitor (OS X) told me, the system is waiting for some work, all 4 cores are at 25-30% while running PT.

Switching to 3 processors and / or trying some other values than 85% I get more errors like : increase your buffer size.....

So, for me, multi-core is not a problem. the problem is using more than a half of available RTAS processors. On my MacBook same scenario, only 1 processor lets the system running without errors.
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Old 07-07-2009, 08:27 AM
youngas75 youngas75 is offline
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Default Re: Has the multi-core processor problem been fixed in PT8?

Quote:
Originally Posted by fsb1 View Post
Some equivalent here.

My system is running at 40-50% (CPU Meter / PTLE) with 128 samples, 2 RTAS processors and sometimes the error box appears : Increase your buffer size.....

A look at the activity monitor (OS X) told me, the system is waiting for some work, all 4 cores are at 25-30% while running PT.

Switching to 3 processors and / or trying some other values than 85% I get more errors like : increase your buffer size.....

So, for me, multi-core is not a problem. the problem is using more than a half of available RTAS processors. On my MacBook same scenario, only 1 processor lets the system running without errors.
I don't know if I've mis-read this post but the answer to your issue seems to be, 'Increase you buffer size' you state that you are using 128 samples, perhaps you should consider changing that and see if you have anymore success?
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Old 07-07-2009, 09:35 AM
flommer flommer is offline
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Default Re: Has the multi-core processor problem been fixed in PT8?

Quote:
Originally Posted by fsb1 View Post
Some equivalent here.

My system is running at 40-50% (CPU Meter / PTLE) with 128 samples, 2 RTAS processors and sometimes the error box appears : Increase your buffer size.....

A look at the activity monitor (OS X) told me, the system is waiting for some work, all 4 cores are at 25-30% while running PT.

Switching to 3 processors and / or trying some other values than 85% I get more errors like : increase your buffer size.....

So, for me, multi-core is not a problem. the problem is using more than a half of available RTAS processors. On my MacBook same scenario, only 1 processor lets the system running without errors.
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Komplete 5
That is likely your problem

Go to this page:

Plug in Compatibility

Scroll down to Native Instruments... You'll notice that most of them are "NC".. NOT COMPATIBLE

It doesn't matter if you are using them in a session or not, they can still screw things up..

Take all NI plugins out of your plugin folder and try your CPU/RTAS processor settings again...
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Old 07-07-2009, 09:39 AM
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Default Re: Has the multi-core processor problem been fixed in PT8?

Quote:
Originally Posted by JazzyJ View Post
On my Macbook if I use '2 processors' in the RTAS engine settings I have errors, errors, errors, dropout and the worst performance I've ever had in ten years of Pro Tools systems.

If I choose '1 processor' then everything works fine.


I'm using OSX 10.5.6 and PT 8.0 cs3
I've covered this in several previous posts, including a sticky in the VI forum as well as adding it to the General Troubleshooting thread.

This 'problem' is caused by a couple different things - plug-ins that have code that is not able to run on a fully RTAS dedicated processor (they interrupt real-time RTAS processes) is the most common.


The good news is that reducing the # of CPU's used in Pro Tools doesn't mean you're not using the other processor(s). What's happening is that the # of CPU's in the Playback Engine are going to be directly running the fully RTAS compatible plug-ins, while the other CPU's will run any non real-time code in those plug-ins. So you're still using all of your CPU's, though they admittedly are not fully optimized. Typically just reducing the number of CPU's by 1 (so if they have an 8 core, set it to 7 CPU's) will fix the problem.

You definitely should make sure they're running the most current plug-ins, as having older plug-ins installed can cause problems that even reducing the number of CPU's won't fix, such as the incompatible NI plug-ins mentioned in the previous post.
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