Playback continually stopping "CPU overload" - but why??!

Hi Guys,

Just started a fairly simple Logic X project (running 10.2.4) , very few AU Instruments, except for Omnisphere, Stylus, Ivory and a few LASS Kontakt instances.

My iMac details are below

Hardware Overview:

  Model Name:    iMac

  Model Identifier:    iMac15,1

  Processor Name:    Intel Core i7

  Processor Speed:    4 GHz

  Number of Processors:    1

  Total Number of Cores:    4

  L2 Cache (per Core):    256 KB

  L3 Cache:    8 MB

  Memory:    16 GB

The track will not play for more than a few seconds at a time before playback  stops and the insufficient CPU warning comes up . It's been hours and hours of the same problem and I'm at my wits end...

I increased buffer to maximum 1024 ages ago, I've tried changing number of threads between 8 and 'automatic' to see if that helps, I deleted Omnisphere, Stylus and LASS instances from the project, I've restarted the iMac several times, I've quit and restarted Logix several times, I just cannot understand what is causing this issue.

I've uploaded a few snapshots of the thread meter at the instant when playback stops

and when the track is idle (i.e. nothing playing at all).

As you can see it seems very odd that the CPU is working so hard even when there's nothing happening.

I ran an Avast virus scan and nothing bad on the system.

Other Logic projects which played perfectly yesterday are now having the same issue, though they play for 3-6 seconds rather than stop straight away.

The only thing that has changed in the last 24 hours is the temperature in the studio is up about 10 degrees due to the weather. But iStat Pro (snapshot included) shows temperatures to be within workable limits, or am I mistaken?

Any help from anywhere would be so great, I have a deadline and I really don't know what to do...

Many thanks guys.

Where are you running the libraries from? OS drive? External?

Are you using an audio interface?

On a side note...why are you running anti-virus?

Hi Wolfie2112,

Libraries on an external drive.

Audio interface is a Focusrite Scarlett

Anti-virus- system slowed down three months back and was advised to check for malware despite Macs being virtually virus-proof. Avast is what was recommended...?

turn off anti-virus software. maybe bounce-in-place  some of your plugins (omnisphere & kontakt are very demanding on cpu). what OS are you running?

here's what works for me: turn off wifi, make sure no apps open when you boot up. restart. open only logic, and work on your project...

Yeah, i'm as Fisherking, i kill my cloud backup and time machine too, and re-enable time machine when i have a break and that can chug away afterwards then.

Sometimes every little resource helps, particularly if you're running on some older hardware, but with a 4ghz i7 you should be cooking pretty well.  There's got to be something amiss there, some utility/app that's throwing you out.

What kind of quality are your plugins set to, you haven't got them on super-ultra or anything?  Or any mastering tier plugins? 

I mean, you could try low latency mode and see which plugins Logic disables, may give you an idea of what's dragging resources too.

Libraries on an external drive.

What are the drive specs?

External Drive specs are Seagate 2TB bought in 2016. 1.36TB remaining so plenty I reckon...

Am really confused by the whole thing.

Might the fact that in general my settings re sample rate are 44.1 and the files that were imported were 48 have anything to do with it? Though of course Logic automatically changes settings according to the audio file sample rate if the box is checked, which it was...

skijumptoes -  tried your suggestion re low latency mode  - I even turned the Kontakt instruments back on - and it hasn't crashed for 10 minutes!

But how do I find out which plugins are disabled....according to the mixer everything is working as per usual...wouldn't  they be greyed out, or with an exclamation mark through them?

 If no plugins have been switched off, then the confusion remains - though of course, at least the thing is working at the moment )  Thanks!

Hi,

Nope, none...

Question - might this be a 32 bit v 64 bit issue? I heard that running the project in 64 bit is easier on RAM. I can't seem to find out whether the project is is 32 or 64...when I click on 'About Logic Pro X' it doesn't make any mention of bit depth anywhere in the info, even though several online tecchies say it would...

Logic Pro X is a 64 bit application, you can't change that, that's what 32 vs 64 bit normally signifies.  And yes a 64 bit application (That LPX is) is able to address far more memory than a 32 bit app.  However, you haven't got to concern yourself with such details.

However, if you're thinking that the Audio sample rate/bit depths may be throwing your CPU out... it's possible. 

Logic is probably set to 24 bit, which won't really affect your CPU much, however, Sample rate (44/48/96k etc) will if it's set high, and that is project saved.  You can find that in the Logic *Project* settings under the audio tab. 

Also check your Audio Interface settings as there can be different driver modes (Latency settings) on some interface which eases CPU usage, and make sure it's set to the same sample rate as you're using in Logic (These normally just sync anyway).

Since I use a system a lot weaker than that one, there's several things that I routinely do:

(1)  Bounce in Place.  (Or, freeze tracks.)  The computer can now calculate the audio equivalent content of a given track, and it doesn't have to do so in real time.  When I'm "finished with" a track, at least for the time being, I "BIP" it.  The fact that it can now afford to take 31 seconds to calculate a 30-second bit of sound is what makes all the difference.

(2)  Study the mixer and clean it up.  Logic sets things up so that it's easy to put library patches in and to take them out again without messing-up the plumbing.  But, that often means a lot of extra plumbing.  ("Four or five copies of the same 'room,'" for instance.)  And there might be settings and things which make a patch sound good by itself but which really don't add anything that you can actually hear, especially in the context of 'your song."  You can do a lot of simplifying.  (But, when you start doing this, don't remove the patch thereafter or you might mess-up the plumbing.)

Simplifying the mix setup also makes it a good bit easier to control, because you actually understand where the signals are going and you're routing them to the same place so that you can control it with one set of knobs.  Library patch work is good for "roughing out" the job, and then you switch to detailed changes.  The final sound can be a good bit better that way.

"Throwing silicon at it" is one approach, surely, but it seems to me that you've already got a lot of silicon to throw.  If left to its defaults, Logic can be wasteful of resources.  (After all, Apple sells hardware!) 

Also:  throw away that "anti-virus software," whatever it is.  These packages are unnecessary (on any system, actually), and, since they are capable of getting their fingers into every pie, they are actually a vector(!) for malware distribution.  Also, the account that you ordinarily use every day should not be an "administrator."  It should just be an ordinary joe, and you should never respond to a request for a godly password – no matter how authentic-looking it may be – while using it.

Thanks guys for the latest two posts. All checked and doing fine. And i'll get rid of the peasky anti-virus app!

I run a tight mixer in general so I don't think it's waste of resources, especially since this particular track is pretty sparse anyways.

Have done some digging in the system logs (small section pasted below)...

Could it be the heat after all ("thermal pressure") and not something specific to Logic?

21 Jun 2017 12:19:57 VDCAssistant[233]: VDCAssistant:  Found a camera (0x141000001235800a) , but was not able to start it up (0x0 -- (os/kern) successful)

21 Jun 2017 12:20:32 kernel[0]: process Logic Pro X[1708] caught causing excessive wakeups. Observed wakeups rate (per sec): 1248; Maximum permitted wakeups rate (per sec): 150; Observation period: 300 seconds; Task lifetime number of wakeups: 32174146

21 Jun 2017 12:20:33 com.apple.xpc.launchd[1]: Endpoint has been activated through legacy launch(3) APIs. Please switch to XPC or bootstrap_check_in(): com.apple.ReportCrash

21 Jun 2017 12:20:33 ReportCrash[3745]: Invoking spindump for pid=1708 wakeups_rate=1248 duration=37 because of excessive wakeups

21 Jun 2017 12:20:34 spindump[674]: Saved wakeups_resource.diag report for Logic Pro X version 10.2.4 (4369.43) to /Library/Logs/DiagnosticReports/Logic Pro X_2017-06-21-122034_Adrians-iMac.wakeups_resource.diag

21 Jun 2017 12:23:25 spindump[674]: [1708] Not monitoring spin due to thermal pressure

21 Jun 2017 12:23:45 spindump[674]: [1708] Not monitoring spin due to thermal pressure

21 Jun 2017 12:23:51 WindowServer[235]: WSBindSurface : Invalid surface 1249530649 for window 3793

21 Jun 2017 12:23:51 Dropbox[2936]: PyObjCPointer created: at 0x12ce849a0 of type ^{__SecTrust=}16@0:8

21 Jun 2017 12:23:52 Dropbox[2936]: PyObjCPointer created: at 0x13176ef00 of type ^{__SecTrust=}16@0:8

21 Jun 2017 12:23:53 spindump[674]: [1708] Not monitoring spin due to thermal pressure

21 Jun 2017 12:25:05 Logic Pro X[1708]: Audio engine overloaded, resetting

21 Jun 2017 12:25:13 Logic Pro X[1708]: Audio engine overloaded, resetting

21 Jun 2017 12:25:14 Logic Pro X[1708]: Audio engine overloaded, resetting

21 Jun 2017 12:25:20 Logic Pro X[1708]: Audio engine overloaded, resetting

21 Jun 2017 12:25:21 Logic Pro X[1708]: Audio engine overloaded, resetting

21 Jun 2017 12:25:30 WindowServer[235]: disable_update_timeout: UI updates were forcibly disabled by application "Logic Pro X" for over 1.00 seconds. Server has re-enabled them.

21 Jun 2017 12:25:31 spindump[674]: [1708] Not monitoring spin due to thermal pressure

21 Jun 2017 12:25:32 WindowServer[235]: common_reenable_update: UI updates were finally reenabled by application "Logic Pro X" after 3.58 seconds (server forcibly re-enabled them after 1.00 seconds)

21 Jun 2017 12:25:33 Logic Pro X[1708]: Audio engine overloaded, resetting

21 Jun 2017 12:25:37 WindowServer[235]: disable_update_timeout: UI updates were forcibly disabled by application "Logic Pro X" for over 1.00 seconds. Server has re-enabled them.

21 Jun 2017 12:25:37 WindowServer[235]: common_reenable_update: UI updates were finally reenabled by application "Logic Pro X" after 1.14 seconds (server forcibly re-enabled them after 1.00 seconds)

21 Jun 2017 12:25:52 Logic Pro X[1708]: Audio engine overloaded, resetting

21 Jun 2017 12:25:58 Logic Pro X[1708]: Audio engine overloaded, resetting

21 Jun 2017 12:26:01 spindump[674]: [1708] Not monitoring spin due to thermal pressure

21 Jun 2017 12:26:06 Logic Pro X[1708]: Audio engine overloaded, resetting

21 Jun 2017 12:26:22 WindowServer[235]: disable_update_timeout: UI updates were forcibly disabled by application "Logic Pro X" for over 1.00 seconds. Server has re-enabled them.

21 Jun 2017 12:26:22 WindowServer[235]: common_reenable_update: UI updates were finally reenabled by application "Logic Pro X" after 1.17 seconds (server forcibly re-enabled them after 1.01 seconds)

21 Jun 2017 12:26:31 Logic Pro X[1708]: Audio engine overloaded, resetting

21 Jun 2017 12:26:40 Logic Pro X[1708]: Audio engine overloaded, resetting

21 Jun 2017 12:26:51 WindowServer[235]: disable_update_timeout: UI updates were forcibly disabled by application "Logic Pro X" for over 1.00 seconds. Server has re-enabled them.

21 Jun 2017 12:26:51 WindowServer[235]: common_reenable_update: UI updates were finally reenabled by application "Logic Pro X" after 1.09 seconds (server forcibly re-enabled them after 1.00 seconds)

21 Jun 2017 12:27:12 spindump[674]: [385] Not monitoring stuck process due to thermal pressure

21 Jun 2017 12:27:13 QuickLookUIHelper[3755]: 12:27:13.058 WARNING:   >compload> AudioComponentPluginLoader.cpp:445: ParseInfoPlistArray: Mini%20V2%20Efx.component -- file:///Library/Audio/Plug-Ins/Components/: trouble parsing Info.plist's AudioComponents; entry: {type = mutable dict, count = 6,

entries =>

PS Mike what did you mean about using an ordinary Joe account? For what? Am a bit confused...

He means, it's probably better mindset from a security standpoint to have an administrator account for machine administrating tasks (Installs/setups etc.) and then a basic user account for usage, than running third party anti-virus tools.

Most people run antivirus on Mac if they are dealing with windows machines as you can pass on viruses that don't affect mac's without them, that's the only reason i'd run them anyway.

As for your logs, that does look like overheating doesn't it.  Can you put your mac somewhere cooler?

Thsnka, will defo take on board.

Update: the temperature here in the UK dropped about 10 degrees C the last two days, and the system's working properly.

Conclusion?  the iMac couldn't take the heat, and heat directly affects CPU.  Never knew that.

Funny enough, i'm now setting up a second older Mac Pro system for that very reason, i'm in the UK - and the heat has been silly the past week.  I use a more modern MacBook pro for many tasks, as i can always have it with me, it's pretty much my 'go to' these days.

But, wednesday, i had a long day of coding, then done some music in the evening - so it was CPU intensive all day, travelled with me in a hot vehicle, then when i picked it up at the end it nearly burnt my fingers - enough is enough i thought!  I need something else with ventilation, even if it's just to host cpu intensive stuff.

So yeah, you need to be careful with the heat, my biggest concern is with HDD's in iMacs - i've suffered terribly with iMacs and moving part HDD's, are you using an SSD in that iMac?

hi skijumptoes,

sorry I only just saw this reply now, thought the issue was solved so didn't pop back into the forum til now. no I'm not using an SSD. once the heat died down, problem solved.