Ableton Forum

while I wait for the ableton crew to get back to me...

does anyone have any suggestions about standard procedures I might try to stop live from crashing? trashing preferences, that kind of thing...?

Live crashes for me when I try to launch any plugin from the plugin browser, or when I try to open another Live set from the file browser. (interesting that the action is similar in both crash cases). Live just quits.

more than a bit scary before a tour...!!


My configuration:
- Intel Mac
- Macbook Pro 15"
- 1.5 GB Ram
- Live 6.0.3
- Live slaved to external sync

crash crash crash

crashedy crash crash

what vst's you using? and what external hardware?

- only Ableton Live plugins (only ones on my system besides Apple plugins)
- Live receiving midi clock from Alesis SR-16
- Motu Ultralight midi in (firewire)

check the support on the alesis and motu just in case in the meantime

i managed to reproduce the crash with my firebox too.
i'll see if i can dig up another external clock source to test

actually what is more FREAKY is Live quitting when I try to open another set.

i'll try to restrain from using ALL CAPS but this is !!!%$&*!!!

when audio is stopped, and i try to open another set from the file menu or the browser on the left, Live QUITS.

oh excuse me, audience, while i banter with you in between every song and relaunch this program.

i would do it all in one set but the time signatures change (3/4, 6/4, 4/4)

so have u trashed the live prefs? upgraded drivers for motu?

do that first, then if its still phukt try using Onyx (http://www.titanium.free.fr/pgs2/english/download.html) and run the following tasks:

repair permissions
run all unix maintenance tasks
completely optimise the system

whilst ur there u can also clear the system and application caches, and remove temporary files...

reboot, and fingers crossed!

i dont get this kind of crash on my system which is almost identical... but i get a lot of problems with unreliable midi sync, altho i think its related to the remote SL drivers being a bit shit. need to do some more tests!

thank ye justin. that is good advice. doing those things now.

ok..

I did all of those things.

LIVE STILL CRASHES when opening a live plugin or a different live set from the one currently open.

shite.

i just picked up a macbookpro as well... had my fare share of issues... but ableton isn't crashing....

did the rig come standard with the 1.5 gb or ram or did you add some?

this is a wild stab ... but,
if you added that ram, it might be a possibility that it corrupted or bunk....

if you get really desperate , you can always try taking out that 512 stick of ram, and then seeing what happens.

my gut intuition is that the only 'serious' memory/processor consuming application is Live... when you load the projects and it crashes suggests that the OS is hitting up those upper allocations of ram, hence your 512 stick....

good luck.

jda

ps: try ps -ef in console window and see whats running (unix right?)

ok unplug everything and try just live with no peripherals (no midi audio hardware other than built in soundcard).

ram is also a good point, if its not the right type it could be causing probs. but those should occur throughout the OS - whenever u run processes (applications) which eat more than 1gb.

what about crash logs, any idea what thread crashes?
have u passed these on to ableton support?

Try uninstalling Live, then reinstalling with NO plug ins or external hardware. Still crashing?

I'm running almost the same set up as you, and not seeing this at all.

My vote would be bad RAM too if this still happens.

Thanks everyone for all the help. At the least, all this maintenance has left me with a nice clean system.

I tried all this stuff:
- ran onyx, ran apple hardware test, trashed prefs, re-installed live.
- removed 1GB ram chip, replaced it with original 512MB

Still Live crashes when opening files or plugins.

I think I've narrowed the problem down significantly though. This is the only thing that makes a difference:

*Live DOES NOT crash when the external sync button is OFF.*

If I turn off EXT and then open a file or plugin, I'm golden. So I'm getting somewhere I think. Now, if only that feature were midi-mappable...

FYI: My sets are tiny as there are no audio clips to load. I don't record any audio into Live, or play any pre-recorded audio clips. It just plays dummy midi clips and envelopes.

firstly, i think the macbook pro comes with 1 gb of ram as standard - in which case, its the 512mb chip u want to take out...

secondly, i know am repeating myself, but try just live with no peripherals (no midi audio hardware other than built in soundcard). as u mention in your post, turning midi sync off seems to make live more stable...

if live works fine with no midi (i appreciate this might not be the way u work with it, but bear with me), then its pretty safe to say it's the motu drivers. solution being a complete uninstall of the drivers, followed by a clean and up to date reinstall.

if none of the above work then i suppose it could be something is wrong with ur OSX installation. in which case, backup and clean install.