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Level 1

16 points

Logic Pro X keeps crashing

My Logic Pro X continually crashes. Just shuts down without any seeming cause. Not just Logic Pro X crashes, but it instantly and simultaneously shuts down the iMac as well! I have every app turned off except for Logic Pro X but I also get (along with the "without-notice" crashes) some that say "System Overload". I do NOT have a lot of junk, nor do I have a lot of thins working in the backgorund. I thought Mavericks was supposed to "compress" memory and reduce the workload. Doesn't seem to work on MINE! I am running a brand new iMac with 8 Gb memory, so why all the crashing? It does save my work automatically when it dies, but this is crazy. I don't remember Logic Pro 9 EVER craashing. Any ideas of what is causing this. P.S. I am not the average idiot who doesn't have a shred of computer knowledge. I actually work on Macs and that's why this is such a mystery as to why Logic Pro X goes into sudden death every few minutes. Any ideas are welcome.

iMac, OS X Mavericks (10.9), Logic Pro X

Posted on Nov 13, 2013 11:10 AM

47 replies

Rick Sr Author

Level 1

16 points

Nov 27, 2013 8:22 PM in response to Rick Sr

OK... That didn't pan out as I expected. I checked the RAM with Apple Hardware Test and the result is that the RAM is good. No problems there. After that, I deleted the two files: com.apple.logic10.plist as well as the com.apple.logic.pro.cs, did a restart, then opened Logic Pro X. First, I noticed that I am not able to use my DAW controller to operate the transport controls now, and the Smart Controls don't work on some software instruments now such as the B3 instrument. And finally, Logic Pro still crashes. It crashed and shut down the iMac. When it rebooted I looked at the report and again, it reads that there was a Kernel Panic. What I can't determine is whether the Kernel Panic is caused by Logic Pro X crashing, or if it goes into Kernel Panic and then crashes Logic. Someone mentioned doing a Repair Disk and Repair Permissions. I'll try that to see if it helps at all. Any further help will be much appreciated. P.S.... I did check and both com.apple..xxxx files are where they are supposed to be in Library/Preferences.

Nov 28, 2013 5:36 AM in response to Rick Sr

Rick,

If repairing Disk/Checking Permissions doesn't work for you....

Rarher than relying on the AHT to test memory.. I would use Memtest86 instead as the AHT doesn't properly test all RAM... I had an intermittant faulty memory stick in an iMac and it would pass AHT with flying colors but after using MT86, the problem was correctly identified and upon replacement of the stick.. my issue resolved itself.

http://www.memtest86.com/download.htm

Create a bootable CD/DVD/USB and boot from it and then test all memory and see what transpires.. (Booting from an external source of some kind is important as then all memory can be fully tested)

The fact you are getting Kernel Panics is usually a sign of some kind of hardware fault and faulty memory is the most likely...

Oh.. and the reason your DAW controller doesn't work any longer is because you trashed the CS (Control Surface) prefs file which is normal.. Just reinstall it's setup software/add manually to via the CS setup screen..

Rick Sr Author

Level 1

16 points

Nov 28, 2013 8:24 AM in response to The Art Of Sound

Gotcha... I suspected the .cs file was the reason for the DAW issue. Thank you for the confirmation. I also have the Smart Controls back up too. Thanks for the link to Memtest86. Will post results.

Rick Sr Author

Level 1

16 points

Nov 28, 2013 6:17 PM in response to The Art Of Sound

I tested the memory with Memtest and it says the memory is OK. One other thougt is this... I had a look at Activity Monitor and was a bit concerned. Although I am not actively running any program, it sure seems like a LOT of things are running in the background and taking up memory. It appears roughly half or more of my 8 Gb of memory is being used and I haven't even opened an app yet. I'm thinking this is not quite right. I don't know what a lot of the stuff running is for though so I don't just willy-nilly go turning things off. Some things (ones I'm confident knowing what they do) will stop when I manually "quit" them, but are right back on with a reboot. Any way to shut stuff off permanently?

I did notice that Logic Pro X runs smoother with less stuff running... and either less or no crashes.

But then when Logic Pro X does crash, the report always says kernel panic. I do not however get any black screen that kind of shows the start button which used to occur during kernel panic on older Macs. I don't know if Apple did away with that screen or if I don't get it due to the computer shutting off instantly when Logic X crashes. Is it possible too that Logic Pro X is still buggy? If you look on the Mac App Store, there isn't a comment on there that doesn't claim bugs or crashes. Just wondering. I appreciate everybody's help on this issue and welcome any thoughts on this. Everything else seems to run OK except for Logic Pro X.

Nov 28, 2013 7:03 PM in response to Rick Sr

Well, I have been using LPX quite intensively with 10.9 these last 10 days in the studio and not one crash of any kind with the exception of a couple of Kontakt 5.3 crashes which NI are aware of and will be releasing another fix for shortly I understand.....

The thing is... Kernel Panics, as i said earlier, tend to be more hardware than software related but not always... so...

Can you cut and paste up the whole of the next crash log you get.. as that might give some clues as to the root cause...

Also, in Activity Monitor, if you sort by memory used (high to low) and then take a selective screenshot.. (CMD + 4)

and post that up.. again, that might be helpful if a chunk of your RAM is being used up before you do anything...

Nov 28, 2013 7:16 PM in response to Rick Sr

If you look on the Mac App Store, there isn't a comment on there that doesn't claim bugs or crashes. Just wondering.

If you read through the various threads here from people reporting crashes and serious bugs.. Most have turned out to be either..

In no particular order....

"User Error" (More often than not, related to not actually reading the User Guide!)

Failure to turn on all the Advanced features in LPX's preferences!

The use of cracked plugins.....and old AU plugins... that need updating...

Using incompatible with 10.8 (and now 10.9..) or otherwise buggy... drivers....

A hardware/software issue related to Fusion Drives and 2013 iMacs.. and CoreAudio itself

USB2 Audio/Midi interfaces and USB3 ports....

and so on...

There are a few missing features or things not working quite right.. but no real "Show Stopping" repeatable 'crash' bugs that I have come across that are actually caused by LPX itself...

Rick Sr Author

Level 1

16 points

Nov 28, 2013 9:24 PM in response to The Art Of Sound

That's good to know that LPX does is not as "buggy" as people think. And, using LPX in the studio every day, I can only say this is a rather recent development. (in the last month or two). I want to note that I was made aware of an update to my newer iZotope plugin Nectar2. I did the update this evening so haven't had time to use LPX with it installed. But guess what one of the issues the update fixes? Reported crashes due to a font issue. I will definately post my next crash and the list of "running" items from Activity Finder. Thanks for your time and input!

Pancenter

Level 6

14,644 points

Nov 28, 2013 9:50 PM in response to Rick Sr

Rick Sr wrote:

That's good to know that LPX does is not as "buggy" as people think.

This is true, however... Logic is very elegant in almost every aspect except it's handling of errors, whether they they be internal bugs or problems with external software/drivers or even OSX itself. Logic tends to go off the deep end rather than exiting gracefully or giving an error message and letting the user exit. This is what gives users, especially new users the impression Logic is buggy. It's been especially bad at this since version 8. Honestly, Logic should not crash as much as it does if it encounters an error.

The other problem is Logic corrupts it's preferences files and this sometimes leads to corrupted projects.

As long as you have a clean system, up to date drivers, reputable 3rd party hardware and legit, up to date plugins you generally won't have problems... most new users don't have any of the above.

Rick Sr Author

Level 1

16 points

Nov 28, 2013 10:18 PM in response to Pancenter

Here's my processes under the Memory Tab in Activity Finder. It says I am using over 5Gb of memory out of the total of 8Gb, yet no other apps are actively open.

Message was edited by: Rick Sr

Rick Sr Author

Level 1

16 points

Nov 29, 2013 10:38 PM in response to The Art Of Sound

OK Had a crash today already. Here is the Crash Report in order.

Page 1

Rick Sr Author

Level 1

16 points

Nov 29, 2013 10:39 PM in response to The Art Of Sound

Page 2 (Logic Pro X Crash Report)

Rick Sr Author

Level 1

16 points

Nov 29, 2013 10:42 PM in response to The Art Of Sound

Page 3 (Logic Pro X Crash Report

Rick Sr Author

Level 1

16 points

Nov 29, 2013 10:43 PM in response to The Art Of Sound

Page 4. Logic Pro X Crash report

Rick Sr Author

Level 1

16 points

Nov 29, 2013 10:47 PM in response to The Art Of Sound

Page 5. (Final). Logic Pro X Crash Report

Hope this will shed some light as to why my Logic Pro X is crashing. Again, any assistance is greatly appreciated!

Nov 30, 2013 6:53 AM in response to Rick Sr

Unfortunately Rick, that isn't the sort of crash report needed to identify any possible cause...

Have a look in the Console app in your Applications folder... Dig around in the User Diagnostics Reports area and see oif you can find any crash reports relatimg directly to Logic Pro...

The report should look very similar in format to this one...

https://discussions.apple.com/thread/5615694?tstart=0

Please just copy and paste up the whole of the single log....

Logic Pro X keeps crashing