Traktor 2.6.0 and Windows 8 Issues

Hi,

I have been searching the forum for two days now to find the issues that I am dealing with and a possible solution but Windows 8 isn't that popular yet I guess.

Some known issues I've dealt with are that the traktor process fails to exit after closing traktor because a thread that is supposed to close after opening the program fails to terminate. This thread uses one core exclusively so if you have a dual core you would see by default that traktor uses at least 50% of the cpu and 25% on quad core. This can be disabled with a software called Process Explorer and you can track down the thread that uses 50/25% of the cpu and terminate it without affecting the programs stability.

Also, the windows search service in windows 8 is uses too much cpu resource for some reason. This service is responsible for indexing your hard drive. You can disable it if you experience cpu spikes while browsing tracks from the services.msc utility in windows 8. Hope this helps with you installation of traktor on your windows 8.

Now, my issue is a bit bizzare.

I've been playing 1 hour sets for 4 days in a row without dealing issues. On the 4th day I had to play again 1 hour at the closing and that's what happened: I booted my laptop for the second time that night, clean boot, I had it shut down after my first 1 hour set, and started playing. After five minutes, traktor wouldn't load my tracks. I am using an X1 so then I tried loading with the trackpad but the same kept happening. I tried to load the next track and that gave me a few seconds freeze of the screen but no audio glitch and again it didn't load the track. I waited, tried to load another track and again the same problem. Then I tried to load the first track that didn't load and it loaded and I played it but again this kept happening to all the tracks I tried to load (please mark that I always run consistency checks before I play and there where no issues in my collection). Then I stopped the music and restarted my computer. Loaded traktor again, played for a while some tracks that didn't load before restart (so it isn't a path error) and again the same thing started to happen. I really don't know what to do and I have to fix it quick because I got more gigs coming up and I can't afford to have these issues again.

Thank you and sorry for the long post.

 

All applications in Windows 8 will remain running. That's inherent in the new operating system. You have to end the task in Task Manager, which is completely opposite of what's been done in previous versions of Windows. Try ending the task for traktor.exe, then restart NIHardwareservice.exe. Restart Traktor as normal and see if that makes a difference.

I have odd issues with Windows 8 myself. My Pioneer DJM-900 Nexus sound card doesn't always get detected since the current driver 1.303 is currently no supported by Pioneer. I have no choice but to disable driver signing and install the driver. Random methods resolve the issue, but not one consistent method works every time. Killing both the tasks along with the Pioneer audio driver utility and about 15 minutes of work usually gets everything going. My unfortunate workaround for now until there is more support for both products.

 

I downgraded to W7 until these driver issues are dealt with by NI cause I can't afford that happening again in the middle of a gig. I suggest you do the same because workarounds are never permanent and sometimes compromise your system to unpredictable and usually unwanted changes. Thank you for your answer though.

 

Traktor is a desktop application, not a metro app. It isn't supposed to remain running in the background, and sure as hell not use 35% of my CPU when doing it, after I closed the app!
This is just bad programming... like always, from NI.

 

Update: My Windows 8 system is running TSP 2.6.0 well. I've had to disable driver signing in order to properly run the Pioneer DJM-900Nexus driver version 1.303. All the Windows 7 optimization tips from the knowledgebase and forums have been performed and everything runs fine.

The major issue I am still dealing with is the integration of BIOS configuration with Windows 8 and the Sony management software installed. The Vaio care utilities continually run even after killing proceses, disabling services and disabling any system monitoring. This results in my pc stuttering, which appears like it's getting shocked. I have yet to uninstall any of the utilities, but the new BIOS configurations may still be the issue. I will provide another update once I can get a handle of this.

 

Running 2.6 on my new Windows 8 machine. Traktor Pro works fine until I try to exit, then I get a "Not Responding" that completely stalls my entire system. I even tried to use Task Manager to close the traktor.exe process, but even than causes my computer to stall -- i.e., after doing that, the Task Manager gets a "Not Responding" and the entire system grinds to a halt...

Any ideas on why this is happening?

 

If you're running any version before 2.6.3, the application does not shut down completely. You can see Traktor.exe and NIhardware.exe in task manager. Ending both tasks resolves the issue.

 

Hmmm... I'm running 2.6.6. My specs are:

Acer Aspire V
Windows 8.1 Home 64 bit
6GB RAM
1 TB HDD

Any other ideas?

 

We need info on your entire setup. What optimization have you performed?

 

Sorry - I don't even know what you mean here. I literally just purchased the Acer laptop. It came with Windows 8. I upgraded to Windows 8.1 (free upgrade) and made sure windows update said that all updates had been installed. I then installed Traktor Pro 2.6.6, imported a number of songs / remix decks into the library, and that is it.

If I try to exit Traktor, the machine hangs -- or better described -- seems to start thrashing. I can move the mouse around and if I wait long enough (a few minutes), I might even be able to get to the home screen by pressing the "windows" button. A few minutes later, I might even be able to bring up the task manager so that I can attempt to kill the traktor processes.

I've decided for now to either (1) NEVER attempt to actually exit Traktor Pro or (2) force shut down my computer by holding in the power button if I want to stop Traktor (I've mapped CTRL+S to Save settings/Save collection so that I don't lose stuff that I've done in Traktor).

Neither of these are optimal options. Traktor can use up quite a bit of memory even if it is just running in the background -- so I know that I will need to close it if I want to work on things other than email/web browsing. And doing a hard reboot is not a good option either.

What "optimization" are you referring to here?

 

1. What is your dj setup? Do you have a mixer, do you have a controller? etc. If you have a controller, what is the make and model?
The controller will require hardware drivers to use. What version of the drivers are you using? Did you just purchase Traktor and the laptop and nothing else? Without knowing what your working environment is, we can't help.
2. What exact version of Traktor are you running? Click on on Help, About.
3. http://www.native-instruments.com/knowledge/questions/847/Windows+7+Tuning+Tips+for+Audio+Processing

Please read the knowledgebase before going any further.

 

then update traktor