why is this brand new powerbook useless?

AdamJay · Post by **AdamJay** » Fri Feb 18, 2005 1:41 am

stock G4 1.5ghz 12", 512MB, 60GB @ 5400
just got it from macmall for development purposes. using the stock core audio sound.
using Live 4.1

8 channels of audio (no fx) (a mix of large 5 minute waves and single bar loops) = 14% cpu, then all the sudden the cpu meter jumps to 400% and i hear a minor audio drop...
if i trigger another scene of 8 stereo channels, all hell breaks loose and i get a 1 second or longer audio drop.

things i have done:
repaired permissions, reinstalled OSX, updated to 10.3.8 (stock was 10.3.7 and exhibited the same behavior), adjusted output latency anywhere from 3ms to 47ms (exhibiting same behavior all around), ran ONYX, ran Shadow Killer, processor set to Highest, dock hiding on, dock magnification off, dock uses scale effect, airport off, menu bar clear of everything but time, airport, and battery meter.

In otherwords, every little OSX optimization technique i can think of.

even triggering a scene with only 6 stereo .wav's gives me major dropouts.
what in the hell is going on, and can anyone help me? This laptop is useless to me if i cannot fix these issues.
i'm really... REALLY frustrated.

Pitch Black · Post by **Pitch Black** » Fri Feb 18, 2005 5:29 am

Faaarkin hell!!

Is it worth checking with Live 4.0 or 3.x? Just to see if there's any difference...

AdamJay · Post by **AdamJay** » Fri Feb 18, 2005 5:34 am

i checked 4.0.4 and its acting the same
i guess i can check out 3.0 though.

i'm at my wits end really.

i ran hardware test, live is playing at the highest possible latency, and the mixer, channel views are off...

sigh... i'll try 3.0 thanks.

dirtystudios · Post by **dirtystudios** » Fri Feb 18, 2005 5:44 am

try turning off the ical alarm scheduler from the activity monitor. i used to have the same problem on my last ibook, and i fixed but i can't quite remember how i did it, or if i ever knew how i fixed it, but i remember this is one of the things i tried. the activity monitor can be a help when figuring stuff like this out.

good luck man, i know how damn frustrating that can be.

k

AdamJay · Post by **AdamJay** » Fri Feb 18, 2005 5:46 am

yea i did that, in fact i didnt even install ical

right now i'm trashing a couple .plists by the advice of an apple technician friend of mine, we'll see what happens...

AdamJay · Post by **AdamJay** » Fri Feb 18, 2005 5:49 am

trashing a few configuration .plists didnt work.

something else i've noticed... another sign of just how completely unstable it is, when live is not running, just hitting the stop button a few times brings the cpu meter up to 90% !!

could it be that these latest Rev D powerbooks aren't supported in Live 4.1, and we need another update?

dirtystudios · Post by **dirtystudios** » Fri Feb 18, 2005 7:59 am

did you check out the activity monitor to see if it showed what was causing the spikes?

k

Machinesworking · Post by **Machinesworking** » Fri Feb 18, 2005 8:42 am

AdamJay wrote:could it be that these latest Rev D powerbooks aren't supported in Live 4.1, and we need another update?

Weird?
First thing i would do is run another CPU intensive audio application, just to see if the problem is systemwide or not. I think you can play with a demo of Numerology, and if you happened to get Traction when they where giving it away.... there are a few others as well.

Did you try using whatever sound card you use with your AMD laptop? I know powerbooks are supposed to have pretty decent sound cards built in, but I've never thought it was anything to write home about....

Have you installed any other drivers for midi devices or what not?

Is Airport turned off?

Funny thing is I run an 800mhz powerbook with Live 4 just fine, so unless you are right in that the newest revision is screwed hardware wise in some way, ( unlikely ), though maybe you just have a bad machine?

OK it HAS to be said!

I.... can't.......must...... resist......

Obviously you are being punished by Apple for switching to PC!

vince watson · Post by **vince watson** » Fri Feb 18, 2005 11:43 am

the only thing that i can think of adam is either the rev d powerbooks have coreaudio problems. or youve been supplied with dodgy ram. it has been known in the past for stock powerbooks to have it....

im suprised though i must say....my 1.5 17"doesnt/has never displayed this behaviour under internal card usage, nor have i seen these no reason spikes. good luck mate, and seeing that you helped me in the past, its doubtfull i could help you any more than i have, but ask away if you feel i could...

is it only live this is happening with?

AdamJay · Post by **AdamJay** » Fri Feb 18, 2005 4:50 pm

dirtystudios: in activity monitor, the peak is happening IN live, not in any other process.

machinesworking: no new drivers, airport is always off,
and apple punished me enough with their high prices

vince: have the stock powerbooks with dodgy ram tested okay in Hardware Test ? i ran the Hardware Test on the OS CD and everything passed fine, but i can yank out that extra 256MB and see if the problem goes away.
live is the only audio application i'm using the PB with. ichat, safari are working just fine.

time to yank some ram and report back.

AdamJay · Post by **AdamJay** » Fri Feb 18, 2005 5:09 pm

well scratch that idea, the screws on the ram door are on so f'ing tight i can't get them off to find out if it is indeed a ram problem. (though with no kernel panics and passing the hardware test, i doubt it is).

sent my log.txt file to ableton support, waiting for their reply and if i cannot get it fixed next week - its going back to apple as a return (not for replacement)

vince watson · Post by **vince watson** » Fri Feb 18, 2005 5:54 pm

mm...good luck adam...bit of a pisser there...sounds like the guy at the store knew you had a pc

ive seen ram problems before when the hardware cd has tested ok...

AdamJay · Post by **AdamJay** » Fri Feb 18, 2005 6:08 pm

on the phone now with macmall regarding a return.
my first truley bad experience with a computer (mac or pc).... bah this sucks.

the real loser here is a 3rd party vj plugin implementation for live and DP that uses Core Video that i was working on, its gonna have to wait i guess.
required Unix, so i figured Darwin would be great. kinda like the Resolume for PC, but mac based and not as resource intensive.

go figure, i'll just write muzak instead.

Zky · Post by **Zky** » Sat Feb 19, 2005 12:40 am

must be a configuration issue on that machine..

..right now I have a project running 14 audio ch. with fx in some, and 5 midi ch with vst korg and v station..on motu 828..with no problems at all

pbook 1.33ghz, 1gb ram, ableton 4.04

maybe the ram,, but indeed an optimization process would be useful..

AdamJay · Post by **AdamJay** » Sat Feb 19, 2005 12:55 am

if it is a configuration issue, that is abolutely "whack" for lack of a better term.
considering it exhibits this behavior right out of the box, and also right after a clean (non-bloated) install.

one of the beauties of macs used to be that they were great right out of the box. i'm still just kind of in awe / drained from this whole experience.
waiting on a call back from macmall with regards to me returning it without having to pay the restock fee. if that doesn't work out - anyone want to buy a powerbook that doesn't work with Live? nah, didn't think so.