Ableton Forum

Switched to a windows PC several months ago since I gradually outgrew my Macbook's processing power...

I expected it to be more effort to get things to work, however I really did not anticipate quite how much of a nightmare it was going to be.

Seems to go in up and downs, but today I have turned on my PC and am literally struggling to get Ableton to do anything at all. First time I turned PC on, it would play audio for 3 seconds or so then the orange Dropout icon lights up. It stayed lit until I pause/play. All the while Ableton was consuming MAXIMUM 10% cpu.

Now I have restarted my PC, and Ableton is totally frozen on startup - cant even get it to make respond to mouse. In this case it is using essentially no CPU when frozen.

Driver-wise I am trying to use the Focusrite USB2.0 ASIO (which I assume is the best one for my soundcard). I have gone through all the steps for 'optimizing windows' blahblahblah. I have ran tests on my primary disk to check for issues.

Does anyone have any actual sincere advice as to how to proceed? I don't really see what my options are other than going for Hackintosh or straight up selling my PC

First question: What audio interface are you using? Drivers up to date? What kind of PC? Same question about drivers.

If power management is set to 'full' for your selected power profile, I don't have any other major tips. A lot of people tend to forget to set it to 100%.

This doesn't sound like a power-management problem--it sounds more like an audio driver that isn't intended for low-latency applications.

dr_yolo wrote:
Driver-wise I am trying to use the Focusrite USB2.0 ASIO (which I assume is the best one for my soundcard).

If you are using a first gen 6i6 you need these drivers :
https://d2zjg0qo565n2.cloudfront.net/si ... ol-1.8.exe

If you are using a second gen you need these:
https://d2zjg0qo565n2.cloudfront.net/si ... -2.1.7.exe

They are not the same driver. There is no driver called "Focusrite USB2.0 ASIO"

Its scarlett mix control for gen 6i6 or focusrite controll for gen 2 6i6

If you are using Focusrite Controll 2.0 Then you are using an out of date driver that wont have proper bug fixes for the Windows updates that almost certainly have downloaded.

Using a 2nd gen 18i20 here on windows 10 with no issues, bear in mind ensure the focusrite is not on a usb hub, as they can be picky with USB ports, and more importantly you are not using the correct drivers.

ark wrote:First question: What audio interface are you using? Drivers up to date? What kind of PC? Same question about drivers.

Hey mate. Using the Focusrite Scarlet 6i6 as I said in da post. Using the most recent ASIO drivers direct from Focusrites website.

Emanresu0891 wrote:

dr_yolo wrote:
Driver-wise I am trying to use the Focusrite USB2.0 ASIO (which I assume is the best one for my soundcard).

If you are using a first gen 6i6 you need these drivers :
https://d2zjg0qo565n2.cloudfront.net/si ... ol-1.8.exe

If you are using a second gen you need these:
https://d2zjg0qo565n2.cloudfront.net/si ... -2.1.7.exe

They are not the same driver. There is no driver called "Focusrite USB2.0 ASIO"

Its scarlett mix control for gen 6i6 or focusrite controll for gen 2 6i6

If you are using Focusrite Controll 2.0 Then you are using an out of date driver that wont have proper bug fixes for the Windows updates that almost certainly have downloaded.

Thanks for this mate. I had to think about it - however I am fairly sure I have the 1st gen 6i6. Going to try the 2nd gen driver software just in case i am wrong. I noticed on their download page that the 1st Gen drivers haven't been updated since 2014!!! Do you reckon this could be part of the issue?

Mark Williams wrote:Using a 2nd gen 18i20 here on windows 10 with no issues, bear in mind ensure the focusrite is not on a usb hub, as they can be picky with USB ports, and more importantly you are not using the correct drivers.

Interesting to hear the 2nd gen is working good.

Maybe I just need to get a get a newer soundcard. Is it shame however as the one I have works seamlessly on with OSX

Windows also has auto updates that are a pain in the ass, seems to cause trouble when they're in the cue, not sure

dr_yolo wrote:

Mark Williams wrote:Using a 2nd gen 18i20 here on windows 10 with no issues, bear in mind ensure the focusrite is not on a usb hub, as they can be picky with USB ports, and more importantly you are not using the correct drivers.

Interesting to hear the 2nd gen is working good.

Maybe I just need to get a get a newer soundcard. Is it shame however as the one I have works seamlessly on with OSX

I have the 18i8 Gen 2 and have a system very similar to yours as far as specs. Gigabyte LGA1151 Intel H170 Mini-ITX, i5-6500, 16GB RAM, multiple hard drives to include, SSD, Hybrid and M.2 SSD. I have no issues with Windows 10 and Ableton. I previously had the 6i6 Gen 1 but never used it in Windows 10. I have been told that the Gen 2 drivers do work and help improve performance on the Gen 1 interfaces. Something worth trying.

If you're having any performance issues before you even open Ableton then that should be sorted out first. Some things to try is to create a new windows user profile in case there is something corrupted in your current profile. Minimize any apps running on startup or in the system tray. Try to refresh the windows install.

As much as I hate to, sometimes you just need a clean install on Windows. If you get to this point after the reinstall, install any windows updates, install the minimal amount of software that you need, your audio drivers and Ableton. If Ableton works fine after the install then install you other software and devices one at a time testing Ableton after each install until you run into any issues.

Software can be hard enough to troubleshoot but if there is an underlying hardware issue that can be even harder to detect. You may want to try to run the system as bare as possible. If you have a two 8GB sticks of Ram, try running on one at a time. Pull any additional hardware that is not necessary (could be a power drain/power supply issue).

Whether you use Mac/PC/or other they can all run into issues. I've had to help friends with Macs that ran worse than my PCs. It's just a matter of learning to troubleshoot with the process of elimination. Hope this helps.

aratunes wrote:Windows also has auto updates that are a pain in the ass, seems to cause trouble when they're in the cue, not sure

windows 8 rules man

pencilrocket wrote: windows 8 rules man

Always with the top quality helpful input there.

Does anyone have any actual sincere advice as to how to proceed? I don't really see what my options are other than going for Hackintosh or straight up selling my PC

Probably the worst thing someone can do is just give up when they encounter the first issue. Will never progress like that.

So in regards to this:

I have gone through all the steps for 'optimizing windows' blahblahblah.

What "all the steps" have you gone through? If you have made the switch from Mac to PC what is your skill level with Windows 10 (how much do you use the technical side of the OS)?

- You have checked to make sure Windows is running the CPU at 100%?
- You have checked your CPU/Power saving settings are disabled in your BIOS?
- Checked your BIOS/UEFI is up to date?
- Stress tested your Ram/CPU/GPU and HDD Read/Write capabilities?
- Checked your overall system latency with LatencyMon?
- Uninstalled/disabled windows services and software that are not required?
- Disabled 3rd party firewalls and antivirus while troubleshooting?
- Disabled other utilities such as Skype, Dropbox, Daemon tools etc?
- Checked all drivers for all hardware and ensured you have everything up to date as much as possible?
- Checked device manager for any issues with devices?
- Ensured you are running the latest version of Live?

There are a lot of different tweaks and settings one can do.

There is always a solution, many tens of thousands of people use Live with Windows without issue so try keep that in mind first that your issue isn't a common Windows or Live issue.

Ableton is totally frozen on startup - cant even get it to make respond to mouse. In this case it is using essentially no CPU when frozen.

Ok, so if you think it could be soundcard or driver related try and rule that part out. Disconnect your audio interface and boot up live. Set the audio to NO OUTPUT or direct Out and see if live becomes responsive. Close Live, connect the audio interface then start Live again. It should still be set to no sound so now try and set the card. Does it lock up when you do? Means it's an issue with your card or drivers.

If it isn't the sound card then try disconnect other things you may have just in case it is something.

If you haven't already, uninstall Live, then do a new install. What version are you running?

jestermgee wrote:

pencilrocket wrote: windows 8 rules man

Always with the top quality helpful input there.

Does anyone have any actual sincere advice as to how to proceed? I don't really see what my options are other than going for Hackintosh or straight up selling my PC

Probably the worst thing someone can do is just give up when they encounter the first issue. Will never progress like that.

So in regards to this:

I have gone through all the steps for 'optimizing windows' blahblahblah.

What "all the steps" have you gone through? If you have made the switch from Mac to PC what is your skill level with Windows 10 (how much do you use the technical side of the OS)?

- You have checked to make sure Windows is running the CPU at 100%?
- You have checked your CPU/Power saving settings are disabled in your BIOS?
- Checked your BIOS/UEFI is up to date?
- Stress tested your Ram/CPU/GPU and HDD Read/Write capabilities?
- Checked your overall system latency with LatencyMon?
- Uninstalled/disabled windows services and software that are not required?
- Disabled 3rd party firewalls and antivirus while troubleshooting?
- Disabled other utilities such as Skype, Dropbox, Daemon tools etc?
- Checked all drivers for all hardware and ensured you have everything up to date as much as possible?
- Checked device manager for any issues with devices?
- Ensured you are running the latest version of Live?

There are a lot of different tweaks and settings one can do.

There is always a solution, many tens of thousands of people use Live with Windows without issue so try keep that in mind first that your issue isn't a common Windows or Live issue.

Ableton is totally frozen on startup - cant even get it to make respond to mouse. In this case it is using essentially no CPU when frozen.

Ok, so if you think it could be soundcard or driver related try and rule that part out. Disconnect your audio interface and boot up live. Set the audio to NO OUTPUT or direct Out and see if live becomes responsive. Close Live, connect the audio interface then start Live again. It should still be set to no sound so now try and set the card. Does it lock up when you do? Means it's an issue with your card or drivers.

If it isn't the sound card then try disconnect other things you may have just in case it is something.

If you haven't already, uninstall Live, then do a new install. What version are you running?

Just thought about this, also disable/uninstall any plugins that may be installed. One could be causing an issue.

jestermgee wrote:

pencilrocket wrote: windows 8 rules man

Always with the top quality helpful input there.

Anytime bro