Beachball on Logic Menu?

Updating my main macPro from HighSierra to Mojave (just to get Logic 10.5), I've had a rough ride. I'm starting to wonder if it's worth it

 

One strange issue is that in Logic 10.5.1 upon placing the mouse cursor on the Logic menu (the first after the Apple apple), I get a many seconds' beach ball and by the time it ends, the menu drops down and disappears before I can grab it. It takes many tries to even exit Logic. Does anyone have any idea what could be causing this? Thank you!

Do you get the beachball on every project when clicking the top menu?

Oh yes, all projects, thank you @Triplets, and worse. Logic can take several minutes to start up. After that it runs OK, just don't expect a prompt response to anything in that first menu.

 

I've narrowed it down after spending most of the day eliminating Audio Interfaces, project types, location of the Library and countless other things. It's a network issue.

 

It seems Apple is moving ever further into the expectation that EVERYBODY is connected 24x7 to that great pit o' time drains: the Internet. They probably test their software while TikTok'ing over the Apple LAN. But if the DAW machine is connected to a point to point local network connection that doesn't "get out there", Logic keeps trying to reach God knows what, during startup and when you click on the first menu, and offers beachballs in consolation until it times out. The screen can be frozen, while the project plays on.

 

I don't yet understand the exact mechanism, functionally it's a bug. I don't want the studio machines on the web, but I use a local Gigabit LAN connection to a Windows PC for file sharing, and for Network MIDI to operate my beloved Tascam FW1884 that's plugged into the PC. The exact same setup wasn't a problem with Logic 10.4.8 under High Sierra.

 

I found a workaround, which is to connect the macPro's second Ethernet port to a router that isn't reaching the Internet either, and to give it higher priority in the service order. No idea why, but this solves the issue for Logic. Mojave seems snappier all around too.

Yeah, I had the computer lock up on me the other day because iCloud was trying to connect and I had to change the password on another computer. I don't like iCloud or any online storage that bugs you constantly.

On the studio computers, I don't want ANY connection to The Swamp. I just don't buy the whole "connected for your benefit" story. No dongles either.

 

So, anyway, the mystery of this issue revolves around Mojave wanting an internet connection, but why it worked with High Sierra I don't yet understand. I'm still trying to find a stable workaround that will just work. For now a dead-end router on the other Eth port does the trick. I think some other people with a sluggish Mojave may have a similar problem.

 

I need that point to point to the Windows machine for files sharing, and especially so I can use my Tascam FW-1884 that has no Mac 64 bit driver, but for the PC it does. Apple also took out the control surface definition from Logic. My Tascam FW-1884 has been working as a control surface using an old FW-1884.bundle from Logic 1.04 or so, that I've pasted into every successive Logic version. And Network Midi to the PC brings the Tascam over to the mac on a port (arbitrarily) named Xeon5008. Tell Logic there's a Tascam FW-1884 on Xeon5008, and the faders snap to attention. Wheee! So the hell i'm going to do without that!

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Edited September 1, 2020 by fernandraynaud

On Mojave Logic 10.4.8 exhibits the same problem as 10.5.1 if there's a point to point network connection to the PC. Although file sharing and Network MIDI work fine, Logic takes several minutes to start up, beachBall and huge lag on leftmost menu.

 

Leaving the MacPro and the PC exactly as before, and with the mac network set up the same, booted up into High Sierra. Logic 10.4.8 then works fine. Fast startup, no lag or beachballs. Both file sharing and Network Midi work fine.

 

This looks like a Mojave + Logic issue. Anywhere I can get some expert help on this?

 

One more possibility: a third party plug-in - although I have the same ones on the HiSierra and Mojave boot drives. Will check tomorrow.

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No, it's not plugins. And although it's most noticeable with Logic, it shows up in other Mojave functionality too. I believe it's at the root of many "Mojave sluggish" complaints. I had to put a network analyzer on-line to watch the packet flow.

 

So far what I've traced it to is DNS (Domain Name Service) requests. A point to point connection between two computers, with no router, is often set up with the Gateway and the DNS address in the network definition being cross-specified as that of the "peer" machine. Mojave sends out DNS queries on Port 53 that aren't answered and it waits. This causes the delays. No idea why High Sierra handles this better.

 

If you have an Internet connection, DNS queries get answered by the routers, hence no lag.

 

If you're off the Internet, the solution that's working so far is to keep the DNS field blank on any LAN machines on the port that they connect over.

 

For local (LAN) file sharing and Network MIDI there are plenty of other local name resolution protocols that work automatically instead, like Bonjour and SMB, so DNS is unnecessary. With DNS unspecified, everything's fine and snappy again. Logic boots up fast, no beachballs.

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