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Subject:Acid Too Buggy
Posted by: Zacchino
Date:1/20/2004 7:19:59 AM

I'm so pissed off because it's the only software i know how to work with. I hope 5.0 will be much more stable. I hope i won't have to stop using this software since then. Here's a list of bugs :

It freezes on what i call a normal project :
2 vsti, at least 1 Eq on all tracks, couple delay and reverbs, 3 buses (with comps etc...), and one ore two Assignable.Fx. And 15 to 25 audio tracks.

On a normal computer : WinXP P4 2Ghz 512Mo Delta 44 @ 512 samples, w/ musicxp.net tweaks.

So it freezes at :
- 50% on an "un-solo-ing" action during playback of a track
- 20% on Playing/Stopping quickly 2 secs of the song
- 35% editing Bus tracks Enveloppes
- 5% on saving during playback (which corrupts the file sometimes)

Freezes = not responding, need ctrl+alt+del and wait 4 to 8 minutes till the prog disappear from my Task Manager.


Subject:RE: Acid Too Buggy
Reply by: DKeenum
Date:1/20/2004 7:37:03 AM

I wonder what the problem is? I use acid daily without problems. I do have issues from time to time, but I think they are my or my system's doing. But I'm getting ready to build a new system and I'm really curious about what is going on with you. Tell us about it.

Subject:RE: Acid Too Buggy
Reply by: Zacchino
Date:1/20/2004 8:02:27 AM

here it is
i've edited my post.

Subject:RE: Acid Too Buggy
Reply by: DKeenum
Date:1/20/2004 8:41:36 AM

Have you tested to see if the effects could be causing this? You've been around for a while, so I'm guessing you did.

Subject:RE: Acid Too Buggy
Reply by: SonicJG
Date:1/20/2004 9:29:02 AM

What percentage of the CPU are you up to during playback?
Which VSTi's are you using?

Thanks,
Joel

Subject:RE: Acid Too Buggy
Reply by: Iacobus
Date:1/20/2004 12:21:10 PM

In addition to what Joel said, have you tried the usual other troubleshooting techniques, like reducing or turning off video acceleration (and trying other video drivers)?

Iacobus
-------
RodelWorks - Original Music for the Unafraid
mD's ACIDplanet Page

Subject:RE: Acid Too Buggy
Reply by: Zacchino
Date:1/20/2004 7:34:52 PM

Thanx for reacting so quickly,

The VSTis :
Kontakt, Simsynth Live, Lounge Lizard, and LinPlug DaOrgan. All up to date.

The Effects :
Akai Rotator, Waves Gold Bundle (sooo expensive but very stable as long as i know), I use some VSTFx too with Fxpansion's adapter for my PSP MixPack.
And on Master Fx, i always use a 4 band compressor plus a maximizer (that's the way i work).

CPU Usage from 80 to 90 % (while playing, otherwise it's 2 to 3 %)
Page File Memory Usage from 400 to 415 Mo
Acid says "12/512Mb" of Ram used but i believe it's more because of the Kontakt intrument and the other VSTi.

Graphic Card : nVidia Riva TNT 2 Ultra with its 28.32 Drivers. Screen is at 1280x1024 @ 60Hz & Colors @ 32 Bits...

My Computer is configured as a Standard PC (no ACPI). So my Audio card is on Irq 5, and my graphic card on Irq 11 (weirdly sharing this Irq with an Intel USB Host Controller).

Err.. Why disabling the Video Acceleration will make my Audio Soft more Stable ? Anyway i'm trying it right now. Ow, there's a checkbox saying something like "enable write combination" (and checked). I uncheck it ?

Subject:RE: Acid Too Buggy
Reply by: Iacobus
Date:1/21/2004 11:12:57 AM

Sometimes video drivers are written and souped up to the point where they hog system resources away from other devices in your system, like your soundcard. Lowering or disabling video acceleration would ensure that the video card does not take too much priority from the other devices in your system.

Note this isn't a surefire method. You might lessen the problem but not totally solve it.

Regardless of your system, you are asking for ACID to do a lot of processing. Not only must ACID do its timestretching ability but also do real time synth generation and compression. (Not to mention Kontakt, like other quality synths, is complex.)

You should use "Standard PC" over "ACPI" only when you've exhausted other possibilities. As MusicXP.net says, you might have reduced performance as a result of using a "Standard PC" config, especially if this is an APIC system.

In addition, you might be able to get each device an IRQ of its own as long as you have enough to go around. (Assuming you don't have an APIC system.) You can try and disable your serial ports and parallel ports and free up those IRQ's for other devices to take, for example. (You'd do this in the system's BIOS.)

HTH,
Iacobus
-------
RodelWorks - Original Music for the Unafraid
mD's ACIDplanet Page

Subject:RE: Acid Too Buggy
Reply by: Big_Faced_Boy
Date:1/21/2004 2:43:46 PM

What version are you running? The latest is ACID PRO 4.0f and this is pretty stable. There were a lot of problems in the early versions of ACID 4 (4.0, 4.0a-d all had bad problems). You shouldn't have many problems with a pc of this spec if all the software AND DRIVERS are up to date and from a reliable source.

You should ideally turn off as many background tasks as possible when running ACID. Firewalls, antivirus, and all those things in the system tray all take up system time and are of little use when running audio software. This is not normally necessary, but might help in your case. The best thing to do if none of the above helps, is to backup the really important stuff (address book, samples, ACID projects, porno folder, etc.) then scrub your system and start over. All that crap you install and uninstall clutters up your system and really bogs things down over a period of time... and how much of it will you REALLY miss? Trust me... I know!!!

BFB

Subject:RE: Acid Too Buggy
Reply by: Zacchino
Date:1/22/2004 6:14:24 AM

Ok, the thing that scares me the most is that i'm an advanced user of XP.

I disabled all the undwanted services and kept the most important for OS' stability. I've tryied ACPI but it managed my system very badly i donno how, and i DID disabled my 2 serial ports (in the bios).

When i open Acid, i just keep my antivirus on and other apps (except the one for Logitech Keyboard shortcut & mouse drivers).

Also, I defrag once to twice a month. And i refuse to erase my porno files ^^.

mD,

I know i'm using Acid to do a lot of work, but i'm not a remixer. I use Acid as it claims itself "Pro". That's why i said that the project example i was talking about is for me a "normal" project (screenshot here).

As i'm earning a part of my life with music, i'm taking this issue very seriously !

Subject:RE: Acid Too Buggy
Reply by: planders
Date:1/22/2004 6:48:09 AM

Strange suggestion, but based on posts elsewhere you might consider rolling back your Delta 44 drivers. If you're using the latest ones, an awful lot of SF/Vegas users are experiencing various problems, but rolling back to the .29 drivers seems to clear it up.

Subject:RE: Acid Too Buggy
Reply by: drbam
Date:1/22/2004 7:33:09 AM

>>When i open Acid, i just keep my antivirus on and other apps (except the one for Logitech Keyboard shortcut & mouse drivers).<<

Is this correct? Or did you mean to say "antivirus off" which is highly recommended. If you have it on, try turning it off and see if it makes a difference.

drbam

Subject:RE: Acid Too Buggy
Reply by: Spheris
Date:1/22/2004 12:22:47 PM

First, reinstall and enable ACPI, that is almost 50% of your performance issues to start with. The RME page that cites use of standard over ACPI is over 4 years old and its information applies only to conditions related to the original Windows 2000 Beta 1 period.

Second, the memory meter in ACID only applies to ACID itself and has nothing to do with whatever VSTi you are running at that moment and kontakt has yet to become stable since 1.5 so I'd say that's your prime candidate and move on to a different sampler or demand NI fix it and stop playing around

Subject:RE: Acid Too Buggy
Reply by: Iacobus
Date:1/22/2004 12:51:36 PM

Hey, yours look like mine! :)

I can personally vouch for rolling back to the Delta .29's. The latest versions wreaked 24-bit recording havoc in Sound Forge 7.0 for me.

Definitely try shutting down your antivirus. In fact, go into the System Configuration Utility and disable everything under the Startup tab and restart. Sometimes you're better off if the program doesn't run at all. (Some programs may be persistent so be aware that they may show up again under the Startup list.)

HTH,
Iacobus
-------
RodelWorks - Original Music for the Unafraid
mD's ACIDplanet Page

Subject:RE: Acid Too Buggy
Reply by: Zacchino
Date:1/22/2004 2:57:52 PM

[planders] >> you might consider rolling back your Delta 44 drivers (5.0.0.29)

I'm already on 5.0.0.29, right now i'm downloading the latest drivers seen on the website (5.0.0.36) i'll check any differences.


[drbam] >> If you have it on, try turning it off and see if it makes a difference.

Norton Antivirus gets very angry when it comes tot tuning it off you know... Any suggestion on another effecient antivirus that is more audio-user-friendly ?


[Spheris] >> First, reinstall and enable ACPI, that is almost 50% of your performance issues to start with.

Ok i'll do that, i'll keep a free exclusive Irq for my soundcard but... I hope the fact that my video card is sharing Irq will not cause any trouble (and i'll cross fingers for my system not to crash ^^).


[mD] >> Hey, yours look like mine!

Broken link man, or server very busy ! But i'm lookinf foward to see how you work !
And i'm aware of every program that starts with my computers (a good utility tool about this can be found free here)

Subject:RE: Acid Too Buggy
Reply by: Iacobus
Date:1/24/2004 11:36:01 AM

The link works for me. Strange...

Iacobus
-------
RodelWorks - Original Music for the Unafraid
mD's ACIDplanet Page

Subject:RE: Acid Too Buggy
Reply by: Zacchino
Date:1/24/2004 6:46:07 PM

I'm back on ACPI... Seems that my PC likes it better.

Still, i'll let you guys know if these bugs occurs again

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