1 Topic by soundmagus (edited by soundmagus 2011-07-15 14:22:52)

  • Registered: 2009-11-11
  • Posts: 18

Topic: Nightmare ASIO problems in Cubase 5.5.3 build 651

Hi All,

I will cut straight to the chase.

I am using FF 400 Uc inside Windows 7 64bit.
I am running Cubase 5.5.3 build 651 32 bit
I have most up to date drivers installed for FF
I have the latency set to 512 samples (which i dont mind)

I am running a nice project in Cubase with several vsts (nothing too major) and most of the time the ASIO indicator is at 15% but every few seconds it jumps up to 100% and sometimes it even crashes cubase completely, it totally freezes.

I have also noticed that if i move the mixer or any or graphical item it crunches and jumps up to 100% also.

The cpu readings never get above 15% and i am using approx 60% ram with Firefox and firewall running (i have tested without FireFox and Firewall running and it still does the same thing).

This is extremely frustrating as i need to reboot my system every time this happens which seems to remedy the problem SOMETIMES but even when it does its for no longer than 20 minutes then the problem starts all over again.

So basically i cant do any long term work on my system.

I am running cpu I7 1.60 Q70 with 4gb ram 64bit

Thanks for any assistance you can offer,

Mark

PS i will be happy to make a video of this occuring if it will help.

  • From: New Milford , CT USA
  • Registered: 2007-05-01
  • Posts: 347

Re: Nightmare ASIO problems in Cubase 5.5.3 build 651

Hi mark,
This sounds like a video card/driver issue.
What are the specs on your computer system?


Chris

Chris Ludwig | ADK Pro Audio
www.adkproaudio.com
https://www.facebook.com/adkmg

ChrisADK's Website

  • Registered: 2009-11-11
  • Posts: 18

Re: Nightmare ASIO problems in Cubase 5.5.3 build 651

Hi chris,

I have often thought this but as far as i am aware i have the correct drivers installed for my Video Card.

System Specs

  < Processor >
    Model:                         Intel(R) Core(TM) i7 CPU       Q 720  @
                                   1.60GHz
    Speed:                         1.73GHz
    Cores per Processor:           4 Unit(s)
    Threads per Core:              2 Unit(s)
    Type:                          Mobile, Quad-Core

Mainboard:                     AlienWare (Dell)
    BIOS:                          AlienWare (Dell) A01 10/08/2009
    Bus(es):                       ISA X-Bus PCI PCIe IMB PCMCIA USB FireWire/
                                   1394 i2c/SMBus
    Multi-Processor (MP) Support:  No
    Multi-Processor Advanced PIC (:Yes
    Total Memory:                  4GB DDR3 SO-DIMM

  < Chipset >
    Model:                         Dell Core (Clarksfield/Lynnfield) DMI
    Front Side Bus Speed:          2x 2.4GHz (4.79GHz)

  < Chipset >
    Model:                         Intel Core Mobile (Clarksfield) UnCore
    Front Side Bus Speed:          2x 2.13GHz (4.26GHz)
    Total Memory:                  4GB DDR3 SO-DIMM
    Channels:                      2
    Memory Bus Speed:              2x 665MHz (1.33GHz)

< Video System >
    Video Adapter:                 NVIDIA GeForce GT 240M (32 SM4.1 1.2GHz, 1GB
                                   DDR3 128-bit, PCIe 2.00 x16)
    Video Adapter:                 NVIDIA GeForce GT 240M (32 SM4.1 1.2GHz, 1GB
                                   DDR3 128-bit, PCIe 2.00 x16)

  < Graphics Processor >
    OpenCL Processor:              NVIDIA GeForce GT 240M (48SP 6C 1.2GHz, 1GB
                                   DDR3 128-bit)
    Compute Shader Processor:      NVIDIA GeForce GT 240M (32SP 1.2GHz, 1GB DDR3
                                   128-bit)

I hope this helps and i will also check for updated drivers etc.

thanks

Mark

  • From: New Milford , CT USA
  • Registered: 2007-05-01
  • Posts: 347

Re: Nightmare ASIO problems in Cubase 5.5.3 build 651

Hi Mark,
First make sure your system is optimized for audio.
Here is the best site for doing this.
http://www.tweakhound.com/windows7/tweaking/index.html
This site also has the best Windows install guide in case you ever wanted to to do a clean install rather than using Dells configuration.
Second go to device manager and disable your graphics card.

Instructions-
Go to Start button
Right Cliick on Computer
Go to manage
Click on device manager on left menu
Click on the plus sign on right for Display adapter.
Right click on  NVIDIA GeForce GT 240M and disable.
Reboot the machine.
Right click on the desktop and select Screen resolution
Set it to max listed which should be your native video monitor resolution.
Launch Cubase and see you have the same issues with the video driver disabled.

If not then it is most likely and issue with the driver version or an compatibility issue with the video card power management.
Most main stream laptop makers optimize their laptop BIOs and video card firmwares for power saving/battery life,
If the driver Dell offers has no options to alter the dynamic power saving mode of the video card then you may need to run with the driver disabled to do audio.

Chris

Chris Ludwig | ADK Pro Audio
www.adkproaudio.com
https://www.facebook.com/adkmg

ChrisADK's Website

  • Registered: 2008-01-01
  • Posts: 3,025

Re: Nightmare ASIO problems in Cubase 5.5.3 build 651

Wow, Chris, finally a site that offers meaningful tweaks with explanation including a statement *not* to disable Indexing on W7. I don't agree about disabling Superfetch via disabling the service though, because that leaves Readyboot (not Readyboost) running without proper trace files.

  • From: New Milford , CT USA
  • Registered: 2007-05-01
  • Posts: 347

Re: Nightmare ASIO problems in Cubase 5.5.3 build 651

Hi Timur,
yes it is a very good sight. Only one I'm comfortable sending people. He makes fairly clear that most users will have not need to mess with Superfetch.
No DAW users even with Raid drives or SSD I think will get any disabling stuff like Superfetch. his site is very good and giving links to more info and explanations from legitimate resources. I've recommending this site sens ehe first put out his XP tweak guide which is also the best one I've seen. I like how he debunks useless tweaks. smile
Chris

Chris Ludwig | ADK Pro Audio
www.adkproaudio.com
https://www.facebook.com/adkmg

ChrisADK's Website

  • Registered: 2008-01-01
  • Posts: 3,025

Re: Nightmare ASIO problems in Cubase 5.5.3 build 651

Last off-topic answer: wink

I recently had sort of a short quarrel with another tweaks site author on GS exactly because of the things that your recommended site makes better.

Concerning Superfetch I send a short e-mail notifying him that it can be disabled via Registry (or a freeware utility) without having to turn off the service. The service is additionally responsible for collecting prefetch trace data in a log and thus needed for Readyboot, else RB will work with wrong data (which can lead to longer boot-times).

Temporarily disabling the Superfetch service makes sense when you are short on RAM, because the service uses 50-100 mb for its own administration as overhead (additionally to the cache).