getting on and offstage fast: firewire and sleep problems

taximouse · Post by **taximouse** » Sun Sep 10, 2006 2:34 am

Ok. I've recently added a computer running Ableton to my performance rig.
Is there a "correct" way to disconnect or sleep in order to have your audio preferences 'stick'?

I'm using firewire with a Motu ultralite.

Here's the situation:

- Soundcheck is finished and everything runs great.
- Sometimes I need to disconnect the computer from the rig and bring it back onstage when I go on.
- Sometimes, I can leave it setup and just "plug in" (computer is velcro-ed to the top of my rig).
- In either situation there is very little time between me walking onstage and when I have to start playing. I need to plug in my instrument and go. I can't be fiddling with my preferences, restarting Live, etc.

I've had a few problems getting the computer to stay in the same state and the only scenario I've found that is foolproof is to leave the computer connected, with the screen up and tell it not to sleep. Not very feasible.

I've been doing some tests to find out what is the correct "order" (for example: close lid, unplug firewire. then plug-in firewire, open lid) and I can't figure it out.

In one case I shut the lid & disconnected the firewire. When I reconnected, one output pair was silent, the midi connection to my footcontroller (FCB1010) was lost, even though the prefs said they were the same. I could only fix it by restarting.

In another case, I left the computer connected, but shut the lid. When I reopened the lid, my ins and outs were correct, but again the midi connection to the footcontroller was lost. I had to open and close mac Audio/Midi to get it to recognize it (didn't do anything, just open and close the utility).

There must be something I'm not understanding.

Can anyone shed some light on this?

Thanks much.

Darwinist · Post by **Darwinist** » Sun Sep 10, 2006 12:32 pm

On my comp, Live doesn't allow it to sleep. It's a little bit dangerous because if I close the lid the computer keeps running "awake", which makes it a fair bit hotter than is healthy for the screen in such close proximity, plus the battery runs out on you quickly.

When I open it again Live(or the OS, not sure) tells me that sleep mode is not possible while running Live. I think it might have something to do with the hard-disk based streaming of audio....

So whatever you choose to do, do not close the lid and do not let it go to sleep. As for disconnecting cables. I have no idea.

taximouse · Post by **taximouse** » Sun Sep 10, 2006 4:19 pm

"So whatever you choose to do, do not close the lid and do not let it go to sleep."

Hmm...but what if you have to take your computer offstage?

Darwinist · Post by **Darwinist** » Sun Sep 10, 2006 5:53 pm

taximouse wrote:"So whatever you choose to do, do not close the lid and do not let it go to sleep."

Hmm...but what if you have to take your computer offstage?

Of course, your comp may not respond in the same way as mine, but if it does, I suggest just unplugging it and letting it run on batteries for awhile, and plug it in while you wait backstage.....

bring it out with the lid up....

But I repeat, your comp may be able to sleep with Live running, I just know mine can´t.....

taximouse · Post by **taximouse** » Mon Sep 11, 2006 12:27 am

just to clarify...by "unplugging", I mean the firewire cable, not the power.

1) disconnecting and then reconnecting the firewire cable seems to seriously disrupt my audio/midi preferences.

2) sleeping also seriously disrupts audio/midi prefs

either of these and i'm hosed.

anyway around this??

taximouse · Post by **taximouse** » Thu Sep 28, 2006 11:19 pm

ummm...hate to bump, but i'm still looking for an answer...

bumpity bump.

thanks!

mooncaine · Post by **mooncaine** » Thu Sep 28, 2006 11:25 pm

It's a good question, and I'd like to see if you find an answer or two that will help. Personally, I suspect you've just encountered one of the problems associated with using a personal computer as a musical instrument, but it's too early to tell. Lots of people are doing it, so either they are living with the sleep/lost prefs issue, or they've found a way.

Good luck!

The Phat Conductor · Post by **The Phat Conductor** » Fri Sep 29, 2006 7:15 am

what i do is set up ableton, do a sound check with everything rocking. then put the computer to sleep and unplug everything, leaving the preferences OPEN.

then when i have to play, and play fast, i come back onstage with my computer and plug everything in again. then i wake up the computer.

when the computer wakes up, it does not connect to firewire properly, but i get around this quickly by selecting built in audio in the prefs, and then selecting the firewire card. no restart required. it's fast and it works every time.

hope this helps.

d

mooncaine · Post by **mooncaine** » Fri Sep 29, 2006 9:27 pm

Aha, just what I was thinking, but didn't have the experience with laptops on stage to back it up. I was wondering if you could leave the Prefs open and hook up quickly -- sounds like you can. Good plan. If it's worked for you on stage, that's what counts.

taximouse · Post by **taximouse** » Sat Sep 30, 2006 1:30 am

I will try that later tonight and report back...thanks much...

Um, Mooncaine...WHAT is with your signature image? WHAT does it mean???

fatrabbit · Post by **fatrabbit** » Sun Oct 01, 2006 8:23 pm

taximouse wrote:I will try that later tonight and report back...thanks much...

Um, Mooncaine...WHAT is with your signature image? WHAT does it mean???

It hides the meaning of life.