Hi, I run n-track in windows xp pentium 4, 2.8 mhz, 2 gb ddr ram, 120 gb hd. Lately I’ve been having frequent hang-ons (slow response or even no response at all) even with just 10 tracks with no effects, and no other apps running simnoultaneosly. Maybe I should replace the hd
(C, the unit that the program and all its files are located) as I have only 25 % left. Maybe replace the whole pc upgrading to a faster processor, but the hang-ons occur when the machine runs slow, even when performing the lightest task (say search a file), so I wonder if adding 1 gb more ram (old ddr) could help.
Hi jazito:
Holy Moley…
I thought I was the only n-Tracker with slow machines…
I have an Intel 1.7
P-4
1 Gig of DDR 2 Ram…
with XP Home…
It’s awful when something grabbs my machine and it runs slow and even stalls…
for no reason… I don’t know what hits it…
I just re-boot and shut the mains down and restart it.(the machine)…
If I loose anything, I try to forget what I lost…
and start over…
from that point…
I have several drives on that machine…
I never have any saved files on the “C” drive…
Just applications and the Operating System…
of course…
Everything else is on other drives…
On that machine, what I attempt to do, before I start an n-Track session is…
I try to make sure I have nothing running in the backround… Before I launch n-Track I run “EndItAll” and then hope for the best as I run the session…
Knowing that I have this slow machine, I do a “SAVE AS” every 10 minutes-or-so…
I think that can be set in the Preferences…
It’s not much sense to get in a Snit over it…
It’s just a Slow-Bad Machine…
Nothing else…
We have no one to blame…
Do We 
?
Bill…
Hi, I doubt extra ram would help I can run 40 to 50 tracks with 1Gig of Ram.In my experience the way to get good performance is to have a dedicated audio setup where the “Audio” computer has only the bare minimum on it no MS office etc. I run a dual boot setup using the Gag bootloader to choose between two installations of XP in separate partitions. Its a bit fiddly to set up but worth it.
http://gag.sourceforge.net
Nick
Hi nick:
Nice reply…
I even tried dual boot partitions…
It used to get so frustrating when editing tracks…
Cutting-and-splicing and all…
I’d get to a satisfactory and acceptable edit and then the machine would freeze/lock up…
I believed that ram doesn’t come into play when streaming tracks…
However, when editing , you know, tracks that ram size may be important/come into play…
Well…
I was so happy to move away from XP and into a dual processor machine with VISTA…
Anyway, that’s considered slow these days…
I’m thinking that a quad processor with XP or Vista is a machine to consider, these days…
What do you think ?
Bill…
jazito - I think a new and dedicated hard-drive would be a definite step in the right direction. Leave the program on C: and move all data files (.wav) to a new, larger, 7200 RPM drive. New larger internal drives are really quite a bargain now and it would likely be the cheapest (and most effective) upgrade you could do.
Of course, you also want to do all the obvious things - disable all unnecessay processes from running in the background, etc.
Including security - Avast has silent gaming mode and is free.
more stable DAW code usually helps.
- keep on shinin
Ok, thanx for all the answers. I’ll consider the alternatives, specially getting a new larger drive, as my C is way too old, must have 9 years or so, and I’ve learned that hd’s age too (lol). Only thing I disagree is to have just the program (n track) in C and the wav files created by n in another drive because I’ve tried that and the program had trouble finding the files, it was a complete mess, so I replaced the wav files in n-track directory (in c) and the program started to run fine, at least no trouble finding files.
I’d like to know if any of u got any noticeable benefits by upgrading to dual core or quad core, so as to consider getting a whole new machine.
Quote: (jazito @ Sep. 30 2010, 12:25 AM)
Ok, thanx for all the answers. I'll consider the alternatives, specially getting a new larger drive, as my C is way too old, must have 9 years or so, and I've learned that hd's age too (lol). Only thing I disagree is to have just the program (n track) in C and the wav files created by n in another drive because I've tried that and the program had trouble finding the files, it was a complete mess, so I replaced the wav files in n-track directory (in c) and the program started to run fine, at least no trouble finding files.
I'd like to know if any of u got any noticeable benefits by upgrading to dual core or quad core, so as to consider getting a whole new machine.
Hi jazito:
I wish I was more "Computer knowledgeable"..
I'm so "Old School" regarding audio tracking-and-editing, it ain't even funny..
It has been a struggle for me to get beyond magnetic recording tape..
Most of the guys I tracked with and did sessions with have moved on and are not with us, anymore..
sigh.....
Getting back to computer tracking, storage of wave files and session editing..
I never had any issues with applications on one hard drive and storing data on another drive..
If the "Path" to where the files are stored, are set..
Then, I've
found that no issues appear, in that regard, with my setups..
Settings> Preferences> Paths
The file location/field is there, as you are aware.. and needs to be setup for each session/project, each time..
It might be nice if Flavio would consider expanding the "Paths" Command Area for the Users, to include as many as three Project/Sessions, to quickly locate Projects-on-the-Fly..
That would be nice for me, in a future build..
I became stuck in an Intel P-4 XP machine and had lots of issues with "Slow Operation" and "Machine Freezing Up" in sessions..
Then..
I moved into a Dual Processor Intel E-5200 Vista machine and discovered Night-and-Day machine behaviour..
From the little I know about computers,32-bit / Vista may be the Bottleneck now, with my setup.. However, I hate to take the leap into a 64-bit Windows 7 setup only to discover other issues and operating system compatibility problems, with how I use n-Track, as the Tracker-and-Editor..
Having said all of of that..
I'd have no problems in suggesting at least a Dual Processor with a higher "E" rating than E-5200 and as much Ram as your new machine can Identify-and-Work With and as many as three 1.5 SATA hard drives to store Date would be something like a machine that I would feel comfortable with, as my setup..
Two DVD SATA Optical Drives and a Graphics Card with the ability to run two Monitor screens with at least 1 Gig of the fastest Ram, your Mother Board can identify..
At the moment, the Mother Boards I feel comfortable with are the ASUS P5QL Pro Board..
However, I'm sure there are Main Boards that blow the socks off of that model..
Anyway, that's what I think..
Bill
Jaz, your problem could be many things, but I doubt if ram is one of them, unless you have a bad stick. We need more info, in order to diagnose what you’re problem might be (btw, I work for a private computer store, so this kinda stuff is what I do for a living, lol!!!) I’ll try to tackle your issues in sections, so that you can address each part individually, and not get lost in the mix, lol!
Let me give you some hints about speeding up your computer first: Right click on your c drive, go to properties, and do a disk clean up. This will clear old junk out of your temp files (java update installers, etc) and free up some space. Next, download a program called C CLEANER, and run the registry cleaner on it. This will TREMENDOUSLY speed up your computer, because the registry is like the PHONE BOOK for windows. Everytime it does ANYTHING, it looks in the registry to see where to go to do it. If your registry is all junked up with bad links and goofy crap, then your computer will bog down and drag even in solitaire, lol!
Okay, as far as the rest, what operating system are you using? When I first got n-track, back in 1999, I had win98 with 128 MB ram, and I could run 10 tracks easily with no effects, so 2.8 ghz with 2 gb ram is PLENTY, depending on what you’re doing with it. Vista is a systems resources hog, being as most of the O/S is devoted to DRM (meaning, making sure you paid for anything you have on the computer, lol). For this reason, I will not use Vista, and I advise anyone who has it to upgrade to either XP or 7 (YES, XP is an upgrade from Vista, ask anyone who’s done it, they’ll tell you, lol!). Also, go to control panel>System>Advanced>Performance>Advanced and click the “change” button under Virtual Memory. This is your pagefile and if it’s too small, it will lag you like crazy. Linux users have this in a separate partition known as SWAP, and it’s virtual memory. On my pc, I have an adjustable pagefile of 2-4 gigabytes on EACH hard drive, giving me a total of 10 gigs of virtual memory to go with 3 gigs of RAM.
Finally, don’t have a lot of things running on your computer when you’re recording. Turn off your IM programs, email checkers, weather alerts, anything that you aren’t actively using, because ALL of those things take a slice out of the pie that n-track has to work with when you’re running it. Yahoo Messenger, for example, is using almost a hundred megs of ram even when you’re not chatting, and also cpu time while it constantly checks to see who’s online and what their status is. Obviously you’re not going to be chatting while you’re laying down a hot guitar solo, so SHUT IT OFF, lol!
Hope these tips help you, and I may write something for the tips and tricks section of the forum, because I’ve learned that most computer users don’t really understand what their machine is doing, so probably a LOT of ppl could use this advice. Sorry so long-winded, but that’s the best way to help people understand what they need to do…
-Danny
(edited) BTW, I also have my WORKING FOLDER for n-track on a different drive than the program, a drive set aside strictly for music. I have both tmp files and wav files go to this folder, and am considering having each song have it’s own individual folder, because there are times that my Working Folder has had 10 gigs of tracks in it, lol! It’s not hard to set up, just do like mentioned above, go to your prefs in n-track, and change your directory to the new folder on the drive. Once it’s off your c drive, you will find that n-track speeds up tremendously, because Windows is not trying to write tmp and wav files to the same drive it’s writing system stuff to…
Hi dannyraymilligan:
Thank you for the great reply to this thread… I’m gonna go to the studio and work on the items you mentioned on this P-4 XP Home machine I have connected to this DJ Bench/Desk I have, that uses this slow P-4 setup…
You’re talking at the level I think I understand… We’ll see…
snot you… smee…
Bill…
What Danny said it right on the money. I would like to add a few things. With XP 2 gigs of ram IMO in not enough. After initial program start up and how much video ram you video card uses, you might be left with 1 to 1.5 gig of ram. Win Xp has memory cap as well of 4 gig, but even this amount you’d never actually see. In some cases adding 2 more gig won’t even be seen yet the system will report 4 gig installed. Generally if 4 gig is installed on and XP system it should see about 3.5 gig free after boot. Of course WIn 7 doesn’t have this limitation. Adding some more memory will help your Win XP, less page file hard access’s.
Should you get dual core or better? I would say yes, however WIN XP was not writen to actually take advantage of it rather programs wirtten to make acess of it will work is my understanding.
A we bit of advice. Every system I ever owned, and I got way back to old days of DOS and win 3.1 and where a DX2/66 was top dog and 4 meg of ram would cost you $400.00 CND. Each system would eventully become unstable due to registry corruption. It took years to actually find a program that would really fix it. There are many out there like uniblue and such but I found the only one that really works for me is…Drum roll please…
XP Repair Pro. It’s worth every penny.
Well that’s my 2 cents.
PACO
Hi Back Again:
I downloaded the C Cleaner and installed it…
I ran the registry Scan and saw some 1400 entries that needed attention…
However, I chose not to buy the Application…
as …
I already have a registry cleaner called AVS Registry…
that I’ve never run…
SO…
I opened it up and scanned the registry and sure enough, there are some 1400 entries that need attention…
SO…
I did the FIX after saving a restore point…
However, there were some 10-12 entries that were not removed…
for whatever reason…
Anyway…,
thanks dannyraymilligan, for the reply to this thread to get me going on these issues, instead of complaining about this machine…
We’ll see how it (the machine behaves)…
I’ll report back in a few days to let you know how it’s working…
As a matter-of-interest…
what should I be looking for in improvements, right from the Get-Go ?
Bill…
Quote: (woxnerw @ Sep. 30 2010, 12:27 PM)
Hi Back Again:
I downloaded the C Cleaner and installed it..
I ran the registry Scan and saw some 1400 entries that needed attention..
However, I chose not to buy the Application..
as ..
I already have a registry cleaner called AVS Registry..
that I've never run..
SO..
I opened it up and scanned the registry and sure enough, there are some 1400 entries that need attention..
SO..
I did the FIX after saving a restore point..
However, there were some 10-12 entries that were not removed..
for whatever reason..
Anyway..,
thanks dannyraymilligan, for the reply to this thread to get me going on these issues, instead of complaining about this machine..
We'll see how it (the machine behaves)..
I'll report back in a few days to let you know how it's working..
As a matter-of-interest..
what should I be looking for in improvements, right from the Get-Go
?Bill..
C Cleaner is free software, it shouldn't have tried to make you purchase it... are you sure you clicked the right link? Or did you see the donate button and mistake that for purchase?
Hi. Danny. Thanks for the ccleaner link.
I use a dual boot set-up on a machine I had built shortly after dicovering n-T around two years ago to the best music spec that funds would allow. My ‘domestic’ partition was infected a couple of weeks ago and me and AVG had a missunderstang - ripping system files out for fun! Just fixed all issues with Danny’s CCleaner. Nice.
XP Pro
SP 3
V2002
AMD Athlon64X2Dual
Core Processor5200+
2.71GHz, 1.93 GB of RAM
7200sata.
ECHO MIA midi
My previous machine was litteraly half the spec and ran n-Track like a slug.
The guy who built it for me recently discouraged me from going quad with DAW for reasons that sounded like gobbledygook to me?
Tony, unless Flavio writes n-track so that it can utilize all four cores of the quad, you’re really not going to improve your performance, sadly. Now, if he coded the software so that one core took care of actual running of wav files, one took care of processing effects sends, one took care of Windows, operation, etc., that would be stellar. The truth is, however, that there are very few programs that can actually use a quad core efficiently. In the case of n-track, that would be like tying your little red wagon to a v-12 motor… sure, the motor runs, but your little red wagon would shake apart long before you used the power of the motor effectively. Until n-track is set up to run multiple threads, speculation is useless.
Cheers Danny - that went in easy.
I’ve no complaints with my duo - runs like a tank in oil (when the reg is clean)
I have no complaints with my system either:
Windows 7 Home Premium (x64) (build 7600)
3.00 gigahertz Intel Core i5 750
32 kilobyte primary memory cache
8192 kilobyte secondary memory cache
64-bit ready
Multi-core (4 total)
And for what its worth, I found this talk about dual and quad in the n-track FYI. . .
http://ntrack.com/faq.php?search=quad
Quote: (pingcat @ Sep. 30 2010, 6:07 PM)
I have no complaints with my system either:
Windows 7 Home Premium (x64) (build 7600)
3.00 gigahertz Intel Core i5 750
32 kilobyte primary memory cache
8192 kilobyte secondary memory cache
64-bit ready
Multi-core (4 total)
And for what its worth, I found this talk about dual and quad in the n-track FYI. . .
http://ntrack.com/faq.php?search=quad
This is Awesome news, Ping!!! It is definitely good to know that Flavio has set up n-track to where it utilizes the multiple thread processors efficiently, because it may be the only recording studio program that does that, lol! Now all I need to do is save up my pennies and nickels, get myself a 6-core AMD with an AM3 board, and 8 GB of RAM, and I should be able to run 24 tracks with heavy effects and still not bog down my system....
WOOHOOOO!!!!! (does cartwheels down the street)