Hi, Peter, I'm a Mac-Guy using a G3/400 Powerbook. I get enough power to open up 6 EXS plus 2 ProFive instances plus plenty (20+) of audiotracks from my internal Drive - enough for me, when writing, but I'm also able to run 50+ track sessions audio only to work on sessions from the studio.

I have no experience in networking PC/MAC, but transferring sessions from PC to MAC and back via AIFF on JolietCDs works fine with logic.
Perhaps anyone frome the PC-side wants to chime in here?

Niko

Hi Niko
What Audio interface are you using ?
-Peter

Actually, none! I'm using internal MacAV for editing and softsynts/samplers but a friend of mine owns a Magma ?PCIMCIA? chassis w/ DIGIoo1, that I sometimes borrow. The MOTU's 828 looks promising but sounds??? dunno..

Metric Halo anyone?

I'm also currently using only Mac AV within my G3 iBook 600 + LAP 4.7 system. In the beginning it ran smoothly but each day I'm receiving more and more System Overload messages from Mac AV ("Mac AV system overload or disk too slow"). At this time I almost can't work. I've optimized (defragmented) the HD but still doesn't work as it it did the first sessions. Even the new projects with no plugs or instruments show these messages very often.

Hope this gets solved with an ASIO card (MOTU 828) daisychained from an external FireWire HD.

I'd go for the 828 instead of 896 or Mobile I/O (Metric Halo) because I'd prefer to choose the preamps and also have them separate from the A/D converters.

Niko,

what Mac AV settings work for you?

Capi

I've just visited Logic's forum at Sonik, and found many people having the same system overload problem. Even with ASIO cards.

Moderators inmediatly recommend to update to 4.8.1 as the only solution. I'm not sure about it... I'll certainly upgrade but, could 4.7 be that bad for being practically unable to use?

There must be something else.

Capi

I think , the worst problem is the internal Disk itself. If you are using one partition only, all your temp and garbage system files get splattered all over the place with audiofiles and your game--files. Set up 3 Partitions on your Harddrive:

Size depending of your needs - System Partition with all your Programs, Plugins, Sounds - Audio dedicated Partition (Songs/Projects) - Backup Partition.

This way, you can manage your Work Partition without affecting your System Volume, and Audiofiles share a smaller physical space for faster access times.

I have been troubled by those system overloads myself, but in the end, I just pushed too much, I mean, what do you expect from a portable tool - you can edit and program with it, that does not mean, you can do a mix on it. I found the Spark Soundmanager ASIO Driver to be slightly more powerful, than using MacAV (in System Performance)
And try different settings in the Memory Control Panel!

Niko

P.S. This does not mean, that a G3 Powerbook is not powerful enough to seriously mix on it - with the right Hardware, means DSP!!! it is possible.
That is, what makes Mobile I/O looking very interesting, but RME have a PCIMCIA version of the Hammerfall with two different faces (Analog/Digi) and possibly a DSP option going on. Have to get my hands on one of those...

I've been thinking on partitioning my HD before, just like I did with partition magic on a PC for getting better results indeed.

But the problem is really big now, and at least wanted to solve it partially first. Even if I open a single audio file with the sample editor and try to play back, the overload message inmediatly shows almost right after I hit the play button. So this is not just a mix or to much work problem, I guess.

I'll try partitioning, but I don't know how to do it yet. Is there an app such as partition magic for Mac? Or should I reformat the HD?

I've been also thinking on the Mobile's DSP power as a serious portable solution some months ago, but exceeded my price range at that time. And it was just released, so I forgot about it.

I'll surely reconsider it. It seems like a very useful piece of gear. Though it's difficult to find reviews on it.

It would be good to know how the Logic + Mobile DSP combo works first. I'll take a look somewhere.

Capi

But the problem is really big now, and at least wanted to solve it partially first. Even if I open a single audio file with the sample editor and try to play back, the overload message inmediatly shows almost right after I hit the play button. So this is not just a mix or to much work problem, I guess.

I'll try partitioning, but I don't know how to do it yet. Is there an app such as partition magic for Mac? Or should I reformat the HD

First, do you have activated virtual memory?

Second, a fresh initialized HD is the way to go. Partition it with Drive Setup and build your new System from scratch. BTW, I found, that on HFS+ my EXS-library takes 20% less space than on HFS.

Niko

After partitioning and updating to 4.8.1, Logic works again on my iBook. Thank you again

:)

I've read some of the newest posts at Mobile IO's group. There's still no support for plugs usable by the extra DSP chip, so there are some people complaining about having a useless DSP version of the card.

Capi