Logic Pro - "disk too slow to record" error

[avrinder]

Hey guys;

I had an issue yesterday with my Profire 2626 and Macbook (black macbook last gen. 4 gb ram, 10.5.8)

I was recording 7 tracks of drums, and while it recorded 20-30 seconds fine - it would freeze with the error msg "disk too slow to record" over and over again.

I am aware that it would help running the project through a firewire external hd. The problem is I only have one firewire slot on my Macbook. There are 2 firewire slots on the Profire 2626. What is the procedure (if any) on running my Profire 2626 to my Macbook, and the Firewire external hd (with only 1 firewire slot on my macbook) ?

Also - I do have a USB (WD external hd) - Would it be possible to run that for recording the session? Or is that too slow as well, for running 8 tracks at one time?

Sorry for the long long questions. I just need to figure this out asap.

thanks for your time. -av

 

[updog]

I get this sometimes too, even though I'm using an external WD with firewire 400 for recording.

You can plug your external with firewire into your Profire, and plug your Profire into your MacBook. It should work.

an external USB hd isn't fast enough for recording.

 

[avrinder]

thanks a lot for the reply, I really appreciate it.

As silly as this is going to sound, I figure I might as well ask...

The Profire 2626 came with 2 types of Firewire cables... One that fits perfect into the firewire slot. The other one has one end that's a bit smaller. If I plug my current usb WD drive (with the cable like this one http://www.yycomputer.net/products/cable/firewire4-6.jpg) - should that work? Or do I have to buy a new firewire drive?

And with a firewire drive, would I experience any disk too slow errors? Or is it pretty safe to say it'll work great?

 

[arv_foh]

Go to Preferences>Audio>I/O Buffer Size

Increase until you no longer have this error. This will result in higher roundtrip latency but you should not have any more write errors.

Also, I have recorded 16 tracks to a USB external hard drive with no issues. More than once.

 

[avrinder]

Great to know that it worked with the USB hd for your case.

I did try increasing the buffer size, to no avail. It just spiked red in the HD section (logic pro hd spike)

I'm just curious (if i DO try plugging my USB hd to the firewire cable, if it'll ruin my drive) i'm using this one currently - http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_jGdVOcbDX...400/Western_Digital_500GB_MyBookEssential.jpg

 

[Metaltastic]

Dude, that cable you linked to is just a 6-pin to 4-pin cable, and those two missing pins are simply for bus-powering devices, which isn't an issue in your case - so in short, daisy-chaining (Firewire HDD --> Profire --> Computer) is your best option!

 

[Metaltastic]

if i DO try plugging my USB hd to the firewire cable, if it'll ruin my drive

Why on earth would you do such a thing? If I understand from the OP, you have a firewire and a USB external HDD?

 

[avrinder]

sorry to be not so clear. I have a USB drive currently, and am wondering if I should buy a firewire. It looks like I should, huh? More money being spent. haha. ah well, it will be worth it in the end.

 

[AdamWathan]

I had this error all the time using Logic on Snow Leopard with a Glyph external firewire HD. So annoying, seems to be very common and no one seems to have a real solution. My solution was to switch to a DAW that doesn't suck.

 

[avrinder]

son of a bitch haha. I really dug Logic Pro until now. My profire came with Ableton Live Lite. Has anyone had issues with that daw?
thanks for all the responses so far!

I will try using a firewire hd with logic pro very soon. If that doesn't work, then off to another daw.

 

[mick thompson]

"disk too slow to record" could be due to several things including a lack of ram and processing power - example if you've maxed out your cpu and ram with plugins and effects in logic then your leaving little writing to drive processing power and little ram (to act as a pre) for writing to your hard drive. i get the same error and a overload error when i do editing around in the killers session file and the only fix i have is to back off on the tracks effects and plugins, otherwise my cpu maxes out and it cant process anything including writing & reading data to and from my hd

 

[avrinder]

With the drums yesterday, I had no plug-ins at all. I just named the tracks, gave them all separate colors. I'll try buying a firewire hd, and hope for the best. I was bummed it didn't work last night, but atleast it wasn't a paid project.

I'll try using a different Daw next time, if the same error occurs. I really like Logic Pro so far, too.

 

[avrinder]

last question, I hope. I'm looking at this drive here. the Lacie 500 gb firewire drive. [ame]http://www.amazon.ca/FireWire-External-Design-Poulton-301313U/dp/B00170H0O6[/ame]

That should suffice, I figure.

thanks again everybody for the help.

 

[updog]

Lacie should be pretty solid. I have to recommend though, to never use just one external for your files. In many cases, those things are bound to break at any time in the course of the next 1-4 years. Since you already own an external with USB connection, I'd regularily back up all the files you have in the firewire hard drive. You might do this either way, but what I've come to realize about externals is that you'll never know how long they'll last.

I have backed up both my macbook and my firewire external, on another external. This way, I won't lose anything in case one of these things will fail.

That reminds me, I should have an another fun backuping session soon.

 

[AdamWathan]

last question, I hope. I'm looking at this drive here. the Lacie 500 gb firewire drive. http://www.amazon.ca/FireWire-External-Design-Poulton-301313U/dp/B00170H0O6

That should suffice, I figure.

thanks again everybody for the help.

You are still going to have the Disk Too Slow error dude I guarantee it. I am using a brand new Macbook Pro, a Profire 2626 and a Glyph 050Q external FW hard drive and ran into that problem all day long no matter what.

I switched to Pro Tools and haven't had a single hiccup since, so it is obviously a Logic issue.

 

[avrinder]

I've been looking into the M-Powered Pro Tools. It's more money to spend, but I trust your judgement.

thanks everyone.

edit: speaking of pro-tools...what's the best deal I could get on this software? Locally, it's $260 cdn. Anywhere cheaper?