Slow drive, Logic on Quad 5, even with 2 tracks! Options

[GitGeezer]

Interesting, I answered this question for myself several months ago.

I had problems (pops, hangs, no SPDIF I/O) with the Firebox on my Powerbook 667 so I returned the Firebox and bought the Traveler. The Traveler worked much better, but now on my current system (I haven't tried SPDIF I/O yet) I have to toggle the optical input settings after booting to "wake up" audio output. Still no definitive word from MOTU (they suggested the output toggle exercise) on a real fix, but at least now once it's "awake" it works until the computer is power-cycled again.

As you can see from my sig I moved up to a Quad G5 from the Powerbook. I'm in this seriously, so I seriously abused my retirement savings. So far I haven't regretted it. Logic 7.1 is actually easy to use on this system, and Reaktor 5 may occaisionally make some (unintended) strange digital-lockup noises, but the CPU is still less than 35%. The funny part was I thought the lock-up was part of the Reaktor patch I was using so I recorded it. I didn't know it until I looked at the waveform in Logic. So much for my 30 years of synthesis experience...

I don't currently daisy-chain a FW drive from the Traveler, but I did on the Powerbook and it worked as a recording target drive. I do use FW400 drives on the Quad G5, but I intend to get a FW800 drive for recorded sound files. I've been told that the FW800 bus is independent of the FW400 bus (which is used by the Traveler) so I'm expecting pretty good performance.

Stay tuned...

[hahaworld]

Dear Friend,

I am also using a Quad G5, and I have had Slow Disk errors while using Logic Pro since I bought it in July. Have you had this problem with your G5? I've been to the Genius Bar about 4 times, and no one seems to be able to pinpoint the problem. The Slow Disk errors happen whenever I'm using a third-party plug-in like EastWest Symphonic Orchestra or Synthogy Ivory. It also happens when I'm working with audio. The other day, I only had two audio tracks running, and the Slow Disk error kept popping up. I still use Logic on my PowerBook G4, and it screams along just fine. It's sad to have a G5 Quad that runs slower than a laptop I've had since 2003. Any ideas you might have would be greatly appreciated!

Sincerely,
HaHaWorld

Interesting, I answered this question for myself several months ago.

I had problems (pops, hangs, no SPDIF I/O) with the Firebox on my Powerbook 667 so I returned the Firebox and bought the Traveler. The Traveler worked much better, but now on my current system (I haven't tried SPDIF I/O yet) I have to toggle the optical input settings after booting to "wake up" audio output. Still no definitive word from MOTU (they suggested the output toggle exercise) on a real fix, but at least now once it's "awake" it works until the computer is power-cycled again.

As you can see from my sig I moved up to a Quad G5 from the Powerbook. I'm in this seriously, so I seriously abused my retirement savings. So far I haven't regretted it. Logic 7.1 is actually easy to use on this system, and Reaktor 5 may occaisionally make some (unintended) strange digital-lockup noises, but the CPU is still less than 35%. The funny part was I thought the lock-up was part of the Reaktor patch I was using so I recorded it. I didn't know it until I looked at the waveform in Logic. So much for my 30 years of synthesis experience...

I don't currently daisy-chain a FW drive from the Traveler, but I did on the Powerbook and it worked as a recording target drive. I do use FW400 drives on the Quad G5, but I intend to get a FW800 drive for recorded sound files. I've been told that the FW800 bus is independent of the FW400 bus (which is used by the Traveler) so I'm expecting pretty good performance.

Stay tuned...

[gdoubleyou]

I would remove the samples from the system drive especially if you are attempting to stream the samples.

OSX will allways use part of your system disk for virtual memory, Logic will use the same disk to buffer audio tracks for playback, any plug that you initiate will also use virtual memory. Using the sytem monitor app I have observed virtual memory fluctuation between 8-9 GB with my humble sessions on my Powerbook.

OSX will have priority for disk access and may delay other apps in line for disk access. Also having less than 10GB free space on your system disk will affect performance.