CPU (SYSTEM OVERLOAD (-10011)

Can someone tell me why my macbook keeps glitching in the middle of playback. My CPU bars are going all the way up to the red in logic express 8 and my I/O setting is at the maximum amt. of (1024). Why would this be happening to my macbook while running everything from my external hard drive?

Okay, now I'm a bit worried. Do me a favour & go to:
*+Applications > Utilities > Disk Utility+*
Check your external drive is formatted with +Mac OS Extended.+ If not, it will not work properly — especially not for audio recording. If you need to reformat, back up all your data from the drive first because it will be erased when you reformat.
As for your other question, that's right — you can't perform Audio operations on MIDI. But you can simulate fades in a variety of ways, either to the MIDI data directly in the Regions concerned, or (perhaps more practically) by using automation.

Similar Messages

System overload (-10011) error????

Okay, so I know VERY little about Logic. Last night I had my guitar plugged into the mic-in and was trying to record some stuff through guitar rig r whatever the plug-in is called. I kept getting some latency issues, so I played with the buffer sizes with mixed results. At any rate, my MBP is only 2 months old! I am definitely under the impression I shouldn't be getting these errors. Here are my basic specs:
Intel Core 2 Duo
2.2 GHz
Memory: 2 GB
HD 120GB
GeForce 8600M GT 128 MB
Resolution: 1440 x 900
Newest OS and current Logic updates
Any ideas/suggestions?

No it's a users forum...
But there are many things to consider regarding Latency and System Overload errors.
This doc may help...
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=304970
Also although an old post I noticed a couple of things in the OP's post. There is a distinction between mic, line and instrument level and the type of guitar one has.
The notebook employs a 'line' level input.
It's hard to ascertain without specific's, but a passive pick up equipped guitar ( your typical electric guitar) into a line-in is not ideal. Not only a level mismatch but an impedance mismatch also. Although active pick ups will have better luck and I don't know if Apple still employs combi converters with a small pre. Regardless, less then ideal.
AFAIK and in my experience, a FW interface with good drivers will have less latency then going directly through a Mac's line level input and converters.
And another thing in notebooks, a typical 5400 rpm internal HD can and usually will have a hard time keeping up with audio and video. And Guitar Rig itself places a load on the CPU also.
Now it's also possible something else is going on. But I would look at optimizing and considering the info in the link first before assuming Apple has fallen down.

Macbook Pro / Logic Pro 9 / CPU 'System Overload'

Dear Members - I have read a few threads from some google searches but can't find a solution to my current problem.
I have a MacBook Pro (2010):
Mac OS X
2.4 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo
8 GB 1067 MHz DDR3
I don't run much else on my MacBook other than MS Office, Firefox Web Browser and Logic Pro 9.
Now that my recording projects are getting more sufficient, I am using a lot more plug ins but running into the same problem over and over: 'System Overload'. My CPU maxes out and the programme stops.
I've followed a fair amount advice and done all the necessary adjustments in terms of Logic preferences to run smoother. However, I need to be in the position to have as many tracks and as many plug ins as I want!
I'm looking for advice on what I can to improve my machines performance. I love my MacBook Pro and wonder (and hope) there is something I can add to it to make things run smoother. For instance, I keep hearing about the new Mac Mini and wonder if there is any way I could hook both my systems up. I'm not sure whether that is possible and can confirm that my spec and technical knowledge isn't good at all.
I look forward to hearing from you. Please let me know if you need any more information.
Thanking you in advance!
Martin

Now that my recording projects are getting more sufficient, I am using a lot more plug ins but running into the same problem over and over: 'System Overload'. My CPU maxes out and the programme stops.
I've followed a fair amount advice and done all the necessary adjustments in terms of Logic preferences to run smoother. However, I need to be in the position to have as many tracks and as many plug ins as I want!
As many plugins as you want, did I hear that correctly? Every machine has is limits, a few of Logic's high end plugins can bring the most powerful Mac_Pro to it's knees if used incorrectly.
Personally, I'm not fond of using two machines, it's much more of a hassle than you might think.
I assume you're using a bus for effects where possible (instead of inserts).
And you are freezing tracks when necessary. If you're into the mixing stage of a project and do not need low latency, up the Logic audio I/O buffer to 1024. Try the Process buffer at Large.
Check out this article.
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT3161

System Overload (-10011) [URGENT]

This is something new that just started happening. I'm pretty sure I didn't change any core settings in Logic. But I now get overload errors with unsettling regularity.
Today's occurrence has taken it to the level in which I needed to post asking for help.
In Logic I only have three Midi tracks. 1 - Ultrabeat, 1 - CS80V, 1 - Jupiter8V [registered].
And two AUX sends enabled. 1 - Reverb, 1 - Tremolo. Thats it!
I hit play to get Ultrabeat and Jupiter8 playing, while trying to record the CS80. As soon as I hit 1 note I get the following error message....
Logic Pro:
System Overload.
The audio engine was not able to process *** required data in time.
(-10011)
I find this odd as I used to have WAY more going in a session than just three VSTIs.
Does ANYONE know what may be happening? This has basically blocked any production,
and I cant seem to sort out what is going on. Perhaps a setting I'm overlooking?
Thanks in advance

traddcliff wrote:
So I increased the buffer setting to 256 samples.
Seems to work, thanks!
I didn't think of changing that as it seems high, but its working.
Honestly I don't remember if that was the default setting or not.
But I'll keep going with this.
Ok, just to let you know what the trade-offs are. (you may know this, but it might help others)
The I/O buffer is just what the name implies, an Input/Output buffer. The larger the buffer the more time you're giving Logic to perform calculations for VI, Effects and Live input... plus, keep everything in sync. The smaller the buffer, the less time Logic has to work.
The trade-off is such that the buffer acts like an offset from real time.
For DAW users the two areas where this effect is most noticeable, both are a type of live input. 1. Playing a Virtual Instruments by MIDI. 2. Monitoring a live input through Logic's audio engine. (software monitoring).
To get an idea of of how this works, use a software instrument set to a patch or sample that has a sharp attack, a rimshot or snare, even a trumpet or staccato violins. Go to preferences/audio and set the "I/O Buffer Size" to 1024 and play the software instrument, the delay is due to the large sample buffer.
Your task is to find a balance that works for you, it can change from song to song depending on what vi and effects you have running.
On your project with the overloads, what reverb are you using?
pancenter-
p.s. The I/O buffer settings do not affect recording and playback sync, Logic makes internal adjustments for buffer size and delays all tracks accordingly.

System Overload (10011)

I purchased an Iomega 500 Firewire External HD to run all my projects ( currently 457 MB Free) - My Imac HD has 147 GB Free - I still can not seem to get more than 4-5 Audio/ Instrument tracks into a project with out the System Overload error. My buffer is set to 64.
Shouldn't I be able to run atleast 15 tracks or more in a project? How can I get up to speed with my system?

Have you looked at these threads?
http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?messageID=10286916&#10286916
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT3161
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT2375

System overload imac 3.4 ghz intel core i7

Hey, for some reason I get that **** System overload -10011, though i have a brand new imac 27" 3,4 ghz quad core i7 and 16 gig ram.
I use mostly DSP for effects, and I use a Virus Ti2. The CPU meter is only on 1 core and its spiked all the way up.
If i bump the process buffer range to medium, it all works good, except that my Virus wants to go on small.
I know there are several threads about the system overload. Just couldnt find how to set it all up so it works good on all cores, to benefit from the quad core.
Can anyone be so kind and help me?
Just ignore if you say "use search", i did. Havent seen many threads on the new imac i7

Hi
These any help?
http://support.apple.com/kb/TS3834
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT3161
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT4426
CCT

HT1342 Logic Pro system overload help needed!

Hello!
Sorry for making another thread about this, but I do have some questions i would like an answer to.
When i use logic pro 32-bit, i had 14mb free ram when I opened up my latest logic project, and everytime i press playback in the application it says "disk is too slow, or system overload 10011 error. Since i often run out of ram, should I invest in 8gb of ram instead of the 4gb installed, or is it a matter of disk speed, for instance buying a Solid State drive?
Is it something to do with outdated hardware, or do you have to change buffer settings and things like that in order to make your DAW work properly?
I hope to hear some good advice, or solutions to this ongoing problem.
Thank you!
Ps. I have the MacBook Pro 15 inch 2.53 ghz mid 2009 model with 80gb free space.

There are a few things you can try -
1) Try increasing the audio buffer size if possible (Preferences > Audio)
2) If you have any other applications open close them and see if it makes a difference
3) Freeze some tracks by ctrl-clicking any track and configuring the headers. Add the freeze icon then enable for your tracks. This will create an audio bounce of the track with all effects on it. This should free up some processing power but you won't be able to edit any plugins until you unfreeze
Hope this is of some use!
Message was edited by: Tom Crabb

Error message System Overload. (-10011)

Hi,
I just purchased Logic Express 9.
I have a macbook, which matched all the minimum or recommended specifications. E.g. 2GB RAM for large projects. And yet my computer fails to keep up with even playing the demos. It stops at random points and an error message comes up:
System Overload.
The audio engine was not able to process all required data in time.
(-10011)
I have installed the latest update.
I have no other programs running
and I am currently running the demo files off a fast external HD, however I have tried running them off my computer and the demo disc.
Does my computer simply not have the processing power?

Hi,
I have a 2006 Macbook with 2GB's myself.
Your problem is that every Hardware has it's limits when it comes to playing audio. Our little Macbooks haver their limits earlier, a Mac Pro with tons of CPU power & ram will have it later.
To avoid hitting this "CPU ceiling", you can do several things:
1st: Set the audio buffer to a higher value. Though i run my Macbook at 64 or 128, you should try 256 or higher to start with. Set this in Logic's preferences->audio
2nd: Depending on the number and load of the plugins in your channelstrips, CPU load will increase dramatically. Using less plugins or less CPU hungry plugins will certainly help.
3rd: If you have a software instrument track selected during playback, Logic reserves huge amount of CPU power for realtime processing for this single track, leaving all the other tracks with less CPU potential. So, if you just want to play back a project, select an (empty) audio track or the master track instead. This will free up lots of cpu power.
4th: If you have tracks that have been finished for so long, freeze them. This will take the load away from the cpu and put a rmixdown of this single track to your harddisk. However, if your HDD is very full and/or slow and busy with other tasks, you might get the same error, but usually, it helps a lot.
Fox
Fox

System Overload = Ram or CPU

i get a system overload with sessions.
ive got all my drums tracked out...Kick, Hi hats, shakers, snares, claps, as well as synths, strings...stuff like that.
PLUS vocals and their effects on them.
i keep getting a overload error and my question is this a Ram issue, or a CPU issue.
ive got a macbook core 2 duo...so i hope its not a CPU problem.
thanks in advance!

Hi Tim,
you really don't say how much ram do you have,
you should have all you can afford at least 1 GB,
Also I think your main problem is your internal HD
that runs at 5400 rpm, to audio you should have
and external running at 7200 rpm (firewire/USB2).
While you don't have what I'm stating above,
try to freeze tracks, to prevent those error messages all the time.
The freeze button, it's a "snow flake" on the right of the Record or mute buttons.
Regards,
Jorge

I get an error message saying "system overload, the audio engine was not able to process all the required data in time (10011)

i get an error message saying "system overload, the audio engine was not able to process all the required data in time (10011)

The thing is, that error message has been appearing when playing/recording a track that was running perfectly a few minutes ago and nothing has changed!
That can mean, that your project is too ambitious for your Mac. Are you using many complicated automations on that track?
4GB memory is not much, when doing audio processing. GarageBand will need all memory it can get, or will be forced to continually swap pages to your disk, to free RAM, and that can cause this error.
When this error occurs, it is best to restart the computer. This will free your RAM. Close all other applications that are competing for memory, i.e. other multimedia applications, and Safari.
Also, make sure, that you have plenty of free disk space. Don't let the free disk space drop below 20G.
Where is your project located? On an external drive or your internal drive? If it is on an external drive, connect this drive directly, not daisy-chained, or move the project to your internal drive.
I got up to eat, came back and tried to continue but GarageBand shuts down and displays that message every time I try to run the song. I've also recently run songs with several more tracks than this one and they worked perfectly. Any tips?
Are your other projects, that worked perfectly, still working?

Solution for "Error while trying to synchronize Audio and MIDI" and "System Overload" messages

Article for those who hate Logic error windows
Seen in Logic Pro 9.1.7 on Mac OS X Lion 10.7.4
and Logic Pro 9.0.0 on Mac OS X Snow Leopard 10.6.5
Logic Pro:
System Overload.
The audio engine was not able to process all required data in time.
(-10011)
Error while trying to synchronize Audio and MIDI.
Sample Rate xxxxx recognized.
Check conflict between Logic Pro and external device.
The search in the help given as follows: overload occurs when you use a lot of tracks and a lot of effects on them, and the synchronization is lost when the selected MIDI track for recording or playback. Yes, this is all that is written in the resources. And here are useful tips that have been found:
The Bounce function allows the entire instrument track to be recorded as an audio file. This bounced audio file can then be used (as an audio region) on a standard audio track, allowing you to reassign the available processing power for further software instrument tracks. For more details, see "Bouncing Your Project."
You can also make use of the Freeze function to capture the output of a software instrument track, again saving processing power. For details, see "Freezing Tracks in the Arrange Area."
These tips - about the timing. About overload - there are no tips, except as "reducing the number of plug-ins" and "increasing latency". Zero useful tips - I got two errors in the test project with a blank audio track with no effects, MIDI drums and standard synthesizer, it was no aux buses, and the entire project was only a single plugin in the master track.
Here is the configuration of my computer:
iMac12, 2
CPU: Intel Core i5 3,1 GHz
Memory: 4 GB
And here's a project that almost immediately stops Logic, all instruments and plug-ins with the init-patch, ie not the most demanding settings:
It's sad.
When this happened the first time, I could start the project only if the empty audio track has been selected, a track specially designed so that you can at least start the project. Then, this problem has evaporated along with the changing conditions of work and I forgot about it until the last case.
I was looking for the cause of the problem in the console and the system monitor for two days, and finally I found that Logic ping to the network frequently. I remembered the exact time of occurrence of the problem, and system logs revealed that the problems began immediately, as soon as I deactivate the service of the Internet.
Solution: enable the Internet, or add a new network service on a computer with no Internet. I just created the Ethernet connection to the ip address 1.0.0.0
Logic immediately began to sing.

Hi gabaghoul
Yes, it worked for me on four different OS and Logic versions (10.6 - 10.8 and 9.0 - 9.1.6)
It does not work in some cases, hard enough to tell in which one, but you can try, it very easy: go to the net settings and create new Ethernet connection to the ip address 1.0.0.0 and connect LAN cable to the port.
Also you can try to figure out what happens in your system while Logic error occured - fot that you just start Console and search "logicpro"
Pay attention to repetitive events in a console and events with suitable timing, not so far from error
The problem may be related to the GUI or system memory, sometimes turning off Safari (or Chrome, others browsers) might help.
Message was edited by: spred

System Overload & "Save as" crashes

I'm using Logic 7.0.1 on 10.4.2, with Pro App Suport 3. When I begin to play the piece, I get the "System Overload" message every few seconds. (The audio engine was not able to process all required data in time. (-10011). In the CPU window, the right column is never active, while the left column mostly says at 1/4, sometimes spiking to 3/4's. I press the "continue" button and begin to play again. The CoreAudio alert repeats a dozen times as I continue through the piece until I reach the last note I've been able to record.
Then, I can suddenly play back from the beginning of the song, all the way through without the error message at all. It is as if the computer stops when it tries to process each new sample, but once it has played through all of them, it handles them easily. However, once I can play the whole piece, adding a new sample (a large sample like performance legato) doesn't trigger the alert message. I only get it when I am first beginning to play through the piece.
I have an external Firewire HD by LaCie to store my samples, so that on the laptop, 37.91 GB's of 55.76 GB capacity are available. I use EXS 24 samples only, Solo Strings from VSL, with Core Audio (till I get more acquainted with Logic 7 and decide what I need). The piece is a string quartet, so even though I have 80 samples on different tracks, there are only 4 notes playing at once at any time. The only plug ins are platinumverb and gain, and the problem continues with these plug-ins "bypassed."
I have been reading the discussion board and took advice given about upgrading to Logic 7.0.1, and getting Pro Application Support 3.1. The problems I experienced have not been corrected.
I decided to use CoreAudio until I became more familiar with the program, and I realize with a three year old laptop, I must be pushing the system to the limit. But then again, it plays easily once I have slugged through the error messages. I ereased my HD and reinstalled Logic a few weeks ago. That did not fix the problem either. ( I upgraded to 10.4 to use Toast 7, but then I was unable to use my modem. After 72 hours of Apple support trouble shooting via telephone, I was told to erase my hard drive and reinstall everything. I did so and the problem wasn't fixed. I then talked to someone who knew of a bug in 10.4. I didn't have to erase the HD after all. I was told the bug was fixed in 10.4.2)
The second problem involves saving. I save this piece as a "project." I can use the "save" option without a crash, but 99% of the time, if I use the "save as" option, I get the "beach ball of death" and send yet another report to Apple.
How is my laptop able to process the data in time once I slog through all the alert messages telling me it cannot? Does anyone know of a "save as" fix?
Much Obliged!
Billy

I'm not sure if you have this, and mis-typed or something, but Logic 7.1 (the update you pay for) and the 7.0.1 and Pro App Support solved this problem for me. However, we installed them all at once so I don't know which fixed the "Save As..." glitch....
Regarding the other query, I sometimes get this too - the computer seems to think there's too much information even though it's already been playing it all, and even if you mute all but one of the channels! (in fact - I think I recall it refusing to play even when all tracks are muted... christ...)
Generally I have to restart the app (and maybe the computer). This always does the trick for me.
Hope this helps,
Best,
Mickey.

System Overload ...i know ..I'm not the 1st ...

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Replies : 10 - Pages : 1 - Last Post : Aug 10, 2009 12:04 PM by: Pancenter
4feet4
Posts: 17
From: Pasadena
Registered: Mar 12, 2009
System Overload ...i know ..I'm not the 1st ...
Posted: Aug 9, 2009 7:52 PM
Any quick tips on what to do? My project is small - while monitoring my CPU usage it never goes above 30 while running the project - I've got 2.78 GB of free disk space - 4Gig Ram - I dont use my IMAC OSX 10.5.5 for anything but Logic? Hoping to get around this CONSTANT issue - thanks for your help.
Imac Mac OS X (10.5.5)
Larry Mal
Posts: 654
From: Saint Louis, Missouri
Registered: Sep 27, 2007
Re: System Overload ...i know ..I'm not the 1st ...
Posted: Aug 9, 2009 9:48 PM in response to: 4feet4
Well, if you are saying you have only 2.78 GB's of space on your hard drive, then you'll want to have more. You should leave about 10-15% of your drive free.
dual 2.8GHz Mac Pro, Macbook Pro 2.16 GHz Mac OS X (10.5.6) 2 GB RAM
4feet4
Posts: 17
From: Pasadena
Registered: Mar 12, 2009
Re: System Overload ...i know ..I'm not the 1st ...
Posted: Aug 9, 2009 10:51 PM in response to: Larry Mal
I'm running LP8 - I have an IMAC OSX 10.5.5 - 2.4 processor - 4 GB RAM - M-Audio Fast Track Pro interface (USB direct to MAC) - I do NOT have an external hard drive ( sounds like I should ? - although I was told by others my system would be sufficient) - I use ALL instruments/track options ( midi etc) and will need to in the future - I want to be able to run a full music project 10-15 tracks. So far I'm running 4-5 tracks -(1) midi - the rest are audio with little to no effects ( in one project I'm using an LP8 template but deleted most of the tracks to cut down on the load ). Don't know if I can freeze these tracks-I'm new to this - thats why I'm looking for options ........ i was also using a 3rd party software in the project - Steinberg Groove Agent 3 (drums) but it was giving me the same error ..even when it was the ONLY track in the project....(its not fully compatible) - however I was finally able to create a full drum track with GA3 - play the midi data back - and record it to an audio track - therefore deleting the midi data I was having issues with and keeping the drums.... hope this helps?
Imac Mac OS X (10.5.5)
4feet4
Posts: 17
From: Pasadena
Registered: Mar 12, 2009
Re: System Overload ...i know ..I'm not the 1st ...
Posted: Aug 10, 2009 6:39 AM in response to: 4feet4
Updated
Imac Mac OS X (10.5.5) 2.4 Processor, 4 GB RAM, M-Audio Fast Track Pro Interface, No External HD
Larry Mal
Posts: 654
From: Saint Louis, Missouri
Registered: Sep 27, 2007
Re: System Overload ...i know ..I'm not the 1st ...
Posted: Aug 10, 2009 7:54 AM in response to: 4feet4
Perfect. Well here are some suggestions:
1) Logic 7, 8 and 9 all have a "freeze" function. Logic 9 has a new "bounce in place" function which I haven't used yet. These will make temporary audio files of your MIDI instruments so that you are able to play them as finished audio for the most part and free up CPU power. ( I haven't yet used "bounce in place", I just got Logic 9.) This will help with MIDI instruments quite a bit, and you can still go back and change them by un-freezing... I guess "thawing" would be the proper term.
2) The reason I was asking about your audio interface is because I was wondering what you had available. You very definitely want to record to a non-system (on that Logic nor your operating system are on) drive. Firewire is much superior to USB, which is why I'm glad to hear you are using USB as your audio in. By using Firewire in and Firewire out, on an iMac, you would be halving the bandwidth. In your case you are not.
You will add very much stability to your Logic work by adding an external Firewire drive and recording audio to it, and working on Logic projects there! If you have the money, I'd go with Firewire 800, which is frankly overkill, but why not. Firewire 400 drives will work fine for you. Add one and many of the overload messages will disappear, simply because right now you are pulling information from (in the form of calculating what the virtual instruments and Logic are doing) and writing information to (in the form of writing what those instruments and Logic are resulting in) to the same disk.
Try these two things and get back to us. I think you'll be very happy with the results.
It's also important to pay attention to your buffer size. When it is not important for you to play with it in real time, you want to make it be 1024. Otherwise as low as possible. So when you are recording audio to a MIDI drum track, you'd want it to be very low so you can play along accurately. When you have all that done, and are editing MIDI only, then put the buffer higher. When mixing, put it higher.
Let me know how this works, good luck, L
dual 2.8GHz Mac Pro, Macbook Pro 2.16 GHz Mac OS X (10.5.6) 2 GB RAM
4feet4
Posts: 17
From: Pasadena
Registered: Mar 12, 2009
Re: System Overload ...i know ..I'm not the 1st ...
Posted: Aug 10, 2009 9:10 AM in response to: Larry Mal
Ok Great - Thanks - makes sense - I was using a Lacie with Protools an my PC ( it recently crashed) - I was under the impression I would have enough processing power with out it on the MAC.
Looks like I can pick one up for just a little over $100 ( I'm rolling in that kind of cash) ... please clarify though - you stated: "Firewire is much superior to USB, which is why I'm glad to hear you are using USB as your audio in. By using Firewire in and Firewire out, on an iMac, you would be halving the bandwidth. In your case you are not" ....are you GLAD to hear I am using USB as in - We may have found the problem .... go external to free up processing ? Please confirm.
Thanks again
Imac Mac OS X (10.5.5) 2.4 Processor, 4 GB RAM, M-Audio Fast Track Pro Interface, No External HD
CCTM
Posts: 249
Registered: Mar 11, 2007
Re: System Overload ...i know ..I'm not the 1st ...
Posted: Aug 10, 2009 9:28 AM in response to: 4feet4
4feet4 wrote:
Ok Great - Thanks - makes sense - I was using a Lacie with Protools an my PC ( it recently crashed) - I was under the impression I would have enough processing power with out it on the MAC.
As stated in an earlier reply, if you only have 2 or 3 gigs of free space on your Mac hard drive, processing power is NOT the problem. Your boot disc is way too full. You should have at least 20-30GB free.
Running a second drive for the audio side will, of course, help, but you MUST clear out the main hard drive (or fit a larger one) before you run into even more serious problems.
HTH
CCT
Larry Mal
Posts: 654
From: Saint Louis, Missouri
Registered: Sep 27, 2007
Re: System Overload ...i know ..I'm not the 1st ...
Posted: Aug 10, 2009 9:37 AM in response to: 4feet4
Well, you have enough processing power, that isn't the issue. All the processing power in the world won't matter if you have 64 megabytes of RAM, there will be a bottleneck. Another bottleneck is with data transference. Like I said, when using a single drive to transfer date from as well as to- which is what you are doing when you are using Logic, running within the scope of the operating system, and hosting virtual instruments, all of which is writing the resulting audio information to the same drive, at the same time, then you are creating another problem. But you don't have to do that, by sending the audio written to another drive other than the one the audio is being generated from.
In other words, your processing power is both faster than and irrelevant to the physical limitations of the hard drive itself.
Another bottleneck would be if you were recording tracks on a Firewire in, and sending that to and external Firewire drive out. This is one of the limitations of the iMac, there is no way to add what is called another bus, which is simply another pipeline for data transference. You can get around that with a Mac Pro, in which you add another internal hard drive, which connects directly to the motherboard, and has its own bus. Or by adding another Firewire PCIe card, which will add another Firewire bus, again, with its own data transference. On an iMac, you have one Firewire bus, and one USB bus.
Clear? You can imagine these as pipes of water. The more pipes you have leading to and from a location the faster it will go.
USB, in your case, is a dedicated pipeline in. Nothing (well, your mouse, maybe a flash drive) is using that pipeline. Your Firewire is a pipeline out, in this case- you could reverse this, it doesn't matter*. If you use Firewire in and out, then you are sending water flowing in both directions in the same pipe. It will work, but not as well. By adding a dedicated bus, you would be adding another pipe to flow in one way, while the original flowed the other way. No impedances.
I don't see why you can't use the Lacie drive you already have, though. It's quite likely your crash wasn't due to it. No need to buy another drive, if it's Firewire, anyway. Just give it a shot- this isn't a cure all, but just good audio practice. Let me know how it pans out. Good luck, L
*Firewire is better than USB in all situations. But you seem to be going a track or two of USB audio in, so I'd use USB for that. For light use it's fine. Then you can use your superior Firewire bus to write the audio to the external Firewire drive.
dual 2.8GHz Mac Pro, Macbook Pro 2.16 GHz Mac OS X (10.5.6) 2 GB RAM
4feet4
Posts: 17
From: Pasadena
Registered: Mar 12, 2009
Re: System Overload ...i know ..I'm not the 1st ...
Posted: Aug 10, 2009 11:12 AM in response to: Larry Mal
L - Thanks for laying that out in simple terms - learning a ton and loving it ( when things work) - I will pick up another Lacie - my old Lacie for my PC crashed - I'm better off starting from scratch ( I'm still trying to retrive some data of the old one) ... I'll let you know how it works. I would have got an external drive outright but the Logic Certified guys at Apple told me I would not need one - sounds like this is the big problem. I'll use the freeze method when needed also....... maybe I'll have better luck with Groove Agent 3 with the external drive.
Much appreciated-
(TBD)
Imac Mac OS X (10.5.5) 2.4 Processor, 4 GB RAM, M-Audio Fast Track Pro Interface, No External HD
Larry Mal
Posts: 654
From: Saint Louis, Missouri
Registered: Sep 27, 2007
Re: System Overload ...i know ..I'm not the 1st ...
Posted: Aug 10, 2009 11:39 AM in response to: 4feet4
And free up some room on that system drive.
dual 2.8GHz Mac Pro, Macbook Pro 2.16 GHz Mac OS X (10.5.6) 2 GB RAM
Pancenter
Posts: 3,306
From: Southwest U.S.
Registered: Apr 22, 2007
Re: System Overload ...i know ..I'm not the 1st ...
Posted: Aug 10, 2009 12:04 PM in response to: 4feet4
4feet4 wrote:
L - Thanks for laying that out in simple terms - learning a ton and loving it ( when things work) - I will pick up another Lacie - my old Lacie for my PC crashed - I'm better off starting from scratch ( I'm still trying to retrive some data of the old one) ... I'll let you know how it works. I would have got an external drive outright but the Logic Certified guys at Apple told me I would not need one - sounds like this is the big problem. I'll use the freeze method when needed also....... maybe I'll have better luck with Groove Agent 3 with the external drive.
Groove Agent 3 loads samples into memory so I doubt if your luck will change.
The -first- thing I would do is clear some space on your hard drive, my feeling is that OSX is writing swap files and the drive head is working overtime to try and find free space to write. That in itself could cause an overload.
Free drive space now or expect more problems than you're currently experiencing.
pancenter-
Power Mac G5 1.8GHz Dual, 4GB RAM Mac OS X (10.5.5) RME Audio - MOTU MIDI, Mac (Logic 8.02), Intel/XP-Pro Quad Core PC

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Replies : 10 - Pages : 1 - Last Post : Aug 10, 2009 12:04 PM by: Pancenter
4feet4
Posts: 17
From: Pasadena
Registered: Mar 12, 2009
System Overload ...i know ..I'm not the 1st ...
Posted: Aug 9, 2009 7:52 PM
Any quick tips on what to do? My project is small - while monitoring my CPU usage it never goes above 30 while running the project - I've got 2.78 GB of free disk space - 4Gig Ram - I dont use my IMAC OSX 10.5.5 for anything but Logic? Hoping to get around this CONSTANT issue - thanks for your help.
Imac Mac OS X (10.5.5)
Larry Mal
Posts: 654
From: Saint Louis, Missouri
Registered: Sep 27, 2007
Re: System Overload ...i know ..I'm not the 1st ...
Posted: Aug 9, 2009 9:48 PM in response to: 4feet4
Well, if you are saying you have only 2.78 GB's of space on your hard drive, then you'll want to have more. You should leave about 10-15% of your drive free.
dual 2.8GHz Mac Pro, Macbook Pro 2.16 GHz Mac OS X (10.5.6) 2 GB RAM
4feet4
Posts: 17
From: Pasadena
Registered: Mar 12, 2009
Re: System Overload ...i know ..I'm not the 1st ...
Posted: Aug 9, 2009 10:51 PM in response to: Larry Mal
I'm running LP8 - I have an IMAC OSX 10.5.5 - 2.4 processor - 4 GB RAM - M-Audio Fast Track Pro interface (USB direct to MAC) - I do NOT have an external hard drive ( sounds like I should ? - although I was told by others my system would be sufficient) - I use ALL instruments/track options ( midi etc) and will need to in the future - I want to be able to run a full music project 10-15 tracks. So far I'm running 4-5 tracks -(1) midi - the rest are audio with little to no effects ( in one project I'm using an LP8 template but deleted most of the tracks to cut down on the load ). Don't know if I can freeze these tracks-I'm new to this - thats why I'm looking for options ........ i was also using a 3rd party software in the project - Steinberg Groove Agent 3 (drums) but it was giving me the same error ..even when it was the ONLY track in the project....(its not fully compatible) - however I was finally able to create a full drum track with GA3 - play the midi data back - and record it to an audio track - therefore deleting the midi data I was having issues with and keeping the drums.... hope this helps?
Imac Mac OS X (10.5.5)
4feet4
Posts: 17
From: Pasadena
Registered: Mar 12, 2009
Re: System Overload ...i know ..I'm not the 1st ...
Posted: Aug 10, 2009 6:39 AM in response to: 4feet4
Updated
Imac Mac OS X (10.5.5) 2.4 Processor, 4 GB RAM, M-Audio Fast Track Pro Interface, No External HD
Larry Mal
Posts: 654
From: Saint Louis, Missouri
Registered: Sep 27, 2007
Re: System Overload ...i know ..I'm not the 1st ...
Posted: Aug 10, 2009 7:54 AM in response to: 4feet4
Perfect. Well here are some suggestions:
1) Logic 7, 8 and 9 all have a "freeze" function. Logic 9 has a new "bounce in place" function which I haven't used yet. These will make temporary audio files of your MIDI instruments so that you are able to play them as finished audio for the most part and free up CPU power. ( I haven't yet used "bounce in place", I just got Logic 9.) This will help with MIDI instruments quite a bit, and you can still go back and change them by un-freezing... I guess "thawing" would be the proper term.
2) The reason I was asking about your audio interface is because I was wondering what you had available. You very definitely want to record to a non-system (on that Logic nor your operating system are on) drive. Firewire is much superior to USB, which is why I'm glad to hear you are using USB as your audio in. By using Firewire in and Firewire out, on an iMac, you would be halving the bandwidth. In your case you are not.
You will add very much stability to your Logic work by adding an external Firewire drive and recording audio to it, and working on Logic projects there! If you have the money, I'd go with Firewire 800, which is frankly overkill, but why not. Firewire 400 drives will work fine for you. Add one and many of the overload messages will disappear, simply because right now you are pulling information from (in the form of calculating what the virtual instruments and Logic are doing) and writing information to (in the form of writing what those instruments and Logic are resulting in) to the same disk.
Try these two things and get back to us. I think you'll be very happy with the results.
It's also important to pay attention to your buffer size. When it is not important for you to play with it in real time, you want to make it be 1024. Otherwise as low as possible. So when you are recording audio to a MIDI drum track, you'd want it to be very low so you can play along accurately. When you have all that done, and are editing MIDI only, then put the buffer higher. When mixing, put it higher.
Let me know how this works, good luck, L
dual 2.8GHz Mac Pro, Macbook Pro 2.16 GHz Mac OS X (10.5.6) 2 GB RAM
4feet4
Posts: 17
From: Pasadena
Registered: Mar 12, 2009
Re: System Overload ...i know ..I'm not the 1st ...
Posted: Aug 10, 2009 9:10 AM in response to: Larry Mal
Ok Great - Thanks - makes sense - I was using a Lacie with Protools an my PC ( it recently crashed) - I was under the impression I would have enough processing power with out it on the MAC.
Looks like I can pick one up for just a little over $100 ( I'm rolling in that kind of cash) ... please clarify though - you stated: "Firewire is much superior to USB, which is why I'm glad to hear you are using USB as your audio in. By using Firewire in and Firewire out, on an iMac, you would be halving the bandwidth. In your case you are not" ....are you GLAD to hear I am using USB as in - We may have found the problem .... go external to free up processing ? Please confirm.
Thanks again
Imac Mac OS X (10.5.5) 2.4 Processor, 4 GB RAM, M-Audio Fast Track Pro Interface, No External HD
CCTM
Posts: 249
Registered: Mar 11, 2007
Re: System Overload ...i know ..I'm not the 1st ...
Posted: Aug 10, 2009 9:28 AM in response to: 4feet4
4feet4 wrote:
Ok Great - Thanks - makes sense - I was using a Lacie with Protools an my PC ( it recently crashed) - I was under the impression I would have enough processing power with out it on the MAC.
As stated in an earlier reply, if you only have 2 or 3 gigs of free space on your Mac hard drive, processing power is NOT the problem. Your boot disc is way too full. You should have at least 20-30GB free.
Running a second drive for the audio side will, of course, help, but you MUST clear out the main hard drive (or fit a larger one) before you run into even more serious problems.
HTH
CCT
Larry Mal
Posts: 654
From: Saint Louis, Missouri
Registered: Sep 27, 2007
Re: System Overload ...i know ..I'm not the 1st ...
Posted: Aug 10, 2009 9:37 AM in response to: 4feet4
Well, you have enough processing power, that isn't the issue. All the processing power in the world won't matter if you have 64 megabytes of RAM, there will be a bottleneck. Another bottleneck is with data transference. Like I said, when using a single drive to transfer date from as well as to- which is what you are doing when you are using Logic, running within the scope of the operating system, and hosting virtual instruments, all of which is writing the resulting audio information to the same drive, at the same time, then you are creating another problem. But you don't have to do that, by sending the audio written to another drive other than the one the audio is being generated from.
In other words, your processing power is both faster than and irrelevant to the physical limitations of the hard drive itself.
Another bottleneck would be if you were recording tracks on a Firewire in, and sending that to and external Firewire drive out. This is one of the limitations of the iMac, there is no way to add what is called another bus, which is simply another pipeline for data transference. You can get around that with a Mac Pro, in which you add another internal hard drive, which connects directly to the motherboard, and has its own bus. Or by adding another Firewire PCIe card, which will add another Firewire bus, again, with its own data transference. On an iMac, you have one Firewire bus, and one USB bus.
Clear? You can imagine these as pipes of water. The more pipes you have leading to and from a location the faster it will go.
USB, in your case, is a dedicated pipeline in. Nothing (well, your mouse, maybe a flash drive) is using that pipeline. Your Firewire is a pipeline out, in this case- you could reverse this, it doesn't matter*. If you use Firewire in and out, then you are sending water flowing in both directions in the same pipe. It will work, but not as well. By adding a dedicated bus, you would be adding another pipe to flow in one way, while the original flowed the other way. No impedances.
I don't see why you can't use the Lacie drive you already have, though. It's quite likely your crash wasn't due to it. No need to buy another drive, if it's Firewire, anyway. Just give it a shot- this isn't a cure all, but just good audio practice. Let me know how it pans out. Good luck, L
*Firewire is better than USB in all situations. But you seem to be going a track or two of USB audio in, so I'd use USB for that. For light use it's fine. Then you can use your superior Firewire bus to write the audio to the external Firewire drive.
dual 2.8GHz Mac Pro, Macbook Pro 2.16 GHz Mac OS X (10.5.6) 2 GB RAM
4feet4
Posts: 17
From: Pasadena
Registered: Mar 12, 2009
Re: System Overload ...i know ..I'm not the 1st ...
Posted: Aug 10, 2009 11:12 AM in response to: Larry Mal
L - Thanks for laying that out in simple terms - learning a ton and loving it ( when things work) - I will pick up another Lacie - my old Lacie for my PC crashed - I'm better off starting from scratch ( I'm still trying to retrive some data of the old one) ... I'll let you know how it works. I would have got an external drive outright but the Logic Certified guys at Apple told me I would not need one - sounds like this is the big problem. I'll use the freeze method when needed also....... maybe I'll have better luck with Groove Agent 3 with the external drive.
Much appreciated-
(TBD)
Imac Mac OS X (10.5.5) 2.4 Processor, 4 GB RAM, M-Audio Fast Track Pro Interface, No External HD
Larry Mal
Posts: 654
From: Saint Louis, Missouri
Registered: Sep 27, 2007
Re: System Overload ...i know ..I'm not the 1st ...
Posted: Aug 10, 2009 11:39 AM in response to: 4feet4
And free up some room on that system drive.
dual 2.8GHz Mac Pro, Macbook Pro 2.16 GHz Mac OS X (10.5.6) 2 GB RAM
Pancenter
Posts: 3,306
From: Southwest U.S.
Registered: Apr 22, 2007
Re: System Overload ...i know ..I'm not the 1st ...
Posted: Aug 10, 2009 12:04 PM in response to: 4feet4
4feet4 wrote:
L - Thanks for laying that out in simple terms - learning a ton and loving it ( when things work) - I will pick up another Lacie - my old Lacie for my PC crashed - I'm better off starting from scratch ( I'm still trying to retrive some data of the old one) ... I'll let you know how it works. I would have got an external drive outright but the Logic Certified guys at Apple told me I would not need one - sounds like this is the big problem. I'll use the freeze method when needed also....... maybe I'll have better luck with Groove Agent 3 with the external drive.
Groove Agent 3 loads samples into memory so I doubt if your luck will change.
The -first- thing I would do is clear some space on your hard drive, my feeling is that OSX is writing swap files and the drive head is working overtime to try and find free space to write. That in itself could cause an overload.
Free drive space now or expect more problems than you're currently experiencing.
pancenter-
Power Mac G5 1.8GHz Dual, 4GB RAM Mac OS X (10.5.5) RME Audio - MOTU MIDI, Mac (Logic 8.02), Intel/XP-Pro Quad Core PC

"system overload" in logic pro 8 on my Mac Pro with only three tracks

I am running Logic Pro 8, on a 2.66 Quad Core Mac Pro w/ only 1GB of RAM. I have not had the money for the much needed ram upgrade, yet.
The day before yesterday I opened a project I had opened many times, with only three tracks - two audio and a midi synth with only a few notes. These tracks are fairly well plugin-ed up, but this Mac Pro has always eaten them up, no problems. When I tried to play the project, I got system overloads every 2 seconds, rather precisely actually. My CPU usage reads low in logic and with iStat, but suddenly it peaks to 100% on my third core and I get the system overload.
I had my buffer size at 128, so I switched it to 1024, it worked, and then I switched it back again and everything worked like it used to!
But now I have to go through this slightly illogical little procedure everytime I open a project. I have read threads here about this subject before, back I cant seem to apply them / understand them in relation to my particular situation.
any ideas?

Join the club...wait for them to patch/update it.
I've tried the various work arounds, sometimes they work temporarily, sometimes not at all.
For the overloads the most reliable "work around" is to select each track, open the VI/FX modules associated with that track, then close them, go to the next track and repeat the process. OR, if you know all the modules (VI/FX) you're using, just open each one. This will "initialize" their existance BEFORE the audio engine hits them in playback.
My guess is LP8 tries to reduce it's memory foot print and does NOT initialize all the VI/FX in a saved project that is just opened until it actually needs to use them -- a good idea one would think. However, when you do your playback and it hits the VI/FX for the first time (after you just opened your saved project) it appears the audio engine stalls waiting for the VI/FX to initialize the 1st time around and hence the overloads error. Obviously I can't prove this since I don't have access to the code, but I'm a developer and this would be my logical guess based on the evidence at hand.
I can reproduce the problem consistently:
1. Start LP8
2. Open existing project with 3 tracks (staggered to start a different times) with different VI on each track
3. Have 3 buses with a different FX on each bus
4. Do nothing other than hit Play
Overload when it hits start of 1st track VI, stop, restart, overloads when it hits start point of 2nd track VI, stop restart, overloads when it hits start point of 3rd track.
Why wasn't something this obvious caught in testing? Good question.
Rob.
Message was edited by: Rob A.

System Overload & How to get the best G4 Performance

Okay all you Logic and OSX Gurus. I need your help. I've finally made the LOGIC leap from OS9 and have hit the SYSTEM OVERLOAD wall like many of you before me.
I've been pouring over this, and many other Forums and Blogs, for about two weeks now, and have tried many of the fixes / solutions to no avail. I estimate I'm now getting about 25% of my OS9 Logic performance from Logic in OSX.
One specific case in point is this. A four minute song sketch. No tempo changes. Four midi tracks, 6 Audio instruments and 2 EFX (1 Guitar Amp Pro, 1 Space Designer that's no even being used).
I have unsuccessfully tried to Bounce this to disc for two weeks now. The AUDIO and DISK I/O Meters barely register until the GUITAR AMP PRO track brings the AUDIO METER up to about 1/3rd usage. At various points in the Bounce the G4 will completely FREEZE, and I will have manually restart.
THINGS I HAVE TRIED, and continue to try are:
- Repairing Permissions
- Trashing Preferences
- Updating MOTU Drivers
- Changing Processor performance setting - which I cannot do BTW, because my system does not seem to support this option.
- Closing all Widgets
- Freeing up more Space on my Mac OSx startup disk (I now have 78.41 Gig available on a 114.49 Gig drive)
- Run Cocktail to clean up System logs and temporary files
- FREEZING TRACKS as a temporary 'fix'. This did nothing BTW but add more strain to the CPU and I still had about 1/3rd the usage with my GUITAR AMP Plugin (and it still crashed).
- Increased AUDIO BUFFER to 1024
So, (and I guess this is really two sides of the same question)...
1) How do I FIX this SYSTEM OVERLOAD problem, and
2) How do I "optimize" my Dual 1.25 G4 in order to get the best performance possible out of LOGIC PRO?
OTHER QUESTIONS I HAVE ARE:
- Does the G4 have the processing power needed to run LOGIC PRO?
- I'm confident adding RAM will "help" (can't hurt), but am I really dealing with a RAM Problem here or, again, can these processors really handle it?
BTW - I'm not looking for an excuse to go shopping for a Quad G5 (I mean who needs an excuse... . But, I'm really trying to determine if at the end of the day I will spend money on RAM, Hard Drives, whatever..., and then still be frustrated and end up shopping.
- Are SCSI drives a problem with Tiger / Logic? These Cheetah drives are fast (10,000 RPM), reliable, and have been great drives to record on. I'm trying to do this simple bounce to one of the Cheetahs and as I said it's just not happening.
- Does the startup volume size effect performance?
- Does the amount of free space on the start up drive effect performance?
- Firewire 400 vs 800? My sample library is on the Firewire drive, and I'm thinking this does not pull a lot on the CPU as these get loaded into memory before playing? Am I right about that? It is Firewire 400.
A long letter and a lot of questions. I thank you all in advance for any answers, guidance or direction you can give. Please also let me know if there is something I HAVEN'T asked, looked at or should be doing.
Best,
Kevin
Kevin Saunders Hayes
SYSTEM SPECS
Machine Name: Power Mac G4
Machine Model: PowerMac3,6
CPU Type: PowerPC G4 (3.3)
Number Of CPUs: 2
CPU Speed: 1.25 GHz
L2 Cache (per CPU): 256 KB
L3 Cache (per CPU): 2 MB
Memory: 1 GB
Bus Speed: 167 MHz
Boot ROM Version: 4.4.8f2
Logic 7.1.1 (885)
Pro Application Support 3.1
MOTU 896 - Latest drivers
2 - Seagate Cheetah 9 gig SCSI drives
1 - Oxford Firewire (Up to 400 Mb/sec) with EXS Library
G4 Duel 1.25 Mac OS X (10.4.3)

And after months of using Express, and a week of
using Logic, I hadn't had a system overload until
today. Now I'm having them all the time. It wasn't a
set up change, it wasn't running on the battery, it
wasn't running software monitoring, it's set up with
512 i/o buffer, medium processor buffer. And it
wasn't brought on by number of tracks - that's for
sure. After it started happenind and I took a break &
came back, I was sitting on my couch, Powerbook in
my lap, tapping a beat in with the onscreen
keyboard.... a SINGLE instrument, mind you. NO plugs,
no other tracks of ANY kind. And it happened.
There's a lot of great, relevant and very helpful info on this forum and it all helps and it all counts. But..... so many people are suffering this when moving up to Pro 7 from either Pro 6 or Express. One expects a change in system load when a major update comes along but more and more people are reporting that simply recording 1 or 2 tracks of audio, pure, no plug-ins or EQ is causing an overload whereas in the previous version(s) this was easily accomodated. This, you may have guessed, has happened to me as well. Are we to accept in 1 version increment (albeit a major one) there is such a massive increase in demand from hardware that you cannot record a pure no-plug-in stereo track? When going back to 6.4.3 it will happily record 8 at once, let you EQ and reverb and then do another 8 AND then another. With no troble at all.
It is pointing more and more towards fundamental flaws in the programming. Did L7 come out too soon? Are we just beta testing what is pro software? We are only on 7.1.1 and 6 went to 6.4.3 but at no stage was it this bad at the fundamentals of what the App is for. I love Logic, I really do, but I think, even with all the great help we are fighting what Apple should be addressing. Not that you can find/contact/talk to or get any sort of response from them.
I have tried but have gone back to 6.4.3 until 7.1.2 or even 7.2 appears, but I'm not paying for 7.2. My £200 upgrade from 6.4.3 is now sitting on a shelf desperately wanting to use it.

CPU (SYSTEM OVERLOAD (-10011)

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