Ableton Live on a Windows Tablet - and a little issue

[elerouxx]

I just got my hands on a Dell Latitude 10 Tablet. I installed Ableton Live 9 demo on it, hoping to see how would it perform in such a limited machine, CPU-wise.

To my surprise, it runs pretty well! I haven't done too complex things, but Live can really turn this tablet into a 700g multitrack recorder and performer!

However I found a very inusual problem I'll try to describe.

Newly recorded clips (wav or aif) can't be played by Ableton right away. They are only available after Ableton is closed and opened again. The symptoms are:

-The clips seem to be recorded normally, they display a waveform graphic.
-When the timeline marker reaches the new clips, the D (overload) icon turns on. But this is not an overload problem
-The clips recorded in previous sessions work normally. Also, they can be imported normally into other sessions.
-If I close Ableton and open it again, the clips that didn't play now work normally.
-While Ableton is open, the 'offending' newly recorded clips can be located on disk, but they can't be opened by any other music player like Windows Media player (The file can't be opened. Try again later) But any other clip can play normally on any player even if it's opened in Live.
-When showing the newly recorded clips in the Live browser, and trying to preview them, it shows the message 'the clip X could not be previewed because it's corrupted or unlicensed'. But I'm sure it's not a license problem.
-All these problems end when closing and reopen ableton.

My conclusion is that Ableton is not closing or flushing the files correctly upon recording them. The same happens with FREEZE: while working on an arrangement (with no 'offending' clips at the moment), if I freeze a track, the track won't play - because the file created for the frozen track is probably also left open. Next time I open Live, the frozen track plays OK.

It's not an audio driver problem - i've tried this in different audio modes. I also tried this in windows 8 and windows 8.1, and on an Asus Vivotab Smart and the Dell (similar specifications, z2760 CPU). I also tried recording on a high speed SD card or the internal drive.
Also, other applications like Reaper can record and play back perfectly!


Has someone experienced this kind of problem?
LIve would be perfect for the tablet if it wasn't for this issue.
What else can I try?

Thanks!

[H20nly]

have you done all the Windows & Dell updates for the tablet? maybe there is a RAM issue??

maybe this will help...

you could try going into the C:\Program Files folder and finding the .exe file for Live...
Right Click on it.
Go to "Properties"
check the box that says "Run this program as an administrator"
click the Apply button
click OK
try recording again


additionally, you could do the following to the .exe file:
Go to "Properties"
check the box that says "Run this program as an administrator"
click the Apply button
click the button that says "Change settings for all users"
check the box that says "Run this program as an administrator"
click the Apply button
click OK


Note: if you are using the standard Windows desktop and have a shortcut for Live, you can do all this from that shortcut.


hope this helps...

[elerouxx]

Thanks for your help!

However i still havent been able to playback the recordings. I tried (again) to run Live as administrator. I also tried all compatibility modes, and disabled User Access Control, with no luck. Also checked permissions on folders and drives and found nothing unusual . This is beyond explanation. I can record normally with Reaper without problems.

[elerouxx]

...however that made me think about another test - i connected a USB external hard drive, and recording to that hard drive worked fine! So there's this new clue.

An external pen drive also works. But the internal SSD drive or the microSD memory card don't.

[H20nly]

ok...

then this might be a weird permissions issue. as in Live (or the logged on user) does not have full rights to the location that the temp files are being saved.

what happens if you log on as Administrator?

and/or... is your an account an Administrator account?

[elerouxx]

ok...

then this might be a weird permissions issue. as in Live (or the logged on user) does not have full rights to the location that the temp files are being saved.

what happens if you log on as Administrator?

and/or... is your an account an Administrator account?

Yes, my account is an Administrator's account. There's no 'administrator' user.
I opened and compared the drives and folders I use for recording, on the pendrive or the SD card - or the internal SSD, and I see no difference in permissions. Also, the file IS getting written to the HDD, there's just something missing. Maybe a caché issue...

Maybe I can try to create a different partition on the drive. Or mount the partition in a different way... I'm trying lots of things. If you have more ideas please tell me, and thanks for your attention as always!

[H20nly]

it's a weird case you've got here i'll give you that. based on your posts it seems like you're on top of it. it should not be this difficult that's for sure.

have you shared any of this with Ableton? [email protected]

if they haven't seen this type of issue yet... they should.

[elerouxx]

Thanks again for your reply. In this meantime I've been trying several approaches with no results. Just got my Zoom H1 recorder to work as an usb mic/interface with Asio drivers... the tablet turns out to be an awesome tool for music. Too bad i could not solve this issue, i'm working with Reaper.

The only workaround would be to use a pendrive for recording. But then pendrives are slow, and I use the USB port for the usb audio. I guess an usb hub won't work so fine but ill try. Although it's already a cumbersome solution.

Ill try to contact support.

[H20nly]

if you use a USB hub... make sure it is powered for best results. don't depend on the tablet to power it.

good luck.

[elerouxx]

Thank you for your advice as always!

Since I am not a customer, and the trial expired some months ago, Ableton refused to give me support. Even in demo mode, I can see the problem persists. I hope they fix it in the future. For the time being I just uninstalled the demo and decided to stick with Reaper. I really like Live, but Reaper is also great and now they added some multitouch support to their interface.

Maybe in the future, if I grow in need for an application like Live for live performance, I will consider buying a license, but not now since my main purpose was using it as a Daw, and recording is the most important thing. (I believe most users are into live performances, but I think Ableton rocks as a linear DAW also).

[H20nly]

sorry that you couldn't get it sorted.

sucks for Ableton too. your issue is valid and in line with their future... tablets aren't going away.

good luck with Reaper.

i use Cubase as well as Ableton and i really like it. maybe you could try the Cubase demo. they've got Loop Mash built in now which might appease your live performance needs (not sure what kind of music you're making). Loop Mash is available as an iPhone and iPad app too.

good luck!
Peace,
H

[Buleriachk]

Sorry, double post.

[elerouxx]

Sorry, double post.

What double post?

[Buleriachk]

I guess the one I just didn't post after all...

"Yesterday, upon the stair,
I saw a man who wasn't there
he wasn't there again today
Oh, how I wish he'd go away"... Ogden Nash

Sorry, double post.

What double post?

[mrdelurk]

i use Cubase as well as Ableton and i really like it.

Ahh, Cubase, the program with an 57-step installation process. Got their AI install disc with a Yamaha synth a few years ago. I tried 3 times to install that thing on a spare PC, finally just gave up. Thanks, that's all the Cubase preview I needed