. Hardware issues

  1. Macintosh: general troubleshooting hints
  2. Logic 6 freezes in OSX (Mac)
  3. I get frequent Audio/ASIO overloads
  4. Soundcard recommendations
  5. Exchanging songs with Logicians who use a different audio driver
  6. I get pops and clicks (or crashes) with my UAD-1 card
  7. Digi001 crashes Logic (Mac)
  8. Getting 6042 errors (PCI Bus overload error) with the Digi 001 on Mac (tip)
  9. I get a message saying "Key Does not Respond". How can I correct this? (PC)
  10. The Logic serial key is not responding (PC)
  11. Still problems with Logic even now that I have removed and reinstalled it (PC)
  12. LAWP suddenly locks up (PC)
  13. Dongle kills COM port (PC)
  14. Where can I find Stealth serial adapters for G4?
  15. Is ASIO 2 sample sync supported with "xxx" hardware?
  16. IDE/ATA drives versus SCSI
  17. Adaptec and SCSI
  18. My shift key doesn't work, and I'm using the Wave PAZ plug-in (Mac)
  19. Button-assignment tip for Logitech users (applies to some other mice as well) (tip)
  20. Scroll Mouse and Logic (Mac)
  21. Spreading processor load on MP Macs
  22. How do I assign more RAM to Logic in OS 9? (Mac)
  23. Speeding up OSX a bit (tip)

.1 Macintosh: general troubleshooting hints

Various things to try when troubleshooting a system that gives lots of crashes, CPU overload, Mac AV errors, Direct I/O errors, etc, etc.

  1. Move the Logic preferences from the System > Preferences folder onto the desktop, and re-launch Logic. If the problem now goes away, import the key commands from your old Preferences file (in the Key Commands window) and then trash the old file.
  2. Make sure you have the latest drivers for all your hardware (audio card, midi interface, etc). Check the web to make sure.
  3. Start Logic with the Control key held down. This will disable all audio drivers. If the problem now goes away, this might give you a clue as to what to look for.
  4. Start with an "OS 9 base" extension set (use the Extension Manager Control Panel), to which you only add the strictly necessary stuff, like drivers for your audio card, midi interface, and such. If the problem now goes away, add extensions one by one, each time working with Logic for a while to see if the problems come back. This way, try to determine which extensions causes the problem.
  5. Rebuild the desktop: restart your Mac and just before the desktop is about to appear, press Command-Option until a dialog asks you if you want to rebuild the desktop. Answer "yes".
  6. Zap parameter RAM (PRAM): restart the Mac and immediately hold down Option-Command-P-R until you hear the startup sound a second time. Note that zapping PRAM will rest settings in various Control Panels, which you thus have to restore: Memory, Monitors, Sound, Keyboard, Mouse, AppleTalk, Map.
  7. Defragment your harddisks - especially the one containing the audio files.
  8. Use Disk First Aid to check for problems.
  9. After using Disk First Aid, use Norton Utilities or a similar program to check for more errors.
  10. If the problem seems soundcard-related and you use various PCI-cards: try swapping them around. Sometimes the order of PCI cards does make a difference.
  11. If you have a PCI SCSI card: remove it and see if the problem goes away.
  12. If you have an iMate: connect the iMate to a single USB bus (directly to the G4), don't connect anything else but the LAMP dongle to it, and don't forget to update the drivers to the latest available (ver. 1.7.7 or better).
  13. Re-install Logic in a new folder.
  14. If all else fails, and you really can't find the cause of the problems, you might install a clean system, or even resort to formatting your harddisk (after you've made a complete backup of course) and do a clean-install of everything on disk. This should only be necessary in extreme cases though.

CPU overload: If you have to send SYS EX messages to set your synth, you have to send them one by one. The other solutions is to have a dedicated "send sysex song" that you would play at the beginning of a Logic session.
You could put all your tracks that contain sys-ex and synth settings in a folder that is e.g. 4 bars long. When you play the song the first time you unmute this folder, then as soon at Logic has played the folder you mute it again. 

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.2 Logic 6 freezes in OSX (Mac)

Have you got an earlier version of Logic? Try v5.5 and see if it does the same.

If you possibly can then I'd start from a completely stripped down system and before you install anything else get LAM working.

Stop at each step - I don't know whether you're using a SCSI drive or another external drive - but reformat your hard drive - write zeroes to it using Drive setup.

Install OSX (I hear strange things about 10.2.5 but go to 10.2.4).
Install Logic.
No MIDI and no audio cards.
See if it works with just core audio.
Install your MIDI interface.
See if it still works.
Install any external audio drive you may be using.
See if it still works.
Install your audio interface.
See if it still works.
Install any plug ins you may have.
See if it still works.
Install any other hardware or software one step at a time.

Just a bit of reassurance - you will get it working! One step at a time...

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.3 I get frequent Audio/ASIO overloads

I got this until I stopped Logic sending MIDi clock to all outputs (in Song Settings > Synchronisation Options). It's been great since I started only sending MIDI clock where it needs to go. I can't over-emphasise the huge difference this made for me.

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.4 Soundcard recommendations

In choosing a suitable soundcard, the first thing is, you must decide what you need the card for, in other words, define your area of work. If you are working purely with MIDI then you may be happy with a mass-market sound card such as Soundblaster, Terratec etc. offer. This way, you have access to GM architecture to play back MIDI files, GM multi instruments out of Logic etc. This has cross application benefits as well, of course - if you want to make MIDI files, which are then compatible with lots of computer applications, from Media Players to other sequencers, than GM is important, as is having a "universal" sound card, so you can ensure that your MIDI file really works on a typical, non DAW-configured computer.

If, OTOH, you use your computer for recording Audio, than you will probably find yourself exceeding the limits of mass-market sound cards pretty fast, so you have to look at what specialised audio hardware is on offer. The issues here are:

  1. I/O: How many inputs and outputs do I need?
    If you want to record vox or single instruments, 2-4 inputs might be OK. If you need to multitrack a drum set, or rythmn section, then you will find it easy to exceed 12 inputs, for example:
    Kick
    Snare
    Tom x 3
    HiHat
    Overheads x 2
    makes 8, more if you want to take the snare top and bottom, if you want to mike up the room etc.
     
    As well as that, you may be simultaneously tracking bass, guitars, a guide vocal, so it makes sense to think of 12-16 inputs.
    Another issue that crops up is a mixerless studio where external keyboards are routed through the computer - this can also eat into your inputs.
     
    As far as outputs are concerned, of course 2 for stereo monitoring, external mixing etc. If you have external FX that you want access to, then you need more. If you need to do surround, than you are looking at 6 outputs. If you are using an external mixer for mixdown, then you need one output for every discrete audio channel, group or output object that you wish to send out of logic to your mixer. In practical terms, I think for a DAW, unless you are using an external mixer, most requirements are covered by 8 outs.
     
  2. External vs. internal AD/DA converters. The next issue is, are the converters on the card, or external, linked with Firewire, USB, ADAT, TDIF etc.
    The first time you record some quiet acoustical instrument through a soundcard with on-board converters, is the time that you realise that having a conversion resolution of 16, or even 24 bits, is kind of irrelevant if your noise floor is lying around -50 dB (or even higher). What causes this are all the electronic emissions from your mainboard, Graphic card, HDD, Processor etc. which are picked up by the converters in your card, in the computer case. This means you have, in real terms, only about 8 bits of audio headroom, the other 8-16 bits of resolution are lost in the noise generated by your computer.
     
    If you are looking for a quality signal chain, it is most important to get the conversion done well away from the computer. The difference is much more significant than going from 16 to 20 or 24 bit audio resolution! This means external converters.
     
  3. Latency. The other big issue, which is a kind of "holy grail" amongst DAW users, is latency -- how fast an audio signal can be sent through the whole computer system, from AD conversion, through the interface -- PCI, USB, Firewire, PCMCIA are the standard ones -- into Logic, processing, and back out again. This assumes importance if, for example, a singer is overdubbing to an already recorded backing track in logic, and his/her own voice is being monitored through the computer. It stands to reason that you cannot perform well if you hear your own voice through headphones with a delay on it!
     
    In the case of soft synths, such as Emagics EXS 24, ES2 EVD6 etc. or the various 3rd party applications such as Native Instruments' Absynth, "latency" is how fast the soft synth reacts to being triggered. Obviously, a keyboarder wants to play it like a "real" keyboard, without any delay between striking the key and hearing the sound.

So, pursuing this line of thought, we are looking at a card which specialises in streaming digital audio to and from the computer. Then we have to look at external converters. Obviously budget starts to play a part here. There are of course external USB systems such as Emagics own EMI 6/2 and 2/6, which, although restricted in having two inputs or outputs, may satisfy a lot of people. There are also Firewire systems available, for example from MOTU, which connect an external AD/DA converter to a Firewire port (with which all modern Macs are equipped, and which are becoming common features on PC mainboards, or alternatively, can be purchased on seperate PCI card).

As of this writing in December 2002, the following manufacturers have a pretty good reputation for cards, converters and external audio interfaces for Multitrack-capable DAW systems:
RME, MOTU, Edirol, M-Audio, Marian, Creamware, Presonus, Hoontech, presonus, ESI, Emagic, Digidesign, Kronauer.
(please note - no recommendation is being made, nor is this list intended to be complete)

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.5 Exchanging songs with Logicians who use a different audio driver

Question: How do I exchange a Logicsong with someone else who uses a different audio driver? When I open his song there is a stroke over all the plug-ins and audio instruments. I use an ASIO soundcard and he uses a DIO soundcard.

Answer:
Pick "Audio Configuration" from the Audio menu.
In the window's Device menu, select the kind of the hardware you want to convert from (DIO in this case)
Press Command-A [Ctrl-A] for "select all" (you won't see the difference)
Press Command-C [Ctrl-C] for "copy"
Change to the other layer (ASIO in this case)
Press Command-V [Ctrl-V] for "paste"
There'll be a dialog asking you "You're about to copy...". Confirm this by clicking yes.
Now go to the Audio Mixer and change all audio objects from DIO to ASIO. All your plugins will be there, everything in place and nothing should be crossed out.

This is also the way to convert songs between OS X (CoAU/MacAV) and OS 9 (other audio drivers).

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.6 I get pops and clicks (or crashes) with my UAD-1 card

Question: I own a UAD-1 card. Why do I get pops and clicks, or sometimes I/O overloads or even crashes, when switching tracks in Logic that have UAD-1 plug-ins inserted on them?

Answer: Logic buffers audio in different ways, with different buffer sizes for audio tracks / live inputs / etc. To force Logic to use the same buffer size on all of your UAD-1 tracks, insert an I/O helper plug-in in the first insert slot of the track, assign an output in the plug-in (the default "---" won't do) and bypass it. Then you are free to insert any combination of regular plug-ins and UAD-1 plug-ins in the other insert slots. Now when you switch tracks with UAD-1 plug-ins on them nothing strange should happen.

Also keep in mind that the UAD-1 is very picky about what PCI slot it likes to be in, with certain computers. Check the UAD-1 forums for details:
http://www.chrismilne.com/uadforums/default.asp or
http://www.mackie.com/scripts/forum/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=forum&f=14

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.7 Digi001 crashes Logic (Mac)

  1. Try launching Logic with the control key held down. This will allow you to launch the program without the audio engine(s). See what kind of response this brings.
  2. Start up your Mac with all extensions disabled (holding down the shift key on restart). When you launch Logic the DAE won't boot, but try it without it and see what happens.
  3. Create an extension set with just your necessary extensions and inits (DAE, etc). See what happens.
  4. Try physically disconnecting external peripherals (Digi 001, HDs, etc) and see if Logic boots.

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.8 Getting 6042 errors (PCI Bus overload error) with the Digi 001 on Mac (tip)

6042 error (PCI Bus overload error): This was due to a conflict with OS 9.2.2 or the current drivers for my ATI card. If you are using a second ATI card, disable ATI extension except graphic accelerator & resource manager. With this I never get a -6042 error

Except:

If you are running a spdif front end like the TC Finalizer or anything connected to the spdif port and are syncing through spdif with the 001, I have to enable mirror outputs through spdif in the Digi set up/hardware set up of the Digi control panel. If not I will get the dreaded -6042 error.

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.9 I get a message saying "Key Does not Respond". How can I correct this? (PC)

This problem is usually caused by a conflict with the Com Port that your key is connected to. There can be several causes:

  1. The external serial port on your computer is not currently enabled. To check this, reboot your system and go into your system Bios. Go to the section that allows you to configure the integrated peripheral devices. Different Bios versions will label this in various ways. Some examples might be "Integrated Peripheral Setup", "Integrated Peripherals", "Built-in Devices", etc. When you locate the appropriate section, make sure that each of the two external serial ports are enabled. The first port should be configured as "Com1, 3f8(h)". The second external serial port should be set to "Com2, 2f8(h). Exit the Bios, saving the changes.
  2. Once you have insured that your external serial ports are properly configured, the next step is to make sure that no other internal devices are using one of the Com Ports that the External serial ports are set to use. The most common source of conflict would be an internal modem. In your Windows95 Control Panel, select "Modems". highlight your modem, and click on the "Properties" button. If it is set to Com1 or Com2, you will want to reset it to Com3 or Com4. Generally, if your mouse is on Com1, it's best to set the modem to Com4. If your mouse is on Com2, then Com3 is the best setting for the modem. Check the documentation for your modem for instructions on resetting the Com Port. Another possible conflict would be a serial MIDI driver, such as that supplied with the Alesis QS6, or the Yamaha CS-1x. Remove any such drivers in the Windows Control Panel in the "Multimedia" section.
  3. After you have insured that there are no conflicts, you will want to have Logic rescan your Com Ports for the key. To do so, open the "Program Files\Emagic\Logic" folder. Double-click on the "_final.exe" file. This will scan the ports. If successful, you will see a dialog box telling you that Logic Audio is installed, otherwise you will see the "Key Not Found..." dialog. If this happens, recheck the above, and make sure that everything is as it should be. If you are still unable to resolve the problem, call Emagic Tech Support.

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.10 The Logic serial key is not responding (PC)

Have you tried:

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.11 Still problems with Logic even now that I have removed and reinstalled it (PC)

It might be that an entry has been placed in the registry which is now there for ever and may be difficult to trace, and does not get removed by a de-install.

Two things:

  1. I know hind sight is easy but arm yourself with the registry backup program which backs up all system files + the registry called ERU. This saves all files to the hard disk and enables you to recover from a DOS boot, Shift F5. Use this before you install every package under 98 and keep them all until you know the system is stable in separate folders. When you have everything loaded and the system has been stable for a couple of weeks just do another backup and overwrite the last one and keep it as the master backup. Then if you ever get this type of problem, de-install the software, boot to DOS and recover with ERD (not ERU, ERU is the creator, ERD is the recovered).
  2. If it was me, I would go through the registry with a fine tooth comb and delete all entries for anything relating to Logic and Winamp (after de-installing them first), and then try and do a re-install. When you have got it all back up and running, run ERU. The more you fiddle with the registry the more confident you get, but back it up first to prevent total disaster.

PS. ERU used to be shipped on 95 CDs, and works fine with 98, but I don't think it is included anymore with 98 as 98 has it's own system backup facilities. I prefer ERU however, it is far easier to use in my view.

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.12 LAWP suddenly locks up (PC)

I have had some similar experiences and needed to reload not Logic, but the drivers for the midi and audio interfaces.

WARNING: you may need to do a full format and reinstall after trying this so treat it as a last resort!!!!!

I suggest you try the following:

The above attempts to remove a corrupt driver file. Install and reinstall options often don't replace existing files. Eg. My Opcode miditranslator died. I was sure it wasn't a hardware problem so I uninstalled and reinstalled - nothing. I did all the above. It was only when I delete the tpc.386 file from the c:\windows\system that it installed correctly. If you can't find the file that is dead, then it may be that it is quicker to start again

It could also be a registry problem. Uninstall logic, and then use regedit to search for any orphaned references to logic, and delete any that you find. Then re-install Logic.

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.13 Dongle kills COM port (PC)

Question: I have LAWP on a PIII 550. It seems the presence of my Emagic dongle is killing my COM port once I have run Logic. Here's the configuration: COM1 is my Logic dongle, COM3 is my modem.

You cannot use COMM 1 and COMM 3 at the same time. They both use IRQ 4, and COMM 2 and COMM 4 both use IRQ 3.

I put the dongle between COM1 and my Unitor8 MIDI interface and it worked perfectly and left my modem open, even when using Logic!

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.14 Where can I find Stealth serial adapters for G4?

http://www.gee3.com/stealth.html

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.15 Is ASIO 2 sample sync supported with "xxx" hardware?

Logic Audio supports ASIO2 with Sonorus StudI/O

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.16 IDE/ATA drives versus SCSI

Question: Does anyone know if there is a huge difference in track count in LAWP when using ATA 66 drives? It's just that I have a 66 drive, but my mobo doesn't support it. Is it really worthwhile changing boards?

Answer: Some home truths about IDE/Ultra ATA 33 and 66

IDE can only deal with ONE device per channel (i.e. ONE drive) at a time. It time-slices between the devices when transferring data from one to the other...and this time slicing is BAD for digital audio as it causes a pause in the streaming of audio data to the hard disk. This can manifest itself as an audio glitch....so trying to record to multiple IDE drives simultaneously is OUT!!!

Each IDE channel can support two devices - most motherboards have two channels allowing for 4 IDE devices to be connected and this is the limit of Ultra ATA 33.

Ultra ATA 66 equipped motherboards are capable of supporting four devices per channel allowing for 8 IDE devices to be connected. This, however, is a bit of a scam as these motherboards have the standard motherboard controlled IDE chipset (i.e. standard or Ultra ATA 33) for four drives and a second Ultra ATA 66 chipset for the other four.

No present drive - even ones with a spindle speed of 10,000 RPM - is capable of sustained data transfer at even the Ultra ATA 33 rate (33MB a sec), much less Ultra ATA 66. Most of these disks will, at best manage 20MB a sec. So, save your money for now.

There is no way that multiple Ultra-ATA drives can compete with multiple (Ultra Wide) SCSI drives running at the same spindle speed because, as mentioned, the IDE/ATA bus can only deal with one device at a time and is incapable of parallel transfers. So if you have a need for lots of playback tracks and intend on using more than one hard disk for recording audio then SCSI is the business.

Having said this though, even a 5400 RPM Ultra ATA 33 drive should EASILY give you 16-24 tracks of playback on a PII/300...dependent on your audio card's capabilities and processor overheads and on how well your system is configured.

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.17 Adaptec and SCSI

Question: SCSI BUS Clarification: I read that the external connector built onto the ADAPTEC is of no use since connecting something there would result in a Y-connection with one of the internal bus connectors.

Answer: Just to clarify, this only applies if you are using BOTH internal connectors. It does sound like bad cable / term to me though also.

If you are using internal narrow and you are using the external wide, make sure the Adaptec's term is set to High On - Low off, or sometimes called High Byte. If you are using internal wide and you are using external wide make sure the Adaptec's term is set to disabled and make sure you ALWAYS turn the external device on first and make sure it is always turned on and never left off for some system boots. If you do not want to always use the external, set the Adaptec to auto and ALWAYS unplug the external drive when not in use BEFORE the power on.

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.18 My shift key doesn't work, and I'm using the Wave PAZ plug-in (Mac)

Not a hardware problem at all, even though it seems like one...

I have a PAZ Meter (Wave plug-in) as an insert on the Master out. I always have it running in order to have BIG precision metering. If I have it running (as if it were a plug-in I were adjusting settings on, on-the-fly) I can't use the shift key on my keyboard (the plug-in disables the use of the shift key i guess). If I let PAZ run (in the background) but don't "visualize" it, then my shift key works fine.

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.19 Button-assignment tip for Logitech users (applies to some other mice as well) (tip)

This is just a tip for Logic users who are missing the scrollwheel feature in Logic Mac. If you have a Logitech three button mouse incl. webwheel you can do the following set up.

left buttton : click

right button : Control Shift click

wheel button : Command s

Now when you are in the Arrange window, just hit the right button and you can navigate very easily. When dragging a region (right or left corner) hit the left button to shorten the region in steps, clicking the left and then the right button gives you the modifier click for finest resolution without the left hand on the keyboard. Wheel button is a one-click "save".

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.20 Scroll Mouse and Logic (Mac)

Logic on Mac OS X supports scroll wheels.

On Mac OS 9, you must reassign the action the scroll wheel performs. By default, it sends scroll messages to the vertical scroll bar. Logic however does not use Mac OS scroll bars on Mac OS 9. So instead you should reprogram the mouse driver (or USB Overdrive) to send key commands which let the Logic window scroll.

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.21 Spreading processor load on MP Macs

Inserting the I/O Logic Helper plug, designating an output (the default "---" won't do), then bypassing the plugin (leaving it on the channel strip), throws all the plugins on that channel strip to the other processor. This way you can maximize the usage of both processors.

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.22 How do I assign more RAM to Logic in OS 9? (Mac)

In the Finder select the Logic application. Press Command-I. In the info window that now opens, go to the popup thingy that's there, and pick "Memory" from it. Change the memory allocation. Close info window. Launch Logic.

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.23 Speeding up OSX a bit (tip)

Go to the Utilities folder in your Applications folder. In there you will find a file called Directory Access. Open it. You'll notice a list of Server programs (extensions). If you are not on a network of computers or needing to connect to Windows servers, then there are a bunch you can turn off. Read the help file to find out which ones you don't need. Currently I'm only using Appletalk for my old laser printer. The rest are turned off.

Once you turn off the ones you don't need, you can hit apply and then check out your system. It should launch apps a little quicker and windows and screen stuff should be snappier.

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