Solid State HD causing output buffer loss?

[RBIngraham]

The only hardware components I have changed was the hard drive and the power supply, nothing else. The only software change was an upgrade to the rme total mix and SAC 2.9 to 3.0. How could these changes take a 100% stable system to a completely unstable uncontrollable system? And ok I am not completely disappointed in SAC, i am however frustrated beyond belief that a very simple "upgrade" turned my very stable system into a completely unusable system in no time. I understand SAC really is accomplishing an amazing thing very quickly. I get it but so is behringer and avid, and well everyone else and there is no way those companies have a technological advantage over you Bob because you have laid the groundwork for them and their new systems! All i know is i have put complete and full trust into SAC and i am honestly terrified to bring it to another show right now and i am suppose to mix a guy from the voice in a couple weeks on SAC and this needs to be fixed yesterday. I will take it one step at a time and make it work properly again but i need advise to do so now! I have exhausted my technological understanding of it.

Kyle, with all due respect I wouldn't classify these changes as being all that minor. You changed your Power Supply, put in a new system drive, which from the sounds of it was not a fresh install, but a repair job from a hard drive that crashed and you updated your version of SAC. Sorry, but I would say that is a fair number of changes and it doesn't sound like you implemented them incrementally, testing after each step. If I was making those changes I personally wouldn't send out my SAC system without at least a good week's worth of free time, testing the rig and letting it sit and run and trying to make it mess up first.

And lastly I would just say... SAC is software. You're running an off the shelf computer with an off the shelf OS which as Bob stated was never meant for real time processing. As good of job as I think Bob has done in making SAC pretty damn stable all things considered.... it's still a piece of software being used for a mixing console. And that should be considered whenever you're making a Pro vs Con list of which tools is best suited for the task at hand. As much as I like to use SAC to mix the shows I work on, I know full well that most of the hardware digital consoles are likely to be more stable. Or at the very least, there is far less chance of some driver issues taking down the console. Yes, it does happen under the right circumstances even with hardware digital consoles. (they are just computers as well after all... just with dedicated software and OS... usually)

Just saying that if running a computer for your console scares you maybe you should consider something else. For me SAC's flexibility and feature set is often worth the small extra risk and almost all theatre systems already have so much IT type gear we rely on to make the shows work one more thing is just a drop in the risk bucket really. Or perhaps you should just make sure you carry a back up plan with you. I had to go with the backup plan just this week. Fortunately for me it was because I made a stupid mistake and forgot some crucial cables. But it was a simple enough show I just went with the back up plan instead of driving all the way home and back again.

[kylesoundman]

Kyle, with all due respect I wouldn't classify these changes as being all that minor. You changed your Power Supply, put in a new system drive, which from the sounds of it was not a fresh install, but a repair job from a hard drive that crashed and you updated your version of SAC. Sorry, but I would say that is a fair number of changes and it doesn't sound like you implemented them incrementally, testing after each step. If I was making those changes I personally wouldn't send out my SAC system without at least a good week's worth of free time, testing the rig and letting it sit and run and trying to make it mess up first.

And lastly I would just say... SAC is software. You're running an off the shelf computer with an off the shelf OS which as Bob stated was never meant for real time processing. As good of job as I think Bob has done in making SAC pretty damn stable all things considered.... it's still a piece of software being used for a mixing console. And that should be considered whenever you're making a Pro vs Con list of which tools is best suited for the task at hand. As much as I like to use SAC to mix the shows I work on, I know full well that most of the hardware digital consoles are likely to be more stable. Or at the very least, there is far less chance of some driver issues taking down the console. Yes, it does happen under the right circumstances even with hardware digital consoles. (they are just computers as well after all... just with dedicated software and OS... usually)

Just saying that if running a computer for your console scares you maybe you should consider something else. For me SAC's flexibility and feature set is often worth the small extra risk and almost all theatre systems already have so much IT type gear we rely on to make the shows work one more thing is just a drop in the risk bucket really. Or perhaps you should just make sure you carry a back up plan with you. I had to go with the backup plan just this week. Fortunately for me it was because I made a stupid mistake and forgot some crucial cables. But it was a simple enough show I just went with the back up plan instead of driving all the way home and back again.

It was a fresh install of XP Pro. I recovered the old drive to get my mix presets for the bands I work with on a regular basis. I didn't image the drive and reuse that install of XP. I also ran SAC for 2 days straight and had zero lost buffers while passing audio through a mix preset with plenty of load on the system it worked very well at first and it seems as though its becoming less stable as time goes on. I didn't have issues the first 2 weeks after all of the changes. So maybe it isn't the SSD drive causing it? Maybe the RME card is failing or the graphics card is failing? I just don't know until I pull it out of the trailer and mess with it.

[hkmorgan87]

Go to the RME site and make sure the firmware in the card is up to date. Some newer drivers require a firmware update.

I doubt the new ssd is the cause of your problems. Unless it is faulty, in which case I would expect to see issues with windows as well and not just sac.

[kylesoundman]

Go to the RME site and make sure the firmware in the card is up to date. Some newer drivers require a firmware update.

I doubt the new ssd is the cause of your problems. Unless it is faulty, in which case I would expect to see issues with windows as well and not just sac.

I will look into this for sure! Thanks for the info!

[Sound Machine Inc]

Kyle I have had the same issues using win xp and SSD's... without TRIM support there becomes a point when things bog down a bit.. a switch to win 7 has been flawless for 11 months since then using the same SSD that was "lame" in xp

[Mattseymour]

So if I read this correctly, you changed the psu, disk drive, reinstalled the os, changed the sound card driver and probably other drivers too.

That's a lot of variables.

[brent]

The only hardware components I have changed was the hard drive and the power supply, nothing else. The only software change was an upgrade to the rme total mix and SAC 2.9 to 3.0. How could these changes take a 100% stable system to a completely unstable uncontrollable system? And ok I am not completely disappointed in SAC, i am however frustrated beyond belief that a very simple "upgrade" turned my very stable system into a completely unusable system in no time. I understand SAC really is accomplishing an amazing thing very quickly. I get it but so is behringer and avid, and well everyone else and there is no way those companies have a technological advantage over you Bob because you have laid the groundwork for them and their new systems! All i know is i have put complete and full trust into SAC and i am honestly terrified to bring it to another show right now and i am suppose to mix a guy from the voice in a couple weeks on SAC and this needs to be fixed yesterday. I will take it one step at a time and make it work properly again but i need advise to do so now! I have exhausted my technological understanding of it.

You have learned a lesson that studio guys learned decades ago. If it works, quit jacking with it. I don't know what it is with you PC guys who like to tinker, but you shoot yourselves in the foot. Once it is dialed in, quit updating, never connect it to the internet, and use it until it dies. Period. Non-negotiable.

[brent]

So if I read this correctly, you changed the psu, disk drive, reinstalled the os, changed the sound card driver and probably other drivers too.

That's a lot of variables.

He changed everything but the motherboard...and he wonders why. Classic.

[kylesoundman]

I didn't change everything except the motherboard! The only hardware change was a PSU and the HD! The only software change was total mix upgrade(which can easily be rolled back), SAC 2.9 to 3.0(which can easily be rolled back as well), a fresh install of xp pro with all of the windows tweaks per Bobs recommendations, and all of the same drivers for the MB etc were ones recovered from the old drive. And I don't connect it to the internet, its a completely stand alone dedicated PC and I intended to NEVER have to mess with it until it died period! It worked so well with SAC 2.9 I didn't want to upgrade to 3.0 just to mess with it for the sake of messing with it.

I am going to start trouble shooting in about 10 minutes and have some updates as soon as I have something to post. Thanks to everyone for their input, its much appreciated! I hope to have my SAC rig running solid again this week!

[Donnie Frank]

You have learned a lesson that studio guys learned decades ago. If it works, quit jacking with it. I don't know what it is with you PC guys who like to tinker, but you shoot yourselves in the foot. Once it is dialed in, quit updating, never connect it to the internet, and use it until it dies. Period. Non-negotiable.

"If it ain't broke, fix it until it is." - Authorn unknown