cpu and hd spikes while recording in logic pro 9

hi everybody,

 

need help !! here's the situation, i've just upgraded my mac pro 1.1 with a new ssd system drive, and have finally got everything installed, os x 10.7.5, logic 9.1.8, ez drummer, etc. i started a new session with only an ez drummer loop track and bass track which i was recording, noticed the cpu and hd meter in the transport bar were spiking while recording and when arming to record with the hd meter pegging out into the red. the spikes also seem to correspond with volume/attack level as i play. can somebody please tell me what i'm doing wrong, this is driving me nuts. is there a setting i'm missing? i've worked very hard to get everything set up for optimum performance with logic on my mac. i'm hoping some of you logic pros can solve this for me, i don't want to start trying to guess what going on because i just don't have enough experience with logic or macs either for that matter. thanks in advance,

 

bill

What drive are you recording to?

hey triplets,

 

i am recording to my 1 tb hdd projects drive, any thoughts?

Does the CPU change if you take EZ drummer off? Any other 3rd party plugs in the session?

no, just tried a new session as follows , no plug ins , just one audio track, the hdd meter stays pegged out the minute you start recording, cpu meter shows one core at about 12% all the time (#4), with the other three cores at 0%, it's doing this while just idle. i don't understand it. tried playback on an older session with 12 tracks and the meters for cpu and hd both peg on initailly starting playback but then settle down during with all 4 cores showing 15 - 20 % and hd at 0%- 5%. and at idle the same 4th core showing 3-5 %. this has me worried.

Are you using a custom template?

 

Did you reinstall everything when you changed to the SSD?

yes i did a fresh install of os x, logic, i life '11, ez drummer, etc. with all the updates compatable for my machine for each installation. i don't think i'm using custom templates, i just choose empty project when i start a new one. plus the meter spikes are happening in all projects, new and saved ones from before i changed to the ssd. i just don't get it. also i've noticed that pushing the play or record or stop buttons on the transport, cause an initial spike of at least the hd meter and sometimes the cpu meter at the same time. since this is happening across the board on all projects old and new, large or small, i'm wondering what basic common steps i might have overlooked that could be causing this. i keep hoping it's something simple that is eluding me.

The spikes when hitting play are normal.

 

Are you using Logic in 64-bit?

yes, i'm using logic in 64 bit and ez drummer in 64 bit too.

Were you having these CPU issues before you installed the SSD?

no, but i've ran verify disk, and disk permissions, and the ssd checks out as good, and the ssd is a crucial m500 240 gb which is recommended for my mac pro 1.1. i've been scouring all the posts concerning cpu spikes in logic pro 9, and i still haven't found anything that says ah ha, yet, though there are a few things i'm going to try. please keep passing along any thoughts or ideas you may have on this. i really appreciate the help triplets.

My guess it's Lion.

If you'd installed Snow Leopard it would have been no problem. Pretty sure about that. Do you have a Time Machine backup of your previous system drive? That would be so easy.

 

Maybe you have a reason for Lion, I don't know.

i have a time machine back up of the old system hard drive , but i was running lion then too, with out these issues, plus i thought formatting and a clean install of os x and all the other apps would be the best way to start out with the new ssd system drive. i was concerned about using a backup of the old disk for the new ssd because of the possible quirks associated with the old hdd. but lion is all i've ever ran logic in, so i'm pretty sure that's not it.

I see.

 

Well, if you would install the old hdd back and have the same issues, then we know it's hardware related.

it doesn't do it on the old hdd, but that drive has other issues, (i think it's getting ready to die) hence the new ssd . i poured over the threads on this and saw something about OnyX fixing issues similar to mine, so i downloaded it and did a cache clean and it seems to help somewhat. which leads me to believe that there's somekind of setting, or default mode i'm missing that's causing this. maybe i'm not even qualified to be a newbie with logic yet, but i've sure been trying to learn. i really need to get up to speed/ and get logic running right on my mac, because i'm trying finish tracking songs for my cd. i've really been digging pro 9 up to this point and i hate the thought of going back to windows, but that's where all my experience is at, using sonar which sucks compared to what logic offers, mysterious glitches aside.

Very strange indeed.

 

Did you try with all your peripherals disconnected and using built-in audio?

 

What does the CPU meter say?

 

Also check Activity Monitor in Applications / Utilities to see how much CPU Logic is using.

okay after the cache clean with OnyX, here's what i've done, went to preferences/audio in logic changed the thread processing from automatic to 4, set the recording delay to 0, it was set at 256 samples. up graded the firmware on the ssd. and now logic doesn't seem to be spiking the cpu meter anymore. in activity monitor a nine track project with 10-12 plug ins, plus ez drummer were playing and the 4 cores stayed pretty equal, with 10-12 % cpu usage on each core. i am weighing installing Trim Enabler for the ssd. not sure if i absolutly need to or will the garbage collector keep this drive clean enough of deleted data?

AArrrgghhh!,

 

i am at the end of my rope. i just can't figure out what's going on. last nite opened logic to work on a song idea, started a new empty project created an audio track for bass and a software instrument track for ez drummer. when i noticed the audio track meter flickering even though i was playing yet, i had pulled a few bars of ez drummer loops into the software instr. track making sure that track wasn't record enabled. i enabled the audio track to record and the hd meter maxed out and stayed in the red until i disabled the track. it would do this everytime i hit record. the cpu meter wasn't out of line just the hd meter. i checked activity monitor and cpu and ram usage were under 10%, but i was getting high spikes on the disk meters for write and i/o. i closed out the project and opened a new one this time with just one audio track with my bass plugged into the built in line in on my mac, this time not only did it do the same hd meter max out when trying to record but i started getting all kinds of latency between what i played and when i heard it. i checked preferences and nothing had changed buffer - 64, processing threads -4, process buffer range - large, i have never had issues with latency. so i closed that project and tried again with a new empty project, just trying to record one bass guitar track, no plug ins, no other tracks and i still get the maxed out hd meter, what's happening here ? i could not get a project to let me record one audio track without hd meter going through the roof, no matter what i tried. i am so frustrated i could just take a hammer to my mac (not really), but i don't know what to do, is it the ssd os x/ app drive logic is on ? it checks out on everything else, no problems, is 2x3.0Ghz dual cores and 14 gb ram, not enough cpu and memory for the simplest of recording tasks in logic? i love my mac and i love what logic offers, but for some reason i can't get it configured to work for me. am i just cursed or what?

I don't want to be the harbinger of doom but every issue you have started when you got the SSD.

If you have another spare spinning HD and empty bay on your mac pro, use Time Machine to copy a working system to that drive and boot to it.

You can also try this:

 

http://www.cindori.org/software/trimenabler/

thanks triplets,

 

you have been a big help through all this. i know you're probably right about the SSD, but i want to try everything i can to make it work, before i give up on it. i just downloaded TrimEnabler, and i'm gonna try that. also wondering if i reinstall logic if that might set it right. and finally do you think wiping the SSD clean and starting over would be worth the trouble? do you use a SSD in your setup ? if so what kind? i thought i picked the best one for the money, but at this point like you i'm looking at this crucial m500, and just shaking my head. i mean i can get another spinning drive and it may well turn out that's the best way to go with my machine, it's just everything i read told me this was the way to go, and this drive would work great in my mac. anyway i just wanted to say thanks for putting up with all my questions and your patience in taking the time to help a newbie.

Sure thing, Bill.

 

I don't use SSDs yet because I don't need them with the setup I have. The spinning drives on the mac pro are all high performance WD Black Caviar and they work great for my needs.

 

I think SSDs are great for laptops and iMacs. Maybe the SSD you got is faulty, it's possible.

 

You also got one of the early mac pros, so that could be a factor too in terms of compatibility, I don't know, just speculating.

 

See if the Trim helps first. Maybe try one more reinstall and you might get lucky.

 

Otherwise, back to good old spinners!

well, maybe, hope, hope, i finally have a workable install of logic pro on the ssd. i took your advice, triplets, and installed TrimEnabler, had a backup of my os x, logic, and other apps from before i started having trouble. did a full restore from Time Machine to the ssd replacing the problem system with the "trouble free" backup version, reset preferences, and voila!, was able to open logic and record a bass track without the spikes. i wanted to ask you this though, when i playback the bass track if i leave input monitoring and record arm on sometimes i get the hd spikes,it doesn't do it everytime you hit play, just occasionally, and when it does i can't stop it by different combinations of clicking either record arm off or input monitor off, if one doesn't work the other will, is this normal behaviour for logic? like the spikes you get when starting playback or record? it's not a big deal, just minor really, if it can be managed like it appears to be. i really think we may have got to the major problem , which seems to be a corrupted system and app install. i mean some of the functions in logic appear to be more indepth than before, like this time the install was 100%, but that may just be me. anyway keeping my fingers crossed and going ahead with my projects, viewing it like you said wd makes some good black caviar hdd's that are very reasonable price wise nowdays, spinners were what we all used til lately anyhow.

HD spikes should only happen when you press play. Those are normal. Everything else isn't.

 

So see how it goes.

thanks, triplets,

 

i know what you mean, like i said at the moment the ssd looks like it's gonna work out, but if not i found a wd black caviar 500gb for under $70.00, online, and i may go ahead and get it now just to have on hand, in case more ssd/logic problems arise. i also have a snow leopard install disk, which i could put on the wd if i need it. a question, can i still get snow leopard updates from the apple site, because i'm pretty sure the disk i have is not 10.6.8 ? from what you've told me and what i've read in other threads 10.6.8 is a very stable os for logic 9.1.8. if so and if the ssd/lion combination doesn't work out , to avoid having to deal with even more problems, i'm thinking i'll just run 10.6.8 on a wd black and be done with it. because the bottom line is i want to record and work in logic, not continually be fighting ghosts in the machine. could you tell me more about your setup? you seem to be getting pretty flawless operation out of your 10.6.8/ 9.1.8 rig. thanks

Here's the combo update for Snow Leopard. Luckily they are still available at the Apple site:

 

http://support.apple.com/kb/DL1399?viewlocale=en_US&locale=en_US

 

It's a good idea to have that WD disk with SL on it, ready to be deployed if necessary.

 

SL and Logic 9.1.8 is the most stable combo in a looong time.

SL and Logic 9.1.8 is the most stable combo in a looong time.

ahahaha !

 

If you have time read this please !

 

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