Hard disk overload with all clips in RAM mode

[davros303]

Hi there,

I've been getting the overload indicator coming on in a remix I am working on. The overload causes dropouts in time to the music which I find very strange. I put every clip into RAM mode to fix the issue and nothing changes. My understanding was this setting would ensure Live should not be attempting to access any of the sounds from the actual hard drive at all, they would all sit in the computer's RAM.

System specs are:
Live 8.2
Windows XP
AMD Athlon X4 2.9 ghz quad core
3gig of ram
1 terrabyte HD

The whole system is almost brand new and I've checked the RAM usage whilst Ableton is running and only 2 gig of the 3 gig is being used.

I noticed this started to happen after I started using the "duplicate" function on this particular remix, to extend certain sections of the main track.

Also this never happened in earlier versions of Live running on a lower spec computer, so also wondering whether this could be a new bug in Live 8.2?

Ableton folks - please help me troubleshoot this one.

Cheers,
Davros

[davros303]

Wow this problem is worse than I thought. I just exported this session into a wav file and it recorded the dropouts into the exported file.

Anyone encountered this before?

[Ableton_David]

Hi Davros, actually, having all your clips in RAM mode will make the situation worse - the drop-outs are likely due to the fact that you're using up too much memory. Try taking the clips out of RAM mode, and freezing whichever tracks you can - this will actually save you some CPU.

[davros303]

Hi David,

With RAM mode switched on or off makes no difference.

The system is nowhere near taxed of resources, and there's only a couple of tracks running audio and CPU meter is around 10/15% so don't understand why this would be happening at all. As mentioned, have used earlier version of Ableton with many more audio tracks running at once (all in RAM mode) on a lower spec system and never seen an issue like this before.

[davros303]

Another point - when I close the session, and close down Ableton, then re-open both again the problem stops but it starts again once I start altering the file in the audio track in the arrangement view and then it will start again.

[Ableton_David]

Hi Davros, please get in touch with Ableton Technical Support about this: http://www.ableton.com/support. Thank you.

[DJ Morty]

David, you guys at Ableton must know about this bug or glitch or whatever because it seems to have started in 8 and the complaints are rolling in.
I've been trying to do a big mix (220 songs or elements) on my Macbook Pro (2.4 ghz with 4 gigs of ram). I started the project in 7 and I have been working on this for months.

When I upgraded to version 8, everything was working fine for a bit, but yesterday, I began getting an error that my computer does not have a enough memory, and it crashes out.

I then decided to test this on a different computer to see if it was the system or the software. I installed Live 8 and my sessions on to a Mac Pro 2.26 8-Core with 8gb of ram, yet I am still getting the same error message and crash on this particular session. Any other session in Ableton 8 works fine.

It is a huge session but now that I'm trying to open it with the new and more powerful computer I don't understand why it's still crashing.

I did try to put a cracked version of Izotope Ozone on for mastering but have since deleted it. My Ableton however is all paid for and legit.

Anybody at Ableton or on here have any clue on how to fix this problem or at the very least allow me access to the session so I can modify it or at least freeze or bounce down some tracks to make room?

PLEASE HELP!!!!?

[davros303]

Hi Morty,

I was in the process of diagnosing the problem with Ableton tech support, and the issue simply stopped. Doesn't matter what I do now I can't get the same problem to repeat. I should note that I changed a couple of fundamental aspects of my setup - namely removed the Novation Nio external soundcard which was running on ASIO drivers (I was borrowing it from a friend), and switched to the internal HD soundcard running on MME/Direct X. However, the issue appeared to stop prior to removing the Nio.

So whether the Nio was truly the culprit or not I can't be sure. Sorry couldn't be of more help - I wish I had got to the bottom of it.

All the best,
Davros