S8 Screen freezing when Macbook screen sleeps

Ok this is definitely a new one for me that's appeared in the Traktor Pro Scratch 2.8.1 (R1104) update that I've just started using.

I got half way through a set and then suddenly both screens on the S8 froze. I'd just skipped through a track using the loop shifter and thought that was it so went to my Macbook, woke it from sleep and the screens came back on. 5 minutes later, same thing happened again however this time I saw it... it froze at exactly the same time as my Macbook screen went to sleep.

Is this a fun new bug in the new version? Anyone else experiencing it?

Thought the whole point is we could put the laptop screen to sleep and not have to look at it with the S8

 

It has happened to me in 2.8 also. I did not use a version before 2.8 with the S8. I think everything works except the screens freeze. I just turned the screen saver off. Easy fix at least.

 

Yup. Raised it as an issue with Support 2 weeks ago. Has taken forever to convince them it's real even though it's so easy to reproduce. Endless to and fro and a request to revert to a previous version to prove it was 2.8 that broke it. Honestly one has to question what sort of QA Traktor are doing.

 

I downloaded and installed the "no sleep" app..prevents your macbook from going to sleep even when lid is closed and no external devices are hooked up. Works great.

 

Why would you need to install an app to do that when you can just go into "Settings" and set the option to stop the macbook going to sleep from there?

You're missing the point though. When you go into the Mac Settings to change the "Sleep" option Apple warns you that this will shorten the life of the display. Why should you HAVE to do that just because N.I. didn't do the most basic testing of the functionality that showed they broke something that used to work just fine?

I heard from Support 2 days ago who advised that development had finally accepted this was a genuine issue and that there would be a fix issued at some point (but no date or version number given for when this would happen)

 

I installed the app because I use my MacBook in clamshell mode (with lid closed, no external monitor attached) which triggers the MacBook to sleep even when all screensaver and sleep modes are set to 'never'.
I was constantly experiencing the exact symptoms you described, albeit under a different circumstance and thought if nosleep helps you then great.

Not the most glamorous workaround but if it works while NI work on a fix, great.

Cheers.

 

Ah that makes a lot more sense. I wonder if the display is actually turned off when in clamshell mode. Bit hard to tell I guess!

 

Yah, sorry I probably should have clarified that a bit better...there are other posts on the NI forums about working with the lid closed and the S8 screens freezing.

 

Is it the app that sells for £7.99 that you're using? When I search on "No Sleep" I get another program under Utilities called "Sleep No More" which is free. "NoSleep" is categorised specifically as music but costs money.

 

It's free. Here's the link.
Hope this helps you out!
http://www.macupdate.com/app/mac/37991/nosleep

 

Nice! Definitely have to get that app for the interim.

Can't believe it's such a simple, obvious bug that they missed. It just goes to show how short their testing periods were on this version if they didn't even allow the laptop to go into sleep mode!

(grr didn't get my notifications on this thread so only just checked, thanks for the replies... nice to know I'm not alone! haha)

 

Happens on my Mac Pro (tower) as well. While the Mac's screens have gone to power save (sleep) mode, but the computer itself is still running, the screens on my S8 are frozen. I can still select hot cues, remix cells, play/pause, sync, etc. But the screens don't move.

 

this problem still exists in 2.9 so it can't blamed on lack of testing. NI just doesn't care enough to fix it.

 

Yup. As I posted elsewhere yesterday, I've given up on Native Instruments support. It's just a huge time sink that doesn't achieve anything. You spend weeks going to and fro providing data to "Prove" there's a problem (even though it takes two seconds to actually try it and prove it yourself, and there's a wealth of evidence on here that lots of folks are suffering from something that worked before 2.8) Eventually they send you a "congratulations! We acknowledge there is a problem and development have agreed to fix it in a future release". And 2 months after that a new release comes out and it's STILL broken.

I also raised a support call with photos showing how the grid marks and cues on the S8 screen were WAY off what they should be as displayed on Traktor on the PC. Got an acknowledgement that my incident had been received 2 months ago. Nothing since. Still also broken in 2.9

 

UPDATE: After I posted the above I got a message from N.I. Support (coincidence or what?! ;-)) telling me that they now have a fix for the S8 freeze issue


"It has been resolved with a firmware update for the S8. Please download the Device Updater for Traktor Kontrol S8 1.0.0 - Mac OS X available from here:


http://www.native-instruments.com/en/support/downloads/drivers-other-files/ "

 

^^^^ I have the latest firmware (80) on my S8 and it still does this. In fact, I have noticed that the screens only move if the Traktor application on my Mac Pro has focus. If any other apps are in the foreground, the screens freeze until Traktor becomes the foreground app again.

 

Yup. No difference my end either. Have sent support a reply indicating they haven't fixed anything. Wish I could say I was surprised but clearly the company has absolutely no idea of testing or quality assurance (which is how this got broken in the first place) :-(

 

Thanks for sharing. You guys should just return your units and get a full refund.

 

Ah the old "let's bury our head in the sand and ignore all the criticisms revealing just how bad support is" responseroo! Well done Troy! Bet your mum's proud of you!

Here's the thing though. If I could go back in time to when I trialled the S8, before knowing how crappy NI's quality control was, before 2.8 (and 2.9) broke things that were relatively OK I'd probably do that and spend the extra on a Pioneer XDJ-RX which has a much more solid build quality to it that the S8 is sorely lacking and certainly seems to come from a company that understands what "customer service" and "support" means! (clue it doesn't mean shoving out fixes 2 months after they're raised as major issues that a kid of 5 could have discovered in 30 seconds testing, only to then be told the fix doesn't do anything).

But back then I hadn't spent man days entering all my metadata into Traktor, which would now have to be re-entered into Rekordbox at a time I don't have man-weeks to waste.

Nor, I suspect, will the retailer be happy to take back a controller that now has some wear and tear not to mention a hefty £180 price cut that he would no doubt expect me to swallow because Native Instruments decided the only way to flog this "flagship" product was to knock 20% off its list price at no notice pretending it was a great "STEMS promotion" giveaway.

So yeah, we really should do that!

Or we could just take the crap that gets thrown out by the developers with no basic testing and pretend it's wonderful and snipe at those pointing out how bad support has been.

Still waiting for a response on that problem I was told would be responded to "within 2 to 3 days" more than 2 months ago by the way.

 

today i had the issue happen without my mac screen going into power save mode. traktor was still running. i could press the browse knobs on the encoder but the S8 screens did not show the browser. they seemed to be frozen. i tried using shift+back on the controller to get into midi mode and that worked. the S8 screens displayed the midi info. i tried shift+back again to see if that would fix the screens but it didn't. the screens remained in midi mode, however the rest of the control surface went back to the normal control mode. i had to restart traktor to fix the problem.

after this incident i am not sure this will not happen during a performance. i hope NI will fix this ASAP because not having confidence in the controller is a real problem. i hate to go back to S2 because S8 keeps freezing but it looks like that is going to happen.