Maschine freezes occasionally in Ableton

Hi,

I am using Maschine MKII as a plugin in Ableton Live 9.5. Sometimes the controller freezes so that I can't play any drums or hit other buttons. Usually it comes back to normal functionality after some moments. There is really no obvious pattern. It appears randomly. My CPU usage in Ableton is around 30%. I am also using Push which works flawlessly in this setup. Any experience with this kind of config?

Best,
L.

 

Make sure your not on the same USB bus. I had some hardware freezes when I was using Maschine with other controller on USB hub.

 

Ok, I'll try that out. Thanks, that might be the reason...

 

I was running both Push and Maschine over a USB hub. Now that I separated them (Maschine directly into the mbp and Push into the hub) it's even worse. Maschine freezes regularly...

 

Reboot your computer.
Use the USB cable that came with Maschine. Most other cables will not work properly.
Also try another port on your computer.

 

Well, I rebooted many times. Still happening here and there.

 

Pay a visit to NI service center. Also update the firmware and drivers for your controllers, and your audio interface.

You might want to try USB2 sockets rather than USB3.

You also need to give @b-righteous some more feedback.

 

Thanks for the hint with the drivers. I will do so tonite. The thing is I only have usb3 sockets. That might be a problem? I am using the NI original cable that came with Maschine.

 

What is you audio interface?
Mac? PC?
Try the above first anyway.. Cheers. Not just drivers.. Firmware as well. For Maschine, push and your audio interface.

Ta...

 

I was having a similar problem and turned out to be a firmware issue:
https://www.native-instruments.com/forum/threads/mkii-controller-freezing.232250/

 

Thanks for all your help and advice. I updated the firmware on my Maschine MK. So far no more glitches and interface dropouts. Still I read in this link above that there might be a problem with usb3 hubs. My MBP is fully usb3 equipped. Is there a way to "downgrade" to usb2. I am not using audio over usb anyway since I am using a Thunderbolt interface...

 

USB3 works fine in many cases. Depends on the implementation.

 

You still haven't told us whether you updated drivers (Maschine, Touch, audio interface) and firmware (Touch, audio interface). Do this even for thunderbolt devices.

Still don't know whether it is Mac or PC.
Still don't know what your audio interface is (don't care about the bus).

Still don't know if NI service center is up to date.

Don't worry about USB2 if you've tried all this and it works.

Can give more feedback if necessary once you've supplied more info and exhausted advice/still have issues.

 

Q: doesnt usb3 downgrade automatically to usb2 if the usb3 protocol is not met ? in other words, in a usb3 mb all the ports will configure to the usb2 ( actually usb2.2) standard if the attached device fails usb3 ?

 

@CakeAlexS : I am on a Mac (Macbook pro), updated everything involved: Maschine MK2 (firmware, driver), Ableton, Push, Service Center. I am using the 1248 by Motu which is also up to date (Thunderbolt). I use a whacky USB hub though. The two usb ports on my MBP are not enough because I use the Analog4 (midi over usb) and a midi foot controller (Mcmillen 12 step).
By the way, am I using too many usb devices for a stable live performance? Right now I am using Lemur on my Ipad in wireless mode as a controller but would also like to use it via the Irig2 midi interface...

 

Apparently - but in practice sometimes it does not work very well...


Are you still having issues?

 

So far everything seems to work ok. The only cause for trouble is my usb hub though, I found out. When I close my laptop (or sleep mode) it can't find some usb devices like my harddisk or the Analog Four before I disconnect/connect them again... Maybe I have to buy a good one...

 

Not a Mac expert. On a PC there are power management options available per device. You can also update the BIOS on the motherboard.

Also check firmware (occasionally drivers) for the devices you are having trouble with. Yes even hard drives and hubs can have firmware updates.

I never bother with sleep mode myself, I find it far more reliable to power off.