Odd crashing problem. Any suggestions?

[kevinmathie]

Hey all,For a long time now -- almost ever since I got my Intel iMac almost two years ago when they first come out -- I've had a problem with my computer freezing up, and having to reboot it. Depending on the file I'm working with, it could happen as often as 4 or 5 times an hour, which is particularly frustrating when I'm on a deadline. And it only happens while I'm in Logic 7.x or Logic 8. Never in any other program.I've tried disabling certain AU plug-ins, but haven't been able to isolate the problem. I noticed the problem right after I installed MOTU's Symphonic Instrument, but I disabled everything associated with that plug-in soon afterwards as I was trying to trouble shoot, so I'm thinking that's probably not the problem. Of course, I was also installing other things around that time period too -- drivers, and such. Also, it seems to happen fairly randomly. I haven't been able to nail down a certain set of actions that culminates in a freeze-up. Nor does it happen on every Logic file I create. Perhaps about every 3rd or 4th file has the crashing problem.It's very strange. And, I'm not a Mac novice, either. I've been working on Macs since OS 3, on one of those SE's with 1MB of RAM. But this problem has me stumped. So, I've just lived with it for almost 2 years now, and practice swearing at my computer several times a week.Any suggestions on how to isolate the problem and solve it?Thanks!Kevin

[mazz]

I'd be willing to bet it's a hard drive problem caused by the system trying to put the drives to sleep and then crashing when they are waking up. Do you use a separate drive for your samples and/or audio?At times I'll have a freeze when the drives are spinning back up.Just a thought.Mazz

[ragani]

Hi Kevin,I had something similar happen to me several years ago. It started when I was working in ProTools, and the system just crashed. Everything froze up. I thought we isolated a hard drive that may have been bad, but within a day or two of installing the new drive the same thing started up again. It would not freeze consistently or at any particular time, and it happened sometimes several times a day and other times only once or twice. The only thing seemed that it was happening more and more as time went on. I lived with it for 3 1/2 years-- it was so frustrating! I tried running the computer with the door open, getting new drives, reinstalling software one at a time, painstakingly disabling one or two extension and trying it again, etc., running only ProTools, jiggling cables, disconnecting all the cables (inside and out) and reconnection them all, hitting the computer (yeah, that was really productive), and nothing seemed to make a difference. The one day my husband reached inside the computer and switched the plug for the hard drive. He removed the one on the main drive and replaced it with the one that was floating free in the computer (I only had one slave and one main drive at that time). The problem stopped entirely after that, and I've been using it problem-free ever since. I don't know if this can help you at all, but I wanted to post it, as no one we took it to seemed to be able to resolve the problem (and that was two hard drive purchases later!!). Crashing computers are such bummers for production!! Good luck to you,Raags

[hummingbird]

Quote:I'd be willing to bet it's a problem caused by the system crashing when they are waking up. that's why I can't get out of bed in the morning!

[kevinmathie]

Interesting! I hadn't really thought of it being a hard drive problem. I'll look into that and see if that's the problem. Thanks!

[Casey H]

HiI'm not Mac experienced but you said that in only happens when running Logic software. My gut reaction is that it would not be a hardware issue such as a bad hard drive but somehow related to that program's installation. My suggestion (a bit painful) would be to un-install everything- Logic, plug-ins, drivers, add-ons, etc... Then one by one start re-installing, running for a few days, and seeing if you crash. Carefully note what you've installed and when and see if you can determine what change made the system unstable. It is also possible that the very act of uninstalling and reinstalling will fix a file corruption somewhere that was the culprit.Also, after re-installing everything, check with the software and driver manufacturers for updates. Sometimes bug fixes come out. Did you Google for these types of problems with this kind of software? Often there are message boards full of help and advice from people who have had the same problems. Is there a tech support forum for Logic?HTH... Good luck! Casey

[devin]

I lived with crashes for about a year as well...in the end, software updates solved my crashing problems (I hope...it's only been a couple hundred working hours since I had one....knock on guitar!)Here's the process I went through...#1. I decided to dedicate my recording computer for that purpose, so I yanked out all the hardware & software I didn't need (modem cards, solitaire, etc). This leaves the recording computer off the internet, so doing updates is a planned event (I left the ethernet card & drivers in for the semi-annual checkups).#2. I updated the operating system#3. I updated all the peripheral drivers (MOTU drivers, UAD-1, etc)#4. I updated the recording software itself (Cubase in my case...running on a PC)Good luck getting it straightened out...those were some of the darker nights in the basement when a crash ruined some fun stuff....I'm certain that if there was a Taxi posting for "computer frustration songs", there would be more than one response!

[kouly]

I would like to suggest creating a new user account and trying Logic out as a different user. If it still has problems then it is a systemic problem. If you do not have a problem it is something that you probably installed in which case tracking it down would include Casey's suggestion.

[anne]

Or, on that note, you could just remove the preference files related to Protools and logic and then reboot the computer. I had a similar issue when I had installed protools after installing logic. Then I removed the prefs and that fixed it, as they will correctly rebuild themselves when you reboot.

[timbehrens]

Hi there,I agree with Kouly's suggestion. If I were troubleshooting this, I would create a new user account and log into that account. That way you know you're working from a fresh set of preferences and a clean cache. If the program still crashes when you're working with it, then it's safe to say that it's either a system level problem or a hardware problem. If things do go smoothly and you're working fine in the new user account, then you could probably say it's something related to your user account. You could then go in and clear out your cache files (home directory/Library/Caches) and restart, and try removing all of your preferences related to that program (home directory/Library/Preferenes).If you still have the install disks that came with your machine, you might try running the Apple Hardware test as well (instructions for how to start it should be on the disk).... I'd run the extended test several times, and see if it catches anything related to your RAM.Even though it only seems to be happening with when your running Logic, there is an off chance that there is something wrong with your hard drive. You might open disk utility and verify the hard drive. Occasionally, something gets screwy in the file structure of the hard drive and will only end up affecting one or two programs. Anyways, just my 3 cents. Hope you get it figured out. Best wishes.